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Dupont’s new biorefinery starts to take shape

Science and engineering giant Dupont has broken ground on its cellulosic ethanol facility in Iowa, US as it moves towards the commercialisation of advanced biofuels.

The plant is expected to be complete before the end of 2014 and cost in excess of $200 million (€154 million).

It is expected to generate 30 million gallons of cellulosic biofuel annually via corn stover residues, a non-food feedstock that consists of corn stalks and leaves.  This is more capacity than original estimates called for as data derived from DuPont’s piloting facility in Tennessee has allowed it to further optimise the process and technology. 

‘By leveraging our corn production and designing an integrated technology platform, we’ve built an affordable and sustainable entry point into this new industry.  We’re committed to continued productivity gains to drive costs down even further for the coming generations of plants, ones based on corn stover as well as other feedstocks,’ says DuPont Industrial Biosciences president James Collins.

‘We didn’t get to this point alone however.  We’ve built partnerships with the state of Iowa, Iowa State University, entrepreneurial growers and a whole host of partners around the country who share our vision of making renewable fuels a commercial reality.’

Collins was joined by Iowa governor Terry Branstad to celebrate the official beginning of construction on the facility at a ceremony held at the construction site adjacent to grain ethanol facility Lincolnway Energy.

DuPont is set to contract more than 500 local farmers to gather, store and deliver over 375,000 dry tonnes of stover per year, all of whom will be available for collection within a 30 mile radius of the plant.

“Many of us who have participated in the stover harvest programme with DuPont are already seeing benefits of this alternative residue management strategy, including positive effects on grain yields the following year on our fields,’ says Jim Hill, a corn grower whose stover will be used to supply the facility.





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