Xethanol

Xethanol was one of the smaller producers of corn ethanol in the United States, and one of the few publicly traded companies developing technology for producing cellulose ethanol. Ethanol fuel will have increased production from a current level of about per year (19 Gl/a, almost exclusively from corn) to over annually (76 Gl/a, mainly from cellulosic materials). Potentially of ethanol could be produced annually in a sustainable manner from domestic biomass resources. To achieve these goals some believe it will be necessary to develop and commercialize technology for the production of ethanol from cellulose and hemicellulose. Xethanol says it plans to increase production and profitability with new technology it has under development. Xylose Technologies, Inc. (XTI), a subsidiary of Xethanol, is conducting collaborative research through a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) located on the campus of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The work focuses on genetically engineering proprietary yeast strains for the efficient production of xylitol from xylose. Xylose, an abundant five carbon sugar found predominantly in hemicellulose of angiosperms, can be converted to xylitol through biochemical or chemical reduction. The USDA and other university research labs have hundreds of such CRADAs with many companies exploring the technology. History Xethanol was formed as a Delaware corporation in 2000 through a reverse merger with Zen Pottery Equipment. It is based in New York City and has operated two production facilities in Iowa since 2003. It began with the acquisition of Permeate Refining, Inc., and in 2004, Xethanol purchased a second plant which operates as Xethanol Biofuels, LLC. In early 2005 it acquired Superior Separation Technologies, Inc. from UTEK Corporation. It has announced plans to build new ethanol plants in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina through a newly formed subsidiary known as CoastalXethanol LLC. In August 2006, investors and scientists following Xethanol's progress were disturbed by a series of accusations brought against Xethanol on a website called ShareSleuth.com. Follow-up articles appearing in theStreet.com reiterated the story and claimed that it was difficult for reporters and stock analysts to get information from Xethanol officials.