Potentially the largest cellulosic biofuels plan of its kind, Range Fuels in Soperton, Ga. temporarily shut down in mid January. The company began producing cellulosic methanol in August and reportedly produced a small amount of cellulosic ethanol shortly before closing.
Rang Fuels President and CEO David Aldous says there are still technical and non-technical issues to work out. He says the plant continues to have problems with its feed system, thus limiting the throughput of the plant.
“This throughput limitation coupled with the fact that we do not have an industry mechanism to price carbon, or in other words capture the value of low carbon fuels and chemical feedstocks, makes us a high cost biofuel producer,” he says. “Until we resolve our feed challenges, add additional capacity and/or get a RIN (Renewable Identification Number) in place to help supplement our revenue we will operate in campaigns.”
The Soperton plant is permitted to produce 100 million gallons of ethanol and methanol each year.