What is the difference between a pilot, demonstation, and commercial cellulosic ethanol plant refinery)? A demonstation plnat is being built in Tennessee which can handle 5 million gallons a year. Is it a demonstration plant because only certain farmers in the program can sell their switchgrass?

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

A demonstration plant is used to demonstrate the viability or sustainability of production to the industry

A Pilot program is almost indistiguishable from the demonstration. The Demonstration will general move into a pilot program to provide a product to the consumer.

If everything goes well, and after a few tweaks, they may refit the current plant and build more to create a sustainable supply of product for the consumer. This would be the commercial plant. 67% 4 Votes

Other Answers (1)

• A pilot or demonstration plant just makes a small amount of the stuff to show that it can be done. But it is not %26quot;scalable,%26quot; that is, it cannot make an amount large enough to supply a significant fraction of the demand or make a difference in the economy. THat would be a commercial plant.
  
  5 million gallons a year may sound like a lot, but total US consumption of gasoline for just automobiles is 389 million gallons - per day. 33% 2 Votes