DuPont awards construction contract for cellulosic ethanol plant

International engineering and construction services company KBR has been awarded a contract by chemical producer DuPont to help bring its first cellulosic ethanol plant in Nevada, Iowa to realisation.

KBR will provide front-end engineering, along with engineering and procurement services to DuPont's Industrial Biosciences Group, with the value of the contract not disclosed at time of writing.

The ethanol facility is expected to produce 27.5 million gallons of ethanol a year and also designed to process 1,300 tons of corn stover per day.

Construction is scheduled to begin later this year and expected to be finished within 18 months time.