New venture to produce ethanol from citrus peels

[JohnWxy]

http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2006/12/11/daily21.html



Xethanol Corp., a renewable energy company, has formed a venture with Renewable Spirits LLC to build a biomass-based pilot production facility in Bartow that will use waste citrus peels to make ethanol.

The venture plans to build a pilot plant to produce up to 50,000 gallons of ethanol this harvesting season. The plant, which is expected to increase to more than 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.


Production at the plant is slated to get under way by the second quarter of 2007.

[jpak]

1. I wonder if they can make biodiesel out of citrus oil too???

:shrug:

[JohnWxy]

4. Yes.

[Dead_Parrot]

5. Got a link?

I've got a garden full of lemons... :)

[JohnWxy]

6. Well, I can't find anywhere where they specifically say citrus oil but biodiesel is made from

vegetable oil so I would think citrus oils would work too.


Or,,,, you could make some lemonade!

[RC]

2. The local sugar beet farmers in the Red River Valley

had to plow under 8% of their crop because Crystal Sugar did not have enough processing capacity.

Now why could not those wasted beets be made into ethanol. Sugar beets certainly have the sugar, more so than corn or citrus peels.

[JohnWxy]

3. I understand that in France they make ethanol from sugar beets.

[JohnWxy]

7. Each year there are tons of food crops that are destroyed because they've been made unsuitable

for human or animal consumption due to weather damage or disease damage. These destroyed crops would be fine for making ethanol.