Hopefully this project will cut down on some of the smell coming from south of Mead.
Omaha World Herald wrote:
Ethanol plant would run on methane
A proposed ethanol plant near Mead, Neb., would use manure from a cattle feedlot to generate the energy needed to make the corn-based fuel.
Nebraska BioClean plans to build the facility about two miles south of Mead. It would produce about 20 million gallons of ethanol a year.
The company's plans include building a methane digester that, using manure, would generate steam needed to fuel the plant's boilers.
Company officials believe this would be the first project to use energy from a methane digester to power an ethanol facility. Nebraska BioClean holds a patent on designs combining the systems.
"What we're doing is combining technologies that have been done in the past," said Mark Kraeger, chief operating officer for Nebraska BioClean. "It will be the first time all those things have been tried together."
Mead Cattle Co. and its 30,000 or so cattle would supply manure for the project. The facility would use about 7 million bushels of corn to produce the ethanol, and the byproduct of wet, distilled grain would then feed the cattle.
The facility would cost about $28 million and employ about 30 people, Kraeger said.
This is an interesting concept that could catch on more in the future, but I don't think it's really been tried so far in ethanol production.
I don't know if it will lessen the smell in this town since ethanol plants put out an odor of their own, but it couldn't be any worse than a large, festering pile of dung from the local cow company.
Hah! Just when you thought I was going to make some silly post about Wahoo...
These ethanol plants are catching on like wildfire in our region. I do think both Iowa and Nebraska's rural economic future will be heavy on energy production. Between wind generation, ethanol/alternative fuel production and other energy projects, we're off to a great start.
The ethanol industry is in a boom phase right now because many companies want to get into the market before it becomes saturated (still a long ways to go as demand increases). Iowa must have about 4 of these under construction right now with at least 8 more planned.
Not only do they provide some alright jobs in rural areas that desperately need this kind of investment, but it drives up the amount of money those farmer types that we all love on here get for their crops too.
Within the next 60 days, there will be an IPO for a new ethanol plant to be constructed in Shenandoah. This is a rare one where we can all participate. Open your wallets boys.
My son got a 27 on his ACT. No this score is not as high as what Jeff's son achieved. But one has to remember the paternal gene-pool my son has to overcome. On a PGPAB [Paternal Gene-Pool Adjusted Basis], my son's score is a 37 and Jeff's son's PGPAB ACT score is 19.
Omaha World Herald wrote:A Colorado-based company plans to build a $120 million ethanol plant near Wood River, Neb., to make 110 million gallons a year of the fuel additive. The plant would use about 41 million bushels of corn annually from a nearby Cargill elevator...
Cargill has an ethanol plant in Eddyville, Iowa, that produces 35 million gallons each year, and an ethanol plant in Blair that it plans to expand from 85 million gallons to 110 million gallons a year. After the Blair expansion, Cargill would become the second largest producer of ethanol in the country, behind Archer Daniels Midland Co. of Decatur, Ill., Cargill officials said.
They can legislate all the other specs and additives that fuel must meet or have. It should be legislated that all fuel sold in Nebr or any other state for that mater should be ethanol blend.
Omaha World Herald wrote:Connealy said other states' experiences, plus wide public acceptance of ethanol, should make his bill an easier sell this time. Three states - Minnesota, Montana and Hawaii - already have 10 percent ethanol mandates. Ethanol made up nearly 44 percent of the fuel sold in Nebraska in 2004.
The $80 million plant will be able to produce 50 million gallons of ethanol with plans to expand to 100 million gallons. The plant is scheduled to be operational next year and will use an estimated 18.7 million bushels of corn annually, Miller told the board.
There are 12 ethanol plants operating in Nebraska that produce more than 500 million gallons annually. Nebraska is the third-leading ethanol producer in the nation, and about 25 percent of the state’s current crop is used to produce the fuel.
An additional seven ethanol plants under construction, including Siouxland, and 16 others are being considered, according to the Nebraska Ethanol Board.
Heineman said Nebraska has more ethanol plants under construction than any other state and sometime next year it will become the nation’s second-largest producer of ethanol.
This 220 million gallon per year plant, with the first phase being 100 million, will be constructed on a 135-acre site adjacent to the property of the Nebraska Energy, LLC ethanol plant. Aventine is the majority partner/owner of Nebraska Energy, LLC...
"In addition to the ethanol project, we are also pleased to announce the first ag-bio multiplex in North America," said George Hohwieler, President and CEO of the Aurora Cooperative. The 135-acre site named Aurora West will also include a state-of-the-art grain handling facility, a fertilizer complex, and a double loop railroad system to accommodate grain, fertilizer, ethanol, and DDG shipments accessing the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe (BNSF) mainline railroad. The plan calls for a multi-million bushel grain storage and handling facility to receive and deliver area producers' grain to end users in the ethanol, feed, and food industries. The fertilizer complex will have the ability to expand based on the continued market growth the Aurora Cooperative is experiencing.
Omaha World Herald wrote:STATE FAIR PARK - Nebraska is poised to overtake Illinois as the No. 2 ethanol-producing state, Gov. Dave Heineman said Friday. Nebraska has more ethanol plants in planning stages or under construction than any other state, Heineman said in a ceremony to proclaim September as biofuels awareness month in Nebraska.
In 2005, Iowa led the nation in ethanol production, Illinois was second and Nebraska third. All three states are rapidly expanding ethanol capacity. Mark Jagels of Davenport, Neb., immediate past president of the Nebraska Corn Board, said Nebraska's 12 ethanol plants employ nearly 600 people and have created 1,250 indirect jobs. Ten more plants are under construction and about 20 more are being planned, Jagels said.
Yankton.net wrote:A company interested in building a "closed loop" ethanol plant in Cedar County, Neb., made presentations in three locales in the county on Monday. The BioSolutions company was invited to make presentations in Cedar County by a couple of unknown residents who toured the Prime BioSolutions facility in Mead, Neb. This projected plant has only been operational for a couple of months but company officials can see the positive outcomes already.
A large confinement feedlot in the Mead area has been operating successfully since 1965 and the BioSolutions people decided to design their facility in a similar way. The method patent for the new facility was dated March 12, 2002. The large feedlot confined their cattle in cement bunkers with slated floors, covered with a roof and taking advantage of southern exposure.
The business will provide 70 jobs in the plant facility with the creation of another 200 indirect jobs. Construction employment will increase by 200 jobs and 10 million bushels of corn can be used annually. The $80-90 million project will process 30,000 bushels of corn per day and officials feel the Cedar County area has enough corn to supply the plant and keep current livestock feeders happy as well.
I wonder how many people in Nebraska are employed by the ethanol industry now. It'd be interesting to see year to year statistics going back about 15 years.
Omaha World Herald wrote:When ethanol plants turn corn into fuel, the process uses only the starch, which is about 70 percent of the kernel. The protein, fiber and oils left behind are concentrated into distillers grain.
A 56-pound bushel of corn produces about 2.8 gallons of ethanol and 17 pounds of distillers grain, according to the American Coalition for Ethanol.
The U.S. Grains Council is working to expand markets for dried distillers grains with solubles, or DDGS - a byproduct of the alternative fuel used as high-protein livestock feed - in Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and China, said Cary Sifferath, the council's Japan senior director.
Increased efficiency has resulted in new and cleaver ways of profitability over korn. Â I hate to see what they are trying to push in 10 years when the commercials during the football game are advertising corn products that allow 5 crops per season. Â ehhh.
You probably will not notice the difference, but Saturday, when the Indy Car season kicks off at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, there will be something new in the tank and it is different enough that it brought recognition on Capitol Hill. You can call it the 90 percent difference. A year ago, IRL cars ran on 10 percent ethanol. This year they will run on 100 percent ethanol and that has lawmakers talking.
The speed of green flag racing like that at the Indy 500 gets fans full attention. Adding a so called "green" fuel, 100 percent ethanol, to every Indy car all season long has the attention of lawmakers. "One of the most important things we can do in this country now is to have our automobile companies produce cars with flexible fuel," said Sen. Richard Lugar.
"If the most powerful racing cars on earth going 220 miles per hour can use 100 percent ethanol, so too can the family car, truck or mini van," said Sen. Evan Bayh.
Des Moines Register wrote:Just last weekend, the fledgling Ethanol Promotion and Information Council launched its first television commercials: two 30-second ads that aired March 16 on ESPN2 during the 2007 IndyCar Series season preview. All cars in the IndyCar Series, which includes the Indianapolis 500 and the Iowa Corn 250 in Newton, switched to 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol this year.
"It puts us in the national spotlight," said Reece Nanfito, EPIC senior director of marketing. For the half of the nation that has E10 - gasoline with 10 percent ethanol - "it indicates it's available, it's a choice you can make, and there are compelling reasons why you should use ethanol at the pump." The ads promote performance, indicating that if ethanol works for race cars, it'll do just fine in your sport utility vehicle. They also herald ethanol's role in reducing emissions and the nation's dependence on foreign oil.
Even with government mandates - including President Bush's proposal to require 35 billion gallons of renewable fuel in 10 years - industry promoters say they need people at the pump asking for their product. "We have to stand on our own two feet," said Tom Slunecka, EPIC executive director. EPIC is a nonprofit organization in Omaha. It's financed by more than 150 ethanol-related companies.
But it's not the only advertiser. Archer Daniels Midland, the nation's largest ethanol producer, has touted ethanol in some of its corporate ads. Third-place VeraSun Energy has been working with automaker General Motors and mega-retailer Wal-Mart on other possible promotions.
"I could make 100 phone calls and wouldn't get any back. Major oil companies had no interest," he said. "We decided we'd have to do it ourselves."
Ethanol companies harvesting big profits
By Matthew Gruchow mgruchow@argusleader.com
Published: March 25, 2007
At its trading debut in June, bullish Wall Street investors drove a 30-percent jump in shares of VeraSun Energy Corp.
Since then, the Brookings-based company has more than met the expectations of those enthusiastic investors.
Its most recent quarterly earnings blew away Wall Street predictions, posting an eight-fold earnings increase over the same period just a year ago, from $2.7 million, or 5 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2005 to $21.4 million, or 27 cents per share, capping an incredible 2006.
Omaha World Herald wrote:The logistics of collecting and storing a million tons of corn stubble each year for an ethanol refinery are mind-numbing. It would take 67,000 semitrailer loads to haul the baled stubble out of the field. That's 187 truckloads a day, or one every eight minutes. To complicate matters, the need for trucks, machinery and manpower would come during harvest, already the busiest time of the year on the farm.
The Energy Department wants researchers to develop a harvest and storage process that would provide material to a refinery for $35 a ton, a level that probably would make ethanol production profitable. Opinions differ, however, on whether that is achievable. Some in the industry believe the cost to ethanol plants would be closer to $60.
A three-year study in Chase County indicates that an 80-million-gallon ethanol plant would require corn stover from 500,000 acres of corn within a 50-mile radius of the plant and 500 acres to store it after harvest. Â "That will give you an idea of the logistical nightmare this thing is," said Lex Thompson, one of the Chase County coordinators. On the other hand, an additional $30 profit per acre would put $15 million into the pockets of farmers operating near the refinery.
Joe Ruff
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER wrote:It's time for the federal government to move beyond offering tax credits to companies that combine ethanol with gasoline, said the CEO of the fourth-largest ethanol producer in the country.
Instead, he said, government incentives are needed for companies that install special pumps at gas stations and design cars capable of handling higher amounts of the fuel additive.
“Let's build the infrastructure,” said Todd Becker of Green Plains Renewable Energy in Omaha. “Roads, rail, pipelines — all had some kind of tax incentives or loan guarantees. It's happened in every single industry, even semiconductors.
“We believe the industry needs to grow up and the blender credit needs to go away. But we need to be able to get our fuel to the marketplace.”
