The United States Department of Agriculture's Rural Development has approved a $US80 million loan guarantee for Range Fuels Inc. to build the nation's first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant.
Woodchips will be the feedstock for the plant, which will use technology pioneered at the company's pilot plant in Colorado.
"The investment in this facility, which will make cellulosic ethanol from woodchips, has the potential to significantly advance the time table for second-generation ethanol production in this country," Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said in the USDA announcement late on Friday, the final business day of the Bush Administration.
"I visited the pilot plant last October and was excited to see how well the technology works."
The Georgia plant is expected to produce an estimated 63 jobs.
When fully operational in 2010, the plant is expected to produce approximately 20 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year.
The Biorefinery Assistance Program promotes the development of new and emerging technologies for the production of advanced biofuels - those that are not produced from food sources.
The program provides loan guarantees to develop, construct and retrofit viable commercial-scale biorefineries producing advanced biofuels.
The loan to Range Fuels is approved subject to conditions.
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