First US advanced biofuel plant opens
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.028241
Ars Technica : One of the biggest criticisms of traditional biofuels is that they are made from the edible parts of corn and other plants. Now, the first commercial US plant that can convert cellulose, a nonedible sugar polymer, into ethanol has opened in Iowa. Instead of processing sugars directly, the plant extracts them from the cellulose and then proceeds with the sugar-to-ethanol conversion. The new plant, operated by the US-based biofuel company POET and the Netherlands’ Royal DSM, has a maximum processing capacity of more than 750 tons of corn waste per day, and two other plants are expected to open soon. Together, they will produce more than 75 million gallons of ethanol each year. However, that is far below the government’s earlier prediction of 1 billion gallons produced per year by 2013.