US venture plans commercial cellulosic ethanol plant
BP and Verenium Corporation have committed $45 million (US) to a 50-50 joint venture aimed at developing and commercialising cellulosic ethanol from non-food sources.
Together, the companies seek to speed up development of one of the US’s first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol facilities in Highlands County, Florida.
“When we say that this partnership is groundbreaking, we mean it both figuratively and literally,” said Carlos A. Riva, president and CEO of Verenium. “We are striving to move as rapidly as possible because the technology is ready and we know the marketplace is waiting. This process will help fulfill America’s renewable fuel mandates, build our nation’s domestic infrastructure and create the new green jobs we so badly need.”
The joint venture plans to break ground on the Florida plant site in 2010. The facility, expected to cost between $250 million and $300 million to build, would begin production in 2012, with a projected capacity of 36 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol a year.
