First US cellulosic ethanol plant opens

The first commercial-scale plant to produce ethanol from cellulosic material opened in Emmetsburg, Iowa, on Sept. 3, the Energy Information Administration has announced. Operated by a joint venture called POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels, the plant can generate ethanol from corn waste such as the plants’ leaves, husks and stalks. The plant is the first of three similar facilities planned for development in the Midwest, EIA said.

By using agricultural waste products rather than corn that could otherwise be used as food, cellulosic ethanol offers distinct advantages over the production of conventional corn ethanol. But the relative complexity of producing ethanol from cellulosic material has presented economic hurdles in upscaling the technique from a laboratory process to a commercial operation. Cellulosic ethanol development has also faced the headwind of ethanol demand reaching a ceiling, because of limits in how much ethanol can be mixed with gasoline and because of declining U.S. gasoline demand.

At full capacity, the Iowa plant will process 770 tons per day of corn waste, EIA said.

The plant uses a process called enzymatic hydrolysis, which has been developed over many years and is already in use in a commercial-scale operation that started up in Italy last fall. The parent company for the Italian operation plans to open a similar plant in Brazil later this year, EIA said.

- Alan Bailey