Minneapolis, Aug 14 – Twenty children from Farm Camp Minnesota visited the Guardian Energy ethanol plant in Janesville yesterday to learn about renewable energy production.

Farm Camp Minnesota is an annual one day event held in three different areas of the state that offers children in grades three to six a fun and interactive connection to agriculture and their food.

“We were pleased to welcome Farm Camp Minnesota participants again this summer. Our employees enjoyed engaging with the campers and educating them on ethanol, which is a Minnesota-grown renewable fuel that increases our energy independence, reduces harmful greenhouse gases and supports farmers,” said Jeanne McCaherty, CEO of Guardian Energy.

The children, who were accompanied by nine chaperones, toured the 140-million-gallon-a-year facility for 45 minutes where they learned about incoming grain handling, grain storage, liquefaction, fermentation, distillation, distiller grain drying, corn oil separation and production storage and product shipment.

This is the second consecutive year Farm Camp Minnesota, which is a collaboration between farmers and agribusinesses, has toured Guardian Energy. The first tour was on Aug 7, 2017.

“This is the second year we’ve teamed up with Farm Camp Minnesota. We regularly bring students of all ages to tour ethanol plants to learn how ethanol is produced and its benefits to all of Minnesota,” said Tim Rudnicki, executive director of the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association (MN Biofuels).    

The visit to Guardian Energy, organized by MN Biofuels, was part of Farm Camp Minnesota’s event at Farm America in Waseca today. Guardian Energy is a member of MN Biofuels and the largest ethanol producer in Minnesota.

“Our campers learned a lot at last year’s tour and we were pleased to work again with MN Biofuels to offer this informative and rewarding experience to our campers,” said Kathy Guse, director of Farm Camp Minnesota.