Xethanol Corp has formed a venture with Renewable Spirits LLC for the purpose of building a biomass-based pilot production facility, utilizing waste citrus peels as raw material for making ethanol.
The venture is located in Bartow FL, the heart of the state's citrus industry. The venture is expected to establish a pilot plant to produce up to 50,000 gallons of ethanol this harvesting season. The plant, which will increase to over 500,000 gallons per year, is co-located at a facility owned and operated by Peace River Citrus Products Inc, a producer of orange and grapefruit juice and other citrus products.
Slated to begin production by the second quarter of 2007, the program plans to utilize a production technology process, with the US Department of Agriculture that will convert waste citrus biomass into ethanol, as well as other marketable co-products, such as limonene and citrus oil.