Biofuel generation is a key element of the Idaho Energy Complex. Biomethane and ethanol will be produced on-site using excess heat from the Complex’s nuclear power unit.  In addition to reducing the nuclear reactor’s cooling needs and supplying these two valuable green energy sources, the biofuel production plant will provide a market for local crops and agricultural waste.

Biofuels, such as ethanol, result in less air pollution, reducing emissions by as much as 50% relative to gasoline.  Additionally, since they are produced from agricultural feedstock and waste, biofuels can be generated completely domestically – thus furthering IEC’s mission of reducing dependence on foreign energy sources.  Unlike traditional biofuel plants, which often burn the grain after ethanol biorefining for production heat, IEC’s use of waste heat from the nuclear reactor will allow the grain to be reemployed as nutrient enriched feed for beef or dairy cattle.  Animal waste can then be collected, heated, and used to create biogas – leading to biomethane and bottled carbon dioxide production.

Typical biofuels are only about 35 percent energy efficient. In other words, two-thirds of the energy in a gallon of biofuels was invested through planting, fertilizing, harvesting and transporting the crops and heating them - usually with natural gas - to optimize bacterial conversion. About half that 65 percent is just for heating the organic material to optimize bacterial conversion. The IEC would provide a free source of abundant heat for biofuels processing, making them around two-thirds energy efficient.

The byproducts of biofuel generation have additional market value, and IEC is actively pursuing this aspect of the plant’s production capabilities.  Carbon dioxide can be bottled and sold, or utilized as a valued added feedstock for high value crop production via hydroponic greenhouses and new generation algal photobioreactors.  Organic compost and nutrient-rich digester effluents are also produced by the digesters.  Organic compost is used as animal bedding or a high value replacement for peat moss in potting mixes at nurseries.  Furthermore, organic liquid fertilizers are used in sub-surface drip fertigation systems to more than double conventional yields for crops such as corn and triticale, both of which are utilized as ethanol feedstocks.