Relief Comes in Many Forms
Many U.S. states, like Texas, aren't waiting for Congress to take action. In Nebraska, the state passed sweeping legislation to make it easier to build new ethanol plants there.
Nebraska, because of its abundant supply of corn, has 11 operating ethanol plants and one additional plant under construction: a 40-million-gallon plant in Lexington from Cornhusker Energy LLC.
Nationwide, there are 102 operating or under-construction ethanol plants, representing a combined annual capacity of 4.74 billion gallons of ethanol.
Under President Bush's pending energy bill, refiners would be required to use 5 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol by 2012, a 20-percent increase over what the industry is expected to produce this year.
In New York, expansion of the state's alternative energy industry could spark the creation of 43,000 new jobs by 2013, state Comptroller Alan Hevesi said recently. Hevesi's report said that thousands of jobs would be created in manufacturing and energy-related industries if New York steps up its commitment to generate more electricity through renewable sources. The report calls upon New York to expand solar, wind and hydro power, as well as develop crops including corn and soybeans that can be processed into fuel.
About 170 alternative energy companies operate in New York, but that industry could expand rapidly in places like Albany, Syracuse, Rochester and Long Island because of university research that is already under way, the report stated.
In South Dakota, tax breaks for biodiesel plants have been proposed by state lawmakers. Under the bill, soybean plants that will be expanded to produce biodiesel fuel would get the same tax relief as new food-processing plants. State law in South Dakota allows full refunds of the 2-percent contractor's excise tax and 4-percent state sales tax on construction costs of food-processing plants exceeding $4.5 million.
In Florida, Gov. Jeb Bush broke ground earlier this year on the state's first-ever hydrogen energy station. Slated for completion in 2006, the energy station in Orlando will fuel Ford V-10, E-450 hydrogen-powered shuttle buses transporting visitors at the Orlando International Airport. Ford Motor Co. and Progress Energy are partners with the state in the hydrogen fuel center project.
In Corpus Christi, executives at CITGO and Valero are exploring new technologies that will enable their companies to significantly boost capacity at their refineries.
Robert R. Broadway, plant controller and refinery services manager for Valero Refining-Texas L.P., says his company would rather purchase old refineries and modernize them than build one from scratch — a project that could easily surpass $3 billion.
"We purchase existing refineries and upgrade them to increase their capacity, sometimes doubling their output," Broadway says. "That's why Valero is buying facilities that can be easily upgraded. For example, we are purchasing PRIMCOR, which has 19 refineries in North America. We figure we can do things better at less cost."
CITGO does the same. H.C. Cazalas, manager of government and public affairs for the company's Corpus Christi refinery, says his company purchased the plant in 1991. Today, the refinery produces 225,000 barrels of processed petroleum and feed stock per day, plus another 4.2 million gallons of gasoline per day.
"We have undergone several expansions since 1991," Cazalas says. "Today, we have 600 employees on site, plus about 500 contractors."
The $75-million annual payroll is spread out over 890 acres (360 hectares), six ship channel docks and two wastewater treatment plants.
Like the city of Corpus Christi, CITGO is shining a light on what could be the future of American energy. The country's beleaguered manufacturers just hope that the supply of fuel gets more plentiful, and less costly, before the lights in their factories go out.
Nebraska, because of its abundant supply of corn, has 11 operating ethanol plants and one additional plant under construction: a 40-million-gallon plant in Lexington from Cornhusker Energy LLC.
Nationwide, there are 102 operating or under-construction ethanol plants, representing a combined annual capacity of 4.74 billion gallons of ethanol.
Under President Bush's pending energy bill, refiners would be required to use 5 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol by 2012, a 20-percent increase over what the industry is expected to produce this year.
In New York, expansion of the state's alternative energy industry could spark the creation of 43,000 new jobs by 2013, state Comptroller Alan Hevesi said recently. Hevesi's report said that thousands of jobs would be created in manufacturing and energy-related industries if New York steps up its commitment to generate more electricity through renewable sources. The report calls upon New York to expand solar, wind and hydro power, as well as develop crops including corn and soybeans that can be processed into fuel.
About 170 alternative energy companies operate in New York, but that industry could expand rapidly in places like Albany, Syracuse, Rochester and Long Island because of university research that is already under way, the report stated.
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| The York plant in York County, Nebraska, the state's largest corn-producing county, uses 19 million bushels of local corn every year. The plant was constructed in 1994, expanded in 1996 and 2001, and today employs 55 people. Production capacity today is more than 50 million gallons (189 million liters) of fuel alcohol, 147,000 tons of animal feed, and 200 tons of CO2 annually. The feed is sold as both wet distillers grains and dried distillers grains across the Midwest. The fuel alcohol is delivered to the Midwest and Western United States, primarily California. |
In South Dakota, tax breaks for biodiesel plants have been proposed by state lawmakers. Under the bill, soybean plants that will be expanded to produce biodiesel fuel would get the same tax relief as new food-processing plants. State law in South Dakota allows full refunds of the 2-percent contractor's excise tax and 4-percent state sales tax on construction costs of food-processing plants exceeding $4.5 million.
In Florida, Gov. Jeb Bush broke ground earlier this year on the state's first-ever hydrogen energy station. Slated for completion in 2006, the energy station in Orlando will fuel Ford V-10, E-450 hydrogen-powered shuttle buses transporting visitors at the Orlando International Airport. Ford Motor Co. and Progress Energy are partners with the state in the hydrogen fuel center project.
In Corpus Christi, executives at CITGO and Valero are exploring new technologies that will enable their companies to significantly boost capacity at their refineries.
Robert R. Broadway, plant controller and refinery services manager for Valero Refining-Texas L.P., says his company would rather purchase old refineries and modernize them than build one from scratch — a project that could easily surpass $3 billion.
"We purchase existing refineries and upgrade them to increase their capacity, sometimes doubling their output," Broadway says. "That's why Valero is buying facilities that can be easily upgraded. For example, we are purchasing PRIMCOR, which has 19 refineries in North America. We figure we can do things better at less cost."
CITGO does the same. H.C. Cazalas, manager of government and public affairs for the company's Corpus Christi refinery, says his company purchased the plant in 1991. Today, the refinery produces 225,000 barrels of processed petroleum and feed stock per day, plus another 4.2 million gallons of gasoline per day.
"We have undergone several expansions since 1991," Cazalas says. "Today, we have 600 employees on site, plus about 500 contractors."
The $75-million annual payroll is spread out over 890 acres (360 hectares), six ship channel docks and two wastewater treatment plants.
Like the city of Corpus Christi, CITGO is shining a light on what could be the future of American energy. The country's beleaguered manufacturers just hope that the supply of fuel gets more plentiful, and less costly, before the lights in their factories go out.
