BY BRIAN LUSKEY, Medill News Service, Times of Northwest Indiana
Purdue University and Archer Daniels Midland Co., the nation's largest ethanol producer, are set to research the commercialization of cellulosic ethanol, which could make ethanol cheaper and, thus, more widely available.
The partnership will receive $5 million in federal funding by the U.S. Department of Energy.
"The Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering (LORRE) has had a long-term working relationship with ADM. We complement each other well," said Michael Ladisch, director of the LORRE at Purdue University. "There are senior researchers here doing fundamental research into cellulosic ethanol, and ADM has tremendous experience in large-scale ethanol production."
ADM, headquartered in Decatur, Ill., currently uses corn to create ethanol. However, Morningstar Inc. analyst Ann Gilpin said corn-based ethanol is limited because soaring corn prices have caused food inflation and shrinking profit margins on ethanol.
"A lot of companies that use corn and corn products are feeling commodity pressure and passing that cost onto consumers," Gilpin said.
Ethanol is produced cheaply in Brazil, where it is derived from sugar cane instead of corn, which has caused Japan to forge a relationship with Brazil for ethanol exports. Despite Gilpin's view that "the most cost-effective thing would be to import ethanol from Brazil," the United States has not taken that path because there is a U.S. ethanol market to protect.
Purdue and ADM's project is aimed at deriving ethanol from the sugars of fibers, hulls, straws, and woods.
"Moving along to materials other than corn ultimately will make ethanol less expensive," Ladisch said.
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