Ethanol plant plan progresses

Federal tax subsidies are a major factor in the decision by an energy company to build an ethanol plant in Clearfield.

BioEnergy International plans to use corn and cellulose to produce ethanol, which can be burned as an alternative to gasoline in some motor vehicles. The Clearfield plant would be capable of producing more than 100 million gallons of ethanol per year.

BioEnergy International has signed an agreement with Getty Petroleum to sell its product for a period of five years. The company plans to build the plant on a 35-acre site near the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, with a railroad line available to transport the raw materials and the ethanol.

Site preparation should begin early next year and the plant should be producing ethanol by mid-2009. Although local corn will be used, company officials said they also plan to import corn by rail from Indiana and Ohio.

About 40 million bushels of corn will be processed annually. A separate cellulose production plan will use wood, sugar cane and rice hulls to produce ethanol. Waste materials from the production process will be sold to area farmers for livestock feed.

BioEnergy International expects to draw about 1,750 gallons of water per minute from the Susquehanna River and return about one-third of that amount to the river. The ethanol plant will require permits from state environmental officials and the Susquehanna River Basin Commission.