Sat, Nov 21 2009
|
|
Published January 09, 2008 10:06 pm - NEVADA, Mo. — Eight years in the making, the Prairie Pride plant near Nevada is now producing soybean-based biodiesel. Soy-diesel plant gets cooking near Nevada By Melissa Dunson
mdunson@joplinglobe.com NEVADA, Mo. — Eight years in the making, the Prairie Pride plant near Nevada is now producing soybean-based biodiesel. The latest biodiesel plant to come on line in Missouri will add 30 million gallons of alternative fuel a year to the country’s output. That’s important, said Kevin Fischer, vice chairman of Prairie Pride, because President Bush last month signed an energy bill calling for the country to produce 1 billion gallons of biofuels by 2012. “It’s a mandate that ensures more renewable fuels will be blended into our fuels in the future,” Fischer said. “It was time for this product.” The Prairie Pride plant sits on 210 acres in western Vernon County, between Nevada and Deerfield. It cost $90 million to build and will created an estimated 45 jobs. Although the plant is now turning out a product, full production won’t begin until mid-March when a soybean-oil extractor next door is finished. Until then, Fischer said, Prairie Pride is buying soybean oil from extraction companies and going through the 10-hour procedure of transforming it from a cooking lubricant to something that powers vehicles. The biodiesel coming out of Prairie Pride leaves the plant by railroad, Fischer said, and is distributed across the United States. Fischer said the plant will use 21 million bushels of soybeans a year when it is fully operational. At least 2.1 million bushels will come from the 1,050 area farmers who invested in the project. Along with a one-time $20,000 pledge, farmers had to commit 2,000 bushels of soybeans each year to the plant. Fischer said Prairie Pride will work with the farm co-ops in the area for the rest of the crop that is needed. It took Prairie Pride’s founders 100 equity-drive meetings to become fully producer-owned. The company says it is the first soybean-diesel plant in the nation with more than 1,000 investors. Fischer said 80 percent of those investors live in Missouri. The equity drive raised $36 million for the project, and Fischer said a $52 million Merrill Lynch loan and grant money paid the rest of the costs. At full capacity, Fischer said, Prairie Pride also will produce 486,000 tons of soybean meal and 10,000 tons of glycerin a year. Both of those products are sold to Missouri and Arkansas producers of livestock feed. Price per bushel Fischer said he has seen firsthand the benefit a soybean-biodiesel plant can have for nearby farmers. “We have seen the price of soybeans escalate over the last 60 days,” he said. “When we started this project, soybeans were $6 a bushel. Now, it’s $12 a bushel. It’s just a higher demand for the product.” A U.S. Department of Energy study reported that the production and use of biodiesel resulted in a 78.5 percent reduction in carbon-dioxide emissions compared with petroleum-based diesel. 
•
Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.
More from the Local News section
Some Briarbrook residents want tax district to save golf course, country club ‘Journey Stories’ set pace at exhibit in Miami Public Library MSSU board slates retreat for February Neosho city manager admits use of airport loan to pay city bills |
Print this story
E-mail this story
Post to del.icio.us
Discuss this story
 |
 |
: Special Offer For New Subscribers :
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
|
|
Published by Newspaper Holding, Inc. 117 East Fourth Street, Joplin, MO 64801 Using our site is your agreement to the terms and conditions. News: news@joplinglobe.com • (417)623-3480 Advertise with the Joplin Globe Copyright © 2006 The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO All rights reserved. 
|
Popular Business directory links - Joplin Apartments | Joplin Attorneys | Joplin Auto Dealers | Joplin Auto Parts | Joplin Auto Repair | Joplin Beauty Salons | Joplin Car Rental | Joplin Dentists | Joplin Doctors | Joplin Flowers | Joplin Hotels | Joplin Insurance | Joplin Loans | Joplin Mortgages | Joplin Movers | Joplin Pizza | Joplin Realtors | Joplin Restaurants | Joplin Storage | Joplin Tax Preparation | Joplin Travel | Joplin Featured | More...
|
|
Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. • CNHI Classified Advertising Network • CNHI News Service |
