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  New Facility Showcases World's First Commercially Viable Flex-Ethanol ProcessToday, Coskata Inc., a leading developer of alternative bio-fuels, announced the successful start-up of its semi-commercial flex-ethanol facility. Unlike other technologies and facilities that often rely on one primary source of feedstock, the company's flex ethanol facility will be producing ethanol from numerous sources, including wood biomass, agricultural waste, construction waste and even household garbage. In addition, their patented microorganisms and bioreactor designs will produce ethanol for the same as, and in some cases less than, the cost of producing a gallon of gasoline. This new technology also reduces CO2 emissions up to 96 percent compared to gasoline. Flex Fuel vehicles that can run on gas, E85 or a combination of both, are already available from Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge and GMC. Turning Trash into Gas Shotlist: (((Announcer voice over))) When gasoline hit $4 a gallon a year ago interest in domestically produced bio-fuels like ethanol skyrocketed. Today with gas prices under $3, ethanol needs to prove it can be competitive. Soundbite 1 – Bill Roe, Coskata (((Suggested Soundbite))) The two big questions for any producer of biofuels and biofuels technology has to answer today, really are number one, can you compete with gasoline at the pump and number 2 will this technology have an improvement in the overall environmental impact. Video: E85 Stations (((Announcer voice over))) At the unveiling of their first facility, Coskata invited the media to witness its revolutionary ethanol making process, which can take a long list of potential feedstocks and turn them into ethanol at a cost that meets and in some cases beats the price of gasoline. Soundbite 2 – Bill Roe, Coskata (((Soundbite))) What we're running in our facility today is essentially wood chips. The promise though for the future is that we can run a variety of raw materials including such things as garbage, agricultural waste, even old tires. And the whole idea is build these refineries (((Announcer voice over))) Using E85 to run our cars and trucks is as easy as pumping gas and cuts down CO2 emissions by up to 96 percent. Soundbite – Robert Babik, General Motors (((Soundbite))) The big advantage of E85 or ethanol over petroleum… is the fact that…they have the potential of being produced at very low cost, and it's the best near-term example of a technology that can have a significant impact on reducing greenhouse gasses and really taking us off our dependency on petroleum. Video: Impala, Sierra, Tahoe (((Announcer voice over))) General Motors is on track to make more than half its vehicle production flex-fuel capable by 2012. And Coskata says they're moving toward large, commercial scale facilities which should make their ethanol available in large volumes also by 2012. I'm Chris Hansen
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