Celanese announces $700M investment in coal-to-ethanol

In China, Celanese Corp. plans to invest $700 million to build two coal-to-ethanol plants. Each plant would have annual production capacity of 134 million gallons with production beginning 30 months after the Chinese government grants approvals. The company has already built plants in Nanjing that convert coal into acetic acid and related acetyl chemicals used in coatings and polyester. It also has plans to build a 40,000-ton facility in Clear Lake, Texas, in late 2012 that will make ethanol from natural gas for the company’s internal use and for sale to the relatively small industrial-ethanol market in the U.S.

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