An ethanol company with offices in Iowa and Nevada has purchased an option on land in Wadena, a company official confirmed this week.
Green Plains Renewable Energy, Inc., a public company which trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol GPRE, is constructing ethanol plants in Shenandoah, Iowa, and is planning a second plant in Superior, Iowa.
Barry Ellsworth, president of Green Plains Renewable Energy, said his company purchased an option on land in Wadena. Purchasing an option is purchasing the right to buy the land within a certain time frame.
A feasibility study on whether the Wadena area could support a plant -- detailing factors like availability of rail lines to transport product and the area's supply of corn -- will now be conducted.
GPRE aims to produce ethanol, a clean burning fuel added to regular gasoline which is also used as a primary fuel in e85 gasoline. The company also plans to produce Distillers Grains, a high protein, high-energy animal feed supplement primarily marketed to the dairy and beef industry, according to its Web site. Distillers Grains are a byproduct of the manufacture of ethanol.
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The company also purchased an option for land in Iowa, presumably for a third plant there, according to its Web site.
