Coskata to produce less than $1/gal ethanol

29 April 2008 03:53  [Source: ICIS news]

CHICAGO, Illinois (ICIS news)--Biofuel technology company Coskata will soon produce ethanol for under $1/gal using its proprietary synthesis gas-to-biofuel technology, a company executive said on Monday.

"Using our proprietary microorganisms and bioreactor designs, Coskata can produce ethanol for under $1/gal anywhere in the world using almost any feedstock," said Coskata president and chief executive William Roe, who spoke at the World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology & Bioprocessing conference in Chicago.

Coskata planned to build a 40,000 gal/year cellulosic ethanol plant in Madison, Pennsylvania, which would use feedstocks such as wood, garbage, bagasse and other agricultural waste. The $25m (Eur 16m) facility was expected to begin delivering ethanol in early 2009.

"Our strategy is to enable the lowest production cost of ethanol worldwide without the need for subsidies," said Roe.

"Our approach is to partner with large corporations such as woody biomass players, sugar producers, municipal waste companies, steel mills with industrial waste gas and companies that deal with new energy crops and agricultural waste. We also plan to build, own and operate our own facilities," he added.

Not only could Coskata’s technology use any non food-based feedstock, it was also more efficient in terms of energy use, ethanol yield and water consumption compared to emerging ethanol technologies, said Roe.

"Our technology does not need enzymes and pre-treatment. Compared to emerging technologies that can produce between 50 and 90 gallons of ethanol per dry ton, ours can produce more than 100 gallons of ethanol/dry ton," he added.

Roe said the company planned to be the global leader in the synthesis gas-to-biofuel platform starting with ethanol production.

The 3-day biofuels conference ends on Wednesday.

By: Doris de Guzman
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