2023 was a great year for the ethanol industry. Over the past year, the industry saw rising demands for ethanol both domesticity and overseas, movement towards permanent E15 sales, the inclusion of the GREET model in sustainable aviation fuel tax credits, and more. Big River Resources President David Zimmerman shares some of the success they saw on a local level.
“From an operational standpoint, we’re still going through the final numbers, we’re probably going to have our best year ever as far as ethanol production and corn oil production, so we’re very happy with that,” said Zimmerman. “Economically it was we just had very good margins through most of 2023.”
Going into 2024, Zimmerman says they hope to continue focusing on safety, lowering their carbon footprint, and becoming energy-independent at some facilities.
“If you look at our Galva facility, we’re going to, hopefully, by the end of 2024 be producing our own electricity at that plant through a combined heat and power unit,” explained Zimmerman, “which would ultimately take us off the Illinois grid and make us less reliant or unreliable completely on the Illinois power.”
Zimmerman adds they are also looking to roll out pilot programs for their corn suppliers for carbon intensity (CI) reductions.
Listen to the full interview with Zimmerman here.
