Energy Department Grant to Build Cellulosic Biorefinery
Alltech receives up to $30 million to construct facility that will utilize switchgrass, corn stover to make biofuel.
Mike Wilson
Published: Apr 22, 2008
Alltech has received a grant of up to $30 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to be used towards the establishment of a rural community biorefinery. The plant will be located in Springfield, Kentucky and is estimated to employ 93 people when operating at full capacity.
As part of the DOE proposal, Alltech's rural community biorefinery will be one of the first in the United States to utilize cellulose, such as switch grass, corn cobs and corn stover, at raw material levels of up to 30%. This will be converted to ethanol and other value-added products.
"The rural community biorefinery is truly a missionary of new technologies," says Pearse Lyons, president and founder of Alltech. "Cellulosic ethanol utilizes raw materials which are readily available and which alleviate the current demand for grain for ethanol production. With commodity prices reaching an all time high and with ethanol production forecast to account for 30% of the U.S. corn harvest by 2010 we must focus our attention on a sustainable path to alternative energies."
Graphic by Alltech
The biorefinery will have an impact on Kentucky's agricultural production by housing dairy and beef cattle to be branded under the Kentucky Proud label. Such actions could be a significant step toward addressing Kentucky's $250 million milk deficit and this concept has already drawn interest from the Netherlands, Ireland, South Africa and China.
The facility will also have the capability to produce algae, a plant that needs little besides sunlight and carbon dioxide. According to National Geographic, algae can theoretically produce 5,000 gallons of biofuel per acre per year, whereas corn can produce 400 gallons per acre. Additionally, algae can absorb up to 450 tons of carbon dioxide per acre when grown commercially.
"The Alltech biorefinery will help pioneer the next generation of non-food based biofuels that will power our cars and trucks and help meet President Bush's goal to stop greenhouse gas emissions growth by 2025," says Secretary Samuel Bodman, U.S. Department of Energy. "Sustained investments in cellulosic fuels made from novel solid-state enzyme complexes and other agricultural waste will strengthen our nation's energy security by reducing our dependence
on foreign oil."
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Tagged: ethanol, Harvest, biofuels, next generation, cellulosic ethanol
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