University of Florida Breaks Ground on Taylor Ethanol Plant
by Nathan Crabbe (Gainsville Sun) The farms and forests of the state could be providing more fuel for its vehicles in the future if a new University of Florida plant is a success.
UF officials held a groundbreaking Monday for the pilot plant at the site of the Buckeye Technologies pulp mill in Taylor County. The plant will test a process that uses genetically engineered E. coli bacteria to convert wood and crops into ethanol.
“I think we’re going to replace more and more of the petroleum with material we’re growing in the U.S.,” said UF microbiologist Lonnie Ingram, who developed the process.
The plant should be completed within a year and likely will start producing ethanol in 2011, he said. The plant will test the conversion of wood waste and crops such as sorghum into ethanol, he said, but not produce the fuel for wide commercial use.
“This is a pilot plant whose mission in life is to develop and improve technology,” he said. READ MORE
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