Last week, DuPont has made a statement on its commitment to cellulosic ethanol as the company broke ground on its planned 30m gal/year biorefinery in Nevada, Iowa.

The $200m cellulosic ethanol plant is expected to be completed in mid-2014, and reportedly will be among the first and largest commercial-scale cellulosic biorefineries in the world. The facility will use over 375,000 dry tons/year of corn stover for feedstock contracted from more than 500 local farmers

The corn stover will be collected from a 30-mile radius around the facility and harvested off of 190,000 acres. DuPont is also continuously working with Iowa State University to complete large-scale stover supply chain testing.

DuPont has contracted engineering and construction firm Fagen to build the plant while KBR Inc. will execute the front-end engineering, procurement and detailed engineering design for the project.

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