Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Venus Gets BioFuel Plant Funding

$7 Million Grant Given By State

MOORE HAVEN, FL. -- A $47 million project to construct a 20 million-gallon-a-year ethanol production plant using sugar products has been slated for construction near the small rural community of Venus just north of the Glades county line.  The company has promised to spend $40 million of its own money oin the plant.

United States Envirofuels, LLC says the primary feedstock to be converted to biofuel is sweet sorghum which is not a food crop, uses less water and fertilizer than sugar or corn crops and grows rapidly.  The millions of gallons of water used in the production process will be treated and reused and other byproducts will be sold as high- potassium fertilizer.

According to a company press release, supplemental feedstocks will also include sugar cane, cane milling byproducts and other sugar crops produced by local growers.  Site planning and conceptual plant design are done and permitting is about to begin.  The plant will use several technologies to ensure the finished products are low carbon ethanol, green renewable power, bio-fertilizer, beverage grade liquid carbon dioxide, and treated water for process recycling and irrigation.

Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson  this week announced the recipients of $25 million in renewable energy grants throughout the state. The 12 companies chosen, including U.S. Envirofuels, for grants were among 76 vying for the awards, which were funded by the Florida Legislature last spring.  The grants are part of Bronson's "Farm to Fuel" initiative, a program designed to get Florida's agriculture industry to produce 25 percent of the state's energy needs by the year 2025 in an effort to reduce Florida's dependency on foreign oil and to keep land in agriculture.

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