On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) and other Kansas officials broke ground on a new SAFFiRE plant at the Conestoga’s Arkalon Energy ethanol facility near Liberal, Kan.
The plant, which will produce renewable ethanol that converted to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), will use corn stover – the stalks, leaves and cobs that remain after corn is harvested. Moran, the co-chair of the Senate Sustainable Aviation Caucus, said the plant will turn leftover waste into energy.
“This facility’s cutting-edge technology will transform the corn stalks and husks remaining after harvest into ethanol that will be processed into fuel used to fly airplanes,” Moran said. “With this new energy plant, Liberal will play a key role in developing sustainable aviation fuel that is a cleaner fuel for planes, creates a new market for farmers and brings the United States closer to being energy independent. In addition, China’s recent decision to decrease imports of sorghum makes projects like this even more vital to support our producers.”
SAFFiRE Renewables is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines. The new plant will be a pilot plant to focus on turning corn stover into ethanol. Partnering with the U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, and Conestoga Energy, SAFFiRE will pilot turning agricultural residue into a scalable biofuel business. Investing in these new technologies, officials said, is expected to create good-paying jobs and enhance educational and training opportunities to build the bioenergy workforce. The plant is expected to provide the local economy with 500 new jobs and $92 million in total economic activity.