Ethanol-from-tobacco plant to reopen

Tyton BioEnergy Systems, based at Danville, Virginia, US, said on Monday that it was reopening the former Clean Burn Fuels bio-refinery in Raeford, North Carolina, as part of its strategy to convert tobacco crops into ethanol, according to a story by Richard Craver for the Winston-Salem Journal.

The company said that it would spend $36 million on capital investments and would create 79 jobs.

Tyton’s partner, Tyton NC Biofuels, purchased the facility, which is North Carolina’s only commercial-scale ethanol refinery but which has been idle for more than three years.

Tyton BioEnergy Systems has developed a special energy tobacco plant that is a dedicated fuel crop.

Tyton initially will use corn as the feedstock before transitioning to tobacco sugars.