Western NY wins grant for ethanol plant
The new WNYE ethanol plant will purchase an estimated 6 million bushels of corn each year, benefiting upstate corn farmers. Ethanol produced at the WNYE plant will be shipped by rail and truck to New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and other Northeast markets.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE DEC Former Gov. Pataki announces the award of a grant in support of the construction of a cellulosic ethanol plant in Orleans County.

New York state has awarded nearly $6 million in state funding to assist Western New York Energy (WNYE) in the development of the first state-of-the-art, 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.

Keeping Energy Dollars in NY

"Western New York Energy's new facility in the Town of Shelby will help us take advantage of this opportunity to reduce our dependence on unstable foreign energy supplies," former Governor George Pataki said in announcing the grant last year. "The new facility is expected to produce 50 million gallons of ethanol a year and create 58 new jobs and represents another significant step in our goal of developing a strong biofuel industry in the state which will not only provide an economic boost to our farming community, but keep our energy dollars here in New York."

Construction of the WNYE plant is scheduled to begin this summer in the Orleans County Empire Zone. In addition to a minimum annual production of 50 million gallons of fuel-grade ethanol, the plant is expected to produce 95,000 tons of carbon dioxide and 250,000 tons of distillers' grains annually that can also be marketed for sale: carbon dioxide, for beverage carbonation and freeze drying, and distillers' grains, as high-protein livestock feed in New York's dairy industry. The plant is scheduled to begin production in January 2008.

Ethanol is a clean-burning, high-octane fuel that is combined with unleaded gasoline to produce ethanolblended fuel, which has higher octane than gasoline alone. There are more than 180,000 flexible-fuel vehicles registered in New York State that can run on gasoline or ethanol. The New York State Thruway Authority will install or convert at least one pump at each of its 27 travel plazas to dispense renewable fuel.

The new WNYE ethanol plant will purchase an estimated 6 million bushels of corn each year, benefiting upstate corn farmers. Ethanol produced at the WNYE plant will be shipped by rail and truck to New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and other Northeast markets.

Support Coming from Several Sources

State support for the project is being provided through a number of programs including approximately $3.1 million in Multimodal Transportation Program funding. This funding will support the acquisition of rail-car loading equipment and construction of a rail siding, with associated land clearing and grading. The Multimodal Transportation Program provides reimbursements for authorized rail, port, airport, local highway and bridge projects. Eligible projects must be for a public or freight transportation purpose and have a minimum 10-year bondable service life.

The Orleans County Industrial Development Agency is eligible to apply to the New York State D e p a r t m e n t o f Transportation (NYSDOT) for up to $435,000 in a combination grant and lowinterest loan through the Industrial Access Program The Industrial Access Program provides a combi nation of grants and interest-free loans on a 60/40 percentage split to municipalities, or associa tions sponsored by munici palities, for transportation access projects that promote economic development encourage investment and help create and maintain jobs. Additional support for the project was made avail able by Senator George Maziarz who secured $2.5 million in economic develop ment funding to support the project.

The Empire Zone program was created to stimulate economic growth through a variety of tax incentives helping to attract new busi nesses to New York and enable existing businesses to expand and create more jobs. Orleans County was designated as an Empire Zone in 2002. There are 11 zone certified businesses in Orleans County employing 1,762 people. These busi nesses have invested over $12.5 million and created over 762 new jobs.