DOE Partnerships

Bridge Ethanol 

Technology Gap

lead in developing an ethanol industry based on agricultural waste. The DOE program, through the National

Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will take the first

step by conducting engineering feasibility studies of

agricultural residues to help meet the increasing

demand for ethanol. 

Economic and technical challenges

A primary goal of the DOE program is to provide the

grain processing industry the opportunity to explore the

use of agricultural residues as feedstock, by allowing it

to examine new technology through cost sharing the initial evaluations of business potential.

Building a new ethanol plant is capital intensive, and

the economic challenges of incorporating new technologies constitute a major obstacle to expansion. “The sitespecific subcontracts will give our customers a chance to

evaluate the benefits of using the new technology in

their own plants at a low cost,” said Robert Walker,

president of Swan Biomass Company. “They will be

Volume 2, Number 2 Spring 1999

”There will be many benefits from a 

successful initiative, including reducing

the cost of domestic ethanol production,

creating new markets for U.S. corn 

growers, encouraging the production of

a clean-burning alternative to gasoline

and helping to cut our dependence on

imported oil.”

Dan Reicher, Assistant Secretary 

for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

As the corn ethanol industry grows, so does its interest in new technology. In February 1999, the U.S.

Department of Energy (DOE) awarded six subcontracts

for the “Bridge to the Corn Ethanol Industry” program.

These subcontracts will help connect the well-established corn ethanol industry with new technologies for

making ethanol from agricultural wastes such as corn

stover and corn fiber. These cost-shared partnerships

will evaluate the cost of expanding grain processing

facilities with new cellulosic ethanol production technology. “With more types of feedstocks, especially from the

corn industry, ethanol producers can keep up with

expected increases in demand,” said Dan Reicher.

The corn industry: key to ethanol’s success

Since the oil embargo of the 1970s, domestic ethanol

production has been seen as one way to decrease U.S.

dependence on foreign oil. The corn processing industry is our country’s largest ethanol producer, and possesses key expertise, processing knowhow, and access to

capital markets. It is therefore well poised to take the

High Plains Corporation in York, Nebraska, is an awardee of the “Building a

Bridge to the Corn Ethanol Industry” contract.

continued on page 2

page 1

High Plains Corporation/PIX 07265
very helpful because ethanol producers usually can't

afford to evaluate new technology and designs for

ethanol production.” Swan will work with Chippewa

Valley Ethanol of Minnesota and High Plains Corporation, an ethanol production company with plants in

three states, to evaluate the economic viability of an

ethanol production process that uses lignocellulosic feedstocks instead of grain

starch. 

To master the technical challenges

associated with new technologies, the

subcontractors will work with engineering design firms to study ethanol facilities

and determine how they can absorb new

technology more easily. One such firm is

Vogelbush, U.S.A., which will study how

to make ethanol from corn stover at Chief

Ethanol Fuels’ Nebraska plant. It will also

perform a preliminary cost comparison of

several other technologies. “We will

examine ideas from ethanol pilot plant

studies and try to streamline and commercialize them,” said Vogelbush president 

Gunter Brodel. “We hope that by designing a more efficient plant, we will make more feedstocks available

and reduce production costs.”

Ethanol from corn—everyone wins

DOE strives, through its Bridge to the Corn Ethanol

Industry program, to reduce the cost of producing

ethanol, thereby ultimately reducing its cost to consumers. DOE hopes to give its partners in the ethanol

industry the opportunity to explore new production

technologies, taking advantage of the grain processing

infrastructure. DOE will also obtain feedback from the

grain processing industry to guide future research and

development in biomass conversion. A successful initiative will benefit farmers and ethanol producers by

strengthening the demand for the farmers’ products

(including ethanol), and the entire country will benefit

from a stronger economy that is less dependent on

imported oil.

Printed with a renewable-source ink on paper containing at least 50% wastepaper, including 20% postconsumer waste.

DOE Partnerships Bridge Ethanol Technology Gap (continued)

“Building a Bridge to the Corn Ethanol Industry” 

contract awardees:

Merrick and Co., Aurora, Colorado and

High Plains Corp., York, Nebraska

The New York State Technology Enterprise Corp., Rome, New York and

Robbins Corn & Bulk Services, Sackets Harbor, New York

Swan Biomass Co., Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois and

High Plains Corp., Portales, New Mexico

Purdue Research Foundation, West Lafayette, Indiana and

Williams Energy Services—Ethanol, Pekin, Illinois 

Swan Biomass Co., Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois and

Chippewa Valley Ethanol Co., Benson, Minnesota

Vogelbush U.S.A., Inc., Houston, Texas and

Chief Ethanol Fuels, Inc., Hastings, Nebraska

The growing ethanol fuel market has increased the

number of ethanol pilot plant projects, and renewed

interest in an ethanol tax producers’ credit. This dollarfor-dollar $0.10/gallon credit (for as much as 15 million

gallons per year of qualified ethanol fuel production)

can reduce an eligible small ethanol producer’s federal

income tax by as much as $1.5 million per year. 

“There are a lot more ethanol plants today than

there used to be, and a lot more interest in the tax

credit,” according to Ann Rotroff, an Atlanta attorney

whose firm is structuring several small ethanol projects.

“The problem is, if small farmers don’t make enough

New Market 

Brings Life to 

Old Tax Credit

“We applaud DOE for its commitment to work

with today’s ethanol industry to expand the 

production of ethanol from nontraditional feedstocks. By working together, U.S. ethanol 

producers and DOE will ensure that renewable

fuels play an ever-increasing role in meeting 

our nation’s transportation energy needs.”

Eric Vaughn, President 

Renewable Fuels Association

continued on page 4

page 2
Corn Stover to Ethanol—

A Plan for 

Commercializing Collection

page 3

Traditionally, DOE’s Office of Fuels Development

(OFD) has focused on technologies for producing

ethanol from agricultural wastes, forestry residues, and

dedicated energy crops. One of the most abundant agricultural residues is corn

stover. It is available in

high density in the corn

processing belt, where

other agricultural feedstocks are also typically

available. It is located near

the agricultural processing

industry and in areas that

have a good infrastructure

for collecting and transporting the materials.

“So much is available

and there is so much near

large agricultural processors and ethanol producers, that we can generate

large amounts of ethanol

with a resource that is only

slightly used now,” says

John Sheehan, of the

National Renewable

Energy Laboratory’s

(NREL) Biofuels Program

analysis team. 

OFD representatives

met with staff of two of its

laboratories (Oak Ridge

National Laboratory [ORNL] and NREL) to discuss

environmentally friendly ways to make ethanol.

Because large amounts of corn stover are produced

when corn crops are harvested, OFD directed ORNL

and NREL to develop a comprehensive plan for commercializing ethanol production from corn stover. 

As a follow-up to that directive, NREL and ORNL

staff developed an integrated plan for commercializing

corn stover conversion to ethanol with commercial production starting by the end of 2005. The plan requires

two major achievements: (1) the continued development of better cellulase enzyme and ethanol-producing

strain technology; and (2) an acceptance of corn stover

collection as part of an improved agricultural practice

for corn farming. The assumption of the need for

improved technology is based on NREL process economic models. It does not take into account synergies

that corn processing plants may offer that could expedite commercialization. Acceptance of corn stover collection will require the leadership of farmers, the

USDA, and environmental groups to gain consensus on

a new agricultural practice

that includes corn stover

collection as part of cultivating corn.

These activities include

the “Bridge to the Corn

Ethanol Industry” program

(see article on p. 1). Dialogues are also being

established with environmental groups about the

benefits of improved agricultural productivity.

Meetings and workshops

are planned to discuss

issues on corn stover collection. A major national

focus is to demonstrate

that residue can be collected economically, without eroding the soil, and to

offer ways in which it can

be collected as part of an

improved agricultural

practice. 

Other efforts involve

working with local farming communities and

entrepreneurs who are exploring corn stover collection,

and on collaborating with companies interested in

higher-value products from sugars to understand what

opportunities open up as sugar costs drop.

When successfully deployed, corn stover-to-ethanol

manufacturing plants will increase farmer income and

rural economic activity. Improving corn stover collection technology and accelerating its acceptance into the

corn ethanol marketplace will also advance America’s

ethanol industry and its national economy.

Improving corn stover collection technology will

advance America’s ethanol industry.

Warren Gretz, NREL/PIX 02268
NONPROFIT

U.S. Postage

PAID

Permit No. 258

Golden, Colorado

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

National Alternative Fuels Hotline

1617 Cole Blvd, MS: 1633

Golden, CO 80401 

page 4

DOE/GO-10099-762 For more information, contact the National Alternative Fuels Hotline at 800-423-1DOE.

Produced for the National Biofuels Program, Office of Fuels Development, U.S. Department of Energy,

1000 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20585-1121. 

income, they won’t have enough 

tax to benefit from the tax credit.

That’s where an investor comes in,”

she says.

A project can be structured to benefit the investor and the farmer. A

small producer whose farm income is

too low to finance a project, but who

does not want to relinquish project

control, can seek investors. “Investors

are more educated about alternative

fuels today. They see how investing

in projects like these can benefit technology development and themselves,” stated Rotroff.

The credit was set to expire next

year, but environmental groups

joined investors and small ethanol

producers to persuade Congress to

extend it to December 31, 2007.

For a copy of Qualifying for the

Small Ethanol Producer Credit, call Ann

Rotroff at Gomel & Davis (404-223-

5900) or arotroff@gomeldavis.com.

New Market Brings Life to Old Tax Credit (continued)

New Biofuels Website!

The National Biofuels Program has a new website: http://www.ott.doe.gov/

biofuels. The Biofuels Program, under the guidance of OFD, is working to

make OFD’s vision of large-scale domestic ethanol production from biomass a

reality. The website offers everything from a biofuels primer, to legislative

information, to updates on biofuels technologies, feasibility studies, and

related commercialization activities by national laboratories, universities, private industry, research foundations, and other government entities. 

Recent Publications (call the U.S. DOE Hotline at 800-423-1363 for copies)

Biofuels—A Solution for Climate Change (DOE/GO-10098-580)

Bridge to the Corn Ethanol Industry (DOE publication)

Ethanol: Separating Fact from Fiction (DOE/GO-10099-736)

Excellence in Biotechnology for Renewable Fuels and Chemicals (NREL/BR-580-24111)

Fifth National Clean Cities 

Conference

May 23-26, Louisville, KY

Contact: Clean Cities Hotline 

800-CCITIES

www.ccities.doe.gov

15th Annual International Fuel

Ethanol Workshop and Exposition

June 22-25, Cedar Rapids, IA

Contact: Bryan & Bryan, 719-942-4353

Global Soy Forum ‘99

August 4–7, Chicago, IL

Contact: 217-244-7384 

www.gsf99.uiuc.edu

2nd Annual Ag Fiber Technology 

Showcase

August 18–20, Memphis, TN

Contact: Pete Nelson, 901-757-1777

www.agrotechfiber.com 

Fourth Biomass Conference 

of the Americas

August 29–September 2, Oakland, CA

www.nrel.gov/bioam 

Upcoming

Conferences

and Events