Four States Gain New Cellulosic Ethanol Facilities

EnergyBoom.com
By Alison Pruitt on February 19, 2010

Thanks in part to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funding, a shift in biofuel production to cellulosic biofuels is underway as both demonstration and commercial-scale power plants are opening or moving closer to completion.

Cellulosic biofuels are produced from wood, grasses, or the non-edible parts of plants. Cellulosic ethanol has the advantage of abundant and diverse raw material compared to sources like corn and cane sugars. Conversely, it requires a greater amount of processing. According to DOE studies, one of the benefits of cellulosic ethanol is that it reduces greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 85% over reformulated gasoline. By contrast, starch ethanol (e.g., from corn), which most frequently uses natural gas to provide energy for the process, may not reduce GHG emissions at all depending on how the starch-based feedstock is produced.

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