Trustees approve ethanol plant |
Anthony Watt |
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The SIU board of trustees has given final approval for the ethanol research facility in University Park. The approval came at the board's regular meeting Thursday. The pilot plant will be the first of its kind and is a 23,000-square-foot scale version of a full-sized production facility. A total of $20 million in state and federal funds has been appropriated for the project. Brian Donnelly, executive director of University Park, said the construction of the plant is expected to begin this summer and to be completed in 2002. Ethanol is a derivative of corn used as an additive in gasoline to make it burn cleaner. "It (the plant) is going to help corn-producing states in a number of ways," Donnelly said. "Research will make production more cost effective and will increase the demand for corn. People in the U.S. and other nations will benefit by reducing their dependence on foreign energy sources." He added that employment opportunities for SIUE employees and students will be limited because the majority of the work and research will be conducted by research teams from industry, government labs and other academic institutions. Researchers can rent space and time in the plant to conduct research on ethanol and its uses. | |