Domestic Fuel

Hankinson, ND is the designated location for a 100 million gallon per year ethanol plant to be built by South Dakota-based US BioEnergy, in partnership with local Gold Energy, LLC. A company press release (soon to be posted on their website), quotes North Dakota Governor John Hoeven saying, “We have put good programs in place and worked diligently with the Gold Energy Board and US BioEnergy to develop this plant in North Dakota. It will have a big impact on Hankinson and southeastern part of our state, both in more revenues for our farmers and good jobs in rural North Dakota.” Here’s a link to a story in the Grand Forks Herald about the plant. Hankinson is in Richland County, in North Dakota’s southeastern corner, about 10 miles north of the South Dakota border. Richland County is North Dakota’s biggest corn producer, with its farmers harvesting 28.5 million bushels last year, or 18 percent of the state’s 2005 crop of 154.8 million bushels. The plant is expected to use 37 million bushels of corn each year.