Ethanol supply chain continues to morph
One ethanol plant is sold, another in test runs this month
By Dave Hannon -- Purchasing, 5/7/2009 11:04:00 AM
It only took Agstar Financial Services a bit more than a month to find a buyer for the Michigan ethanol plant it bought from bankrupt ethanol producer VeraSun last spring. According to a statement, Chicago-based newcomer Green BioEnergy has agreed to buy the Woodbury, Mich. ethanol plant from Agstar for an undisclosed sum. The plant has capacity to produce 40 million gallons of ethanol a year.
AgStar acquired six plants in VeraSun Energy’s bankruptcy and says it is continuing discussions with qualified buyers for the five other plants.
In other ethanol supply news, Big River Resources said it plans to begin producing ethanol at a new 100 million gallon plant in Galva, Illinois, next month, after performing some test runs this month. “May 14 is the plan, or near that day,” Big River Resources CEO Raymond Defenbaugh told the Register-Mail in Galesburg, Ill. of the first “grind” or test run. “We’re looking forward to cranking her up.”
The ethanol market also got a boost from the Obama administration this week, which announced it was allocating $20 million for ethanol research as part of a much broader, $786.5 million biofuel research initiative. Under the new initiative, by 2022, the proposal would require 36 billion gallons annually of renewable fuels, of which 16 billion gallons must be cellulosic biofuels; and 1 billion gallons must be of biomass-based diesel. At most 15 billion gallons of the renewable fuel mandate can be met with conventional biofuels, including corn-based ethanol.
See also: Sagging ethanol prices to firm up as producer shakeout continues
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