Gulf Ethanol Engages Grubb & Ellis For Additional Plant Site Selection

Houston, TX - Gulf Ethanol Corporation announces the engagement of Grubb & Ellis Company, a leading provider of integrated real estate services, for additional ethanol production plant sites in Southeast Texas.

Consumption of gasoline in Texas is estimated at 16 billion gallons per year, and at the most common blending of 10% ethanol, market potential for ethanol is 1.6 billion gallons.

Gulf Ethanol is executing its business plan to acquire sites in Texas for the production of Ethanol to meet the steadily growing demand for alternative fuels.

Investments in ethanol plants are growing across the nation – including areas where larger populations need a generous supply of ethanol, according to a new report, "U.S. Ethanol," by Rabobank, a financial services leader providing retail and institutional banking and agricultural finance solutions in key markets around the world.

"As the demand for ethanol rises, so does the need for processing plants. And, despite rising input costs – such as corn – profits remain obtainable, and investments are seen as favorable." (Source: Heather McElrath, Rabobank, www.rabobankamerica.com/documents/pdfs/Ethanol_Plants_Release.pdf).

Rabobank estimates by the first quarter of 2009, more than 200 ethanol plants are expected to be in production, which represents a capacity increase of more than 91 percent during a three-year time frame. Much of this growth in ethanol production is largely driven by demand created by government support.

The biggest advantage in sweet sorghum as an energy crop is that it requires less acreage as corn to produce the same amount of ethanol. Corn produces about 500 gallons of ethanol per acre on one crop per year; biomass from sweet sorghum has the ability to produce 3,000 gallons per acre per year.

"As ethanol becomes the alternative fuel of choice for America's automobiles, we see the focus shifting strongly to feedstocks that do not impact the food supply," stated JT Cloud, Gulf Ethanol's President. "We will continue to advance the development of ethanol production along the Gulf Coast and expect to be a major economic contributor as a producer of alternative energy in Texas," he added

SOURCE: Gulf Ethanol Corporation