[January 23, 2008] Proposed biofuel plant awarded $7 million grant: Gulf Coast Energy plans to build facility in Mossy Head Tweet (Northwest Florida Daily News (Fort Walton Beach) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Jan. 23--MOSSY HEAD -- The state has tapped a proposed biofuel plant to receive a $7 million grant. The money might push Gulf Coast Energy Inc.'s tandem ethanol and biodiesel plant in Mossy Head ahead of schedule, said company President and CEO Mark Warner. "Hopefully this will be a jumpstart for the project," Warner said. "We owe a tremendous amount of gratitude toward the state of Florida." Gulf Coast Energy is also looking for $40 million in federal grant money and another $65 to $90 million from capital investment deals to build the plant, Warner said. The facility is proposed for the Northwest Florida Commerce Park. Warner said the company is still working on site preparation on the 75-acre property along U.S. Highway 90 near State Road 285. The grant money was part of $25 million the state handed out Tuesday as part of its renewable energy grants through the Farm to Fuel initiative. Gulf Coast Energy's grant was one of only 12 chosen from 76 proposals vying for the money, according to a news release from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The department is pushing to have the state's agriculture industry produce 25 percent of Florida's energy needs by 2025. The Mossy Head plant aims to make 70 million gallons of ethanol and 10 million gallons of biodiesel after three years of operation, Warner said. The grant money is "validation for our technology," he said. That technology will make ethanol out of wood waste such as landclearing debris. Chicken fat and soybean oil will produce the biodiesel fuel. The two processes will work together, Warner said. A byproduct during ethanol production is methanol, which is required to make biodiesel. Biodiesel generates glycerin, which can be used along with the wood material to make ethanol. Warner said the plant will employ about 150 people with three years of opening. This year "is going to be a big year for us," he said. Daily News Staff Writer Andy Meinen can be reached at 654-6905. To see more of the Northwest Florida Daily News or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.nwfdailynews.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]