Commercial scale cellulosic wood to ethanol in the works

In these tough economic times it is encouraging to see a 20 million gallon per year cellulosic ethanol biorefinery being funded with majority private investment. This mans investors have some confidence that the Mascoma Consolidated Bioprocessing technology will make cellulosic ethanol profitable. The feedstock will be hardwood. The technology accomplishes hydrolysis and fermentation into a single step. The key is genetically modified yeast and bacteria, according to the Mascoma web site.
Ethanol Producer Magazine EthanolProducer.com:

Cellulosic ethanol technology developer Mascoma Corp. has finalized an agreement with petroleum refiner Valero Energy Corp. to finance the construction and start-up of its first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol facility, to be located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula near Kinross.