06/06/05 Biofuels conference, part two

Iogen is a Canadian based company that has partnered with Shell Oil to produce ethanol from straw. PASSMORE "Ethanol is ethanol it's the same molecule so there shouldn't be any confusion over does this fit easily into the existing infrastructure. Can you use cellulose ethanol in your vehicle? You know the molecule is the same." Iogen Vice President Jeff Passmore says his company could build its 50 million gallon ethanol refinery near Idaho Falls. That decision will come in the next six to twelve months. Passmore says the straw residue produces cellulose ethanol with three unique aspects. PASSMORE "First it comes from the non-food part of the plant. It comes from the ag residue. Secondly it has very large greenhouse gas emission reductions. Third, there's plenty of biomass. Iogen uses one thousand pound bales of straw to produce one million gallons of ethanol at a plant in Canada. They're seeking commitments for straw should the refinery be built in Idaho Falls. PASSMORE "We tied it to the price of oil in terms of how much we'll pay them for it so the higher the price of oil the more they get paid. We signed up more than 350 thousand tons so far." That's about half of what they need and he says they'll wait until next fall to contact more southeast Idaho farmers. Where do you store all this straw? Is this a cost effective procedure? Some answers tomorrow. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott