Xethanol Corp. announced that it lost $31.3 million, or $1.09 per share, in 2007 and that it has halted plans to construct of a second ethanol plant in Blairstown.

The company had a net loss of $20.2 million, or 93 cents per share, in 2006. Net sales for 2007 were $11 million, the same as the previous year. The company’s current Blairstown plant produced 5.4 million gallons of ethanol during 2007 at an average price of $1.87 per gallon, compared with 5.2 million gallons sold at an average price of $1.99 per gallon in 2006.

In 2007, the company incurred an impairment loss of $12.2 million, which included a $2.6 million impairment of a previously planned second facility at Blairstown. Because of high prices for corn and natural gas, the company has indefinitely deferred construction of the second plant and may cut back production at its current facility until market prices for ethanol improve and costs decline.

The company also has broadened its business strategy to pursue other opportunities in renewable energy and clean technology, including biomass gasification for electricity production, wind power, solar power, energy storage, energy efficiency and waste recycling. As part of this new strategy, the company is planning to build a demonstration plant in Florida to convert citrus peel waste into ethanol and has invested in Carbon Motors Corp., a new American automaker developing a law enforcement vehicle that runs on biodiesel fuel.

“There are numerous opportunities in the market for alternate energy and we are already in discussion with some potential partners,” said David Ames, president and CEO of Xethanol, in a press release.