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An area best known for its natural gas fields will become home to the first commercial biomass ethanol plant in the U.S.

This story in the High Plains Journal says Abengoa Energy will build the plant in Hugoton, Southwest Kansas:

The new plant should be completed in 2010 and is funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy. Abengoa Bioenergy New Technologies is constructing the facility that is designed to produce approximately 13 million gallons of ethanol annually from a daily input of 930 tons of cellulosic crop residue. The company anticipates using stock such as switch grass, corn stover, grain sorghum and wheat straw from mainly a 50-mile radius of Hugoton. The facility will also produce 88 million gallons of ethanol using traditional grain processing.

The company says it needs only about 4-7 percent of the biomass available within a 50-mile radius of the production plant to satisfy the new plant’s 930 tons per day appetite. The biomass will be the leftover residue that most farmers would get rid of… but still enough residue to help the area’s soil.

Today’s announcement was welcomed by state and federal elected officials:

The announcement of the new plant was attended by Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius. “Twenty to 25 years from today you are going to look back to today as a historic day,” she said.

U.S. Congressman Jerry Moran, also told the group he sees energy independence as key in fighting terrorism. When the United States reaches a point of being dependent on the middle East for energy production, we will all live in a safer place, he said.

Ethanol-giant POET has opened its 21st plant during a grand opening ceremony at its latest facility near Portland, Indiana. The 65-million-gallon-a-year makes POET the largest ethanol producer in the world cranking out an amazing 1.1 billion gallons annually.

This press release from the company says this is the first POET ethanol plant in Indiana, but two more are in the works for the Hoosier State:

“When we started our first facility in 1988 at one million gallons per year, we had no intentions of becoming the largest,” Jeff Broin, CEO of POET, said. “We simply realized that farmers needed additional uses for their crops and the country needed a clean-burning, domestic fuel. Now, with ten thousand farmer-owners and investors from all walks of life, we are developing the rural economy, improving the environment and reducing our nation’s dependence on foreign oil.”

U.S. Senator Richard Lugar, who spoke at the ceremony said, “POET Biorefining – Portland and the work of the community of Portland to support it are part of the vital effort to build a more secure America – an America less reliant on foreign sources of oil.”

Not only is the ethanol from the plant good for the environment, but the ethanol plant itself is doing its part. First of all, it using using a process that POET calls the BPX™ process that doesn’t use heat in the cooking process of producing ethanol, reducing energy usage by 8-15 percent in comparison with conventional plants. It will also be outfitted with a regenerative thermal oxidizer that eliminates up to 99.9 percent of air emissions. In addition, the Portland, Indinan plant gets all of its water from a nearby quarry that pumps out the water anyway to do the excavation.

Research and development efforts to get ethanol into the nation’s already-existing oil pipeline… a key issue into getting more ethanol into the nation’s gas tanks… took a step forward this week.

This story in Ethanol Producer Magazine says the Association of Oil Pipe Lines (AOPL) is expanding its ongoing research and development efforts to get past the technical barriers to pipeline transportation of ethanol:

APOL President Shirley Neff said the expansion in research and development has the support of the U.S. DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

One project being expedited by the new focus on ethanol research and development is testing the feasibility of transporting ethanol blends in existing pipeline infrastructure without significant modification. The low-level blends with gasoline will be tested to see if E10, E15 or E20 can be transported without causing stress corrosion cracking in the pipeline—one of the bigger hurdles associated with fuel ethanol. Initial test results are expected within 12 to 18 months.

The AOPL has also announced it will continue its study looking at the environmental and stress conditions that causes stress corrosion cracking. Researchers are looking at lessening that problem.

Some folks in Nebraska are getting a little nervous over the rapid rise of the ethanol industry in the state. That’s why state officials and industry experts set up shop in Norfolk, NE on Thursday (Sep. 13th) to answer some of those concerns.

Nebraska’s 17 ethanol plants (and another nine on the way) makes the state third in the nation for ethanol production. This story on the KTIV-TV (Sioux City, IA) web site says the officials wanted to focus on training and education, compliance and environmental quality issues:

Officials say with the rapid rate of ethanol production there are a number of emerging issues that will continue to be important. There’s water and air quality, OSHA regulations, spill response and more. Members of the Nebraska Ethanol board say their biggest obstacle is training and recruitment. They say since 1985, around 1-thousand people have found employment at plants in the state and within the next 18 months that number will need to be duplicated.

Todd Sneller, Adm. Nebraska Ethanol Board “So it’s a significant opportunity in terms of quality jobs spread across the State in some of our smallest communities. But, it’s a significant challenge trying to find people who want to enjoy life in a small community and bring the skills necessary to run the plants located in a small community.”

State officials also want to make sure everyone’s singing from the same sheet of music to keep the ethanol industry going for Nebraska.