XETHANOL CORPORATION NAMES CHASE VETERAN CFO

New York, NY, April 13, 2005 - Xethanol Corporation (OTCBB:XTHN), a leading
bio-technology integration and ethanol production company, today announced
Lawrence Bellone as the company's new CFO.

Christopher d'Arnaud-Taylor, Xethanol's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
made the announcement noting: "Larry brings more than 25 years experience in
investment banking, public and corporate accounting and finance to the company,
providing additional depth and expertise to our already talented management
team. This is particularly important for a company of our size that is
experiencing rapid and significant growth."

From 1988 to 2003, Mr. Bellone was involved in a wide range of projects and
activities including lending, leasing, loan syndications, private debt
placement, principal investments, derivatives, corporate development and
arbitrage while working in the investment banking and capital market areas of
Chase Manhattan Bank (later to become JPMorgan Chase). As a managing director
and senior member of the Structured Capital Group, he was responsible for
structuring, originating and executing innovative financing and investment
transactions for Fortune 100 companies. He has negotiated and arranged for more
than $5 billion in transaction value for companies in the oil and gas, retail,
chemical, pharmaceutical, consumer and paper industries.

Prior to joining Chase, he worked in various public and private accounting and
finance functions at NY Life Insurance, Price Waterhouse and JP Morgan. While at
Price Waterhouse, he qualified as a CPA for New York State.

Most recently, Mr. Bellone was a managing director with Bentley Associates, a
New York-based investment banking boutique/broker-dealer providing M & A,
private placement and corporate advisory services primarily to small and
midsized companies.

Mr. Bellone holds a BA degree in English from Columbia University and an MBA in
accounting and finance from Fordham University. He also holds Series 7 and 63
designations from the NASD.

ABOUT XETHANOL CORPORATION

Xethanol Corporation seeks to become a leader in the emerging biomass-to-ethanol
industry. Its mission is to convert biomass that is currently being abandoned or
land filled into ethanol and other valuable co-products. Xethanol's strategy is
to deploy proprietary bio-technologies that will extract and ferment the sugars
trapped in these biomass concentrations. Xethanol's value proposition is to
produce ethanol and valuable co-products more cost-effectively than corn-based
processors with plants located closer to biomass sources. Xethanol owns and
operates an ethanol production facility at its Biomass Technology Center in Iowa
that processes fermentable sugars derived from food biomass as its primary
feedstock. Xethanol has also recently acquired a six million gallon per year
plant near Cedar Rapids, Iowa, now operating as Xethanol BioFuels, LLC.



THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS NEWS RELEASE, OTHER THAN HISTORICAL
INFORMATION, CONSISTS OF FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS THAT INVOLVE RISKS AND
UNCERTAINTIES THAT COULD CAUSE ACTUAL RESULTS TO DIFFER MATERIALLY FROM THOSE
DESCRIBED IN SUCH STATEMENTS. SUCH STATEMENTS REGARDING THE TIMING OF ACQUIRING
AND DEVELOPING NEW PROPERTIES, OF BRINGING THEM ON LINE AND OF DERIVING REVENUES
AND PROFITS FROM THEM, AS WELL AS THE EFFECTS OF THOSE REVENUES AND PROFITS ON
THE COMPANY'S MARGINS, DEBT SERVICE AND FINANCIAL POSITION, ARE UNCERTAIN
BECAUSE MANY OF THE FACTORS AFFECTING THE TIMING OF THOSE ITEMS ARE BEYOND THE
COMPANY'S CONTROL. THESE AND OTHER FACTORS ARE DISCUSSED IN THE COMPANY'S
FILINGS WITH THE U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION INCLUDING ITS RECENT
FILINGS ON FORM 8-K.

Contact:  Beverly Jedynak
          President
          Martin E. Janis & Company, Inc.
          312-943-1100 ext. 12
          bjedynak@janispr.com