Investors Back Experimental Ethanol Plant

[RestoreGore]

I think this is a step in the right direction.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/13/business/13ethanol.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin

Investors Back Experimental Ethanol Plant

By MIGUEL HELFT
Published: November 13, 2006

The Mascoma Corporation, which is trying to produce ethanol from nontraditional sources, plans to announce today that it has received $30 million in financing from a group of prominent venture capital investors.

The investment, which is led by General Catalyst Partners, and includes Khosla Ventures, Flagship Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and others, is the latest in a string of venture capital financings of alternative energy companies. Khosla and Flagship together invested $9 million in Mascoma earlier this year.

Mascoma, which is based in Cambridge, Mass., plans to use some of the funds to begin building a pilot plant and eventually a commercial processor to produce cellulosic ethanol, which can be made from grass, wood or various agricultural or forestry waste products.

In the United States, ethanol is produced primarily from corn. Many scientists, environmentalists and investors say that cellulosic ethanol will eventually be far more attractive because it can be made from waste matter or from crops that consume less water and energy than corn. Still, several technical hurdles remain before cellulosic ethanol can be produced cheaply, and there are currently no commercial cellulosic ethanol plants in the United States.

“This is obviously a substantial commitment from the venture community to the cellulosic ethanol space,” said Colin South, Mascoma’s president.

More at the link.

[The Deacon]

1. Cool

Of course what is REALLY needed is a plant which can use multi-source feedstocks. Anyone working on something of that nature? (Being down here in peanut-land we hear mainly about advances in bio diesel.)

[RestoreGore]

2. Don't know

But I will certainly make a point of finding out.