San Juan Bioenergy plant earns $100,000 grant from state

ebruary 7, 2008
By Joe Hanel | Herald Denver Bureau

DENVER - The new biodiesel plant in Dove Creek has won a $100,000 grant from the Governor's Energy Office.

San Juan Bioenergy's grant was tied for the largest of eight statewide. The grants announced this week are the first awarded by the Governor's Energy Office.

"It's a wonderful thing," said Derek Van Atta of Durango, a board member of San Juan Bioenergy. "We're certainly very pleased with the governor's enthusiasm for all the renewable energy projects, including ours."

San Juan broke ground in December on a biodiesel plant in Dove Creek, but heavy snowstorms have slowed construction, Van Atta said. When it's finished, the plant will press sunflowers into oil both for food and for motor fuel.

The plant is contracting with local farmers to grow sunflowers. It is scheduled to open in August for oil pressing, and the biodiesel operation should be running soon thereafter, Van Atta said.

Seven other groups won New Energy Economic Development grants, ranging from $10,844 to $100,000 each. They are PrimeStar Solar in Golden, Mobile Energy Solutions in Golden, the Boulder Innovation Center, the Office for Resource Efficiency in Crested Butte, Cool Energy in Boulder, Costilla County Biodiesel and Zolo Technologies in Boulder.

The grant comes from a $7 million Clean Energy Fund that the Legislature created last year. Taxes on casinos on the Front Range supply the money.

The fund is expected to grow to $24 million next year, according to the Legislature's budget experts.

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