ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Much of the world is shifting toward more renewable energies, and soon Southwest Kansas could be among that.
Conestoga Energy and SAFFiRE Renewables will be hosting a pilot plant groundbreaking from 9 to 11 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 28 at Conestoga's Arkalon Energy ethanol facility at 8664 Road P in Liberal. The event will feature presentations from Conestoga CEO Tom Willis, SAFFiRE CEO Tom Nealon, and other officials, and the community will be able to hear more about the collaboration of SAFFiRE, its significance to Kansas, and how to stay updated on the plant’s progress.
“What we're excited about with this project is how beneficial this will be for the needs of the U.S. and how it's originating right in Southwest Kansas,” Willis said. “We're going to have a big chance to be on the ground floor of this project and see it take off, and a main goal behind it is to see if we can make sustainable aviation fuel, which could be blended off for commercial jet liners and other aircraft to help reduce the carbon footprint. We're excited about that, and what would be used is the corn stover, which is not the traditional starch-based feed stock, and that's another major positive. It's just a next step in the evolution of becoming sustainable. And there will also be job creation – once the plant is built, it will employ eight to 10 personnel for the pilot program, and then if everything goes well, there will be a bigger plant built, and then those numbers will go up. Another major aspect of this is it's bringing value to Southwest Kansas and it's bringing value back to Southwest Kansas producers. This is something the U.S. wants, and we're in on the ground floor, so that's why we're so excited about this. And we're really excited how a company as big as Southwest Airlines chose little old us at Conestoga to work with them, because they could have chosen to work with anyone in the world.”
“And we'll be working a lot with local farmers for this. A lot of that stover is being wasted that could potentially be utilized in another market,” Conestoga Chief Operating Officer Andrew Wilson added. “When we talk about stover, that's what's left over when the corn is harvested – i.e., the stalk, the leaves and all of that. Everything's being shipped out on trucks right now, but there could be some changes with that once everything gets more settled.”
“In order to reach the carbon emission reduction targets that have been stated by different governments, the only way to get there is through sustainable aviation fuel, and right now, there's not enough of it being produced,” Conestoga Director of Special Projects Aaron Klein said. “This joint venture with Southwest Airlines and Conestoga is a new technology to help bridge that gap, and it takes the waste feedstalks and low-carbon feedstalks and produce this fuel that way to help bridge that gap.”
Discussions about the project had begun back in January 2022, Willis said.
“Southwest Airlines had won a government grant to do some research, and after they were officially awarded that grant, they needed to partner with someone in the industry, so they went out and solicited proposals, and we ended up beating out the four largest ethanol producers in the world,” Willis said. “That all got started in January 2022, and we've been working steadily with everything else, including signing the agreements and applications and paperwork and getting together all the infrastructure and all of those requirements. And something that's unique about our plant compared to others that have tried this, we're starting small and looking at individual fields and looking at stover to see if there are any major differences from field to field. We're starting very small and looking at some of the finer details and as many variables as possible. Other companies would typically go out and contract a huge amount of stover but not look at the overall quality or stalk profile or any of those details, which can be a downfall.”
Willis and Klein said there is a lot of excitement with being part of the program.
“First off, it's a brand-new technology and a brand-new way to look at markets and fill a gap that's needed when it comes to sustainable aviation fuel, and as Tom said, it's a great way for Kansas to be part of a global play that also includes Southwest Airlines and other entities so they can utilize this technology going forward,” Klein said.
“And all of that value is coming straight to Southwest Kansas, which is amazing,” Willis added.
There was also encouragement offered to attend the groundbreaking at the end of the month.
“It'll be a great event with a lot of information shared, and we're going to have federal, state, and local officials come out, and we'll also have some Southwest Airlines officials there,” Wilson said. “It's a great chance for the community to hear about how we're bringing some local jobs and local market opportunities to the region because as Tom said, if this pilot program goes well, there will be a larger plant built, and that means there will be more need to bring in more stover from local farmers. It'll be a great chance for people to hear about the program itself and what we're doing. This is a new technology and a new process, and it's a HUGE deal if we can make everything work well and work properly. Conestoga's also always been a forward-thinking company.”
“And as the world continues moving toward more sustainable energies and technologies and all of that, this is just one more arrow in the quiver as far as making that happen,” Willis added. “Going back to 2010, Conestoga's always been focused on the environment and sustainability, and this is definitely keeping with our long-term strategy of bringing in investors and new markets and being on the forefront.”
“This is also a great way to highlight all the hard work the employees and investors have done since the plant started in the early 2000s,” Klein said. “A lot of plants look to Conestoga because we have some of the lowest carbon emissions of any ethanol plant out there, and the local farmers' farming practices are some of the lowest carbon-producing farming practices out there. This is a way to highlight the hard work that's been done and recognize that to not just this area but also the rest of the world.”
Overall, Willis said, if the pilot program goes well, it could mean big things for Southwest Kansas.
“Every new journey starts with a first step, and this is our first step, and we're very excited to see where this journey's going to take us,” Willis said. “This could mean so much for the U.S. and U.S. farmers and the people of Southwest Kansas.”
