North Dakota investigates switchgrass, field peas as 200 Mgy in ethanol projects wilt

July 17, 2008

In North Dakota, local scientists are touting field peas and switchgrass as future feedstocks for the North Dakota ethanol industry, rocked in recent weeks by the cancellation of two new projects in Jamestown and Harkinson with 200 Mgy in new planned capacity, and the shutdown of a third facility in Grafton that had produced 10 Mgy. The state has a current operating capacity of 125 Mgy at three active plants in Richardton, Underwood and Walhalla. A recent presentation at the North Central Research Extension Center suggested that fermentation proceeds faster with field peas than corn, and that up to 10 percent of corn used in ethanol could be replaced with field peas.

North Dakota background

Recently, the Newman Group announced that a 100 Mgy corn ethanol project at Spiritwood was placed on hold due to high feedstock prices and water availability. Company executives said that the plant would not be profitable at corn prices of $7 per bushel, and that the Spiritwood-area aquifer did not have enough water to provide for both a recently expanded Cargill malt plant in the area and the Spiritwood ethanol facility.

Last November, Great River Energy, Cargill and Newman Group broke ground on the $500 million Spiritwood Station complex that includes the 100 Mgy ethanol plant. The complex will also feature a coal-based power plant that will produce electricity for the Great River member co-ops in Minnesota, as well as steam for a Cargill malt processor and the ethanol plant.

Spiritwood Ethanol plant had reduced its projected freshwater needs from the Spiritwood aquifer, in planning last year, to 140,000 gallons per day. The remainder would come primarily from wastewater recovered from a nearby Cargill malt plant, which uses 4 million gallons per day from the acquifer.

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Written by Jim Lane · Filed Under Producer News