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Saturday, 04/28/2007 1:41:24 PM

Saturday, April 28, 2007 1:41:24 PM

Biodiesel plant planned for Princeton

By Barb Kromphardt
bkromphardt@bcrnews.com
Saturday, April 28, 2007 12:39 AM CDT

Illinois Biofuel has purchased these buildings, formerly owned by Ag View FS, and plans to construct two biofuel facilities on the site. Dennis Radcliff, president of Illinois Biofuel, said the company has received all the needed permits from the EPA, and needs only to receive permits from the city of Princeton before breaking ground, currently planned for June 14. (BCR photo/Barb Kromphardt)

PRINCETON — A biodiesel plant is in the works for the former Ag View FS plant on North Euclid Avenue in Princeton.

On Tuesday, U.S. Sustainable Energy Corp. and Sustainable Power Corp., both of Natchez, Miss., announced the formation of a joint venture with Illinois Biofuel Group, LLC, to build and operate an initial biofuel plant in Princeton.

Dennis Radcliff, president of Illinois Biofuel Group, said the plan is to construct two facilities. One will produce ASTM-standard biodiesel fuel for transportation, and the other will produce biofuel, green energy and 7-3-7 organic fertilizer. Green energy refers to electricity produced by the soybeans, and the electricity will be sold to the power grid.

Radcliff said they are permitted for 30 million gallons, but will immediately apply for an expansion for an additional 20 million gallons.

Radcliff said the project is fully EPA permitted for air, construction and site, and all that remains to be done is to obtain the necessary permits from the city of Princeton.

If the project proceeds, it will be the first major commercial application for a new kind of technology developed by USSE/SSTP.

“I’ve seen it work,” Radcliff said. “I saw it happen and it’s going to rewrite the books on biodiesel.”

Radcliff said the USSE/SSTP process is groundbreaking because of the enormous yield per bushel of soy it produces.

“They take a bushel of soybeans and get five gallons of fuel,” he said. “Everybody says it’s too good to be true, but this is real.”

Not only does the process result in more products, it takes only 8 1/2 minutes to go from bean to fuel, reducing the processing costs by 50 percent.

There are still more positives. Radcliff said the process loves soybeans that are not good for other uses, such as high moisture or rotten beans.

Pete Nelson, planning and zoning administrator for Princeton, said the city administrators are happy the people in the biofuels marketplace are looking at Princeton, and verified that Illinois Biofuel had purchased the property of the old FS site.

“It’s a good match for them,” he said.

Nelson said the city first heard about the project last summer, and is now waiting for Radcliff to present his site plan to the zoning board and planning commission.

Mayor Keith Cain is pleased about the project.

“It’s an opportunity to have a few more jobs in the community,” he said. “I think it will be exciting to have that here.”

Cain was also pleased to have a new business move into the FS building, and said similar products were at the site before, so the biodiesel plant is a good use for the site.

Radcliff plans on breaking ground on June 14, and Cain said those plans were “reasonable.”

“Dennis is a great gentleman,” he said. “We’ve had a good relationship to this time and I’m looking forward to carrying it into the future.”

Comment on this story at www.bcrnews.com.

If the Princeton plant is constructed, it won’t be the only biodiesel plant in the area. On April 16, ground was broken in Seneca for a biodiesel refinery to be built by Nova Biosource Fuels Inc. Nova plans to have the refinery in production by December, producing 60 million gallons of biodiesel fuel annually.

http://www.bcrnews.com/articles/2007/04/28/agriculture/doc4632cc11c39c6143731239.txt