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First Cellulosic Ethanol Pilot Plant Built

Posted on: Tuesday, 13 January 2009, 08:35 CST

On Monday, top U.S. ethanol producer Poet, announced that they have opened a pilot plant to produce low-carbon fuel made from crop residue.

The plant, a forerunner to the company’s $200 million Project Liberty cellulosic plant, will produce 20,000 gallons of fuel per year.

Poet hopes to open the Project Liberty plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa in 2011.

Many hope cellulosic will be a reliable fuel source that produces less greenhouse emissions than gasoline or ethanol. The fuel cannot be blamed for boosting food prices the way ethanol has been because cellulosic will be made from grasses, trees, or crop waste.

The U.S. has already mandated that fuel blenders must mix 16 billion gallons of cellulosic into gasoline by 2022 along with another 15 billion gallons of ethanol.

According to Jeff Broin, chief executive of Poet, the cellulosic fuel made at the plant costs $1 more than ethanol.

"That may sound like a lot but just a year and a half ago it was several dollars a gallon, so we have made strides in reducing the cost," he said.

Broin believes cellulosic will cost about the same as ethanol in five to seven years.

Poet plans to one day make cellulosic at all of its 26 ethanol plants which would give them the capacity to make 1.5 billion gallons a year.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer believes cellulosic output could explode by 2012 if a commercial plant for the fuel is built.

Incoming secretary for the Department of Energy, Steven Chu, has long supported next generation biofuels.

Although, last month, the Energy Information Administration forecasted that the U.S. will fall short of its mandates due to uncertain development of next generation fuels.

According to Broin, 5 billion gallons of cellulosic could eventually be made from crop waste.  He was less optimistic about short-term cellulosic goals.

Broin was uncertain as to whether the U.S. could meet its 2010 goal of blending 100 million gallons of cellulosic in the gasoline stream. 

"We're going to have to have a wait-and-see attitude," he said. "You can put a number on a piece of paper but it's going to come at the speed at which the technology develops."

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On the Net:

• Poet
• Project Liberty
• Energy Information Administration
• Image Courtesy Wikipedia

Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

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