SynGest wastes no time on bio-ammonia plant

San Francisco, Calif.-SynGest, Inc. has announced that its project team is finalized and is moving forward on the construction of its first plant to produce anhydrous ammonia from corn cobs. The plant, near Menlo, Iowa, 45 miles west of Des Moines, could begin production as early as fall 2011. SynGest CEO Jack Oswald said The Weitz Co., the largest construction employer in Iowa, with a track record building advanced biofuels/bioproducts facilities, has been chosen to provide engineering, procurement, and construction services for the plant, which will process 130,000 tons of locally-supplied corn cobs annually to manufacture 50,000 tons of bio-ammonia. He said SynGest has pre-construction design, engineering, permitting, and environmental assessment well underway, with plans for site preparation this fall and construction starting next spring. “The SynGest BioAmmonia project represents a rare opportunity to be in on the ground floor of re-building a critical American industry,” said Greg O’Gary, president of Weitz Industrial Services Group LLC. “The only way to rebuild this critical industry, to protect our food security, is to rapidly expand production using new renewable technologies such as the one developed by SynGest.”