Gin Trash Turned into Ethanol - 4/23/06

Brian Baer a chemical engineer and entrepreneur from Decatur, AL has found a way to take Gin trash (a form of agriculture waste) and turn it into ethanol. Cotton gin operators call it gin trash which is the byproduct when ginning cotton that separates leaves and stalks from the cotton fibers. The Ginning process produces large dark brown mountains of this material. Most ginners see this gin trash as a liability and a nuisance. As it ages it can be used as compost but Brain Baer has found another use for this trash.

Ethanol has been commonly made from corn, sugar cane and other agriculture products normally consumed by humans Baer says, his idea is unique. Over 500 gins in the southeast produce over 1.28 million tons of gin trash a year. This gives Baer an almost unlimited supply of material which he says will produce an average of 60 million gallons of ethanol a year. He plans to produce enough fuel to run the plant and sell the rest to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). According to Baer, TVA by law must buy the fuel to produce energy for their electric grid.

Baer believes using gin trash is a much better option than using corn because you can get gin trash for free where agriculture product consumed by people would be to costly to economically produce ethanol. Baer is looking for financial backers to build a plant to turn once worthless gin trash into ethanol.

Source:
The Decatur Daily
Staff writer: Clyde L. Stancil
April 18, 2006

Interview with Brian Baer

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