Barley Proposed for Ethanol Plant

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Monday, September 29, 2008

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Barley Proposed for Ethanol Plant

US - Farmers can either invest directly in a biofuel refinery or grow the crops to feed it - this is the message being given to farmers by the head of a renewable fuels company proposing to build a refinery on the east coast of the USA.

F. Mack Shelor, a principal at Chesapeake Renewable Energy LLC is traveling the state of Maryland offering farmers a chance to invest in a multimillion-dollar plant proposed south of Princess Anne according to reports on Delmarva Now.

At a recent meeting in Salisbury, he said farmers could make a financial investment in a $230 million plant that would produce ethanol, electricity and even organic food products, and generate annual revenues above $220 million.

He said that in good times, the plant also would increase the regional economy by more than $500 million annually, create 200 local jobs and reduce the annual importation of foreign crude by 55 million gallons -- a trade savings of $137 million, according to Delmarva Now.

The other investment avenue is to plant enough fields of barley to manufacture 55 million gallons of ethanol a year and participate in a state-sponsored barley-to-ethanol conversion incentive that pays $30 per acre for the wheat alternative noted for a shorter growing season and a soil-friendliness that allows a planting follow-up with soybeans.

The ethanol plant proposal could help to stimulate the growing of barley and ease competition for corn the meeting heard.

Manufacturing would also produce ethanol from corn and sorghum as back-up sources when barley is off-season, and carbon dioxide from fermentation processes that would be used for dry ice, principals said. Leftover corn oil from a distillers grains operation, Shelor said, would be offered to a local plant to make biodiesel -- an alternative fuel made from chicken fat and other greases.

While participation by Maryland farmers is encouraged, Chesapeake Renewable especially wants local involvement. "We want this to be an Eastern Shore project," he said.

TheBioenergySite News Desk