Biting the bullet: companies are looking for ways to produce ethanol from non-food biomass
US hands out ethanol research funds
The US government will give four companies and a university $23 million to advance research on producing ethanol from plant material such as corn stalks and switch grass, the Department of Energy said today.
Purdue University in Indiana will receive $5 million for research it will conduct with Archer Daniels Midland, the largest US ethanol producer.
Cargill, a privately owned agribusiness company that produces ethanol, will receive $4.4 million.
Celunol will receive $5.3 million. The company recently began operating a cellulosic ethanol pilot facility in Louisiana.
DuPont, a chemical maker, will receive $3.7 million.
Mascoma, a leader in trying to cost-effectively produce cellulosic ethanol, will receive $4.9 million.
The funding starts this fiscal year and runs through to 2010.
US President George W. Bush has set a goal of making cellulosic ethanol cost-competitive by 2012 and reducing America's gasoline consumption by 20% in 10 years.
Ethanol is currently made using corn in the US and sugar cane in South America. There is no commercial production of ethanol using cellulosic materials because of the high cost.
However, using food sources to make fuel has created concerns about rising food prices and prompted the government to fund research into alterative ways to produce the alternative fuel that is blended with gasoline.