Chippewa Valley Ethanol to test gasified corn cobs as replacement for natural gas

In Minnesota, Chippewa Valley Ethanol, which received a $150,000 state grant in April for a program during this fall’s corn harvest to recover corn cobs, will gasify the cobs to produce energy for its ethanol production process.  The intent of the project is to determine the feasibility of replacing natural gas as the primary energy source for the ethanol production process.

Corn cob background

Poet recently announced that its Emmitsburg, IA cellulosic ethanol plant, jointly funded with the US Department of Energy, will produce 125 Mgy including 25 Mgy from corn fiber and cobs. The plant, which will be operational in 2011, will pay between $30 and $60 per ton of cobs and fiber for the 850 tons per day required by the plant. The cob price equates to a price of $0.63 and $1.26 per bushel, compared to more than $5 per bushel for corn.

In Washington, the US Department of Energy awarded $30 million to Ecofin, of Nicholasville, Kentucky for a demonstration-scale plant utilizing solid-state enzymatic complexes to convert a potentially wide range of lingocellulosic feedstocks, including corncobs, to ethanol and other nutritious feed sources, minimizing waste. The proposed plant will be constructed in Washington County, Kentucky.

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