NEWSOFS^ffig BIOFUELS
EASTMAN IS SELLING BATESVILLE PLANT Buyer is a start-up looking to grow in the U.S. biofuels sector
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CHANGING HANDS Eastman is selling this facility in Batesville, Ark.
ASTMAN CHEMICAL IS SELL-
ing its Batesville, Ark., plant to biofuels start-up company Viceroy Acquisition in a deal valued at more than $75 million. The multipurpose plant manufactures specialty chemicals such as food supplements and photographic chemicals. In 2005, using excess capacity at the site, Eastman began rolling out agriculture-based products including biodiesel, bioethanol, and lignin/biomass solid fuels, as
well as biomass-based lubricants, solvents, and intermediates. The plant employs about 410 people. Eastman President Jim Rogers says the plant "does not fit with the company's current strategy of driving growth in our core businesses and taking full advantage of new growth opportunities." Eastman's core businesses include polyethylene terephthalate resins, acetate fibers, and specialty polymers. Eastman will receive $75 million upon the close of the deal, which is expected during the fourth quarter of this year. Viceroy will also pay Eastman 2 cents per gal for three years for the biodiesel produced at
E X T R E M O P H I L E S
MICROBE LOVES ACID Hard-to-culture bug may play role in iron and sulfur cycling at hydrothermal vents
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LIFE AT DEPTH Aciduliprofundum boonei (right) reduces sulfur (above, white) or ferric iron, producing iron oxides (orange) on hydrothermal vents. 12
C & E N / J U L Y 3 1 ,
F A SULFUR SNACK FOLLOWED BY
a scorching swim through plumes of low-pH seawater sounds appealing, you may have a friend in Aciduliprofundum boonei. It's the first acid-loving bug to be cultured from a hydrothermal vent, and it may be a key player in sulfur and iron cycling at deep-sea vents (Nature 2006,442,444). "Microbes are the chemists of the world," says Anna-Louise Reysenbach, a microbial ecologist at Portland State University, in Oregon, and lead author of the study. "Wherever there's a little bit of chemistry—a redox reaction or otherwise—that could give you some energy, you will find a microbe that can use it." In particular,
2006
A. boonei gets its energy from oxidation of organic carbon coupled with sulfur or iron reduction. Because hydrothermal vents are highly acidic, researchers have long wondered why no one has isolated an acid-loving microbe, as they have from acidic pools in Yellowstone National Park. While cruising near a South Pacific vent
the site. Eastman's current biodiesel capacity in Batesville is 6 million gal per year, according to the National Biodiesel Board (NBB). According to Eastman, Viceroy will continue to manufacture some specialty chemical products from the facility that it will market itself. It will also sell some chemical products directly to Eastman. Viceroy did not respond to inquiries about its plans. The company is based in the U.S. but raised $180 million earlier this month through an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange's A I M market that is intended to help it push into the U.S. biofuels market. Last year, the company registered with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission for a $160 million offering on the overthe-counter bulletin board. That offering was later cancelled. Production of biodiesel has been booming. According to NBB, U.S. biodiesel production last year was 75 million gal, a 200% increase over that in 2004. -ALEX TULL0
with a pH below 3, Reysenbach saw her opportunity. It's not hard to get "the weeds of the hyperthermophiles" to grow, comments Jan Amend of Washington University in St. Louis. "But culturing and isolating the interesting bugs—that's the challenge! Reysenbach et al. cultured an organism that some people have called 'unculturable.'" Indeed, the microbe Reysenbach managed to grow belongs to a branch of Archaea that had long been on her radar screen. "We've detected this bug at all deep-sea vents through culture-independent techniques. We knew they were there, we knew they were important, but we had no idea what they were doing." Reysenbach says in addition to providing insight on sulfur and iron cycling, the microbe might also be used in biomining, where microorganisms are used to extract valuable metals remaining in mine tailings.-SARAH EVERTS WWW.CEN-0NLINE.ORG
