Ribbon to be cut on new biofuels pilot plant in US

A new pilot plant for biofuels production is to be opened by the US-based LSU AgCenter Audubon Sugar Institute as the culmination of its sustainable bioproducts initiative this January.

The plant will focus on converting sweet sorghum, sugarcane and other grassy feedstocks into sugars and bioporducts to be refined into gasoline and butanol among other things.

The plant is based in St Gabriel, Louisiana and is part of five year project funded by a $17.2 million (€13.1 million) grant from the US Department of Agriculture.

‘This facility can be scaled up to any capacity,’ project director Vadim Kochergin was quoted as saying. ‘We can facilitate projects targeting evaluation and validation of technologies, as well as train both research and operating personnel.’