Monday, June 13, 2011 the Southern Growth Policies Board will honor Genera Energy with the 2011 Innovator Award presented by Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell in Roanoke. Genera, a Knoxville-based clean renewable energy company, is recognized as a company that has achieved success through the adoption of innovative manufacturing practices.
For the past three years, Genera has been working to build a biofuels industry in the state of Tennessee. Since its inception in 2008, Genera has built one of the world’s first demonstration-scale cellulosic biorefineries; partnered with local farmers to grow switchgrass (an energy crop) on more than 5,000 acres in East Tennessee; and is currently developing a Biomass Innovation Park for the processing and storage of biomass (switchgrass) for cellulosic ethanol production. Genera has partnered with DuPont for the operation of the demonstration-scale biorefinery.