General Motors to use Coskata next generation ethanol for testing in flex-fuel vehicles 
(01/05/2008)
Coskata Inc. has announced it will produce 40,000 gallons of cellulosic ethanol a year at a commercial demonstration plant near Pittsburgh.
The $25 million project will be located at the Westinghouse Plasma Center, the current site of a pilot-plant gasifier owned and operated by Westinghouse Plasma Corporation (WPC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Alter Nrg Corp.
The plant, located about 30 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, is expected to begin delivering ethanol in early 2009 utilizing a variety of input materials, including woody biomass as well as agricultural and industrial wastes. General Motors, a strategic partner and investor in Coskata, will use the next generation ethanol for testing in flex-fuel vehicles at its Milford, Mich., Proving Grounds.
“Coskata has been eager to reach this milestone, because it will be a significant demonstration before building our first commercial plant that we can produce ethanol from non-food based sources for less than $1 a gallon,” said Bill Roe, president and CEO of Coskata. “This facility is being built with some of the leading gasification technology, supplied by Alter NRG, and in one of the most progressive states for next generation ethanol."
“We are delighted Coskata has chosen the State of Pennsylvania as the first location for production of their next generation ethanol,” said Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. “Coskata’s cutting edge facility will strengthen Pennsylvania’s already first class reputation as a leader in producing and delivering alternative fuels and will bring us one step closer to further reducing our dependence on foreign oil.”
Coskata announced in February that it will commission a full-scale, 50 million – 100 million gallon-per-year commercial plant by the year 2011. This facility is being planned in parallel with the construction of the Madison demonstration facility and is expected to break ground this year.
“The Coskata syngas to ethanol plant, using Westinghouse Plasma Corporation’s gasifier will make for a world-class demonstration,” said Mark Montemurro, President and Chief Executive Officer of Alter Nrg. “We view Coskata’s highly efficient process as a perfect complement to our environmentally responsible gasification technology.”
Coskata leverages proprietary microorganisms and efficient bioreactor designs in a unique three-step conversion process that can turn virtually any carbon-based feedstock into ethanol, from anywhere in the world.
Coskata’s process for next-generation ethanol reduces carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 84% compared to conventional gasoline; and has the ability to generate up to 7.7 times as much energy as is required to produce the ethanol, as verified by Argonne National Labs in a well-to-wheel analysis. Additionally, Coskata’s process uses less than a gallon of process water to make a gallon of ethanol, compared with three gallons or more required by other processes.
Related categories: Biodegradable waste Biofuels and biomass Environmental technologies for Transportation
