Biogas Integration for Cellulosic Ethanol Production
By Amanda Bilek, Biomass Magazine.
As cellulosic ethanol production facilities have come online, anaerobic digesters have been colocated at the plants to recover biogas from soluble residues inherent in the ethanol production process. These soluble residues contain a source of energy that can be recovered using anaerobic digestion, and the captured biogas can help meet process energy needs.
Recently in Iowa, DuPont held a grand opening for the world’s largest cellulosic ethanol facility. Once fully operational, the plant will produce 30 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year. The opening of the DuPont plant comes on the heels of Poet-DSM’s cellulosic ethanol facility opening in 2014. The Poet-DSM plant aims to produce 20 MMgy.