Ethanol byproduct may be used in biodiesel

VeraSun Energy Corp., the nation’s second-largest ethanol producer, is considering making biodiesel, its chairman said.

Don Endres, chairman and chief executive officer of VeraSun, said in an interview that VeraSun has plans to extract oil from dried distillers grains, a byproduct of the ethanol process, for use in biodiesel production.

Endres said the company plans to sell the corn oil to other biodiesel producers.

“We’re evaluating making biodiesel,” Endres said. “Right now, we believe its best to process the corn oil and sell it to biodiesel makers, but we’ll keep open the potential for investing in biodiesel production.”

Des Moines Register