Jobs for the Basin

Two new projects that will provide economic diversification for the Permian Basin were awarded $4.8 million in grants Monday from the Texas Emerging Technology fund.

Falcon International Inc., which produces lightweight, composite armament panels for installation in U.S. Army helicopters as well as other coating products for the oil industry, and Texas AgriLife Research of Pecos were the recipients.

Falcon President and CEO Ed Rose, who grew up in Odessa, told the large crowd gathered at UTPB’s Center for Energy and Economic Diversification the facility is well ahead of schedule and that “failure is not an option.”

He said the technology used by Falcon International “holds great promise for the military and civilian law enforcement industries and will lead to some great economic development opportunities for Odessa and all of West Texas.”

Falcon International, which received $850,000 in ETF funds, expects to receive its first shipment of equipment this week and to be in full production soon.

The bulk of the grants Monday, however, went to the Pecos project that drew considerable attention.

Texas AgriLife Research (part of the Texas A&M University System) and General Atomics of California received a $4 million ETF award for biofuels microalgae research. The award was matched by funds from the U.S. Department of Defense in an effort to develop microalgae-derived biodiesel fuels to support military needs.

A biofuels microalgae aquaculture pilot facility will be built at the Texas AgriLife Research center in Pecos.

Researchers will first grow microalgae in two shallow one-sixth-acre ponds, then in two one-fourth-acre ponds and finally in 50 one-acre ponds, Program Manager Robert V. Avant Jr. of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station at College Station, said.

Texas A&M University President Elsa Murano said the project is important because of the need for the United States to achieve energy independence and because algae, which has the potential to produce more than 100 times more fuel per acre than oilseed crops, would not compete with land for food or food production.

“This could revolutionize the energy industry,” Murano said.

Grant Billingsley, who serves on Gov. Rick Perry’s Emerging Technology Fund board, said the biodiesel project seems particularly suited to the Permian Basin because the project “needs a lot of land, a lot of sunshine, brackish water and CO2. West Texas has all those things.”

Avant said preliminary work on the ponds, called reactors, has already begun and will be completed by early fall.

Murano underscored that the project can provide a “truly meaningful contribution to the energy needs of the United States.”

>> The $200 million Texas Emerging Technology Fund was signed into law in June 2005 by Gov. Rick Perry to assist small, early stage technology companies in expediting the commercialization of new, high-potential technology developments from the lab and into the hands of consumers.

>> The ETF also enables Texas universities to establish research superiority by recruiting established, world-class faculty with experience in moving technologies into commercial applications.