Environment DEC
From the July 2005 issue
Governor Pataki, Senator Wright, Announce $4 Million for New Biofuel Plant in Fulton
Joined by Governor Pataki, Senator Jim Wright, Chair of the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee, speaks during the announcement
Governor George E. Pataki and Senator Jim Wright announced that the state will provide $4 million toward the $153 million Northeast Biofuels (NEB) ethanol production facility, making the new $157 million project one of the largest ethanol producers in the nation. The plant will be located at the site of the former Miller Brewery in Fulton, just north of Syracuse.
State Funds Jointly Secured
The nearly $160 million total investment includes $138 million from NEB. In addition, the Governor announced that two of NEB's major partner-suppliers, Perdue Farms and BOC Gases, will be making investments. BOC Gases will invest approximately $15 million to establish operations at Riverview Business Park. The state's $4 million contribution was jointly secured by the Governor and the State Senate.
"This is a perfect example of business, labor and government pooling their resources and expertise to capitalize on an economic opportunity which will pay environmental and economic dividends for decades to come," Governor Pataki said. "A brewery which for 11 years has essentially sat empty will again be operational, brewing ethanol instead of beer. This project will reinforce New York State's position as a national leader in advancing both the renewable resources and biofuels industries and at the same time, provide Fulton, Oswego County and central New York with new jobs and economic opportunities."
Senator Jim Wright, Chair of the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee said, "The establishment of Northeast Biofuels at Riverview will act as an economic catalyst for the region, bringing new life and jobs to a facility that has stood vacant for too long. Today's announcement is an investment in the future of Oswego County and upstate New York that will promote increased use of alternative energy while supporting local farmers. I am pleased to have been able to play an active role with the governor and NEB to bring this concept to fruition."
Many Economic Benefits
NEB, Perdue and BOC will employ an estimated 100 workers, while more than 1,000 in direct jobs are projected to be created in the agriculture and transportation sectors alone. More than 300 will be employed during the 15-month construction and renovation cycle. The Governor praised organized labor, including IBEW Local 43 and Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 73, for their early financial support of the project.
NEB has estimated that it expects to use 41-million bushels of corn, much of it to be purchased from New York farmers, to produce 100-million gallons of ethanol a year. The ethanol will be marketed for use primarily in New York State and the Northeast as a clean-burning, oil-saving gasoline additive.
Perdue Farms will facilitate the acquisition of corn for NEB by locating a grain division at Riverview. In addition to corn origination, Perdue will also market distiller's dried grains (DDGs), one of the co-products of the ethanol production process, as a nutritional supplement for dairy and other livestock.
One of the world's leading processors and marketers of industrial gases, BOC Gases, will build a liquefaction plant at Riverview to process carbon dioxide, another corn-to-ethanol co-product. When NEB hits full capacity of 100-million gallons of ethanol per year, the plant will produce one of the largest streams of carbon dioxide in the East.
The Governor explained that future expansion of the NEB facility is closely tied to research at the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems and the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF), which have developed techniques to produce ethanol from other "feedstocks" such as willow trees, northern hardwoods and pulp residue from paper mills. "In effect, what we will do by developing the biofuels industry in New York State is to replace foreign oil with New York corn, New York wood, New York ethanol and New York jobs," the Governor added.
Builds on Groundbreaking and Announcement
The announcement builds upon the groundbreaking held recently for the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems (see Governor Attends Groundbreaking...in this issue). Partnering with Syracuse University, Clarkson University, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Cornell University, the state and the private sector, the state has made a critical investment in the future of central New York that will transform the region's economy and create thousands of new high-tech jobs.
It will also build on the announcement of a $99,500 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Program, which was awarded to Operation Oswego County to assist NextGen Fuel as it, too, develops a state-of-the-art biofuels plant at Riverview. In addition, the Governor announced that NextGen Fuel will be receiving a $250,000 grant from NYSERDA to further assist this project.
The principals of NEB and Riverview are central New York natives and long time businessmen Eric Will and Thomas Denney. Will and Denney purchased the 420-acre, 1.2-million-square-foot, former Miller complex four years ago.
