Several pieces of Buffalo’s milling past are poised to become a participant in its future. RiverWright Energy LLC, headed by businessmen Rick Smith and Kevin Townsell, is planning an $80 million ethanol production plant that is expected to employ 65 when completed in 2007. The facility will be located off of Childs Street and utilize four vacant grain elevators plus construction of an 80,000 sq.ft. production facility. In April, RiverWright also purchased a warehouse and mill located at 139-157 Buffalo River Place off of South Park Avenue for $120,000 from ConAgra/Maple Leaf Milling. Photo (queenseyes): Rick Smith surveys the future facility.
The facility will utilize up to 40 million bushels of corn annually, much of it arriving from the midwest via lake freighter. With few exceptions, corn is the primary feedstock for U.S. ethanol production. Ethanol can also be made from other products such as grain sorghum (milo), wheat, barley, sugar cane or beets, cheese whey, and potatoes.
Ethanol is used in reformulated gasoline (RFG) as set out in the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. This standard requires an oxygenate, like ethanol, to be added to gasoline to help it burn more completely. At the state level, Washington , Minnesota, Montana, and Hawaii have passed ethanol-blended fuel requirements.
U.S. ethanol production is reaching unprecedented levels. Currently there are 101 ethanol production facilities in the U.S. and 47 more under construction. In 2004, 3.4 billion gallons of ethanol were produced in the nation, up from 2.81 billion gallons the previous year. By the end of 2005, the ethanol industry reached a capacity of more than 4 billion gallons.
In May, Governor George E. Pataki announced nearly $6 million in State funding to assist Western New York Energy in the development of the first dry mill ethanol plant in New York State. The $87.4 million facility will be located on 144 acres in the Town of Shelby, Orleans County. It is expected to produce 50 million gallons of ethanol a year and create 58 new jobs. The Buffalo facility is expected to produce 110 million gallons of ethanol annually.