Illinois farmers, scientists meet to plan pennycress crop test; BioFuels Manufacturing proposes 45 Mgy pennycress biodiesel plant

In Illinois, BioFuels Manufacturing staff, scientists and Peoria-based farmers met to plan test crops of 3-5 acres of pennycress as a winter crop. Pennycress has a 36 percent oil content that can be used in rotation with other winter crops such as winter wheat to produce off-season income. Terry Isbell, a researcher  at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, said “If we were to plant pennycress in all the available soybean fields for a winter crop, we could see nearly 6.5 billion gallons of additional diesel produced domestically without upsetting the current planting schedules for farmers.” BioFuels Manufacturing said it would develop a 45 Mgy pennycress-based biodiesel plant in Mapleton and expand capacity to 60 Mgy within two years.

Free Subscription to the Daily Biofuels Digest e-newsletter

Related Stories

BMI readies to break ground on pennycress biodiesel operation in Illinois, pending loan guarantees

In Illinois, Biofuels Manufacturers of Illinois said that, subject to loan guarantee approvals, it intends to break ground on a field pennycress biodiesel plant as soon as August. Field pennycress,. a...

Heartland Partnership, USDA, Western Illinois University and BMI partner on pennycress demo

In Illinois, the Heartland Partnership, a group of regional business development organizations based in Peoria, will commence a demonstration planting of pennycress as a biofuel feedstock this week. T...

Biofuels Manufacturers commences pennycress oilseed crush in Illinois

In Illinois, Biofuels Manufacturers announced that they have commenced crushing pennycress oilseeds at the USDA Ag Lab in Peoria. The company has been conducting trials of pennycress, or stinkweed, cu...

Researchers tout pennycress as biofuel feedstock; high-oil, high-yield crop grows off-season from corn, soy

In Illinois, researchers at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization say that field pennycress is a viable biofuel feedstock. The researchers note that the plant, known also as stinkweed or fr...

$40 million, 60 Mgy Biofuels Manufacturers of Illinois biodiesel project receives $500,000 federal grant

In Illinois, Biofuels Manufacturers of Illinois received a $500,000 federal grant towards the $40 million price tag for the planned 60 Mgy pennycress biodiesel plant in Mapleton. Pennycress - also kno...

Innovation Fuels shipping biodiesel to New York City; individual shipments as large as 15,000 barrels

In New York, Innovation Fuels announced that it has commenced shipments of biodiesel of up to 15,000 barrels to New York City. The company, which recently purchased  and redeveloped a 312,000 barrel ...