What is the difference between a pilot, demonstation, and commercial cellulosic ethanol plant refinery)?

Question

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?

Answer 1

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.

Answer 2

A pilot or demonstration plant just makes a small amount of the stuff to show that it can be done.  But it is not "scalable," 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.