Isanti does its part to solve world energy crisis

Renewable fuel plant to open this spring in the city’s industrial park

Isanti will soon be home to a renewable fuel plant.

EverCat Fuels, LLC. will open this spring in the city’s industrial park. It will transform what was waste into fuel.

“It truly is a tremendous project,” Isanti Mayor George Wimmer observed.

NO LONGER FOOD VERSUS FUEL
This new procedure eliminates the food or fuel debate. “The Mcgyan process can use many alternatives to produce diesel such as waste oils and algae. This gives us a secure fuel source without raising the cost of food,” Wimmer observed.

Unlike other biodiesel systems that require expensive ingredients, the Mcgyan Process® can used items, such as algae, that are farmed on low-quality land. These raw materials that are needed can be locally produced, Wimmer remarked. He is particularly excited about the potential for the use of algae, which can easily be produced in the swamplands of Isanti County. The use of algae is about two to four years out; it is currently be studied at the Ever Cat research and development facility, noted Dave Wendorf of Ever Cat.

Developed by three inventors, the Mcgyan Process combines alcohol and oil or tallow and converts it into biodiesel.

Thus far, the process has been tested using a variety of ingredients, both liquids and solids, including refined lard, walnut oil, refined algae oil, olive oil, corn oil, peanut oil, coconut oil, acidulated soapstock, and yellow grease as feedstock and methanol, ethanol and propanol as the needed alcohols.

The plant is energy-efficient. The reactor is heated to about 300º Celsius, but because it is so small the outgoing hot products can be used to heat the incoming cold reactants. Excess alcohol is separated out and added to the mix again. Any feedstock (i.e. oil) that is not used is sent back through the reactor.

The entire process is also environmentally-friendly. There are no strong acids or bases used, and thus there is no waste produced that needs to be disposed of elsewhere. The process does not add any carbon into the atmosphere. Additionally, no water is used. “Our city infrastructure will not be impacted from the biodiesel plant,” Wimmer said.

It takes other biodiesel plants hours to produce what EverCat can do in seconds.

BIODIESEL WILL LESSEN DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL

The 10,000-square-foot plant in Isanti will produce about 3 million gallons of biodiesel this year to begin with. The plant can easily be modified to produce 10 million gallons by adding another reactor, and long-term plans are to ramp that up to 30 million gallons once rail access is established.

Biodiesel is in demand right now, thanks to a state law requiring that two percent of the fuel in the state be biodiesel. That requirement increases to five percent by the end of this month, and must be 20 percent by 2015.

“It’s going to lessen our dependence on foreign oil sources,” Wendorf said.

He anticipates that the fuel being produced at EverCat will be sold to “blenders,” companies that blend biodiesel with diesel fuel and sell it to users like Metro Transit.

The cost of the biodiesel that will be produced will be less than ethanol or other forms. This is because the Mcgyan Process is so efficient and because it uses the materials others consider waste, explained Wendorf.

PLANT TO ADD 16 JOBS

Sixteen new jobs will be added at the Isanti facility. “The jobs produced are ones that you can raise a family on and afford to buy one of our many homes for sale in the city,” noted Mayor Wimmer. “This is a benefit any year, but especially in one where Isanti County has seen a near doubling in the unemployment rate.”

Jobs will pay between $15 to $20 an hour. They will not require more than a high school diploma and on-the-job training.

PUTTING ISANTI ON THE MAP
 
The EverCat facility in Isanti will not only be a production plant, but also a demonstration plant. To date Ever Cat has been contacted by 40 countries that are interested in the Mcgyan Process. Part of this is because mini-reactors can be set up anywhere, lessening the distance fuel travels between where it is produced and where it is consumed, noted Wimmer.

“We anticipate thousands of visitors coming to Isanti to learn the technology and be trained in plant operations as the Mcgyan Process is duplicated throughout the world,” Wimmer noted.

“This project puts Isanti on the high technology/green technology map.”

EverCat representatives are also working with the community college in Cambridge to train students on the new technology.

Recognizing the value of this effort, the Economic Development Association of Minnesota recently presented Isanti with its Business Recruitment Award.

SPIN-OFF BUSINESS ENCOURAGED

The city hopes to build off of the entrepreneurial spirit of EverCat by encouraging spin-off businesses to locate nearby.
Not only will they then provide more jobs and increase the tax base, but “this will add more revenue potential to our existing businesses as they serve the flow of visitors and newly created companies,” Wimmer noted.

He added, “The expansion of EverCat also helps the city of Isanti in the development of a rail industrial park which will lead to further economic development. This helps to reduce the roughly 80% of our working population’s need to commute to the Twin Cities for work.”

Learn more at evercatfuels.com