UT starts Biofuels Initiative

The University of Tennessee (UT) announced plans to develop a research and business model for biomass conversion, called the Tennessee Biofuels Initiative. The initiative calls for the creation of a 5 MMgy biomass-to-ethanol plant, which could be expanded to 100 MMgy. The biorefinery will be located near researchers at the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, but a specific site wasn't named. Switchgrass is one possible feedstock, and the university has trademarked the term "grassoline."