Approved for $296,977 Incentive Tax Credit under Section 1603 of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.
Dove Creek at San Juan Bioenergy started in 2006 as a nonprofit cooperative to produce biodiesel from sunflower oil. The plant changed its business model and product focus as dropping oil prices and the loss of government subsidies for biodiesel made that fuel a less desirable commodity. The owners switched the plant's focus from sunflower seed feedstock to producing vegetable oil and put the biodiesel project on hold.

The plant powers San Juan's own gasification plant (8,000 BTUs per pound compared with 14,000 BTUs for coal) The rest of the pellets are trucked to Silverton for the first large-scale use of sunflower hull pellets for heat in the state.

At between $500 and $600 for a seven-ton load, the pellets are cheaper than $150-a-ton coal.

Plant can use most oil seed feedstocks -- sunflower, safflower, canola …

   

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