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| Street View |
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| Matthew Vickinovac posted, Oct 2018 Wood River NE as the sun peeks below the clouds. |
Along Railroad Ave is a museum of grain elevator construction. East of of the wood elevators is one with bolted steel silos and tall, but rather skinny, corrugated steel bins.
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| Street View, Jun 2012 |
And a little further east is an elevator with a tall headhouse and a couple of generations of slip-form silos. The tall headhouse indicates that it can accurately weigh grain.
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| Street View, Jun 2012 |
It appears the concrete elevator is owned by Cargill.
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| Street View, Jun 2012 |
Since there are no fall protectors, it appears that there is no rail service.
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| Street View, Jun 2012 |
UP does use the siding to store maintenance-of-way equipment. It looks like a tamper and a ballast regulator.
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| Satellite |
West of town is a Green Plains distillery that was built 2006-08. (It is interesting that feed lots can pick up DDGS 24/7, but grain receiving has banker's hours.) [gp-wr] So maybe the above elevators simply ship their corn down Railroad Ave. to this plant.
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| Satellite |
The corn plant has been upgraded to produce industrial grade alcohol instead of fuel grade alcohol. The alcohol "is distilled specifically for use in cleaning products and disinfectants." [gp-ia] I have not been able to determine if this plant also makes biofuel. [gp-bp] I also can't determine if the biofuel is ethanol or biodiesel. I have learned that ethanol as a carbon-friendly fuel source is a myth perpetuated by some strong lobbies. I noticed that Green Plains web site avoids using the word ethanol. It uses words like "biofuel" and "biorefineries."
Each year, the company processes 100 million tons of corn into 1 billion gallons of "low-carbon biofuels" using 11 biorefineries strategically placed throughout the United States. They are also converting their alcohol output from biofuel to spirits as well as sanitizers. [gp-wwa] Given that volume, it sounds like they are producing ethanol instead of biodiesel. But if they are producing a billion gallons a year, I have to believe that most of the product is going into fuel tanks instead of sanitizers and booze.
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| Green Plains Wood River |
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