A proposal for America’s first waste-to-ethanol plant has taken a step forward.
The Metropolitan Council announced a preliminary agreement with Enerkem, Inc., of Canada for construction of the $200 million plant in Inver Grove Heights.
The plant will process domestic garbage into ethanol, for use as an additive to gasoline.
According to the agreement, Enerkem will pay $600,000 toward design work for the plant.
The Met Council would supply the facility 1.6 million gallons of treated wastewater daily, for use in the production process. The water would be sent from the Empire Wastewater Treatment Plant near Farmington, which processes an average 10 million gallons a day of sewage, to a water-treatment facility then to the new plant on 117th Street, about a mile west of U.S. 52.
If the plant gets approval from regulatory agencies, it could be operating as soon as 2020.
Read the original article: Garbage-to-Ethanol Plant in Inver Grove Heights Advances