While years from completion, a board of directors in south central Minnesota is laying the groundwork to answer the chicken and egg question that has plagued renewable fuel development beyond the first generation of ethanol.
The answer Prairie Skies Biomass Co-op of Madelia has arrived at is that a cooperative and it’s fuel shed need to develop in unison.
“There’s still a lot of unknowns, but at least we have a vision of where it’s all going,” said Linda Meschke, spokeswoman for Prairie Skies Cooperative.
Meschke estimates it will take 45,000 acres of perennial grass, corn stover, straw, alfalfa, short-rotation willows and miscanthus to supply a 300-ton-per-day facility that will convert agricultural biomass into gasoline, diesel fuel and ammonia.
