Cellulosic ethanol comes to Minnesota: fuel from wood chips

In Minnesota, SunOpta announced plans to build a 10 Mgy cellulosic ethanol plant in Little Falls. The company said it will joint venture with Central Minnesota Ethanol Co-op and will be built next to the co-op’s existing 21.5 Mgy facility. The plant will use wood chips as feedstock, and will be expanded ultimately to 50 Mgy in capacity.

The Minnesota Prairie Line recently applied for permits to improve ethanol rail infrastructure to carry the proposed increases in state production. Current rail infrastructure used to move ethanol to national markets can move ethanol at a maximum speed of 7 miles per hour and ethanol trains are restricted to 30 cars, which requires that they be sent to a staging point near Minneapolis to be joined with 82 other cars in a 112 car train that heads for California and other markets. The restrictions were put in place after a rail snapped last December. The line has applied for $50 million for improvements.

Free Subscription to the Daily Biofuels Digest e-newsletter

Related Stories

Minnesota awards $1 million to ethanol partnership for 10 Mgy cellulosic ethanol project

In Minnesota, the state Department of Agriculture awarded a $1 million matching grant to Central Minnesota Cellulosic Ethanol Partners for a "Second Phase Feasibility Study and Detailed Engineering fo...

West Biofuels to debut pilot-scale cellulosic ethanol plant using wood chips as feedstock

In California, West Biofuels announced that it will debut its 182,000 pilot-scale cellulosic ethanol plant, using five tons of wood chips per day for feedstock, or a conversion ratio of 100 gallons pe...

Alabama municipal wood waste cellulosic ethanol plant commences shipments

In Alabama, the Birmingham News is reporting that start-up is now imminent on a wood waste ethanol plant in Hoover that will supply E85 ethanol to the city's flex-fuel police and fire fleet. The plant...

Today in Biofuels Opinion: “The technology and industry aren’t there yet for commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol refining.”

KVOA.com: "Bud Klepper developed the technology that takes wood chips and beetle kill and turns them into ethanol in Denver....You may be wondering if the wood chip approach to making ethanol is chea...

SunOpta BioProcess and Central Minnesota Ethanol to joint venture on 10 Mgy cellulosic ethanol plant

In Minnesota, SunOpta BioProcess agreed with Central Minnesota Ethanol Co-op in Little Falls, to cooperate on studies for a 10 Mgy cellulosic ethanol plant. SunOpta said the joint venture will constru...

Shell president says company is “investing and believes in cellulosic ethanol”; says Shell is researching algae

The president of Shell said that his company is investing and believes in cellulosic ethanol. John Hofmeister said that in 10 to 20 years, the company would produce fuel from waste products, wood chip...