07/23/08
Dupont Helps Build
Pilot Biorefinery
by: Ginger Trice
The University of
Tennessee is partnering with DuPont Danisco to build a first of
its kind biorefinery for cellulosic ethanol production. The
pilot facility will produce ethanol from corn and eventually
switchgrass, a crop the state has spent millions of dollars
researching.
According to DuPont
spokesperson Michelle Reardon, site preperations for the
biorefinery will begin this fall. Ethanol should be available
by the end of 2009. The facility will be located in Monroe
County in east Tennessee. Earlier this year, 16 farmers from
the area signed on to provide the switchgrass crop. Officials
say already 720 acres have been planted for the pilot program.
Switchgrass is a
perennial grass native to North America. University of
Tennessee professor Don Tyler says switchgrass is easy to grow,
its tolerant of poor soils, and requires little fertilizer; in
some cases requiring one-third of the fertlizer that it takes to
grow equal amounts of corn.
But one criticism of
biomass feedstocks is that the land required to produce them is
a limited resource. Dr. Tyler counters saying projections of
Tennessee switchgrass yields are strong.
"We can probably
produce enough switchgrass to replace up to 30 to 40 percent of
our fossil fuels," Tyler says. "That's without taking any crops
out of production."
Tyler says making
switchgrass marketable is still years away. More switchgrass
farmers and processing facilities are needed, as well as more
development of products that run on ethanol. However with the
new corporate commitment to building a biorefinery, switchgrass
moves closer to becoming a viable energy source.