Now we’ve got an ethanol plant being built on the east coast. That’s different! We’ve seen so many of them being built in the midwest that it was only a matter of time until we saw them popping up in other areas.
Thanks to Mark Simone at Andrew B.Bellingham Commodity Trade Analysis for the heads up on this announcement.
Dave Brady, managing member of Agri-Ethanol Products, LLC (AEP) today (Dec. 16) announced the location of a $150 million ethanol plant to be located in Beaufort County, near Aurora, North Carolina. Mr. Brady thanked Governor Easley for the assistance that the state of North Carolina provided in making the plant possible. He also expressed his sincere appreciation to Secretary of Commerce, Jim Fain, Secretary of Revenue, Norris Tolson, Senator Marc Basnight, Representative Arthur Williams, Representative Joe Tolson, Larry Shirley and NC Department of Energy, the Northeast Partnership, Tom Thompson and the Beaufort County Economic Development Commission, the Town of Aurora and Roseview Capital.
The plant will produce 114 million gallons of ethanol per year as well as co-products consisting of distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and CO2. This will be the first ethanol plant in North Carolina and the first on the East Coast of the United States. The ethanol production will be delivered in each of two, 57 million gallon per year phases, with the co-products output doubling accordingly. Phase I ground breaking and construction start-up is expected during the first quarter of ’06. Approximately $2 million will be utilized through various grant sources from the State to facilitate rail improvements critical to the operation of the plant.
It’s time to get yourself a Ford Tough 
Colorado-based 
While Googling around today, I came across this story from British Columbia, Canada – the 
In the latest Long Term Energy Outlook report issued by the 
More corn from the Cornhusker State will be going into ethanol production. In the past week, at least three ethanol plants have been announced in Nebraska, prompting 
The ethanol industry has been exonerated of charges that it is too highly concentrated in the hands of too few companies. Under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Federal Trade Commission was required to “perform a market concentration analysis of the ethanol production industry using the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index to determine whether there is sufficient competition among industry participants to avoid price-setting and other anticompetitive behavior.” I guess that’s because the energy bill provides incentives for increasing ethanol production and they don’t want to give all that money to a small handful of companies. Maybe there were fears by some in Congress that the ethanol industry was just like Big Oil? Anyway, the bottom line of the FTC’s pretty straightforward 17-page report is that “The level of concentration in ethanol production would be unlikely to provide the opportunity or incentive for one or more firms to act anticompetitively.” (
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today announced a strategy to help farmers and ranchers deal with higher energy costs and increase production of domestic fuels. As part of the plan – USDA is intensifying efforts to support the development, production and use of renewable fuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, through an array of research, loan and grant programs. The Secretary has directed Rural Development to maximize the use of approximately $1.4 billion available this year in various business and electric loan and loan guarantee authorities. More specifically, Johanns directed these funds be used to help farmers, ranchers and rural communities efficiently create renewable energy systems and businesses. Since 2001, USDA Rural Development has awarded nearly $290 million in renewable energy funding. These funds support renewable energy projects such as ethanol plants, wind and solar power units that create jobs and spur growth in rural communities. The Forest Service and other USDA agencies will intensify their support of renewable fuels research, development and use.