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January 13, 2008 – Vol. 12 No. 43 Coskata Announces Next Generation Ethanol, Partnership With General Motors. Seen as breakthrough ethanol, the Coskata process can produce ethanol almost anywhere in the world, using a wide range of feedstock, for less than US $1.00 per gallon, say companies. According to the company, using patented microorganisms and transformative bioreactor designs, Coskata ethanol is produced via a unique three-step conversion process that turns virtually any carbon-based feedstock, including biomass, municipal solid waste, bagasse and other agricultural waste into ethanol, making production a possibility in almost any geography. Coskata’s syngas-to-ethanol process technology is ethanol-specific and enzyme independent, requiring no additional chemicals or pre-treatments; environmentally superior, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 84 percent compared to conventional gasoline; and has the ability to generate 7.7 times as much energy as is required to produce the ethanol, compared to corn ethanol which generates approximately 1.3 times as much energy according to Argonne National Labs. (According to the Coskata website there are more than one billion tons of biomass that can be converted into fuel annually in the U.S. alone. Using the Coskata process, each of these tons can be converted into over 100 gallons of low-cost ethanol. General Motors Research shows (on the Coskata website) that cellulosic ethanol (15 percent from energy crops) could displace 35 percent of gasoline consumed per year in the US, with grain ethanol displacing 4 percent. In 2006 the US consumed about 138 billion gallons of gasoline. Due to the lower energy content of ethanol, more ethanol would be consumed relative to gasoline.)
A strategic partnership with General Motors (an undisclosed equity stake in Coskata) to commercialize Coskata ethanol was announced at the 2008 North American International Auto Show. Coskata is working closely with leading research institutions focused on renewable energy to bring this compelling syngas-to-ethanol process technology to market, including Oklahoma State University, The University of Oklahoma, Brigham Young University and Argonne National Laboratory. Coskata was founded in 2006 by leading renewable energy investors and entrepreneurs, including Khosla Ventures, Advanced Technology Ventures, and GreatPoint Ventures. Globally, GM has about 3.5 million flex-fuel vehicles on the road in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Brazil. About 2.5 million are capable of operating on any percentage of gasoline and ethanol, up to 85 percent ethanol (E85). Another 1 million are in Brazil, where more than 90 percent of the vehicles GM sells run on 100-percent ethanol, known as E100. GM produces more than 1 million flex-fuel vehicles a year globally. (1/13/08) Links: Coskata General Motors
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