Janesville, Sept 27 - Eleven students from Minnesota State University, Mankato visited Guardian Energy yesterday to learn more about renewable energy production.

During the visit, the students toured the various parts of the plant’s ethanol production process including incoming grain grading and handling, fermentation, grain storage, ethanol storage and shipment and dried distillers grains with solubles production and storage.

The students were from Minnesota State Mankato’s biotechnology and food science technology course.

“We’re always pleased to welcome students from Minnesota State University, Mankato’s biotechnology and food science programs. With these tours, we’re not only able to showcase our production process and valuable co-products, such as dried distillers grains and corn oil, but we also have an opportunity to underscore the vital role our industry plays in strengthening rural economies, reducing greenhouse gases and prices at the pump, as well as in moving us closer to energy independence,” said Jeanne McCaherty, CEO of Guardian Energy.

The tour was organized by the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association (MN Bio-Fuels). Guardian Energy is a member of MN Bio-Fuels. 

Gregg Marg, professor of biological sciences at Minnesota State Mankato, accompanied his students during their tour of Guardian Energy. 

“Students in the Biotechnology Program and Food Science Technology program have great preparation from their classroom and laboratory experiences. One of our goals is to have students understand and be able to apply their education to real world situations. Our tour of the ethanol plant exposed the students to the much larger scale of an industrial facility. It helped them understand the difference between a laboratory experience and the operation of a real world production facility,” he said.