Biomass fuels plant
Posted: 13 November 2007
Panda Ethanol Inc. reported that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has granted an air permit for the company’s planned 115 million gallon-per-year ethanol refinery in Muleshoe, Texas .
The facility will be designed to annually refine an estimated 38 million bushels of feedstock-grade corn into a clean burning, renewable fuel for the nation’s transportation needs.
The biofuel produced by the Muleshoe plant could displace approximately 2.6 million barrels of foreign oil a year.
Unlike other ethanol facilities which burn natural gas to generate the steam used in the ethanol manufacturing process, the Muleshoe facility will be engineered to gasify up to 1 billion pounds of cattle manure per year.
By using biogas to fuel the plant, Panda is both conserving the energy equivalent of 1,000 barrels of oil a day and helping to address a significant environmental problem for the Texas Panhandle.
Once built, the Muleshoe refinery should be equal in size to Panda’s Hereford facility , currently nearing completion, which will be the largest biomass-fueled ethanol plant in the United States with one of the lowest carbon footprints of any similar-sized ethanol facility in the nation.
“While we continue to remain focused on getting the Hereford facility on line in the first quarter of 2008, we are also prudently managing the development of our other ethanol projects during a period of market uncertainty,” said Darol Lindloff, chief executive officer of Panda Ethanol.
“We fully intend to be ready when the markets rebound. The granting of the Muleshoe air permit is an important step forward in that direction.”
The Muleshoe facility is the fourth 115 million gallon-per-year ethanol project announced by Panda to receive air permits. Panda’s Muleshoe refinery will be located eight miles northwest of Muleshoe, Texas.
Construction is dependent upon financing, additional regulatory approvals and other conditions.
Posted by Richard Price, Editor, EnergyME.com
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