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Futures and Commodity Market News |
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Breaking financial news 24/7 courtesy of TradingCharts.com Inc. / TFC Commodity Charts |
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ALBANY, May 08, 2008 (Albany Times Union - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Developers of a massive ethanol production plant production plant proposed for the Port of Albany say new technology would make it far more efficient than existing corn ethanol plants. Ed Stahl, president of BioPro Resources of Huntersville, N.C., told the Albany Port District Commission on Wednesday that the plant would use a process known as fractionation to separate the germ and fiber from the kernel. The germ can be marketed separately, while the fiber can be used as a fuel source through gasification, he said. Meanwhile, the material that remains is more highly concentrated, increasing the ethanol yield. Stahl said a plant that would have produced 55 million gallons of ethanol without fractionation would now yield 70 million gallons. The gasification of the fiber would reduce the amount of natural gas needed by 70 percent to 80 percent, he added. "This will reduce our carbon footprint," Stahl said. Biomass such as wood chips also could be used to provide energy to the plant, he said. The company that would supply the distilling equipment, ICM Inc. of Colwich, Kan., already has a test plant in operation in St. Joseph, Mo., Stahl said. The Albany port project would give ICM an opportunity to demonstrate its technology on the East Coast. Stahl told commissioners that ethanol is being blamed unfairly for the rise in worldwide food prices, saying the corn used to produce ethanol is normally fed to livestock, not humans. The rising price of oil is the biggest contributor to food price increases, he said. The increased efficiency of the proposed ethanol plant should make it easier to get financing, Stahl said. That's been an issue as corn and natural gas prices have climbed. Stahl also is considering using agricultural-grade molasses as a source of the sugars needed to produce ethanol, replacing some expensive corn, said Robert Cross, chairman of the commission. Eric Anderson can be reached at 454-5323 or by e-mail at eanderson@timesunion.com. To see more of the Albany Times Union, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.timesunion.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Albany Times Union, N.Y. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |
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Eric Anderson Copyright (C) 2008 Albany Times Union, N.Y. Please read the End User Agreement. News provided by COMTEX |
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