NORTHEAST OHIO New ethanol plant to be up and running in 2005
The facility is expected to produce 6 million gallons a year.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- The state has moved closer to having its first ethanol plant since 1995, with at least six companies planning to produce the grain-based fuel additive.
Ohio is the only Midwestern state without a factory that produces ethanol, a type of alcohol usually made from grain and mixed with gasoline to boost octane levels. The state's last plant went bankrupt in 1995.
Gov. Bob Taft talked about the benefits of an ethanol plant in his most recent State of the State speech and said he hoped a company would break ground this year.
"It's important because we are a huge consumer of ethanol -- one of the largest -- and we're not producing any of it," Development Director Bruce Johnson said.
Statistics
In the United States, 82 plants will produce an estimated 3.3 billion gallons of ethanol this year, up from 2.8 billion gallons in 2003.
Ohio is the third-largest consumer of ethanol at more than 220 million gallons a year.
An ethanol plant should be up and running in northeastern Ohio by early next year.
Liquid Resources in Medina is nearly done building a facility that eventually will employ 25 to 30 people and produce 6 million gallons of ethanol a year. The plant should have plenty of customers in Ohio, but it won't be much help to local grain farmers.
The company plans to use "liquid waste streams," such as waste from beer, soda and food manufacturers, to produce the ethanol. Most ethanol plants elsewhere use grain.
Tim Curtiss, chief executive officer of Liquid Resources, said using liquid waste frees the company from having to worry about fluctuating corn prices.
The price of corn, which is higher in Ohio than some other states, was blamed in part for the bankruptcy of the state's last ethanol producer, South Point Ethanol.
Lynn Bergman, part of a group of investors and farmers who formed Northwest Ethanol to build a plant in Hicksville in Defiance County, said backers didn't think it would take this long to start up the 50 million-gallon facility and create 33 jobs. Northwest Ethanol started four years ago with 27 members who pitched in $1,000 each.
"It's been many thousands of dollars and thousands of hours later, and we're still working on it," Bergman said. "If we have the money, we're ready to go."
2002 law
To help bring a plant to Ohio, state lawmakers in 2002 passed a law that allowed ethanol producers to apply for low-interest, tax-free bonds through the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority. The Development Department, meanwhile, has been working with several potential producers on tax credits and other financial incentives.
In September, the Tax Credit Authority gave developers of a planned Coshocton plant a 50 percent, seven-year tax credit. The state also gave Baard LLC grants and loans totaling more than $12 million.
A spokesman for Baard said the company is still trying to determine whether building a plant in Coshocton County would be feasible.
Three companies said they were waiting for permits from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.