Obama administration pointed at imminent major expension of cellulosic ethanol, report says; database of 2nd gen ethanol plants

In Washington, Industry Week, following an interview with DuPont Danisco CEO Joe Slurka, speculated that the Obama Administration is about to embark on a major expansion of cellulosic ethanol. The report points to the appointment of Steve Koonin, former chief scientist at BP, to the position of Under-Secretary of Energy, reporting to Energy Secretary Dr. Steven Chu. Koonin and Chu are both former physicists who worked together through Energy Biosciences Insitute.  “There are a multitude of folks chasing this cellulosic ethanol grail,”  Skurla told Industry Week. “Those that are aligned with large companies and have their own funding are more likely to succeed.”

The following cellulosic ethanol plants are now open or in the pre-planning stages in the United States (sources, IEA Task 39 Group, Biofuels Digest, Reuters: company name, location, capacity in Mgy and feedstock).

-AE Biofuels            Montana           0.15        Corn, corn stover
-KL Energy Corp         Wyoming           1.5         Wood
-Poet                   S. Dakota         0.02        Corn cobs
-Verenium               Louisiana         1.4         Bagasse

Commercial scale plants not yet open:

-Abengoa Bioenergy      Kansas            30          Biomass
-BlueFire Mecca Llc     Calif             17          Green waste
-Colusa Biomass         Calif             12.5        Rice hulls
-Gulf Coast Energy      Florida           25          Woody biomass
-Mascoma Corp           Michigan          40          “      ”
-Poet                   Iowa              25          Corn cobs, stover
-Range Fuels            Georgia           20          Woody biomass
-US Envirofuels LLC     Florida           20          Sorghum, sugar cane
-Verenium-BP            Florida           36          Energy cane, sorghum

Pilot, or pre-commercial plants, not open yet:

Company                 Location          Capacity   Feedstock
-Abengoa                Nebraska          10          Corn stover
-BlueFire               Calif              3.2        Green landfill waste
-Citrus Energy Llc      Florida            4          Citrus waste
-Clemson University     S. Carolina       10          Wood waste, algae
-Coskata                Pennsylvania       0.04       Woody biomass, waste
-Dupont Danisco         Tennessee          0.25       Switchgrass, stover
-Ecofin Llc             Kentucky           1          Corn cobs
-Fulcrum                Nevada            10.5        Municipal waste
-GulfCoast Energy       Alabama            0.4        Wood Waste
-Flambeau River         Wisconsin          6          Forest, paper waste
-ICM Inc                Missouri           1.5        Switchgrass, sorghum
-KL Energy Corp         Colorado           5          Wood pellets
-Liberty Industries     Florida            7          Forest waste
-NewPage                Wisconsin          5.5        Woody biomass
-Pacific Ethanol        Oregon             2.7        Wheat straw, poplar
-PureVision             Colorado           2          Corn stalks
-RSE Pulp & Chem        Maine              2.2        Woody biomass
-SunOpta                Minnesota         10          Corn stover, waste
-University of Florida  Florida            2          Bagasse
-West Biofuels          Calif              0.18       Wood chips

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