Advances in biotechnology have revolutionised the growing of energy crops and the efficiency of the biofuel industry in the US, the chief executive of Chicago-based Lakeview Energy, Jim Galvin, told the ASA annual conference.

A native of Inchigeelagh, Co Cork, Galvin’s first job was as an adviser with Teagasc.

He joined South Western Services (SWS) in 1997 and became chief executive of Fleming Energy in 2006 and, through a management buyout, established Lakeview Energy in 2011.

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The company is predominantly Irish owned. Jim Galvin and fellow agricultural graduate, Eamonn Byrne from Wexford, are among the four Irish shareholders on the company’s five-person board of directors.

Lakeview Energy runs two biofuel plants, in Ohio and Iowa. They purchase one million tonnes of maize a year from farmers within an 80-mile radius of the plants.

Biofuel output from the two plants is now 450m litres a year as well as 300,000 tonnes of distillers grains for animal feed and some 9,000 tonnes of corn oil.

In addition to its biofuel interests, Lakeview Energy is also involved in developing a 300mW wind energy project in South Dakota, which Galvin sees as a natural hedge for the business against the more profitable but volatile biofuel sector.

Jim Galvin said the businesses have re-invigorated the economies of the surrounding rural areas.

“The two refineries have a combined turnover of almost $350m (€265m), with the majority of the raw materials bought locally from farmers and businesses. This is in sharp contrast to buying foreign oil, where the dollars go abroad as opposed to being spent in the local economy.

“Additionally, employment is kept local, with both plants providing almost 300 jobs in these communities,” he said.

Food V Fuel

This debate is more a European issue, Galvin explained, with yellow maize used for the production of biofuel in the States, which is not consumed by humans as opposed to wheat being used in Europe.

He also outlined how their plants produce and sell over 300,000 tonnes of distillers grain into the animal feed sector each year. Annual US production of biofuels is now running at 60 billion litres. Output is expected to reach 160 billion litres by 2022.

“With the Syrian crisis high on the agenda on Capitol Hill this week, we are again reminded of the vulnerability of the western world to the vagaries of global oil supply, not to mention global carbon emissions issues,” Galvin said.

The acreage of maize used for biofuel has reached a plateau, with the bulk of the additional output over the next decade likely to come from biomass sources such as corn stovers, he suggested.

In addition, genetically modified maize varieties have resulted in substantial yield increases for growers.

This, combined with the development of an enzyme which speeds up the fermentation process, has resulted in improvements in profitability for both the grower and the processor.