Front Range Energy ethanol plant moves toward zero-carbon future

WINDSOR — After 18 years of providing ethanol to the Rocky Mountain market, Front Range Energy could soon be completely carbon free, which could eventually usher the business into sustainable aviation fuels markets.

In the coming years, Front Range CEO Dan Sanders plans to build a carbon capture business that will further reduce greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere.

Sanders actually started the process to create the carbon capture business a couple of years ago, as it is a long, multi-year process to convince the Environmental Protection Agency of his plan.

It’s not that he’s at odds with the EPA — he’s just applied for a permit that takes that long to secure approval.

Sanders is creating Carbon Storage Solutions, in which he will divert the carbon dioxide created from his biofuel fermenting process into deep underground aquifers. He has his site plans for a 10,000-square-foot facility all drawn up, and the Windsor Town Board recently approved the changes to his existing site at the Great Western Industrial Park.

“Pre-COVID, we started looking into the geological feasibility of removing our biogenic carbon dioxide from fermentation gas and permanently storing it in geological storage underground in an effort to drive our overall business carbon intensity down toward zero,” Sanders explained.

Meanwhile, Front Range pumps out 48 million gallons of biofuel a year, 260,000 tons of wet distillers grains, 6,000 tons of feed syrup, which is used as a livestock feed additive, and 14 million pounds of corn oil that is used for livestock feed and feedstock for renewable diesel production.

Front Range Energy expends roughly 50% of its Co2 gases into the atmosphere now, with the rest being captured by a processing facility to make dry ice and liquid Co2, Sanders said. “We’re looking to transform that to this complete carbon capture project. With us doing carbon capture, if successful (with the EPA), we’ll have one of the lowest biofuels carbon intensities in the country.”

Capturing carbon in this way will help Sanders secure federal tax credits, which could net $85 per metric ton. To claim the credit, his project will have to capture at least 12,500 metric tons per year, according to the Carbon Capture Coalition. Sanders said his output will be much more than that, but he opted not to disclose an actual amount because it depends on whether gets the permit from the EPA.

Sanders got started on the project last year by drilling a test well on his property, a well so deep that it is below the oil and gas producing layers beneath the ground. Injection wells are typically used in oil and gas production, in which spent water from hydraulic fracturing is pumped 10,000 feet below the surface. This will be the same process, but instead of pumping water into an aquifer, it will be carbon dioxide.

Geologic carbon storage has been used in the United States for 40 years, according to the American Petroleum Institute. API reports that in that time, the industry has injected more than 1 billion tons of Co2, of which 99% has remained safely trapped after injection.

The permitting process is rigorous because of the need to protect ground water. All wells have to have intense monitoring and have protections built in.

Sanders said he has a good team around him and he hopes to have his injection permit in about 18 months.

That will give the alternative-fuels market some more time to gel, so to speak. While reducing carbon is not only beneficial to the atmosphere, having a low-carbon fuel source is a game-changer in the fuels market.

“It will put us at a carbon-intensity rating that will allow us to qualify for feedstock. We’ll be considering partnering in the future with third parties to process our product into alternative liquid fuels production including sustainable aviation fuel,” Sanders said.

In fact, this might be a momentous time in which the biofuels petroleum industries are working together knowing that the world is moving toward a carbon-free future.

“It’s just going to position us for the future,” Sanders said. “With electric vehicles, and new traditional vehicles that get better mileage, we know over time liquid fuel demands will go down. This will help us diversify and stay competitive.”