The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack today announced a $75 million loan guarantee for a Florida bioprocessing facility to create fuel from citrus and yard waste.

The guarantee will support construction of the INEOS New Planet BioEnergy facility in Vero Beach, Florida that will produce up to 8 million gallons per year of cellulosic ethanol from citrus fruit, vegetable and yard wastes, and create an estimated 380 new jobs. Vilsack toured the facility last week, meeting construction workers and company and community officials to highlight the importance of helping our nation develop the next generation of biofuels.

“This cutting-edge facility in Florida, and others like it across America, represents the kind of innovation we need to continue to build a competitively-priced, American-made, homegrown biofuels industry that helps to break our dependence on foreign oil and moves our nation toward a clean energy economy,” said Vilsack.

The facility, estimated to be completed by the summer of 2012, will consume an estimated 300 dry tons per day of organic material and, in addition to ethanol, produce enough electricity to run the plant and provide for the power needs of 1,400 homes.