http://enn.com/news/enn-stories/2001/12/12102001/ethanol_45827.asp - 12/10/2001 - ENN.com Illinois plans giant ethanol processing plant
Monday, December 10, 2001 By Environmental News Network Ethanol-powered 2000 Ford Ranger stands on grass that could be used to power its engine. More than 95 percent of Chicago drivers are burning gasoline that contains 10 percent ethanol, an indication of how important the grain based oxygenate is to clean air quality in the Windy City. Over the next two years, construction of a new Illinois based ethanol processing plant will consolidate the state's position in the forefront of ethanol research and production. In January 2003, a new pilot ethanol processing plant will open in Edwardsville, Illinois that will serve as a demonstration of the commercial feasibility of large scale ethanol production. Although ethanol is manufactured commercially in states such as Kansas, Nebraska, and Minnesota, the new Illinois plant is considered essential to the industry's goal of increasing ethanol production from today's two billion gallons a year to 16 billion gallons a year during the next 10 to 15 years. Ethanol is a non-toxic oxygenate prepared from grain that biodegrades quickly in water. Added to gasoline, ethanol enhances engine performance and reduces harmful emissions. Ethanol is an alcohol made from renewable resources such as corn and other cereal grains, food and other beverage wastes and forestry by-products. Ethanol-blended fuel reduces carbon monoxide and volatile organic compound emissions, which are factors in the formation of smog. Ethanol is added to gasoline blends in every state in the nation to meet oxygenate level requirements mandated by the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments and to raise the octane level. The new plant emulates a commercial plant and will be built in modules so any part of the production line can be easily replaced to test new equipment demonstrating technologies that will make ethanol production more competitive with gasoline. It will serve to convince industry to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to retrofit a plant with new technology by testing it on a large scale. Various organizations concerned with ethanol research, including the Illinois Corn Growers Association, the Illinois Department of Energy and Natural Resources, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, and Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, are sponsoring the new pilot plant. The state of Illinois is providing $6 million towards the construction as the plant is expected to enhance all phases of the Illinois ethanol business. According to the Illinois Corn Growers Association, investment by the ethanol industry in the state exceeds $1 billion, generating 800 jobs in plant operations and 4,000 jobs in the industry related service sector. Illinois ranks second in U.S. corn production with more than 1.5 billion bushels produced each year. Corn grown in Illinois is used to produce 40 percent of the ethanol consumed in the United States. The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is administering the federal government's contributions of $2 million for the design stage and $14 million of the $20 million construction project, according to Don Comis of the ARS. At 23,000 square feet of floor space and with a capacity to produce 50,000 gallons of ethanol a year, the two-story plant will be the largest pilot ethanol plant in the country. Among the products ARS scientists might test at the new plant are new enzymes being developed to improve the efficiency and environmental soundness of ethanol production. The Southwest Research Institute determined that a new blend of ethanol and diesel fuel can reduce particulate matter emissions by as much as 41 percent, nitrogen oxides by as much as five percent and carbon monoxide by 27 percent. ARS will likely evaluate and demonstrate its latest ethanol products and processing techniques at this plant as the final stage before commercialization. Other federal researchers, university researchers, ethanol companies and equipment vendors will use the pilot plant as a testing ground for their ethanol research. Each gallon of ethanol produced domestically displaces seven gallons of imported oil, according to USDA scientists. The Bush administration views ethanol as a way to enhance domestic energy production and has ordered that the oxygenate be used in fleets of government vehicles. "Ethanol and biofuels are fuels of the future for this country," President George W. Bush told the Farm Journal Forum in Washington during the last week of November. He highlighted ethanol's ability to enhance homeland security, improve the farm economy, and protect the environment. "These fuels are gentle on the environment," the President said. "They are fuels that can be renewed year after year, and fuels that can expand our farm economy. These fuels are made right here in America, so they can't be threatened by any foreign power." Copyright 2001, Environmental News Network ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Break free. Great American Smokeout http://us.click.yahoo.com/3vN8tD/.pSDAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. 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