U.S. to fund six cellulosic ethanol plants

The U.S. Department of Energy announced Wednesday it will provide $385 million in funding for six biorefinery projects during the next four years.

Energy Department Secretary Samuel Bodman said the six plants are expected to produce more than 130 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol annually, helping further the government's goal of making cellulosic ethanol cost-competitive with gasoline by 2012 and, along with increased automobile fuel efficiency, reducing the United States' gasoline consumption by 20 percent within 10 years.

The projects selected and their funding were the

Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass of Chesterland, Mo., and its plant in Kansas, $76 million; ALICO Inc. of LaBelle, Fla., $33 million; BlueFire Ethanol Inc. of Irvine, Calif., $40 million; the Broin Companies of Sioux Falls, S.D., and its plant in Emmetsurg, Iowa, $80 million; Iogen Biorefinery Partners LLC of Arlington, Va., and its plant in Shelley, Idaho, 80 million; and Range Fuels Inc. of Broomfield, Colo., and its plant in Soperton, Ga., $76 million.

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