Company plans $80 million NM biodiesel plant

ALBUQUERQUE (AP)--A Texas company plans to develop an $80 million biodiesel plant in Clovis, where another company is already preparing to break ground on a similar project.

Dallas-based American Renewable Fuels, a subsidiary of Australian Renewable Fuels Ltd., plans to begin construction on its plant this summer.

Ross Garrity, chief executive of American Renewable Fuels, said one of the reasons his company chose New Mexico was that the state doesn't have a large biodiesel industry.

"After talking with the governor, it became very apparent to me that New Mexico was very aggressive in wanting our business in the state," he said Feb. 22.

American Renewable Fuels will get $6 million in incentives from the state in the form of tax credits for jobs and investment as well as help from the Job Training Incentive Program, Gov. Bill Richardson said.

Additional tax credits for producers and distributors of biodiesel fuel are currently under consideration by the Legislature along with a measure that would require 5% of every gallon of diesel sold in New Mexico to come from agricultural sources by 2012, Richardson said.

The new Clovis plant will be capable of producing 75 million gallons of biodiesel fuel each year by processing animal fat from feed lots within a 100-mile radius of Clovis, Garrity said.

The plant will be near another biodiesel facility being developed by California-based ARES Corp., which will produce 15 million gallons of biodiesel fuel annually by processing refined soybean oil with methanol and glycerin.

Richardson said the country uses more than 20 million barrels of mostly imported oil every day. By switching to biodiesel fuels, he said the U.S. can decrease its reliance on foreign oil.

"While Washington has sat on its hands, we've taken some of the most aggressive actions in the country to fight climate change," said Richardson, one of several Democratic presidential hopefuls in 2008. "Promoting the production and use of biodiesel is a major part of these efforts."

The facility is expected to employ up to 100 people during construction and 40 people when it becomes operational next fall.

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3/5/07

5 Star OK

Date: 3/1/07

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