GALVA – Quad County Corn Processors announced today that it will host a grand opening event for its new “bolt on” bio-refinery that is turning corn kernel fibers into cellulosic ethanol. Quad County is the site of Iowa’s first cellulosic ethanol gallons and the world’s first corn kernel fiber cellulosic ethanol, a process that was invented by Plant Engineer Travis Brotherson and patented by Quad County Corn Processors.
Quad County’s Adding Cellulosic Ethanol (ACE) project grand opening ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, September 9, at the plant.
“After four years of research and development, financing hurdles, waiting on EPA rule clarifications and construction, we are excited to see the ACE project working and are proud to be producing the world’s first corn kernel fiber cellulosic ethanol gallons and Iowa’s first cellulosic ethanol gallons,” said Delayne Johnson, CEO of Quad County Corn Processors. “This state-of-the-art technology will create two million gallons of cellulosic ethanol out of the corn kernel cellulose, a feed stock that we already have on site,” he continued. “In addition to creating four new full-time jobs in Galva, this process will increase our ethanol yields by 6 percent, increase our corn oil removal by three times and create a feed product that is much higher in protein and lower in fiber. In essence, we will create more value out of the corn bushels we already process which increases our efficiency so we can continue to be a leader in the ethanol industry.”
Confirmed speakers for the ceremony include: Bill Northey, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture; Bob Dinneen, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association in Washington, DC; Monte Shaw, Executive Director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association; Brian Jennings, Executive Vice-President of the American Coalition for Ethanol; and David Witherspoon, Head of Renewable Fuels for Syngenta.
Event attendees can meet by the tents on the west side of the plant which is located at 6059 159th Street. Quad County is situated two miles south of Galva at the intersection of Highways 20 and M-25. Due to limited parking and truck traffic safety, guests are asked to park in the field northwest of the plant and enter the parking area from Highway M-25.
Quad County Corn Processors is a 35 million gallon per year corn starch ethanol production facility in Ida County. Founded in 2000, Quad County is a cooperative that is owned by 353 shareholder members. Today, the company employs 40 full-time employees who operate the plant 24 hours a day. In addition to producing millions of gallons of clean burning ethanol and valuable corn oil, Quad County consumes 12.5 million bushels of corn annually and manufactures 250,000 tons of Golden Bran® feed co-products for the livestock industry. The company also operates an ethanol trans-load railroad facility in Cherokee.