$80M for Biofuel Plant

Georgia's first cellulosic ethanol plant now has an 80-million-dollar boost. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved the loan to Range Fuels in Soperton in Treutlen County in south Georgia.

The money is authorized under the 2008 farm bill as part of the Biorefinery Assistance Program. The program provides loan guarantees to develop, construct and retrofit viable commercial-scale biorefineries producing advanced biofuels. The program is designed to create energy-related jobs and economic development in rural America.

The plant is expected to produce an estimated 63 jobs. When fully operational in 2010, the plant is expected to produce approximately 20 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year.

Groundbreaking for Soperton ethanol plant

Ground is set to be broken for Georgia’s first large-scale ethanol plant, to be located in Treutlen County. The plant will produce 20-million gallons of ethanol a year—eventually the owners of the plant, Colorado-based Range Fuels, expect to produce 100-million gallons a year. Ethanol will be made using wood-waste from the timber industry. Corn is typically used as feedstock for production. The plant will cost about 225-million dollars to build, and bring about 70 jobs to Soperton.