Coskata Inc has announced (15th October) the start-up of its semi-commercial flex ethanol facility in Madison, PA. According to the company the new facility will be producing ethanol from numerous feedstocks, including wood biomass, agricultural waste, sustainable energy crops, and construction waste. The flexible approach is possible, says the company, because of its utlization of  plasma gasification technology from Westinghouse Plasma Corporation.

"We are proud that we have successfully scaled our technology to this significant level," said Bill Roe, president and CEO of Coskata. "This facility is demonstrating that our efficient, affordable and flexible conversion technology is ready for commercialization. The next step is to build full-scale facilities and begin licensing our technology to project developers, project financiers and strategic partners."

Coskata calims that its technology is able to reduce greenhouse gasses by as much as 96% over conventional gasoline, while using less than half the water that it takes to get a gallon of gasoline. In addition, the company's ability to produce non grain-based ethanol that is as much as 7 times as energy positive as the fossil fuel used in the process, addresses many concerns related to traditional processes, including energy efficiency and the use of grain.

"We invested in Coskata so that we could enable the rapid deployment of commercially viable and environmentally sustainable ethanol globally," said Bob Babik, GM Vehicle Emissions Director. "We're proud to say that we have already accepted some of Coskata's ethanol at our Milford facility."

Globally, General Motors has produced more than 5 million flex-fuel vehicles to date. In the U.S. alone, there are more than 3.5 million GM flex-fuel cars and trucks on the road. For the 2010 model year, 17 E85-capable flex-fuel vehicles from the Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC brands.

GM is on track to make more than half of its vehicle production flex-fuel capable by 2012.