subscribesubscriber servicescontact usabout ussite map
Wed, Feb 10 2010 

Resources

print this story   Print this story
email this story   E-mail this story
  Post to del.icio.us

Photos


Globe/T. Rob Brown Kevin Fischer, vice chairman of Prairie Pride Inc., displays a bottle of the company’s biodiesel that it produces at its plant near Nevada. When the plant is in full operation, some of the soybeans it uses to produce the fuel will come from area farmers.

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.



print this story    email this story    comment on this story   

Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.


Add a comment on this story







autoconx
Premier Guide
Find a business

Walking Fingers
Maps, Menus, Store hours, Coupons, and more...
Premier Guide

Announcements

Click here!!

: Special Offer For New Subscribers : 32 buy 1 get 1 free offers

Click Here!


Featured Jobs

LPN FOR MDS COORDINATOR
LPN FOR MDS Coordinator, experience required. Apply at Seneca House, 914 Chickesaw, Seneca, MO or call Holly at 417-776...>MORE

FRONT LOADER
driver needed, local routes, experienced driver preferred. Class B license required. Pay $10-$11 per hour. Call for inte...>MORE

RECEPTIONIST
busy law office seeking full-time receptionist. Previous experience required, mulit-tasking, computer skills, and great ...>MORE

See all ads

Featured Transportation

SATURN, 2001 SC-2
154,000 miles, $2850. (417)540-9986...>MORE

2001 GRAND PRIX
Richard Petty Special Edition Package, $4995/offer. 417-317-2000....>MORE

CHEVROLET, 1999 MONTE CARLO
169,000 miles, $2750. (417)540-9986...>MORE

PONTIAC, 1999 SUNFIRE
148,000 miles, $2750. (417)540-9986...>MORE

See all ads

Featured Homes

VALENTINES GIFT
Unique Gorgeous Valentines Gift
1112 W. 5th, Joplin. Approximaitely 2200 sq. ft, could be 4,000 sq. ft. 3 br, 2 ba
...>MORE

See all ads

Other Cool Stuff

MINI SCHNAUZER
4 months, male, $75 with papers and accessories. (417)434-8830....>MORE

FOR SALE DOBERMAN PUPS

6 males and 1 female, date of birth 1-18-2010 all black and rust, mom and dad for more information please call Je
...>MORE

APR FRENCH BULLDOG

14 week old female. Brindle with white markings. $900. 417-540-7490
...>MORE

See all ads


 

Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.CNHI Classified Advertising NetworkCNHI News Service
Associated Press content © 2009. All rights reserved. AP content may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Our site is powered by Zope and our Internet Yellow Pages site is powered by PremierGuide.
Some parts of our site may require you to download the Flash Player Plugin.
View our Privacy Policy
Advertiser index

 

 

The Joplin Globe Electronic Edition