U.S. biofuel venture sets up headquarters in Japan

Red Lion Bio-Energy LLC (RLB), a U.S. bio-energy venture company based in Ohio, has set up a holding company, RLB International, in Japan to serve as the new company’s world headquarters. RLB International will centrally manage other subsidiaries including RLB Korea, which manufactures plant facilities, and RLB America, which is responsible for manufacturing and production operations within the United States. CEO Alex Johnson said that Japan is an ideal location for its headquarters for a number of reasons. RLB aims to win orders for 50 plants worldwide and generate annual sales of US$2.5 billion in five years, he said. RLB has developed a high efficiency biogas production plant in 2009 jointly with the University of Toledo (UT) in Ohio as part of a project supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and has since been pursuing the commercialization of this technology. (October 5, 2010)