4/10/2008 2:30:00 AM GUEST COLUMNIST League's lunch talks ethanol
"Producing Ethanol in Montgomery County" was the topic for the April Lunch with the League, presented by Plant Manager, Rob Malnight, of the Vera Sun Linden Ethanol Plant. Vera Sun, which purchased the Linden plant in August of 2007, was founded in 2001 by fifth generation farmer, Don Endres. Headquartered in Brookings, South Dakota, the mission of Vera Sun is to be a leading producer of renewable fuels for the benefit of shareholders, communities, and the country.
The values of Vera Sun are first and foremost, a commitment to safety, followed by integrity, teamwork, responsibility, leadership, and a passion to succeed. In discussing the commitment to safety, Malnight stressed that as Plant Manager he would shut down the plant rather than release something harmful to the environment.
Vera Sun now has 17 plants after a recent merger with U.S. Biofuels. The Linden plant employs 55 staff, and Malnight estimates that 45 live in Montgomery County.
Ethanol plants are concentrated in Iowa, Nebraska, and North and South Dakota. The goal is to produce 1.64 billion gallons of ethanol by 2008. The next goal will be to produce 3 billion gallons. The industry is new, and Malnight noted that Vera Sun has been credited with some "industry firsts' including the country's first branded E85 (85 percent ethanol), a partnership with Enterprise, the first E85 pump in the Washington DC area, and a partnership with General Motors and Kroger to bring retail E85 pumps to Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Malnight identified several benefits of Ethanol production. Environmental benefits include: lower auto emissions, renewable energy with less greenhouse gas emissions, a reduction in global warming as ethanol recycles CO2, and no threat to water supplies or the environment. Energy security benefits result because ethanol is domestically produced, and it decreases dependence on foreign oil. Economic benefits result from ethanol production being agriculturally based, creating jobs and supporting rural development, especially in the Midwest. Malnight noted that while ethanol reduces oil imports, it will never replace all oil production.
The U.S. demand for oil is increasing, and ethanol can replace 10 percent of that demand. The 2007 impact to the economy from ethanol production was an increase of $47.6 billion in the Gross Domestic Product, and ethanol production reduced the trade deficit by $11.2 billion in 2007 according to Malnight. As ethanol production is an innovative process, for future success the process must continue to improve. Presently, Vera Sun is able to produce a co-product by extracting the fat from the dry distillers grain (DDG) and using this as diesel fuel. This allows the creation of two biofuels from the same stock.
Malnight said that the future of ethanol is in discovering a way to convert cellulose to ethanol, requiring the proper enzymes to break down the cellulose commercially. Demonstration plants are now being built to explore the necessary technology to keep the industry going. In answering a question about the conflict of using corn for ethanol production rather than for feeding people, Malnight discussed how the process used by Vera Sun used corn for cattle feed and returns 1/3 of the corn taken in as feed to sell for cattle. Malnight stated that the yield of corn is going up dramatically, and that a specific fermentable corn is being developed.
Malnight discussed the process of producing ethanol and ended the presentation answering a number of questions from the audience.
The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan, multi-issue political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase public understanding of major policy issues and influences public policy through education and advocacy. All men and women are invited to join the LWV where hands-on work to safeguard democracy leads to civic improvement. For information about the League, visit the website www.lwvmontgomerycounty.org or voice mail 361-2136.
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