By Dale Buss, Contributor Even as questions about ethanol's role in the energy supply chain continue roiling the industry, cellulosic ethanol pioneer Coskata Inc. unveiled and fired up its 50,000-gallon-a-year “semi-commercial” plant in Madison, Pa., today, pushing itself toward the forefront of fledgling second-generation ethanol producers. Towering over the surrounding countryside, the 65-ft. structure with an 8,000-degree torch that blasts the wood chips serving as a raw material, the plant is the $50-million result of research and development efforts going back several years. It moves the Warrendale, Ill.-based start-up closer to the 55-million-gallon plant Coskata anticipates opening by the end of 2012. “We now have verification of everything that we'd earlier expected, and a tuned message that we can deliver about the costs associated with the build-out of a commercial-scale plant, and eventual operating costs,” Bill Roe, Coskata's chief executive officer, told Green Car Advisor . “This gives us a proof statement and demonstrated capabilities.” Volume Questioned Coskata already has been delivering small quantities of cellulosic ethanol to General Motors Corp. for use in its test fleet in Milford, Mich. GM was an initial investor in the company and continues to support its aims, but the volume of ethanol needed in the future is uncertain. Automakers are among the parties raising concerns over a proposal that the federal government increase the ethanol “blend wall” to as high as 15 percent of a gasoline-ethanol mixture from the current limit of 10

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Coskata Fires Up Cellulosic Ethanol Demonstration Plant Near Pittsburgh

Tagged as: Coskata, General Motors