Special Report on Cellulosic Ethanol: Verenium leaps into lead in race for commercial-scale CE, with 36 Mgy Florida project

The question of who would announce the first commercial-scale ethanol project has been the subject of intense speculation. Many observers looked to the rumored Coskata 100 Mgy sugar waste-to-ethanol project as the one that would get out of the blocks first. The scuttlebutt had the location right: Florida will be home to the first project producing 100,000 gallons per day, but Verenium was the company making the announcement.

The company said the 36 Mgy plant will be the first commercial-scale facility constructed. KL Energy may take issue with the defintion of “commercial-scale”  — but there being no firm “definition” of cellulosic ethanol, there’s no harm in some self-promotion from Verenium. In terms of cellulosic ethanol, 36 Mgy is an awesome project at this time.

It will be an interesting race between the delayed Range Fuels and BlueFire Ethanol projects to see if they reach completion on demonstration-scale plants prior to the completion of the Verenium project, and briefly take supremacy as the “world’s largest CE plant”.

The Verenium facility will be located in Highlands County, between Orlando and Lake Okeechobee, and will receive $7 million in support for the project from the state of Florida’s Farm-to-Fuel fund, and expected to break ground on the 36 Mgy facility in the second half of the year. The project will cost between $250 and $300 million and will use non-food grasses as feedstock.

The company’s 1.4 Mgy demonstration-scale plant in Jennings, Louisiana commenced production this month.

Free Subscription to the Daily Biofuels Digest e-newsletter

Related Stories

Verenium and BP name their partnership Vercipia, aim for DOE loan guarantee on Florida project

In Massachusetts, BP and Verenium announced that its 50-50 joint venture company will operate under the name Vercipia Biofuels, and plan to relocate its corporate headquarters to Florida. Vercipia con...

Verenium to launch largest commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant; $250 million 36 Mgy Florida project starts this year

In Florida, Verenium announced that it would commence construction of what it termed the first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant. The facility will be located in Highlands County, between Orla...

Verenium moves to due diligence on US DOE loan guarantee

In Florida, Verenium and BP announced that their jointly-owned, commercial cellulosic ethanol project in Highlands County has been moved by the US DOE into the due diligence phase of its Title XVII Lo...

BP launches new video on company’s work in cellulosic biofuels

In the UK, BP has now uploaded a film onto its website about the company's work on cellulosic biofuels. It's a follow up to the biobutanol film that was previously highlighted in the Digest. In partne...

Special Report on Cellulosic Ethanol: POET pursues integration while, ZeaChem pursues yield as the race for CE commercialization heats up

In the US, POET's cellulosic ethanol vision is integrated: cellulosic plants that use corn cobs that are waste material from cultivation of POET's primary feedstock, corn. POET's $8 million pilot-s...

Verenium to commission 1.4 Mgy cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant in Louisiana

In Louisiana, Verenium said that it was in the process of commissioning its 1.4 Mgy demonstration-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in Jennings. The company said that it would commence construction of a ...