Senator Lugar Helps Open Two Ethanol Plants

In September, Senator Lugar helped to open two ethanol plants in Indiana. On Friday, September 14, Senator Lugar spoke at the grand opening of the POET ethanol plant in Portland (Jay County), and on Saturday, September 15, he addressed the opening of the Central Indiana Ethanol (CIE) Facility in Marion (Grant County).

“Biofuels offer the dual opportunity for an economic revitalization of rural America and a solution to a serious national security problem,” said Senator Lugar, who has been a leading advocate for the use of biofuels to decrease our strategic dependence on foreign oil.

“The ethanol plants and all the work of communities to support them are parts of a vital effort to build a more secure and self-reliant America. Global competition for oil continues to grow as demand soars and oil-rich states tighten their control over supplies. Already, we have witnessed Russia cut its exports to selected countries for political gain, and the governments of Iran and Venezuela have both threatened to do the same. Each year, Americans spend hundreds of billions of dollars to import oil. Some of that money enriches authoritarian governments that suppress their own people and work against the United States. Meanwhile, oil infrastructure is being targeted by terrorists. The threat is so severe that Saudi Arabia has announced that it will organize a security force of 35,000 members to protect its oil infrastructure. In today’s tight oil market even a small disruption in oil supplies could cause shortages and send prices much higher. In the future, we might face a situation in which there simply is not enough oil available to meet our needs,” Senator Lugar said.

With the opening of the 65-million gallon per year ethanol plant in Portland, POET Energy became the world’s largest producer of ethanol.  An estimated 3,000 people attended the grand opening, where Senator Lugar also praised POET for its efforts to develop cellulosic ethanol.

“Commercializing the next generation of biofuels is urgently needed. That is one reason why I am particularly excited that the POET company is investing in Indiana. On June 27 of this year, POET announced their successful production of cellulosic ethanol from corn cobs. They also plan to retrofit an existing corn ethanol facility to make cellulosic ethanol. This is an exciting step toward expanding biofuels availability, and it offers the prospect that farmers will be able to turn today’s waste into a marketable commodity,” said Senator Lugar, author of the federal cellulosic ethanol research program.

At the CIE grand opening in Marion, Senator Lugar presented the September 2007 Lugar Energy Patriot award to the 27-year old founder of the plant, Jay Berry. After three months of production, CIE is on track to produce 49 to 50 million gallons of ethanol annually and is using anywhere from 43,000 to 47,000 bushels of corn a day, primarily from Indiana farmers in a 60-mile radius from the plant.

The Energy Patriot award is part of an ongoing effort by Senator Lugar to recognize professionals, scholars, students, or businesses that demonstrate leadership and initiative in taking concrete action to reduce America’s dependence on foreign energy sources.

“Jay’s vision for ethanol is for it to contribute to Indiana’s economy, help protect the environment and contribute to our national security. He tells me that six years ago, after September 11, 2001, he asked himself what he could do to make America more secure. He recognized the dire consequences of America’s dependence on oil, and he saw an answer growing in Indiana’s fields. As a fourth generation farmer, Jay started out knowing a lot about corn but little about ethanol. Jay committed his energy to building this plant, and today we see the stunning result of his determination,” said Senator Lugar.

While the process of making ethanol is fairly standard, CIE’s diversification is evidence of Berry’s commitment to energy independence and efforts to minimize environmental impact. CIE is partnered with a CO2 company and collecting between 274 to 320 tons of carbon dioxide that is sold to local bottling factories including Coca-Cola and Pepsi. They collect methane gas to fire the plants boilers and are working on extracting corn oil from distiller’s grain. The plant itself is operating on 26,000 to 27,000 BTUS, 20 percent lower than it was guaranteed, and CIE plans to start selling CO2 credits on the Chicago Climate Exchange.

Read the entire profile of Jay Berry’s leadership 

At both plant openings, Senator Lugar continued to assert that making competitively-priced biofuels available to every motorist in America should be a national priority. Today there are 94 E85 pumps in Indiana. That is 93 more than two years ago when Indiana’s first pump opened in Terre Haute, but it is not yet enough to give Hoosiers reliable access as they travel across the state. Stations are even rarer as you spread outside of the Midwest.

Following the POET Ethanol Grand Opening, Senator Lugar visited the Cope Environmental Center (CEC) in Centerville. The CEC was founded in 1992 and is devoted to addressing the issues of sustainable living through education and research. CEC hosts 8,000 to 10,000 school children from six different counties each year and has developed a curriculum program and is partnered with Earlham College. CEC is housed on 102 acres which includes trails, a sustainable living demonstration home, east-central Indiana’s first wind turbine, and solar panels.

For more than a decade, Senator Lugar has stressed the strategic importance of energy security and the economic and security risks of dependence on imported foreign energy sources. His legislative efforts promote sustainable energy production and use, incentives for renewable fuels like cellulosic ethanol and E85, increased fuel economy in cars, and clean coal. The Lugar Energy Initiative highlights not only the repercussions of America's dangerous dependence on imported oil, but also provides information on energy legislation introduced by Senator Lugar, commentary by outside experts and information on alternative and renewable energy sources.