Cellulosic Ethanol Plant Planned in Kansas

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Abengoa Bioenergy is following through on its commitment to commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol production, having secured a conditional approval for a $133.9 million loan guarantee from the DOE to build a plant in Kansas. The Abengoa Bioenergy project, which will be located in Hugoton, about 90 miles southwest of Dodge City, is expected to convert approximately 300,000 tons of corn stover into 23 million gallons of ethanol per year, using what the company calls an "innovative enzymatic hydrolysis process." The project maximizes the use of agricultural crop residues that would otherwise not be utilized and uses feedstock that does not compete with feed grains. Annually, the project is expected to displace more than 15.5 million gallons of gasoline, avoiding more than 139,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. The facility will be closed-loop, using unconverted biomass to generate 20 megawatts of electricity to power the cellulosic ethanol plant. Abengoa has entered into an ethanol offtake agreement to sell ethanol produced by the facility and expects more than 90% of the project‘s sourced components to be produced in the United States. Company officials say the project will create approximately 300 construction jobs and 65 permanent jobs. The Abengoa announcement follows June plans from DuPont Danisco to build a cellulosic ethanol plant near Nevada, Iowa, and POET's announcement last year to build a 25-million-gallon-per-year facility near Emmitsburg, Iowa.