Pennsylvania's first ethanol plant to make 108 million gal/year

New York (Platts)--17Aug2006

Pennsylvania' Governor Edward Rendell said Thursday that Pennsylvania's
first ethanol production facility would be located in Clearfield County and
would produce 108 million gal/year of denatured fuel grade ethanol.

"Today, Pennsylvania takes another gigantic step forward on the renewable
energy front in a move that will lessen our dependence on foreign energy
sources," said Governor Rendell. "With gas prices at or above $3 a gallon,
Pennsylvania is sending approximately $30 billion overseas. It's time to take
that money and invest it at home by supporting new technologies...(and) create
new markets for our corn growers."

BioEnergy International will build and operate the facility and Lukoil
will serve as the exclusive distributor of the finished product.

The Governor presented BioEnergy with $17.4 million in state investments
to support the $250 million project. The package includes a $400,000 grant
through the Opportunity Grant Program, $500,000 in Job Creation Tax Credits
($300,000 for the ethanol plant and $200,000 for the pilot plant), loan and
grants of up to $2.5 million ($1.25 million loan and $1.25 million grant) for
the ethanol plant through the Infrastructure Development Program and $14
million ($11 million for the ethanol plant and $3 million for the pilot plant)
through the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program.

The majority of these funds, $180 million, will support the building of
a 108-million-gallon corn-based ethanol production plant, with the
remaining $70 million going towards the development of a pilot-scale
cellulose demonstration plant. Plans call for at least 110 new jobs within
the next five years, plus approximately 300 temporary construction jobs.

"The growth potential for cellulosic ethanol is substantial," Governor
Rendell added. "The commonwealth contains enough plant matter to produce in
excess of 500 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year. In addition,
Pennsylvania very well could be the nation's leading producer of soy
biodiesel within the year, going from practically zero last year to a
projected 40 million gallons of annual production as more than 20 proposed
biodiesel projects are in various stages of development throughout the
state."

--newsdesk@platts.com

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