According to an AP story in the Grand Forks Herald, a proposed $350 million ethanol plant and coal-fired steam plant is getting a boost from a local economic development group. The Jamestown-Stutsman Development Corp. is investing $6 million in the effort – a $4 million grant over 3 1/2 years and the purchase of $2 million in Spiritwood Energy LLC stock.
Both the Jamestown City Council and Stutsman County Commission approved the money in special meetings this week. The 100 million gallon a year ethanol plant and steam power plant is planned in Spiritwood, about 10 miles east of Jamestown.
Partners Invest in Indiana Ethanol Plant
Central States Enterprises, Inc. and GROWMARK, Inc. have joined forces to build a new corn ethanol facility in Blackford County, Indiana. According to a news release, the facility will consume approximately 41 million bushels of corn annually, producing 100 to 110 million gallons of ethanol and 376 thousand tons of distillers dried grains.
Delta-T Corporation of Williamsburg, Va., along with their Alliance Partners of TE Ibberson of Minneapolis, Minn. and TIC – The Industrial Company of Steamboat Springs, Col., have been appointed design-build contractors. Construction is scheduled to begin this summer.
Biofuels and Goats
Blue Diamond Ventures Inc. has announced plans to build ethanol and biodiesel facilities in Oklahoma and Belize, according to a company release.
“As nature’s partner, we are committed to addressing the world’s energy shortages by utilizing alternative fuels made from renewable resources,” said Blue Diamond Chairman and CEO John Quincey Moaning, noting the company plans to develop processing technologies and methods to increase yields from feed stocks.
Blue Diamond plans to initially construct a 3.5 million gallon per year (MGY) ethanol facility and a 5 million gallon per year (MGY) bio-diesel facility in Belize. The company anticipates using sugar cane and molasses as the main feed stock for the ethanol. The bio-diesel will be manufactured from vegetable oils such as soy beans, canola and palm and from animal fats processed at Blue Diamond’s facilities.
The company also has an interest in goats, with plans to break ground this year on a million dollar goat processing facility in Belize and aggressively market the world’s most eaten meat throughout the U.S., Central America and the Caribbean. Blue Diamond will utilize 3,000 acres in Belize and 1,200 acres in Oklahoma for a goat ranch, research center and processing facility.
NBB Honors MU Research
A group of chemical engineers from the University of Missouri has received the 2006 Glycerine Innovation Award from The Soap and Detergent Association and the National Biodiesel Board, according to an NBB release.
Dr. Galen Suppes, an associate professor at the University’s College of Engineering in Columbia, and his research team were honored at the 97th Annual Meeting of the American Oil Chemists’ Society in St. Louis.
The award recognizes outstanding achievement for research into new applications for glycerine with particular emphasis on commercial viability.
EPIC Website Nominated For Award
No this vote isn’t for us, it’s for our sponsor, the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council. Their website has been nominated for a Webby Award and you can also vote for their site to win a People’s Choice award.
EPIC’s Sr. Director of Marketing, Reece Nanfito explains: 
EPIC Webby Award Nomination (1 min MP3)
You’ve got until May 5th to cast your vote. I got mine in today.
Mississippi Ethanol Plans
The largest ethanol plant in the southeast is planned for Mississippi. According to a release from Bunge North America, they are teaming up with Mississippi-based Ergon Ethanol, Inc. to build an ethanol plant with an annual capacity of at least 60 million gallons. “The state-of-the-art facility will provide a key link between Bunge’s grain handling facilities in Mississippi and Louisiana, and Ergon’s petroleum refining assets.”
Another Corn Fuel
According to this website, there is another fuel that can be made from corn – butanol. These folks – Environmental Energy, Inc. – claim to have run cross country last year on 100 percent butanol, getting 24 miles to the gallon with no engine modifications.
Why have we never heard of it? According to the website, production of butanol from corn and other biomass has been stymied by the lack of technology to make it economically viable. The problem has been historically low yields and low concentrations of butanol compared to those of ethanol….EEI’s patent changes everything. We are now able to produce yields of 2.5 gallons of butanol per bushel of corn.
If this has real potential, these guys need a better PR engine to make it work and need to get support from the corn growers.
Thanks to Gary Dikkers for pointing me to the website.
Clean Cities Congress Bloggers
The Clean Cities Congress & Expo is coming up starting this weekend in Phoenix, AZ. I’m looking forward to bringing you all the action and information I can. And guess what? I’ll have help! Guest bloggers. Guest student bloggers. They will bring a fresh and interesting perspective to our coverage of the event. I want to take this opportunity to introduce them to you.
First of all let’s meet Peter West. According to Peter’s bio he sent me: Peter West grew up in a log cabin at the top of a cliff in Colorado. Though the mountains were an amazing place to be, he left them for city life on the East Coast. Currently he is a marketing major at Emerson College in downtown Boston. Welcome to Domestic Fuel Peter. I’m really looking forward to meeting you and working with you.
And our next student blogger is Lauren Ciemniak. I am a straight A student with a 4.0 GPA. I received the outstanding citizen of the year award. I plan to major in journalism in college. I have been dancing for 13 years and I love to travel!Welcome to you too Lauren.
They’ll be writing on Domestic Fuel by the end of the week and start out providing their expectations for this experience. After we get together in Phoenix we’ll work out who will cover what and you can expect to hear and see more. So stay tuned.
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Editorial Ignorance
Illinois Corn Growers are a bit ticked about an editorial last week in the Chicago Tribune. Today’s Chicago Tribune has an editorial that contains just about every fallacy and piece of misinformation ever to see print about ethanol. This is nothing new and once again it raises the question; is it editorial ignorance or a hidden agenda driving this apparent vendetta?
IL Corn is probably not very happy with a follow-up editorial in the Trib on Sunday either. ILCG does note, however, that the news reporters at the Trib have been covering ethanol with increasing frequency and with a noticeable effort toward balance and objectivity. This phenomenon of increasingly positive coverage is happening nationwide as the media learns more about the fuel, as car manufacturers give E85 their stamp of approval, and as it becomes more readily available.
Ethanol Jackpot
Talk about a big payoff for investing in ethanol! Central City, Nebraska hit the ethanol jackpot last week with a huge donation from the ethanol industry. Platte Valley Fuel Ethanol and its majority owner, Fagen, Inc., gave the town $1 million for economic development efforts. “It’s just our way of saying thanks,” said Doug Anderson, general manager of the plant. “We wanted to do something that would continue to enhance economic growth in the area.”
The 50 million gallon/year plant started operation on May 5th, 2004. The company is merging with US BioEnergy of Brookings, S.D. and recently announced expansion of the plant to 100 million gallons.
Articles about the gift are accessible only by registration from the Omaha World Herald and the Grand Island Independent.