Coskata's cellulosic ethanol road show hits Thailand, China, Australia
Filed under: Ethanol, GM, Asia

Representatives from one of the GM-backed cellulosic ethanol concerns, Coskata, have been visiting the Asia-Pacific region recently to tout their anything-into-ethanol technology. In Thailand, they recommended that the Thai government work to make "Thailand the ethanol manufacturing hub for Asia," according to the Thai newspaper The Nation. Before committing to a Thai location, though, Coskata wants the government to have "clear-cut tax regulations, lower import tariffs for machines, and support in establishing investment." Coskata's chief marketing officer, Wes Bolsen, touted a three- to four-year break-even point for investors who help the company set up an ethanol facility there by 2012. Here in the U.S., Coskata is waiting on government aid before moving forward on a pilot plant.
[Source: The Nation (Thai newspaper)]




You probably remember that back in January of this year, General Motors announced that it was
General Motors and Coskata today announced that a pilot plant for cellulosic ethanol will be built in Madison, Pennsylvania. The plant will located adjacent to the Westinghouse Plasma Center in Madison. The plasma torches that Coskata will be using for their gasification process are based on technology that was developed by GM and Westinghouse in the early eighties. At that time the companies developed a plasma furnace used to melt raw materials for cast iron production at GM foundries. The first production application was at a GM foundry in Defiance OH in 1989. 