Abengoa Bioenergy to build first US-based cellulosic ethanol plant, in Kansas

Abengoa Bioenergy announced the first US-based cellulosic ethanol plant, which will be located in Hugoton, in southwest Kansas. The $400 million ethanol project will produce 85 million gallons per year of corn ethanol and 30 million GPY of cellulosic ethanol made from corn stover, wheat straw, milo, switchgrass and other cellulosic feedstocks.

Cellulosic ethanol has been vigorously pursued by the US government as a long term source of renewable fuels, and Abengoa was one of six companies who shared $385 million in grants from the US Department of Energy to assist in plant construction. The grant to Abengoa was $76 million. The plant will directly create 120 jobs in southwest Kansas.

The US has set a goal of more than 30 billion gallons of ethanol production by 2015, of which an increasing percentage will come from cellulosic ethanol.

Petrobras, the national oil company of Brazil, has also recently announced explortation of the potential of cellulosic ethanol but will not be in full commercial production until 2015.

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