Will EPA weed out Chemtex International's plan for biofuel plant in NC?

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/print-edition/2012/10/26/will-epa-weed-out-biofuel-plant-in-nc.html?page=all

Oct 26, 2012, 6:00am EDT
 
Susan Stabley: Staff Writer- Charlotte Business Journal

North Carolina scientists and conservation groups are trying to block use of an experimental plant for biofuel here because of concerns its growth could sweep the state as an invasive species akin to kudzu.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is in the final stages of approving a rule change that clears the way for using arundo donax — also known as giant reed or giant cane — as a feedstock for the production of ethanol. That sparked a petition signed by organizations nationwide that included 15 groups in North Carolina against the use of the plant because of its proclivity to reproduce quickly and easily.

“We have a tiny window left to try and influence them,” says Aislinn Maestas, a spokeswoman with the National Wildlife Federation in Washington. “We want to encourage renewable fuels but also make sure they don’t do more harm than good.”

But this rule change is also key for a pending project by Chemtex International Inc., an Italian company that has its North American headquarters in Wilmington. In August, Chemtex won a guarantee from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to cover 80% of a $99 million loan for the construction of cellulosic ethanol refinery. “Project Alpha” has been proposed for a site in Sampson County, with hog lagoon sprayfields eyed for crop locations. Startup is scheduled for 2014.

Chemtex plans to create 65 full-time positions with an estimated average annual salary of more than $48,000 plus another 250 indirect jobs tied to feedstock supply, maintenance and transportation, the company says.

The refinery is expected to produce 20 million gallons of ethanol per year. Chemtex says it will work with farmers to grow about 30,000 acres of grasses, including miscanthus and panicum virgatum, better known as switchgrass. But its plans to also use arundo donax worry national organizations as well as groups in Gaston County and the Lake Norman and Mountain Island Lake areas.

“Buyer beware,” says Tim Gestwicki, chief executive of the North Carolina Wildlife Federation, who works from an office in Charlotte. “Why would we not want to err on the side of caution when the plant is known to be invasive?”

Separately, six groups — American Rivers, the Environment Defense Fund, N.C. Coastal Land Trust, N.C. Conservation Network, N.C. Wildlife Federation and The Nature Conservancy — called on the state in June to list arundo donax as a noxious weed. Cited in that request was a USDA study, also released in June, that found the plant has a 98.8% probability of being invasive in North Carolina.

California has spent more than $70 million in the past 20 years to control the spread of arundo donax. According to a report from the California Invasive Plant Council in Berkeley, the costs of eradicating arundo donax in that state range from $5,000 to $17,000 per acre. And some estimates run as high as $25,000 per acre.

“The risk is too high,” says Aviva Glaser, the National Wildlife Federation’s legislative representative on agricultural policy. “We shouldn’t even be looking at it at this point.”

But Delane Richardson, Chemtex vice president of business development, says there is commercial history of growing arundo donax in Italy “where it was eradicated without issue.” Richardson says it can cost as little as $100 an acre using the herbicide Roundup.

“We will be using best practices that will prevent arundo being planted in areas where it can spread,” Richardson says. She notes arundo donax has been deemed the most promising biomass feedstock by the European Union. “It is already growing throughout North Carolina with no issues. We have multiple U.S. universities and officials from other countries that agree these practices are sufficient to prevent spreading.”

Richardson says arundo donax requires less land to supply the proposed refinery.

“We can feed the plant with 17,000 acres, not the 30,000 or 35,000 acres needed for switchgrass,” she says. “The farmer will make half as much with switchgrass compared to arundo.”

Chemtex must glean the ethanol feedstock within 50 miles for the refinery, she adds. “Finding 17,000 acres within 50 miles is reasonable; 30,000 is getting very tough.”