Biodiesel comes to Iowa Falls

Cargill is to construct a 37.5-million-gallon-a-year biodiesel plant and 30-million-pounds-per-year glycerin refinery in Iowa Falls, adjacent to its existing soybean crush facility.

Eleven full-time employees will be hired to operate the new facility. Pending regulatory permitting approvals, construction will begin this summer, with biodiesel production commencing in April 2006.

Initially, the plant will produce biodiesel and USP-grade glycerin exclusively from soybean oil, but Cargill officials expect to have the capability for using animal fat or waste grease for biodiesel production in the future.

The biodiesel plant has been designed to meet the requirements for BQ-9000 certification, the leading, accepted industry standard.

Cargill is the US’s third-largest ethanol producer. It has a 35-million-gallon-per-year ethanol production facility in Eddyville, Iowa and an 85-million-gallon-per-year ethanol production facility across the Nebraska border in Blair.