Ground was broken Monday morning on Wisconsin’s first biodiesel plant, a new facility that could dramatically boost demand for state soybeans.
Biodiesel is an alternative fuel that can be made from vegetable oils or recycled cooking oil.
Green Bay-based Anamax Corp. is starting construction on the $15-million plant next to its existing restaurant-grease recovery plant in DeForest on Monday. The plant will be the largest of its kind in the country, WISC-TV reported.
The 15,000-square-foot plant could be a boon for the state’s soybean farmers as more than 85 percent of biodiesel comes from soybeans.
The plant is expected to produce 20 million gallons annually.
The market potential for biodiesel is huge as Americans burn about 50 billion gallons of diesel every year, and almost all of that is currently petroleum-based