191 



AARC 



Alternative Agricultural Research & Commercialization Center 



c 



t 



Texas Angle on Low-Cost 

 Ethanol Production 



As demand increases for 

 clean-burning oxygenated fuels due 

 to federal Clean Air Act 



requirements, the ethanol 



industry is back in the spotlight 

 Right at the center of the spot- 

 light sits AFEX Corporation of 

 Brenham, Texas, a small compa- 

 ny that has developed new tech- 

 nology to make ethanol from "Ugnocellu- 

 losic biomass material" — meaning such 

 cheap and widely available feedstocks as hay, 

 corn stalks and wood. 



Over the past five years, AFEX has 

 researched the new technology at the lab 

 level and has tested various commercially 

 available equipment components in prepara- 

 tion for commercial-scale operations. It has 

 joined forces with Michigan Biotechnology 

 Institute (MBI) to demonstrate AFEX's bio- 

 mass conversion process. AFEX and MBI 

 forecast that the new process will cut the 

 cost of ethanol production sharply, com- 

 pared to present production methods that 

 use corn as the feedstock for 95 percent of 

 the one billion gallons of ethanol pro- 

 duced each year in the United States. 



AFEX/MBI forecasts also show that 

 converting high-volume, low-value crop 

 residues into ethanol will result in produc- 

 tion facilities being located in crop-growing 

 rural areas, creating both a new source of jobs 

 and additional income for farmers. To help 

 make this outcome more likely, the Alternative 

 Agricultural Research and Commercialization 

 (AARC) Center, a branch of the U.S. 

 Department of Agriculture, is investing 

 $250,000 in AFEX's biomass- to-ethanol devel- 

 opment efforts. 



The repayable AARC investment will be 

 used for detailed studies of ways to achieve commercial production levels most efficiently The AARC 

 investment will supplement $406,000 that AFEX and other parties will invest in the project. 



Success with low-cost biomass-to-ethanol production should result in greatly expanded ethanol use 

 — and reduced imports of non-renewable petroleum. Additional benefits will flow directly to rural 

 America if the AFEX process turns into commercial reality; Using biomass to produce ethanol would pro- 

 vide farmers with new markets for perennial, soil-conserving crops grown on marginal land. 



lAuslration by Ed Courn«r 



AFEX Corporation, TX 



Sponsor's Contact: Earnest Stuart, (51 2) 502-9080 

 Raw Material: Alfalfa Hay, Costal Bermuda, Straw 



& Manure 

 Product: Fuel Ethanol 



AARC: 



Cooperators Contributions (est.); 



$250,000 

 $406,000 



USDA-AARC CENTER • 12th & C St. S.W. • Washington, DC 20250 

 Telephone: (202) 401-4860 • Fax: (202) 401-6068 



Pnnted on mcycled p^}ef using soybean-based ink 



