Broin building $200M cellulosic ethanol plant in Iowa

Ethanol producer and marketer Broin Companies has announced plans to build a cellulose-to-ethanol production facility in Iowa, with completion expected in 2009. The announcement came in a joint press conference at the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines today with Iowa Governor Thomas Vilsack and Iowa Governor-Elect Chet Culver.

"We have been working very hard at developing technologies and advancements the past several years ... and the project in Emmetsburg is a major step toward reaching that goal," said Jeff Broin, CEO of Broin Companies.

Voyager Ethanol, located in Emmetsburg, Iowa, will be converted from a 50 million gallon per year (MGPY) conventional corn dry mill facility into a 125 million gallon per year commercial scale bio-refinery designed to use corn fractionation and lignocellulosic conversion technologies to produce ethanol from corn fiber and corn stover. Broin Companies has applied for matching grant funds through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to assist with the project.

The expansion will use existing infrastructure with projected costs estimated at just over $200 million dollars. Pilot research for the project has been conducted and the expansion is slated to begin in February with a commercial production timeline set approximately 30 months later, the company said. Officials expect to generate 11 percent more ethanol from a bushel of corn and 27 percent more ethanol from an acre of corn while using 83 percent less energy needed to operate a corn-to-ethanol plant.

Officials said Broin's cellulosic technology is the result of its efforts co-funded by the DOE over five years, along with assistance from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and South Dakota State University.

Broin says it is the largest dry mill ethanol producer in the United States. The 20-year-old company currently manages 18 plants in the United States while marketing more than one billion gallons of ethanol annually.

For more information:

www.broin.com