L.L. Knickerbocker Reveals China Venture

Collectibles and jewelry marketer L.L. Knickerbocker Co. Inc. said Thursday that a joint venture in which it is involved has signed a contract to build the first biorefinery in China to convert agricultural wastes into ethanol and other environmentally friendly products.

Knickerbocker, a Lake Forest company that also owns 38% of an alternative fuel company, said that its Arkenol Asia Inc. joint venture with Arkenol Holdings LLC plans to construct power plants and biorefineries in a number of southeast Asian countries.

In a news release, Knickerbocker said that China currently generates 600 million tons of dry agricultural waste a year, compared to 45 million tons a year in the United States. Just 10% of China’s agricultural waste would produce 600,000 barrels of ethanol a day, said Louis L. Knickerbocker, the company’s chairman.