[NEWS] Cellulosic Ethanol Refinery Planned for North Dakota
– by Anne Bailey, April 13, 2016, Ethanol Producer Magazine
The CEO and a founding partner of New Energy Investors met with North Dakota state officials April 12 to discuss a $150 million cellulosic ethanol plant the Pennsylvania company is proposing to build in Spiritwood, N.D.
The plant, located in the Spiritwood Industrial Park, would process corn stover and wheat straw into ethanol and lignin. Both biomass materials may be purchased under contract with farmers, said Thomas Corle, New Energy Investors founding partner.
On April 11, Corle and New Energy Investors CEO Robert Johnsen had met with members of the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp. to discuss the proposed ethanol plant, which would use about 195 million tons of corn stover and straw annually to produce 13.5 million gallons of ethanol and 90,000 tons of lignin per year. The JSDC voted to approve a $75,000 match to a $225,000 North Dakota Agricultural Products Utilization grant for which New Energy Investments applied.
If the company is awarded the APUC grant it will use the money to study feasibility and early project definition, Corle said.