Representatives of DuPont Co., a multinational chemical company, have announced plans to build a next-generation ethanol plant in Central Iowa near Nevada.
It’s estimated that the ethanol plant will take anywhere from a year to a year and a half to build. It is expected to start producing ethanol by 2013. It will be situated next to Lincolnway Ethanol Energy Plant.
The next-generation plant will use corncobs and corn stover (the leaves and stalks that are left behind after the harvesting of the grain) to make ethanol. The plant may need 300,000 dry tons of corn stover annually.
“Biofuels produced from cellulose represents the next generation of biofuels with several advantages to corn ethanol,” said Robert C. Brown, distinguished professor of mechanical engineering and director of Iowa State’s Bioeconomy Institute. “However, for the present, corn ethanol can be produced more cheaply than cellulosic ethanol.”
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