Cobalt teams up with Fluor

Cobalt operates a pilot plant in California. Photo credit Cobalt Technologies.

Biofuel startup Cobalt Technologies in August said it’s partnering with engineering and construction giant Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) as it looks to bring its technology to commercial scale.

Using waste wood as feedstock, Mountain View, Calif.-based Cobalt makes biobutanol, a liquid alcohol fuel with applications in gasoline and jet engines that can also be used as a replacement for industrial chemicals. The company says its process reduces greenhouse gasses by up to 90 percent compared to gasoline production.

Through the partnership, Fluor would provide engineering consulting, advise Cobalt on how to scale up, put together a design package for Cobalt’s future plant, and execute the construction part of the project, Cobalt CEO Rick Wilson says. Teaming up with Texas-based Fluor, which had $22 billion in revenues last year, could also help the 40-employee startup in a competitive biofuel space, he adds.

Launched in 2006, Cobalt’s backers include Pinnacle Ventures, VantagePoint Venture Partners and @Ventures. It has been operating a pilot plant for about a year, and is shooting for commercial production in 2012. The company plans to locate its plants near pulp mills, using the mills’ waste products as feedstocks, and to repurpose ethanol plants to produce biobutanol, Wilson says.