GoodFuels

Nation’s first cellulosic ethanol plant opens

Verenium Corp is celebrating the dedication of their newest ethanol plant in Jennings, Louisiana today.  The Houston Chronicle reports, “the 1.4 million-gallon-per-year demonstration plant will attempt what others have found difficult — to produce large quantities of ethanol as cheaply from agricultural waste and nonfood crops as from corn, the main crop used to make the fuel in the U.S.”

The Jennings plant will use local sugar bagasse, what is left of the sugarcane after it is used to make syrup or other products.

This is a huge step forward. With the RFS requiring increased ethanol use and corn-based ethanol under attack, it’s increasingly important for cellulosic ethanol technologies to be improved and modified.

A 2005 report from the Energy Department and Agriculture Department estimated that U.S. lands are capable of producing a sustainable supply of 1.3 billion tons of biomass each year, enough to replace almost one-third of the roughly 140 billion gallons of gasoline Americans consume annually.

Verenium’s Matthew Musial describes the process of creating ethanol from the bagasse in this video from the Houston Chronicle: