BOARDMAN, Ore. (AP) — A Colorado company is getting a $235 million federal loan guarantee for a northeast Oregon plant that would turn poplar trees and agricultural waste into ethanol.
The financing announced Thursday is for ZeaChem Inc., which plans to produce 25 million gallons of the fuel a year at Boardman along the Columbia River. It has been working on a smaller demonstration plant there.
The Oregonian reports (http://bit.ly/xxngZL ) the plant differs from conventional corn ethanol refineries in not using food for fuel.
The refinery is expected to cost a total of $390 million and employ 65, as well as 118 in the construction. It would go online in 2014.
