Primus Green Energy hires John Doyle to head development of commercial plants.

In a move that accelerates commercialization of its STG+ gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology, Primus Green Energy Inc., an alternative fuel company based in Hillsborough, today announced the addition of John Doyle as Chief Infrastructure Officer.

Doyle joins Primus from BP Biofuels, where he was the Head of Applied Engineering, in charge of developing and maintaining the core commercial process design of BP Biofuels’ large-scale commercial build program.

Doyle will lead project management and operations of Primus’ designed, owned and operated and licensed commercial plants. While at BP Biofuels, Doyle created the Applied Engineering Group to work closely with research and development and outside organizations to identify the best new technologies and drive them through to commercial application.

Doyle has also held executive positions at Verenium, and subsequently, at its joint venture with BP,Vercipia Biofuels. He has held senior management and engineering positions at GE Environmental Services and Booz, Allen and Hamilton.

“With our demonstration plant nearing completion, Primus is moving steadily toward commercialization. John, one of the industry’s top project managers, brings with himover two decades of experience, which will be critical as he leads these efforts,” Robert Johnsen, CEO of Primus Green Energy, said. “As a result of a career bringing the best conventional and alternative fuel technologies to commercialization, he understands what is required to build and operate a first-of-a-kind commercial plant.”

Primus is nearing completion of its demonstration plant, which is expected to reach mechanical completion at the end of March, and expects to break ground on its first commercial plant in late 2013. Primus’ STG+ technology converts syngas derived from natural gas and/or biomass into drop-in high-octane gasoline and jet fuel with industry leading process efficiencies. The fuels produced from the Primus STG+ technology are very low in sulfur and benzene compared to fuels produced from petroleum, and they can be used directly in vehicle engines as a component of standard fuel formulas and transported via the existing fuel delivery infrastructure.

“With natural gas prices expected to remain low for many years to come, Primus’ STG+ technology is well positioned to take advantage of today’s market conditions without needing to spend enormous capital on engine and delivery infrastructure modifications,” Doyle said. “As the most efficient GTL process on the market, the STG+ platform outshines competing platforms in terms of readiness to build, economic viability and technical ingenuity.

"I look forward to bringing my experience in project management and operations to help commercialize this technology, which has enormous potential to make a lasting impact on the alternative fuel industry and the entire energy landscape,” he added.

Primus Green Energy’s first commercial plant will be designed to produce more than 25 million gallons per year of gasoline from natural gas-derived syngas, leveraging prices of domestically abundant natural gas that are their lowest in decades. Primus Green Energy estimates that the cost of production for its fuels will be competitive with petroleum-based fuels when crude oil is trading at $65 per barrel (oil is currently trading at approximately $95 per barrel).

Doyle is the latest addition to the management team. Primus recently added Nan Li, who joined the business development team, and Vincent Marchese, the company’s new controller. In March 2012, the company named Robert Johnson CEO.