Verbio Launches $115 Million Renewable Natural Gas, Ethanol Plant in Nevada; Touts Bigger Plans

May 09, 2022

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by Donnelle Eller (Des Moines Register) Calling the technology at a central Iowa biorefinery a game changer, corporate and elected officials marked the start of commercial production of renewable natural gas and ethanol at a $115 million central Iowa biorefinery Friday.

"This is a special day for Iowa and for the renewable fuels industry," Gov. Kim Reynolds said at the German-owned Verbio Nevada Biorefinery, which is making renewable natural gas from corn cobs, husks and other crop residue it buys from central Iowa farmers.

The plant, occupying the site of the former DuPont cellulosic ethanol facility between Nevada and Ames on Lincolnway Highway, is expected when fully operation to make renewable natural gas that contains the energy equivalent of 19 million gallons of ethanol each year. It also will produce 60 million gallons of corn-based ethanol annually.

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No other company in the U.S. is making renewable natural gas using farm residue at an industrial scale, said Claus Sauter, CEO of Verbio AG, the publicly traded German company that is the parent of Verbio Nevada.

"But it will not be the last," Sauter, adding that Verbio AG plans to open new renewable natural gas facilities, potentially one each year, in the U.S. The company said in a statement it could open up to 10 plants within five years.

"We are committed to the U.S., particularly in Iowa, as evidenced with the $150 million investment we are making here. And our plans are bigger, much bigger," Sauter said. "With the right biofuels policies in place, we believe Iowa and the U.S. have immense potential."

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Carbon dioxide byproduct also will be put to work
Sauter told a couple hundred people attending the event that the company envisions using carbon dioxide, a byproduct of the plant's production, to eventually make synthetic natural gas and chemicals in partnership "with a big German chemical company."

"We see CO2 as a product, not a waste. It's a new business line," he said, telling Reynolds the company will need "government's help."

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Sauter said the company will buy 100,000 tons of the crop residue, known as corn stover, annually from central Iowa farmers, as well as 20 million bushels of corn to make ethanol.

Ron DeJongh, Verbio North America's president, said the company will spend close to $1 million buying stover from about 100 area farmers.

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Reynolds said that at a time when Russia's assault on Ukraine "threatens our food and energy supply chains, restoring our energy independence has never been more important."

Sauter said the plant has about 50 employees and will employ another 50 when it completes its second phase of construction next year.

Verbio, which fully funded the project, received about $3.9 million in tax incentives from the Iowa Economic Development Authority.

The company also received state and county property tax breaks, officials said. READ MORE

Game Changer For US Biofuels Industry: VERBIO Emerges As A New Leader In Renewable Natural Gas Production' (MENAFN)

IOWA BIOREFINERY PRODUCING ETHANOL AND RENEWABLE NATURAL GAS FROM CORN (Brownfield Ag News)

VERBIO launches the first cellulosic RNG plant in the USA (Verbio)

VERBIO ‘on track’ for full-scale RNG production (Bioenergy Insight)

Game Changer for US Biofuels Industry: VERBIO Emerges as a New Leader in Renewable Natural Gas Production, to Operate as Biorefinery in 2023 (Biofuels Central)

Verbio Grand Opening (Ethanol Producer Magazine)