Pacific Ethanol Wins DOE Cellulosic Energy Grant
U.S. Department of Energy has included Pacific Ethanol in a matching award totaling $24.32 million to build the first cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant in the Northwest United States. The plant will employ a technology to produce ethanol from wheat straw, wood chips and corn stover and will be co-located at the site of Pacific Ethanol’s existing corn-based ethanol facility in Boardman, Oregon. Pacific Ethanol’s partners in winning this competitive process are, BioGasol ApS and the Joint BioEnergy Institute (Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratory). BioGasol ApS has developed the proprietary technology and the Joint BioEnergy Institute will be providing support and specific research and development on enzyme technology.
The pilot plant, which will be designed to produce 2.7 million gallons of ethanol annually, will demonstrate the potential of a technology developed by BioGasol ApS to produce ethanol from a diverse mixture of biomass that is readily available in the area of the Boardman plant. Current plans call for the plant’s completion in 4th quarter 2009 and matching criteria will include in-kind contributions that will be finalized with further negotiations with the Department of Energy. READ MORE