Chief Ethanol Fuels, Inc. (Chief Ethanol) is currently producing USP Grade Ethanol from its ethanol plant in Hastings, Nebraska. Chief Ethanol has modified its current process operations to produce higher grades of ethanol for use as the active ingredient in hand sanitizer during the COVID-19 health emergency as allowed by the US Food and Drug Administration. Chief Ethanol is able to provide long-term supply of higher grades of ethanol into industrial alcohol markets. This includes Specially Denatured Alcohol that passes FCC and USP purity testing.
“We ambitiously set out to provide the higher purity needed to help with the COVID-19 hand sanitizer shortage. We were able to utilize the plant’s unique design and operational flexibility to quickly pivot to meet the increased demand for high purity ethanol,” said Duane Kristensen, Vice President of Operations for Chief Ethanol.
The plant is capable of providing close to 10 million gallons per year of higher purity ethanol with plans for increased production. The plant has two 250,000 gallon dedicated storage tanks to help meet customer needs immediately.
“The transformation of one of the nation’s first ethanol plants to a modern industrial and fuel alcohol biorefinery, along with the superior location with access to BNSF and UP rails, provides a bright and promising future for our stakeholders,” added Kristensen. We hope to continue to promote long term relationships with our existing and new industrial alcohol customers that will provide longevity in the supply chains of consumer products.”
