THE ETHANOL DEBATE: Bumper corn crop has Blue Flint exceeding production goals
By MARVIN BAKER, Staff Writer, mbaker@minotdailynews.com
POSTED: May 18, 2008
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Fact Box
Water use in production• The average home uses 107,000 gallons of water per year
• 24 gallons of water are needed to produce one pound of plastic
• 101 gallons of water are needed to produce a pound of cotton
• 300 million gallons are needed to produce a single day’s supply of newsprint
• 150 gallons are used to produce the average sized Sunday newspaper
• 62,600 gallons are used to produce a ton of steel
• 39,090 gallons are needed to manufacture a new car, including tires
• 28,100 gallons are used to process a ton of beets to make processed sugar
• 1,500 gallons are used to process a barrel of beer
• It takes 2.6 gallons of water to produce a gallon of ethanol
Not only is demand for ethanol growing rapidly, but corn is currently trading at record levels.
“The plant is doing well,” said Blue Flint General Manager Jeff Zueger. “It’s producing 15 to 20 percent greater than the original design.”
When Blue Flint opened in February 2007, it was designed to produce 50 million gallons of ethanol annually. It has already exceeded that and is on schedule to produce 60 million gallons a year. Thirty-seven full-time employees keep the plant running around the clock.
“Processes have become more efficient and yields have gotten better,” Zueger said. “We’re optimizing our product.”
Zueger said Blue Flint is permitted for 65 million gallons, but he doesn’t foresee an increase to that capacity, at least not in the near future.
The plant has also received federal approval to blend 85 percent alcohol with 15 percent gasoline. Called E-85, the alternative motor fuel is available in a couple of dozen places in North Dakota, including Cenex refueling stations in downtown Minot, Rugby, Devils Lake and New Town.
“Cenex could come out and fill their tankers,” Zueger said. “So we’ll be a direct marketer of E-85 in the state.”
Zueger anticipates the blending facility will be operational in August.
Eighty-five percent of the product produced in the Falkirk plant is shipped out by rail and is sent Down East to Boston and Philadelphia, as well as Chicago, according to Zueger.
He said lately there has been an increase in trucking the product out, which indicates more of a local demand.
“We want to promote and grow that as much as possible,” Zueger said. “We want to grow the knowledge throughout the state on ethanol and its products.”
All of the corn to produce Blue Flint’s ethanol is coming from North Dakota and not only is the plant running above capacity, but it is operating around the clock.
Zueger said one-third of the corn comes from producers within a 100-mile radius of the plant while the balance is from southeastern North Dakota.
The Dakota Missouri Valley and Western is a short-line railroad that regularly brings the commodity to Blue Flint.
“That’s one of the unique aspects of this facility - the rail runs right through corn country North Dakota,” Zueger said. “We get 75 cars every Monday from the southeast including Fullerton, Fredonia, Oakes and Napoleon. And we really don’t see that changing.”
But, interested individual producers may set up spot sales. Zueger said there is a merchandising group consisting of railroad staff and Falkirk Elevator staff.
“They buy corn on our behalf,” Zueger said. “The numbers are on our Web site. Call and contract.” The Web site address is (www.blueflintethanol.com).
Blue Flint is also seeking contracts for wet cake, which is one of the byproducts of ethanol production. Wet cake contains 65 percent moisture and must be fed to local livestock because its shelf life is only about four days.
A more prominent byproduct, dried distiller’s grain, contains 11 percent moisture and has an indefinite shelf life, according to Adam Dunlop, the director of health, safety and environment at Blue Flint.
That product, which is essentially 18 pounds of every bushel of corn, represents about a third of the corn kernel. It has become a popular addition to feedlot rations. Dunlop said feeding 20 percent in a cattle ration is optimum.
According to Zueger, 80 percent of the dried distiller’s grain is going to Canadian feedlots and the other 20 percent is a balance of DDG and wet cake used in local feedlots.
He added 20 percent of the 80 percent going to Canada is used in a hog-feeding program.
According to Dunlop, carbon dioxide is another byproduct of producing ethanol. And like DDG, 18 pounds is produced from every bushel. The standard weight measurement for corn is 56 pounds per bushel.
“That’s not scientific,” Dunlop said. “That’s a rule of thumb.”
All the carbon dioxide, or CO2 at Blue Flint, is routed into a sort of smoke stack which has waste water from the nearby Coak Creek Station power plant sprayed on it. A scrubber knocks out the pollutants, which are re-routed to a giant incinerator. What remains is water vapor that is released into the atmosphere.
Zueger and Dunlop both take pride in touting the fact that Blue Flint is a zero discharge facility. What that means, according to Zueger, is that it takes 2.6 gallons of water to produce a gallon of ethanol. Zueger said 2 gallons evaporate into the atmosphere and the rest is going out in cattle feed.
“So it’s displacing and not consuming water,” Zueger said. “It’s a water-efficient process. We’re taking in water but it’s a zero discharge facility.”
