Another biodiesel plant using the oilseed camelina is planned for Montana. Great Plains Oil and Exploration, aka Great Plains – The Camelina Company, has plans to build an oilseed cruching facility and biodiesel refinery in Eastern Montana. A company press release says the final location for the plant will be disclosed by the end of the year.

That part of Montana was chosen because it will be the center of the new camelina crop being grown for use in biodiesel. Camelina has certain advantages, including its high oil content, non-competition with food oil sources (ending the food vs. fuel debate), and ability to be grown in harsh conditions.

The announcement from Great Plains comes on the heels of another camelina biodiesel refinery in the works from Seattle-based Targeted Growth, Inc. and Green Earth Fuels of Houston, planned to start producing 100 million gallons of biodiesel a year by 2010 (see my November 21st post).