Verbio purchases Iowa cellulose ethanol plant

Global biofuel producer Verbio announced in a press release that it has signed a contract to acquire a cellulose ethanol plant from chemical conglomerate DuPont in Nevada, Iowa, US.

The purchase includes 100,000 tons of baled corn stalks, located at several sites within a 50km radius around the plant.

The plant’s capacity involves the processing of 300,000 tons of corn stalks to approximately 115,000 cubic meters of ethanol.

Verbio’s initial plans, according to the release, is to construct a straw biomethane plant with an estimated thermal output of 20MW.

It is estimated that additional investment will total $25–35 million (€22–30 million).

The acquisition follows a strong 2018 for Verbio. Biofuels International reported on the firm’s end-of-year results, in which they detailed overcoming challenges within the market to achieve ‘broadly positive results’.