BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) — A biodiesel plant has started production in southeast Nebraska nearly a decade after construction first began on the facility.
The Duonix Beatrice biodiesel plant celebrated that milestone Tuesday. The plant is a joint venture between Flint Hills Resources, which is a Koch Industries subsidiary, and Benefuel Inc., of Irving, Texas.
The plant was started by a different company that filed for bankruptcy protection in 2008 and never completed.
Flint Hills bought the plant in 2011 and worked with Benefuel to retrofit it to use new technology, so it can use cheaper feedstock, such as used vegetable oil or an ethanol byproduct called distillers corn oil. The companies want to prove the technology is viable commercially.
The plant will employ nearly 50 and produce 50 million gallons of biodiesel annually.
