What if we had a new meatpacking plant in Montana that could process Montana cattle right here in Big Sky Country? What if we took the animal waste from that plant and then used it to make biodiesel at another plant right here in Montana?

That could very well happen with a project that is currently under construction in Great Falls, Montana. I was in Great Falls recently for the Montana Electric Cooperatives Association annual meeting. While in town, I figured it would be a good time to catch up on some other Electric City news.

Ron Colwell with Montana Renewables joined us and gave us an update on the major biodiesel fuels project that is co-located with the Calumet refinery in Great Falls:

Colwell: This is the first renewable diesel in the state of Montana has been done in other places. Wyoming has one already up and running in and they've announced a second one in the Cheyenne area. There's quite a few have been announced around the country taking advantage of the federal and state tax credits that's driving this initiative.

Our project is mostly in the engineering phase, we're into detail engineering, but we have started some construction activities. We have our our partner engineering and construction companies Burns and McDonnell and and Ref-Chem involved in and they're doing the engineering and have started the construction. So right now we're mostly moving dirt  and pouring a little bit of concrete. But as we get into the major part of the construction this winter it'll go through until the spring of 22, which we anticipate starting actual renewable diesel production starting in in the spring of 2022.

Here's the full audio of our conversation:

Below is the KRTV news story as the Calumet refinery launched the Montana Renewables Project:

 

KEEP LOOKING: See what 50 company logos looked like then and now

 

 

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