Tennessee Biofuels project Boosts Knoxville's Innovation Valley

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., July 25 /PRNewswire/ -- The Innovation Valley economic development area in and around Knoxville, Tennessee, has its sights set high -- and may have just pulled into the lead -- in the race to develop marketable biofuels from non-food biomass. The Tennessee Biofuels Initiative led by the University of Tennessee (UT) Research Foundation and bolstered by hefty funding from the State will partner with DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC (DDCE) to construct a pilot-scale biorefinery and state-of-the-art research and development facility for cellulosic ethanol. The facility, to be built in Niles Ferrry Industrial Park 30 miles south of Knoxville in Vonore, Tennessee, will process two non-food feedstocks -- corncobs and switchgrass -- from farms around the Innovation Valley. The biorefinery is expected to give... [read full story]