(Published Friday, March 30, 2007 10:59:44 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
By Ann Marie Ames Gazette staff
CLINTON-It's a small drop in a big bucket.
But it's a start.
Midwest Biofuels, 125 Industrial Drive, is about to become the second plant in Wisconsin to produce biodiesel commercially. It will be the first completely indoor biodiesel producer in the world and one of the first in the nation to use a waterless method of turning soybean oil into diesel fuel.
Owner Mirza Ahmed, of Macon, Ga., predicts the plant will begin producing fuel in about two weeks.
Midwest Biofuels approached Clinton with the project in June 2006.
"Clinton is an agricultural community, and Rock County is the heart of soybean country," said village Administrator Scott Kluver. "I think we're well situated for this type of business."
Biodiesel is commonly produced by adding alcohol and a catalyst to vegetable oil or animal fat. A water treatment process flushes the remaining chemicals out of the fuel.
At the 6,000-square-foot Clinton plant, electricity will act as the catalyst, producing biodiesel with less waste and lower cost, Ahmed said. The technology was designed by ECR Biodiesel Atlanta.
"It's homegrown technology for a homegrown product," Ahmed said.
The Clinton plant will start production with six employees, Ahmed said. A future third shift will double that number.
Ahmed plans to build fuel storage tanks in the future, but for now the plant will produce only what it can immediately sell.
Ahmed, who practices medicine in Georgia, admits his fuel output of 5 million gallon per year will be small compared to the 45 million gallons that will be produced at the North Prairie Productions plant under construction in Evansville.
But every drop counts, Ahmed said.
"The (national) market is huge," Ahmed said. "If we produce a billion gallons, we won't fill it."
Ahmed said Wisconsin consumes about one billion gallons of diesel fuel per year. To meet the goal of using an 80/20 blend of diesel and biodiesel, Wisconsin would need to produce 200 million gallons a year of biodiesel, he said.
That goal is a long way from being met.
Wisconsin's first commercial biodiesel production facility, Sanimax Energy of De Forest, is completing trial runs this week and hopes to go live Monday. The plant is expected to produce 20 million gallons per year.
Plants in Eau Claire and Manitowoc produce less than 1 million gallons of biodiesel per year. A fourth plant under construction in Cashton will produce 8 million gallons per year, said Bob Karls, executive director of the Wisconsin Soybean Association.
More about Biodiesel
Why Biodiesel? -- Biodiesel can be substituted in any diesel-powered vehicle without modifying the engine, said Bob Karls, executive director for the Wisconsin Soybean Association. Biodiesel burns cleaner than diesel fuel, Karls said, and improves performance when added to ultra-low sulfur diesel.
-- The United States Environmental Protection Agency mandated that sulfur be removed from diesel fuel between June of 2006 and June 2007. Sulfur acts as a lubricant in the fuel. By June 1, all diesel engines-including trucks, tractors and boats-must operate on sulfur-free fuel. Biodiesel is a good replacement, Karls said.
How does Rock County gain? -- A Rock County biodiesel plant doesn't directly benefit local producers. Wisconsin is the only major soybean producing state without a crushing facility to produce soybean oil. So local biodiesel is made with soy oil purchased from Illinois, Iowa or Minnesota.
But local biodiesel production helps increase the nationwide demand for soybeans, which drives the price in Wisconsin and elsewhere.
Gary Sommers raises soybeans in Clinton Township and is a member of the Wisconsin Soybean Marketing Board.
"I think it's a positive for farmers everywhere," Sommers said about biodiesel production in Clinton and Evansville. "As biodiesel is used, it creates a larger market for (soy) oil everywhere."
-- A local crush plant could directly benefit local producers. A plant would increase the demand for beans in Rock County. This wouldn't affect the price set for beans at the Chicago Board of Trade, but high local demand might cause local buyers to pay more per bushel.
Keeping Wisconsin beans in state would also lower shipping costs for the industry, Karl said.
-- Midwest Biofuels owner Mirza Ahmed said he envisions a crush plant near his biodiesel plant in Clinton.
He's not alone. Landmark Services Cooperative in Evansville has talked about building a plant in Evansville and has talked to possible construction partners.
A plant that processes 2,400 tons of soybeans a day would cost $80 million to $100 million to build, said Larry Swalheim, CEO of Landmark.
