Residents cheer BioTown
BYLINE: MERANDA WATLING mwatling@journalandcourier.com
REYNOLDS -- Charlie Van Voorst says the residents of his town have embraced their roles as members of BioTown USA.
Reynolds, where Van Voorst is president of the town council, broke ground on phase II of the BioTown project Wednesday. The project, the first of its kind in the nation, aims to make the White County town of just more than 500 residents energy self-sufficient.
"We have over 150 flex-fuel vehicles," Van Voorst said. "You can look down the road here and see we've already won with what's going on."
A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the future site of the BioTown Technology Suite, a complex that will combine the city's waste to produce enough fuel and electricity for the city to be self-reliant.
In technical terms, the Technology Suite will combine three processes -- an anaerobic digestion, gasification and fast pyrolysis -- to produce methane, syngas, bio-oil and fertilizer for the community. Basically, it will take all forms of waste produced by the community's farms and turn as much as possible into usable energy and products, such as ethanol or fertilizer.
The first phase of the project focused mostly on educating residents and the public in the region, as well as increasing use of renewable energy in the town. That included increasing the number of flex-fuel vehicles and building a new gas station to supply renewable fuel to run them.
Gov. Mitch Daniels was on hand at the ceremony, joined by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns as well as other state and local officials to launch the next phase of the project.
Daniels called the project a pioneering effort in the move toward energy independence, both from foreign sources and from fossil fuels altogether.
"Today is about energy self-sufficiency," Daniels said. "It's about Indiana being a leader. ... We believe in agriculture and we believe in small town America."
Johanns said Indiana is leading the way for the nation in renewable energy and efficiency.
"Every night before I go to bed, I thank the Lord for your state," Johanns said.
He called the project a "bold vision."
"All across America, people are wondering how they can run their lives in a more efficient way," Johanns said. "The town of Reynolds is showing us."
{}On the Net
To learn more about biofuel processes associated with BioTown U.S.A., visit:
*www1.eere.energy.gov/biomass/gasification.html
*www1.eere.energy.gov/biomass/pyrolysis.html