The companies are collaborating to build biomass refineries to produce sustainable fuels and chemicals

ARCO/Murray will build New Energy Freedom’s flagship biomass refinery in Mason City, Iowa, to sustainably convert corn stalks into second-generation fuel ethanol and clean lignin at high commercial capacity. The partners agreed to a construction contract worth $650 million. In 2023, New Energy Blue completed design work, obtained local permits to proceed, and conducted field trials of new harvesting methods and machines; in 2024, the project entered the final investment decision (FID) phase. The partners plan to start work this year and launch the refinery in 2026.

The expected significant economic impact is comparable to those typically observed for first-generation ethanol plants. In Iowa, a state responsible for about a quarter of U.S. manufacturing, the industry generates about $8 billion in household income annually and creates 100,000 indirect and induced jobs.

Construction of the Freedom refinery in Mason City is expected to create 400 to 500 well-paying construction jobs within 20 months. Refinery operators and feedstock suppliers on the New Energy Farmers aggregation team will have approximately 70 permanent jobs and an annual salary of $7 million.

The effects of economic recovery are likely to create another 5,000 jobs. Local corn farmers can benefit by not only selling excess corn stalks to the refinery, but also by participating in profit-sharing through the New Energy Farmers business unit.

Patrick Hidder, executive vice president of ARCO/Murray’s green infrastructure team, says: “We are excited to partner with New Energy Blue on this groundbreaking biomass refining project, reflecting our shared commitment to sustainability and innovation in the renewable energy sector. We welcome the opportunity to help launch the emerging fuels and chemicals decarbonization industry in this country.”

James Foster, vice president of Construction for New Energy Blue, says selecting ARCO/Murray as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor “paid off immediately. Their involvement allows us to accelerate the project schedule, manage costs and ensure we provide the necessary bonding capacity needed to meet finances.

“ARCO/Murray’s experience in process piping, water treatment, anaerobic digestion and energy solutions has already added significant value.”

Following the successful completion of Freedom, New Energy Blue and ARCO/Murray have agreed to expand their partnership to four additional New Energy biomass refineries over the next five years, centered near the first one that will benefit from the region’s abundance of corn kilns. Harvesting within 30 miles of each operation makes it possible to build a refinery with twice the capacity of Liberty.

Lee Stellakis, chief operating officer of ARCO/Murray, believes the investment made in this partnership creates enormous growth potential in building green infrastructure, which his management believes is essential to a sustainable future. He is particularly enthusiastic about the important role that zero-carbon renewable fuels will play in transforming car and air travel by reducing emissions into the atmosphere.

The new partners predict exponential growth: 15 biomass refineries by 2030, 150 by 2040, and 500 by 2050—producing a combined 21 billion gallons of 2G ethanol per year from leftover stalks and straw, as well as perennial energy grasses like miscanthus. The projections, based on New Energy Blue’s latest independent life-cycle analysis, are encouraging: 500 refineries could remove more than 130 million tons of CO2 from the atmosphere per year, significantly reducing the impacts of extreme climate conditions on human health.