Ethanol's Win on Fuel Standards is a Win for Elite Octane's Plant Project in Iowa

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--After more than 10 years of development, ownership changes, delays and cancellations, Elite Octane LLC's (Atlantic, Iowa) corn-based fuel ethanol plant in Iowa is under construction.

The state, which is the first to vote in presidential party primaries, just won a victory over Big Oil on Capitol Hill: The 12-year-old Renewable Fuels Standard will stay in place after the Environmental Protection Agency reportedly considered steps to dilute the mandate with cutbacks on required volumes of fuel ethanol. Had the change gone into effect, President Donald Trump could have been faced with political retribution in 2020 during the state's first-in-the-nation caucuses--as would have any of his challengers who supported it.

That's also good news for privately owned Elite Octane, formerly known as Farmers Energy Cardinal LLC, as the $196 million plant continues to rise from the ground in Cass County.

Iowa's 42nd fuel-ethanol plant broke ground in March and is on schedule for a mid-2018 start-up, just in time for the corn harvest. The 120 million-gallon-per-year plant will be able to process about 140,000 bushels of corn per day. The new plant will push Iowa's ethanol production capacity to 4.2 billion gallons annually, which will represent more than 30% of production nationwide.

The plant is being built by Fagen Incorporated (Granite Falls, Minnesota), a leading construction firm in the ethanol industry, and numerous contractors and vendors are on site. The hiring process is underway, with more than 50 permanent job openings estimated.

Starting wages are expected at $18.67 per hour, and individuals could earn up to $50,000 to $60,000 annually working full time at the plant.

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