Work has started on a biofuels conversion facility in Bryan, Texas, that will test the scaled-up, commercial feasibility of Terrabon's MixAlco™ technology. The MixAlco technology uses non-food feedstocks such as municipal solid waste, sewage sludge, forest product residues and non-edible energy crops to create acetic acid and alcohols that may be converted into fuel. The new semi-works demonstration plant is designed to confirm the engineering for the technology on a larger scale.

Testing has been underway for three years at the company's pilot plant in College Station and has proven that the MixAlco technology can commercially make cellulosic ethanol and renewable gasoline. The pilot plant can process up to 200 dry pounds per day of biomass using feedstock such as paper wastes and chicken manure.

The new plant, which is expected to be operational by September 2008, will have a loading capacity of 400 dry tons of biomass, which equates to a loading rate of five dry tons per day. Sorghum will be the primary feedstock with the objective of producing organic salts and converting them to ketones. Current plans call for the process to run in two separate cycles, each about 80 days in duration.

"With construction of this facility, we are one step closer to bringing cost effective, renewable energy products to consumers," said Gary W. Luce, Terrabon's Chief Executive Officer. "Using municipal solid waste as a feedstock at a price of $10.00 per tonne, we believe this technology can produce fuel-grade ethanol for $1.00 per gallon and renewable gasoline for $1.65 per gallon for a facility processing around 300 tons per day of municipal solid waste."