Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company in Benson, Minnesota is celebrating a decade in the ethanol industry. The plant opened in 1996 and today is a 45 million gallon per year ethanol biorefinery. In addition to producing fuel ethanol and marketing E85, CVEC also produces a top-shelf vodka under the Shakers brand. According to a Renewable Fuels Association press release, CVEC also recently broke ground on a new biomass gasification system that will significantly reduce the biorefinery’s natural gas use by converting biomass material, such as corn stover, distillers dried grains, corn, wheat straw and wood wastes, into energy.