There’s a lot of talk and controversy about ethanol production, but there’s a rather new company that makes some strides in the process. Coskata is a biology based renewable energy company. Instead of just using corn, they are using a variety of materials including biomass, grass, wood chips, lawn waste and carbonaceous material. They have a proprietary process and microorganisms along with a patented bioreactor designs. With this technology, they can produce ethanol for under $1.00 a gallon. Although they are just beginning, they just got a big leg up in making their process and research a reality in the form of GM.

They have only been around for a year and a half and founded by leading energy investors and entrepreneur. In that time, they have dedicated their resources to getting patents, trade secrets and assembling a team. Their goal is to” play a major role in creating economic fuels from renewable resources thus minimizing the dependency of countries around the world on petroleum derived fuels.”

Their process is three-fold. First, they take whatever material (remember, we’re not just talking corn) they are going to use and turn it into synthesis gas. Next the gas has to ferminate (bio-ferminatation) to turn into ethanol. Lastly, the ethanol needs to be recovered and separated out.

The CEO of Coskata had this to say about their process and vision: ““We will have our first commercial-scale plant making 50 to 100 million gallons of ethanol running in 2011, and that includes the two years it will take to build the plant. Success in delivering on our business plan means that we could account for a significant portion of the biomass ethanol mandated in the new Renewable Fuels Standard within 10 years.”

Now that GM has partnered with the company, Coskata and the auto giant are planning to work together in several areas including waste management, emission management, global product applications and fuel testing.

“We are very excited about what this breakthrough will mean to the viability of biofuels and, more importantly, to our ability to reduce dependence on petroleum,” GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner said.