When gasoline prices are soaring high across the world and life getting hectic enough to give up a thought on a carless-life, here is a welcome news to counter the worrisome soaring figures – it’s “a dollar a gallon!” A new company — Coskata of Warrenville, IL – in partnership with General Motors, promises to produce cheaper ethanol from wood chips, grass and even trash including old tires!
Apart from its production at a lower cost, it also hugely beats production-cost of biofuel from corn grain – the source of almost all United States-made ethanol. At the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Coskata claims to have developed a hybrid approach, which involves both the thermo-chemical and biological processes in the making of ethanol.
It is for the first time both the methods are used, as until now, either one or the other has been focused. To add to its breakthrough approach of making ethanol cheaper than the other existing and under-development production processes, its technology also contributes hugely towards the environment – it uses less energy as well as water.
Coskata will soon come up with a pilot-scale ethanol production facility and will also announce locations for a 40,000-gallon-per-year facility and a 100-million-gallon-per-year commercial-scale plant later this year. Thanks to General Motors for providing financial, technical as well as marketing support.
Via: technologyreview
