Natural Chem Group plans to redevelop a closed plant it acquired through a Spanish company’s bankruptcy and convert the facility into a biodiesel blending terminal.
The Houston-based renewable energy company has obtained the Abgenoa ethanol plant in Portales, N.M., about 120 miles southwest of Amarillo.
The plant was built in 1984 and closed in 2012. Natural Chem bid on the facility in federal bankruptcy court in St. Louis after its prior owner, Abgenoa Bioenergy, filed for bankruptcy.
Natural Chem officials said in a statement that the facility could generate 4.5 million gallons of B20 biodiesel monthly, which would be used to blend into fuels and help New Mexico meet a goal of having at least a 5 percent biodiesel blend in all diesel fuel dispensed in the state.
“We look forward to beginning plant operations, creating jobs, providing revenue and boosting the local economy,” Natural Chem CEO/President Robert J. Salazar said in a statement. “We envision multiple uses for our Portales facility involving renewable fuels and natural chemicals.”
The plant’s conversion will create 35 jobs and Natural Chem will pay outstanding taxes to Roosevelt Co., N.M., according to a company statement.
By Mike D. Smith
Source: Chron
France has launched an offshore green hydrogen production platform at the country’s Port of Saint-Nazaire this week, along with its first offshore wind farm. The hydrogen plant, which its operators say is the world’s first facility of its type, coincides with the launch of another “first of its kind” facility in Sweden dedicated to storing hydrogen in an underground lined rock cavern (LRC).
The project sets up the Hydrogen Valley in Rome, the first industrial-scale technological hub for the development of the national supply chain for the production, transport, storage and use of hydrogen for the decarbonization of industrial processes and for sustainable mobility.
At first glance, hydrogen seems to be the perfect solution to our energy needs. It doesn’t produce any carbon dioxide when used. It can store energy for long periods of time. It doesn’t leave behind hazardous waste materials, like nuclear does. And it doesn’t require large swathes of land to be flooded, like hydroelectricity. Seems too good to be true. So…what’s the catch?
