logo for Madelia Model biofuels program
Madelia Model Project logo.
Courtesy of Rural Advantage/L. Meschke.

An industry-leading 3rd generation biofuels project that will utilize sustainably managed perennial and other agricultural feedstocks to produce gasoline, diesel and ammonia is scheduled to be built at Madelia, MN. Development of a 300 ton per day bio-refinery is proposed to be located adjoining Tony Downs Foods. Engineers for the project are Gradient Technology, Inc. of Elk River, Minnesota. Prairie Skies Biomass Co-op, a local grower cooperative, will supply the feedstock and own a torrefaction facility as part of the first phase of the project. Two additional phases will provide a combined cycle power generation facility and fuels/ammonia facility. The gasoline and diesel produced will be drop in fuels, not an additive or blend stock.

The rural Madelia fuelshed landscape is currently about 85% in corn and/or soybean production. Most of the fuelshed area is in the greater Blue Earth River watershed which contributes over one half of the pollution load [N, P, sediment] to the Minnesota River, yet geographically is only 20 percent of the Minnesota River system. Having a biofuels facility in the region that can utilize multiple feedstocks provides an opportunity to develop and demonstrate a cropping system that targets perennial crops to environmentally sensitive areas and sites with lower corn and soybean productivity. These sites will still be productive, producing tons of biomass feedstock and other ecological values. Even with less than 5 percent of the landscape converted to perennial feedstocks, the area will see significant improvements in water quality, habitat for game and non-game species, water storage, reduction in GHG emissions and carbon sequestered.

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Rural Advantage

The system being proposed will utilize a variety of feedstocks grown in a 25 - 50 mile radius of the plant and covering 35,000 to 52,000 acres depending on the mix of feedstocks used. Initially, the project will focus on five feedstocks: mixed native plants, corn stover, alfalfa, wheat/small grain straw, and short rotation willow. This mix allows the use of the existing feedstock supply to start with and then allows transition to a more perennial feedstock mix to meet the principles of the Madelia Model. At project maturity, at least 75% of the feedstock mix will be perennials.

Three main technology processes will be utilized. The first will be a torrefaction process that will convert a mix of locally grown feedstocks to an energy dense torrified material. The facility will produce approximately 75,000 tons per year of torrified material that will be fed to a combined cycle power generation facility or high pressure gasifier. The high pressure gasifier will produce synthetic natural gas, electricity and heat/steam from the torrified material. A fuels bio-refinery will then convert the synthetic natural gas to transportation fuels [gasoline and diesel] and other co-products.

Economic Impact: