Motoring News < Back to News Index > >> 25/January/2010 - U.S Government Shows Support For BioRefinery

Coskata The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has provided a $250 million loan guarantee to a planned US biofuel facility that will use the same rubbish-to-fuel technology as a plant proposed for Australia. Coskata Inc., the company responsible for the unique technology that can turn household rubbish into fuel-grade ethanol, has been supported by GM since 2008. GM's Director of Federal Environmental and Energy Regulatory Affairs Mary Beth Stanek said: “One of the challenges in making cellulosic ethanol available to the public is a lack of financial backing. "This loan will help to further commercialise this unique technology and environmentally friendly fuel. It’s great news for Coskata and an important first step for the construction of a full-scale facility," Ms Stanek said. Holden Energy and Environment Director Richard Marshall said the loan guarantee was also an important milestone in the establishment of an Australian second-generation ethanol plant. It follows an announcement late last year of the formation of a new company, Flex Ethanol Australia, to take the project to the next stage of commercialisation. "The USDA guarantee is the largest ever awarded for a biofuel plant, and will allow this project to move forward with financing the construction of a US facility that can produce 200 million litres of ethanol per year - the same output as is proposed for the Australian plant," Mr Marshall said. He said the ethanol produced by the Australian plant would be used in a range of ethanol-blend fuels, including E85, which contains a mixture of up to 85 per cent ethanol and 15 per cent regular petrol. The fuel is sold at Caltex service stations as Bio E-Flex and can be used to power vehicles flex-fuel vehicles in Holden’s VE Series II Commodore range. It can achieve CO2 reductions of up to 40 per cent, compared to petrol. < Back to News Index >