News Release Distributed 01/03/13

ST. GABRIEL, La. – The LSU AgCenter Audubon Sugar Institute will hold a ribbon cutting at 10 a.m. on Jan. 25 to mark the completion of a pilot plant dedicated to producing biofuels and biochemicals from agricultural crops and byproducts.

The centerpiece of the AgCenter’s Sustainable Bioproducts Initiative, the pilot plant focuses on processing sweet sorghum, energy cane and other grassy feedstocks into convertible sugars, fiber and bioproducts for further refining into butanol, gasoline, isoprene and biochemicals, said project director Vadim Kochergin.

“The facility can be scaled up to any capacity,” Kochergin said. “The focus is on primary processing of sweet sorghum, energy cane and other grassy feedstocks. We can facilitate projects targeting evaluation and validation of technologies as well as training of research and operating personnel.”

Located at the Audubon Sugar Institute at 3845 Highway 75 in St. Gabriel, the pilot plant is part of a larger project funded by a five-year, $17.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.