ASV Enerģētikas aģentūra (DOE) finansiāli atbalsta vairāku celulozes bioetanola ražotņu izveidi

"Abengoa Bioenergy, based in Chesterfield, Mo., is one of six companies chosen to receive a piece of up to $385 million in U.S. Department of Energy funds over the next four years to develop cellulosic ethanol biorefineries.
Cellulosic ethanol can be made from any number of biomass sources, including agricultural waste, trees, forest residues and perennial grasses.
Abengoa vice president Christopher Standlee said the cellulosic plant will be in Kansas but not in Colwich, where the company operates a grain-fed ethanol plant and has plans to build a new one.
Standlee said Abengoa made an agreement with Colwich during rezoning negotiations that it would not locate a biomass plant there.
Standlee said the company has several locations in mind and will make a decision soon. He said plans are to have the plant under construction by the end of 2008 and online in 2010.
Abengoa will build a smaller "hybrid" plant along with a larger grain-fed facility, Standlee said. The plant will use about 700 tons a day of corn stover, wheat straw, grain sorghum stubble, switchgrass or other feedstocks.
The company will receive about $76 million in federal funds to help with the effort. Standlee said the total project will be an investment of about $300 million.
"This is very good news for us," he said. "It has become obvious that for ethanol... to have a major impact on fuel consumption, cellulosic production will be essential. We will continue to have a major presence in grain fermentation, but it is very exciting to be on the leading edge of cellulosic production."
Abengoa also plans to produce its own energy from biomass to power the cellulosic plant and will use any additional energy produced at the grain plant.
In selecting Abengoa, the DOE said the project comes from a "committed long-term player that has the potential to demonstrate dual biochemical and thermochemical capabilities."
Additional plants receiving grants will be located in Florida, California, Iowa, Idaho and Georgia."

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