Groundbreaking scheduled for high-yield cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant in Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania, groundbreaking is scheduled for a 1/4-acre grass-based ethanol demonstration plant. The company’s promoters claim a yield of up to 75,000 gallons of ethanol per acre, more than 100 times the yield from corn. The US Department of Energy has not reported yields from cellulosic ethanol more than 1500 gallons per acre, so the claims of the promoters are likely to have been misquoted. The 1500-gallons-per-acre yield is based on a University of Illois study of ethanol production from miscanthus.

Earth Conservancy has donated 10 acres for the project, which is backed by a combination of grants and private investments.

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