Jackson Free Press

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It was a rainy, dark and gloomy day in Mississippi on Thursday, October 26, but weather aside, it was a bright and promising day for our state and nation. I was pleased to join Senator Thad Cochran, Representatives Chip Pickering and Bennie Thompson, and local and state leaders to kick off construction of Mississippi's first ethanol plant. Soon it will be turning bushels of corn into gallons of fuel for our cars and trucks.

Located at the Port of Vicksburg, this facility will be jointly operated by Mississippi's Ergon energy company and by grain distributor Bunge. It will be a self-sufficient operation without any government subsidy.

This is a milestone for our state, our region and even our nation as America strives to find more renewable energy and become less dependent on foreign oil. Becoming less dependent on unstable foreign countries for energy is not an option, but something we must do. If we fail to find more domestic energy resources, we'll be importing almost 80 percent of our energy from foreign sources by 2025. That's scary, and it could prove devastating for our economy.

Projects like the Ergon-Bunge ethanol plant not only will help sustain our quality of life throughout America, it will be good particularly for rural farmers. To put it into perspective, this single plant has the potential to use more than half of Mississippi's annual corn crop. As America begins to fully enact ethanol production with plants like this, it's estimated that more than a quarter of the nation's corn crop could be used for fuel, giving farmers a huge new market.

Aside from the obvious benefits of using grain to fuel our cars or generate electricity, renewable energy and domestic production of traditional energy sources like oil and natural gas could be the next big boom in our economy.

As Congressman Pickering pointed out at the groundbreaking, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the man largely responsible for designing most of the computer software we use every day, says that energy production could drive the American economy in much the same way computers and the Internet have done. Gates said that while the economy of the last 20 years was largely based around information technology, the global economy of the next two decades will be propelled by efforts to find new energy sources.

I hope he's right because if he is, Mississippi will be at the forefront. Think about it. We already have a diverse array of energy production. We're about to expand the nuclear power plant at Port Gibson. Chevron's largest oil refinery, located in Pascagoula, is expanding. A new biodiesel plant is coming to Greenville. In East Mississippi, new technology is enabling lignite to be harvested as a fuel. We're talking about locating liquified natural gas terminals on the coast, and we're working to increase oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico. Beyond all this, we're a state with an impressive portfolio of seaports, river ports and highways to transport our newly-produced energy.

The Ergon-Bunge ethanol plant groundbreaking was a symbolic moment and an important development in what we hope will be a steady march toward energy independence for our nation. America can do it. We have the land, the crops, the technology, the transportation systems and distribution logistics capacity to domestically produce just about any traditional or alternative fuel. We can wean ourselves off foreign oil. All we need now is the will, and that is surely coming.

Sen. Lott welcomes any questions or comments about this column. Write to: U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, 487 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20501 (Attn: Press Office)

Previous Comments

ID

89589

Comment

I don't even see the point as even ethanol still uses a majority mixture of gasoline, aka oil.

Author

Jo-D

Date

2006-10-30T09:30:10-06:00

ID

89590

Comment

Before I get any more emails from people telling me how I need to do my research before posting.. The type of ethanol fuel that will be produced at the new plant in V'burg is known as E10 (10% ethanol, 90% gasoline). Yes idiot, I know there is E85 (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline). Lott fails to mention the mixture being made in V'burg but if you had been paying attention to the news on the telly and in print, you'd have known this before firing off emails. Do your OWN research next time....

Author

Jo-D

Date

2006-10-31T00:18:46-06:00

ID

89591

Comment

Personally, I think the future of renewable energy is hydrogen fuel cells, replenished using either solar energy or in remote nuclear plants. But I know very little about alternative fuel, so I may be missing something obvious. The nice thing about ethanol is that it helps build farm economies, but from an environmental standpoint I'm not sure what the advantage is. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-10-31T01:41:23-06:00

ID

89592

Comment

Everything burned has to give off what's left.. from hydrogen, that would be heat and water. From biodiesel and ethanol-based/added fuels, that would be what we have from gasoline except in lesser forms. Basically a slow oozing wound on the environment and the ozone instead of a fast bleeding one. Until humans change the way they view vehicles being propelled, there's not many options out there. Our habit of combustion causes us to seek out fuel resources that will do what? COMBUST - in some form or fashion be it burning or acting upon another ingredient to make it combust. Personally, I think hydrogen is the only viable alternative.. if it only puts out heat and water, what can be bad about that? Unless the heat heats the planet and the water contains bad things, I can't see why we aren't putting a massive ban on petroleum engines and rolling out hydro-cars. Some say price.. I say if 200 million Americans are forced to make the change, price of said vehicles wouldn't be as high as a Nissan Altima (couldn't resist what with all the buzz lately about them) or maybe even that glorious car known as a Yugo.

Author

Jo-D

Date

2006-10-31T09:18:04-06:00

ID

89593

Comment

Jo-D, I'll agree that Ethanol in general, and particularly this plant, are not the greatest thing we could be doing. But at this point, *anything* that's not 100% fossil fuel based, I view as a victory. Even if it's a teeny tiny victory. If only because it gets people used to ideas like 'alternative fuels' and 'ethanol', and starts to bring some of that to the table.

Author

kate

Date

2006-10-31T10:58:29-06:00

ID

89594

Comment

A few facts your not likely to hear about ethanol from corn: 1) It's widely debated whether any "real" energy is produced from corn. From the diesel the tractor uses to grow the corn, to the train that burns diesel to haul the corn, to the barge that burns diesel hauling corn to Vicksburg to make ethanol, at best, totally optimistic, yield might be 30%. Not a fart in the fuel usage of America. Want to debate this one, I'm well armed. 2) Corn is widely used to produce many of the things Americans like to eat. From your Coke in the morning to those Doritos at snack time. Every bit of fowl, beef or pork your eating was produced on American corn. The American government policy of "cheap food" has been abandoned. Get ready to pay more of your disposable income for food (aka Europe), right after you pay more for your gas. 3) As for the outright lie above, the government (read you) pays $0.51/gallon subsidy for the production of ethanol. Up to 2000, one company raked in 90% of that subsidy. Trent, please, do you think we're really that ignorant? 4) As the price of corn goes through the roof, your local chicken company, the largest Ag producer in the state of MS and employer of tens of thousands is likely to go broke or change names to some multinational who don't care about your job or your farm. Bye, Bye! And oh yeah, fill your tank with E10 or better yet E85, check your "gas" mileage, see how far you get.

Author

Doc Rogers

Date

2006-10-31T21:47:38-06:00

ID

89595

Comment

Me

Author

Jo-D

Date

2006-11-01T06:14:23-06:00

ID

89596

Comment

Just saw Lott's campaign advertisement on WAPT.. that man disgusts me to no end!

Author

Jo-D

Date

2006-11-01T18:28:14-06:00

ID

89597

Comment

The single-minded drive to ween the United States off the most obvious use of fossil fuels (gasoline) has led enough people to overlook the fact it take as much or more fuel to produce ethanol as it actually provides. If I've heard right, the goal is to slowly get that amount of fuel down to a place where that would no longer be the case. The most interesting concept I've heard so far regarding that is to use solar power to make ethanol. As an underused resource, it would give solar power added purpose and certainly reduce the use of fossil fuels. Ethanol is a 2 billion dollar subsidy to the farm lobby.... and nothing else. I read on the "Car and Driver" website that the reason that there are already millions of cars being made with flex fuel capabilitites is because of the CAFE rules. The car manufacturers can get around CAFE and avoid the fines for not meeting the mileage standards because......they only count the 15% of the fuel that is gas!!!!!! How crazy is this??? And ask any driver this question: If you bought E85, would you expect a lower cost, better mileage, and a cleaner environment? I will guarantee 90% will say YES, even though the answer is NO.

Author

Jo-D

Date

2006-11-04T04:06:53-06:00

ID

89598

Comment

From BioDiesel Magazine Buyer wanted for idle Mississippi biodiesel plant By Dave Nilles A Maryland company is seeking a buyer for a Mississippi biodiesel operation that has been idle for more than a year. Equity Partners Inc. is seeking a buyer for Biodiesel of Mississippi Inc.’s (BMI) plant in Nettleton, Miss. BMI operated the facility for approximately nine consecutive months before ceasing operations in the first quarter of 2005, according to Equity Partners’ Ken Mann. The company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2006. At press time, Equity Partners was in the process of re-opening the plant to allow for site visits by potential bidders. The plant is capable of producing 60,000 gallons of biodiesel per day using two 40,000-gallon batch reaction tanks, according to an Equity Partners release. The facility’s 3.9-acre site also includes two grain storage bins, a grain elevator and truck scales. Based in Pasadena, Md., Equity Partners provides investment banking services exclusively for businesses operating in Chapter 11 or suffering from financial distress. Mann said BMI has received a stalking horse bid, which is an initial bid on a bankrupt company’s assets. This bid method allows the distressed company to avoid low bids on its assets. Once the stalking horse bid is made, other potential buyers may submit competing bids for the bankrupt company’s assets. Mann said he expects a court hearing Friday to establish the bid procedure for the project. Bidding is expected to begin in January on the plant.

Author

Jo-D

Date

2006-11-15T05:49:14-06:00