GM announces location of Coskata cellulosic ethanol plant

[HoosierRon]

Coskata cellulosic ethanol pilot plant to be located in Madison, Pennsylvania

MADISON, Pa. – General Motors Corp.'s role in helping Coskata Inc. bring its next-generation cellulosic ethanol to market traces back a quarter of a century to technology developed for a GM iron foundry in northwest Ohio.

Coskata announced Friday that its pilot plant will be located at the Westinghouse Plasma Center in Madison, the current site of a pilot-plant gasifier.

Gasification is the first step in Coskata's process to make ethanol out of practically any renewable source. Plasma torches are used to super heat source material, such as agricultural and municipal solid waste, to 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit, which creates a synthesis gas comprised of carbon dioxide and hydrogen.

The gas is cooled to about 100 degrees Fahrenheit and then is consumed by Coskata's patented microorganisms, which excrete ethanol and some water.

In 1983, the GM Central Foundry Division collaborated with Westinghouse Electric Corp., later known as Westinghouse Plasma Corp., and others to develop a high-volume plasma torch furnace, called a plasma arc cupola, that could more flexibly produce molten iron used to make automotive engine blocks, crankshafts and brake components.

GM's first application of plasma torch technology was in 1989 at its foundry in Defiance, Ohio, where it is still used today.

[jfnz24]

Great news. That is about 10 miles from where I live. They have a lot of land to work with their, so if expansion is needed, they can do so rather quickly.

[I-Love-Pontiac]

$1/gallon ethanol here we come

[TAMark]

Correction to what is stated above: Synthesis gas consists mainly of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, not carbon dioxide.

[Michael_S]

Nice.

[Wolfman01]

Excellent. That part of the country has remained very underepresented for E85 fuel.

[silentgarth]

The article states that it should be on-line producing aprox 100 million gallons a year by 2010-2011. Cant wait!

[Koasterking]

I hope municiple waste is the prime source for producing ethanol using this method. That way, farmers can switch back to growing wheat so prices can fall......Hopefully...

[ChevroletRevived]

Originally Posted by Wolfman01

Excellent. That part of the country has remained very underepresented for E85 fuel.

I was thinking about that as well! Pennsylvania is a large state and it's not one of the ethanol growing states, so it's good to see ethanol really branching out everywhere.

[johnstarnes]

I wonder if we are seeing a replay of the VHS vs. BETA battle but this time with the players being ethanol fermented from crops vs. cellulosic ethanol? I greatly prefer the latter due in part to the vast amount of increasingly scarce water used to grow crops. This will be interesting to look back on ten years from now.

[motorman]

they have also been using the plasma torch technology to burn contaminate waste.

[chrisbenz]

From the same state as the first oil well. I hope this is just as big!

[HoosierRon]

Originally Posted by johnstarnes

I wonder if we are seeing a replay of the VHS vs. BETA battle but this time with the players being ethanol fermented from crops vs. cellulosic ethanol? I greatly prefer the latter due in part to the vast amount of increasingly scarce water used to grow crops. This will be interesting to look back on ten years from now.

This is not a VHS vs. BETA battle. Whether you make ethanol from corn or sugar or garbage or switchgrass, the end product is the same: C2H5OH.

[Rick_VT]

Originally Posted by I-Love-Pontiac

$1/gallon ethanol here we come

$1/gallon is the production cost right?? Any idea on what the cost at the service station will be though?

[thebuickguy]

well if cellulosic ethanol is accepted national god willing add 20 cents for federal tax then 30 cent state then a 10 to 20 cent station mark up still looking below $2.00