Ethanol pipeline proposed
Ethanol producer POET and pipeline and terminal company Magellan Midstream Partners L.P. have formed a joint venture to assess the feasibility of a building a $4 billion, 1,800-mile pipeline to move ethanol from production facilities in the Midwest to distribution outlets in the U.S. Northeast, ending in Linden, N.J., in New York Harbor.
It would be the first long distance ethanol pipeline ever built in the United States and be capable of moving 240,000 barrels of ethanol a day.
They said the pipeline could be operational as early as 2014, but would require a loan guarantee with the U.S. Department of Energy to become a reality.
'This project has the clear environmental benefit of dramatically reducing carbon emissions from traditional ethanol transportation, said Jeff Broin, chief executive officer of POET.
'Pipelines are the most cost efficient, safest and most reliable mode of transportation for liquid energy. Construction of a large-scale renewable fuel pipeline complements the national objective of creating quality jobs while increasing transportation efficiencies for the growing renewable fuels industry,' said Mike Mears, Magellan's chief operating officer. Magellan owns and operates the nation's longest refined products pipeline system, connected to more than 40 percent of the U.S. refining capacity.
A report prepared by the consulting firm LECG says the pipeline could create 80,000 jobs over a five-year construction period.
