The S.C. Department of Commerce and the Union County Development Board announced Virginia-based Osage Bio Energy (OBE) will build a $161.5 million barley-based ethanol production facility near Carlisle. The facility, which will employ 75 people, is projected to begin operations in 2009.
While the plant is not in Newberry County it could have an impact on the community.
“The impact of any sizeable business or industrial investment does not stop at the county line,“ says Newberry County Economic Director Teresa Powers.
The Carlisle facility will use regionally-produced barley, not corn, to make ethanol. Unlike corn, the barley used by the Carlisle plant will be grown in the winter for ethanol production and will not compete with food crops for land.
Clemson Extension Agent Jay Crouch says Newberry is the largest producer of barley in the state but most of the commodity is used to feed cows. He says the plant will be an attractive market for local farmers and more local acreage could be planted in the crop.
“This can only be a good thing,“ said Crouch.
OBE is based in Glen Allen, Va. According to its Web site the company is committed to “maximizing the opportunity to produce a truly renewable fuel by partnering with existing steam producers, utilizing its own waste products for energy and procuring locally grown biomass.“ OBE is “committed to operating as a sustainable, environmentally responsible company and will differentiate itself from traditional, Midwestern, corn-based ethanol production companies.“
Osage Bio Energy was founded in January 2007 to pursue the development of the United States' first major barley-to-ethanol production facilities. Osage Bio Energy is the sister company of OSAGE Inc., in Roanoke, Va., the largest independent distributor of motor-fuel-grade ethanol in the southeast, with current throughput of over 100 million gallons per year.
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