http://gas2.org/2008/04/02/worlds-first-commercially-viable-cellulosic-ethanol-plant-online-2009/

The calls for ethanol to replace gasoline as the new fuel of choice has dwindled in recent months as the debate renews over food-for-fuel and the true lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of corn-based ethanol. While some argue that ethanol is going the way of Betamax, LaserDisc and HD-DVD, today's announcement by Range Fuels breathes new life into the possibility of ethanol as an embraced transportation fuel.

Range Fuels Inc. announced yesterday it has secured over $100 million in Series B funding, an investment that could make it the first company to seriously commercialize cellulosic ethanol. The first phase of construction will produce 20 million gallons of mixed alcohols per year by 2009, and has the potential to expand to up to 120 million gallons.

Range Fuels says their facility will break down any type of plant material (eg agricultural waste or wood chips) by a two-step thermochemical process. This differs from competing methods of producing cellulosic ethanol, which involve breakdown of plant material with heat and/or acid, and treating it with costly ($0.50/gallon) enzymes.

Cellulosic ethanol is chemically similar to corn-based ethanol, but is produced from the highly-abundant structural material of plants called lignocellulose, eliminating the food-for-fuel conundrum.

Gas2.org; April 2, 2008

Submitted by B. Shapiro