01/08/07 Renova to produce ethanol in Idaho

A year from now Renova Energy hopes to be producing ethanol at a yet-to-be-built plant at Heyburn. Renova had planned to build a five million gallon production plant at the former Simplot property but Jim Glancey says they opted to build a 20 million gallon plant instead. That will mean a lot of corn, eight million bushels worth, will be needed each year. GLANCEY "Hopefully we can get more farmers down there to start growing it and we can contract with then and they can now that there's new hybrids out there." Within the next week all of the old buildings will be completely gone and within the next month or so construction work could begin. You can also look for Renova to make an announcement later this winter on an anaerobic digester that will be built to provide some of the plant's energy needs. GLANCEY "We'll generate most of our own utilities, both natural gas and electricity." Renova will be first and only ethanol producer in Idaho. The Simplot Company used to make ethanol at two potato processing plants but has since abandoned operations. There have been several other companies that have expressed an interest in ethanol production in Idaho but none have progressed as far as Renova. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott