Aliquippa has a future in alternative fuels

Feb. 17--ALIQUIPPA -- Once, Aliquippa was known for its mighty steel industry, but with new environmentally friendly businesses moving in at the long-empty LTV Steel Corp. tin mill site, the city is poised to become known for something else -- corn.

That's right, as in the vegetable.

Joe Cranston, president of Sunnyside Ethanol LLC, which is under the umbrella of Consus Ethanol LLC, said the company is in the process of getting licensed from the state to build a $750 million ethanol plant along the banks of the Ohio River on 88 acres of the old LTV plant.

Here's where the corn comes in.

Ethanol is an ethyl alcohol, a fuel component made primarily from corn and various other grains. According to the Renewable Fuels Association, approximately 85 percent of ethanol in the United States is produced from corn, which produces large quantities of carbohydrates easily converted into glucose.

Once the plant opens in Aliquippa, Cranston said, shipments of corn will come into the city, mostly from the Midwest, via barge, truck and train.

But Aliquippa isn't the only community in the Pittsburgh area getting a helping of green. Southwestern Pennsylvania is on the brink of becoming a powerhouse for alternative energy sources.

In February 2006, Gov. Ed Rendell unveiled his Energy Independence Strategy, designed to increase the state's investment in alternative and renewable energy production industries.

A major component of that bill -- the PennSecurity Fuels Initiative -- supports the construction and expansion of new facilities and would require that all diesel or gasoline sold in the state have a percentage of ethanol or biodiesel by 2017. By that time, the governor also expects the state be in position to produce 1 billion gallons of alternative fuels.

And Aliquippa would be a leader in that process.

Cranston expects the local plant to produce around 160 million gallons annually of ethanol once construction is completed sometime in 2012. But the impact won't just be felt in the gas tanks of consumers. It will bring change to the pocketbooks of Aliquippa residents.

Cranston expects the plant to bring roughly 140 direct jobs to the area. Those jobs could range from plant manager to chemist. That's not counting the hundreds or even thousands of indirect jobs Cranston believes will come with the plant. In any scenario, Cranston said he plans to hire locally.

"We're expecting a spinoff in the community of at least 3,000 jobs," he said. "We're going to have 20 to 30 trains coming in every week and lots of truck traffic. New employees bring new restaurants with it. When you look at economic development, there are a lot of indirect spinoffs."

Which is exactly the reason, Cranston said, that he chose to build in Beaver County in the first place

Forget for a minute about the site's access to the Ohio River, which Cranston said will be convenient for barges, or the railways that will allow easy access for trains carrying corn from the Midwest. A major factor was eagerness of the community to embrace business and the solid work ethic of western Pennsylvania residents.

"It appears to be a very willing community," Cranston said.

Already, Consus has obtained the state permits necessary to build a similar ethanol plant in Curwensville, Clearfield County, a proposed $350 million plant slated to process 80 million gallons a year, which will make the process of licensing the Aliquippa plant easier

He expects the permitting process to take six months.

There's also the matter of raising money to build the $750 million plant. Part of that amount will be partially funded through state grants -- which would reach up into the millions -- but the bulk of money to build the plant will be raised through financial investors.

"We're courting funding companies to put money into project," he said.

Cranston expects construction to start in early 2009 and last 28 months.

Cranston said energy for the sites in Curwensville and Aliquippa would come from waste coal-fired plants built on the property.

But Aliquippa Ethanol won't be the only environmentally friendly occupant of the old LTV site.

In November, Global Re-Refining Ltd. and the Beaver County Commissioners signed a letter of intent to establish a "Used Lubricating Oil Recycling Program," with a new $34 million to $38 million facility.

Global officials expect the plant to bring 35 to 40 new jobs to the area when the plant opens, not including construction jobs during the building phase.

What the refinery process does is convert waste oil into new products. Sources of used lubricant oil can be automobile service centers, gas stations, industrial plants and do-it-yourself oil changers.

Like Cranston, Global officials have said they were attracted to the area by access to waterway and railways.

Elsewhere around the area, Pennsylvania Biodiesel held the grand opening for its biodiesel fuel plant in September. The $100 million plant is expected to produce 10 million to 12 million gallons a year initially and 40 million to 50 million gallons a year at capacity.

The plant also brought eight employees to the plant with its opening, and the number is expected to reach 40.

Ethanol fuel can be used in the gas tanks in nearly all of the cars on the market today, but that doesn't mean drivers can substitute the corn-derived compound for reformulated gasoline just yet.

"Ethanol is an additive to fuel," said Joe Cranston, president of Sunnyside Ethanol LLC, the company slated to build an ethanol plant in Aliquippa. "It's not a replacement."

However, he said, ethanol-blended fuels account for more than 35 percent of all automotive fuels sold in the nation. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, most modern cars are able accept an E10 fuel, which is a blended mixture of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent unleaded gasoline.

There are also cars on the market that run on E85, a fuel blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent unleaded gasoline. Currently, E85 can only be used in flexible-fuel vehicles.

Ford, General Motors, Chrysler and many other automobile companies produce E85 vehicles.

"GM has a boatload of them," Cranston said. "If you're E85, you can burn regular gas and any blend up to E85. All of these cars are run by computer. It changes the way the engines work to accommodate the level of ethanol fuel."

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, more than 5 million flexible-fuel vehicles are on the highways and many government vehicle fleets have been mandated to use FFV vehicles.

Although Cranston says ethanol has been around since the invention of the Model T Ford, production has soared in the last decade, especially when many states, including California and New York, began banning or restricting the use of MTBE.

MTBE is a gasoline additive used as a fuel oxygenate, but it has been waning in popularity because of environmental concerns. MTBE has been found to easily pollute large quantities of groundwater when spilled or leaked at gas stations.

Ethanol is not harmful to groundwater and, when used as a fuel oxygenate, provides a means to control carbon monoxide emissions in large metropolitan areas.

Twenty-five states have banned MTBE, including Arizona, Colorado and Ohio. Pennsylvania is one of several states that have proposed such a ban.

In Pittsburgh, government fleets do not use ethanol in their gas tanks, but they do use another alternative fuel: biodiesel.

Biodiesel is produced from waste vegetable oil.

Last year, the city received a $303,675 grant -- part of the $3 million in Alternative Fuel Incentive Grants distributed by the state -- to cover the cost of almost 1.2 million gallons of biodiesel and to provide biodiesel storage tanks at city refueling site.

The food concession stands at Heinz Field will provide used oil from fried foods sold at the stadium.

Critics of ethanol fuel have said corn prices would go through the roof if consumers depended solely on the vegetable to gas their vehicles -- and that's if there's even enough corn to satisfy demand for the product.

A study from the University of California, Berkeley, also suggests that for every unit of ethanol energy produced, six units of energy must be expended in the process.

However, Joe Cranston, president of Sunnyside Ethanol LLC, the company building an ethanol plant in Aliquippa under the umbrella of Consus Ethanol LLC, said his facilities would answer the question of energy by building a waste coal-fired plant on the property.

As for the other issue, Cranston looks to genetic engeneering of corn kernels to mass produce the product in the future. He also said that in time, the company may switch to deriving ethanol from switchgrass, a dense grass in plentiful supply.

To see more of Beaver County Times, Pa., or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.timesonline.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Beaver County Times, Pa. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.