Gulf Ethanol Corporation,will be profiled in the July/August edition of the Bio-Fuels Journal following the recent announcement for an enhanced ethanol production facility along the Texas Gulf coast that could use the new sorghum plant developed by Texas A&M as its primary feed stock. Texas A&M University and Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CVX) recently announced the major new alternative fuels initiative.
“At this stage, we’re working with Texas A&M on the possibility of approaching farmers to grow a new type of sorghum plant developed by Texas A&M,” said Bob Starkey, refinery and plant development manager for Gulf Ethanol.
The development of “freakishly tall sorghum plants” was designed as an ideal feedstock for Ethanol production by Texas A&M. “Standing nearly 20 feet tall, these plants are more than twice the height of regular sorghum and yield double the crop per acre. They can survive on little water. They have been bred not to flower, thus trapping more energy within.” (Source: Brett Clanton, Houston Chronicle)
"This is a new paradigm for bioenergy production," said Bill McCutchen, deputy associate director at Texas A&M's Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.
The Department of Energy has announced nearly $400 million in funding for the establishment of three bio-energy research centers, “while oil companies including BP (NYSE:BP), Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), and Chevron (NYSE:CVX) have given money to universities for biofuels research.”
“Because we see sorghum as the ideal non-food feed stock for ethanol production in Texas, we embrace the Texas A&M initiative as a key step forward in providing economical feed stocks for our Texas ethanol plants,” JT Cloud, Gulf Ethanol’s President, explained. “The long-term success of ethanol as an alternative fuel must be based on the development of efficient non-food sources for ethanol production.”
Last month, Texas Gov. Rick Perry outlined a new bioenergy strategy that will encourage more research at state universities on noncorn ethanol and other renewables, with an eye toward getting them to market faster. As part of the effort, he pledged $5 million to Texas A&M for research.
About Gulf Ethanol Corporation
Gulf Ethanol is focused on developing ethanol production along the Gulf Coast. Gulf Ethanol is committed to using non-food feed stocks for the production of ethanol rather than corn or sugar cane, which have now been shown to be expensive fuel sources that negatively impact food prices. For more information please visit our homepage at: http://www.gulfethanolcorp.com.