Fagen, Inc. has been contracted by DuPont Industrial Biosciences to build the company’s first commercial cellulosic ethanol biorefinery in Nevada, Iowa. Last year, DuPont bought land adjacent to Lincolnway Energy ethanol plant, which will enable synergies in energy and logistics. Last week, Butamax Advanced Biofuels announced its collaboration with Fagen to build out the biobutanol industry.

“Our selection of Fagen as a partner to build our plant in Iowa marks the next critical step on the road toward commercializing DuPont’s cellulosic ethanol technology,” said James C. Collins, president of DuPont Industrial Biosciences. “We look forward to a strong collaboration.”

Prior to this partnership, DuPont had announced KBR Inc. will handle the front-end engineering, procurement and detailed engineering work for the biorefinery. In addition, the company, working with Iowa State University, is continuing to complete its large-scale stover supply chain testing in preparation for the opening of the commercial scale facility. DuPont is also operating a fully-integrated cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant in Vonore, Tennessee.

Fagen has constructed 60 percent of the ethanol production capacity in the United States, and Aaron Fagen, company CEO said of the partnership, “We look forward to working with DuPont to develop one of the first commercial scale cellulosic biorefineries in the United States. We have worked extensively to help develop first-generation biofuels and DuPont has presented us with an exciting opportunity to expand the advanced biofuels industry.”