An Arizona dairy is looking at expandng its operations into biofuels. Phoenix-based XL Dairy Group is planning to build a dairy/biorefinery at a site about 100 miles west of Phoenix.

According to this story in the East Valley Tribune in Phoenix, when finished, the complex will produce 100 million gallons of ethanol, 25 million to 30 million gallons of biodiesel fuel and 21 million gallons of milk a year:

The concept is to use waste produced by the dairy cows to make energy that would be used to turn corn into ethanol and biodiesel, said Dennis Corderman, chief executive and chairman of XL Dairy Group. Byproducts of the ethanol and biodiesel production will be cycled back to produce internal energy for the biorefinery and to provide feed for the dairy cows, he said.

“The biggest difference between us and other ethanol plants is we will use waste streams from the dairy to produce our own energy,” he said. “It will provide the electrical and heat and steam energy for the entire facility.”

The plant is expected to have an energy efficiency ratio of 10-to-1. Most ethanol plants have a 1.2-to-1 ratio.

Company officials expect the whole operation to be even more efficient when the feedstock for the biofuel is switched to algae, obviously more available with the Arizona desert sun fueling its growth than Midwestern corn.