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GM takes stake in small biofuels firm
Quote:
WARRENVILLE, Ill. (AP) -- General Motors Corp. said Sunday (1-13-08) it has taken an ownership stake and formed a partnership with Coskata Inc., a renewable energy startup company that plans to produce ethanol from agricultural leftovers and municipal and industrial waste.
The announcement was made at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit after the two companies briefed reporters earlier at Coskata's headquarters in this western Chicago suburb. The extent of GM's investment and minority stake was not disclosed.
The partnership represents a rare foray by a major automaker into the production side of non-fossil fuels as GM and its rivals, under pressure from tougher U.S. fuel efficiency standards, pursue a mix of fuel-efficient vehicles and technologies.
"We want to rapidly commercialize biofuels in the U.S. so they're available to everyone at a competitive price, and this is a very huge step in that," said Mary Beth Stanek, GM's director of environment, energy and safety policy.
Rapidly doesn't mean overnight. The cellulosic ethanol being developed from Coskata's biology-based technology won't be available at retail gas stations until the end of 2010 at the earliest.
But the Illinois company maintains its process is commercially viable now and is a platform for producing other biofuels in the future. It aims to have a 40,000-gallon demonstration facility operational by the end of this year to deliver ethanol to GM for testing in its vehicles before building a 100-million-gallon commercial plant at an undetermined U.S. location.
Bill Roe, president and CEO of 18-month-old Coskata, said that at full production the company will be able to make ethanol for less than $1 a gallon. He said pump prices should dramatically reflect widespread production of the cheaper new ethanol by 2015 or 2016, when it expects to be building 20 to 25 fuel plants a year.
