DuPont’s cellulosic ethanol plant soon to be onstream

DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC said that its demonstration plant in Tennessee, in the United States, would be operational in December 2009. The company said that after building at least two demonstration plants, it would license its technology to bio-refinery companies throughout North America and the world, as it thinks cellulosic ethanol technology is ready for commercialization. In the long-term, Dupont said, it hopes the price of ethanol would be at par with gasoline prices. According to DuPont Danisco Vice President of Commercial and Public Affairs Jack Huttner, the challenge involved in commercialization would be supply chain development, as the requirements of biorefineries for biomass are “significant”. It would be difficult, he said, to organize farmers to produce the volumes needed for billions of gallons of ethanol. (May 22, 2009)