About Us
Mission Statement
The Mission of Empire Biofuels, LLC is to improve the profitability of New York agriculture by building a profitable ethanol facility to provide a clean, secure, renewable fuel source for America.
The Goal of Empire Biofuels, LLC is to build a profitable corn to ethanol plant in Western New York that would produce 60 million gallons of ethanol, 175,000 tons of high quality distillers’ grains, 130,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually and approximately 20.5 million bushels of corn.
Our History
The New York Corn Growers Association’s (NYCGA) interest in ethanol began in 2000 when NYCGA commissioned a study called the “Commercialization of Corn to Ethanol in New York State” complied by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The study found that an ethanol facility offered excellent economic and agricultural opportunities for New York State. The study showed that the state offered strong markets for the three co-products produced by an ethanol facility: ethanol, carbon dioxide and distillers grains.
This study was followed by a second study completed in 2002. “The New York Corn Growers Association and Alternative Fuels Technology Center present a Technical Report on the Economic Impact of the Corn-to Ethanol Industry in New York State” by the New York State Technology Enterprise Corporation (NYSTEC) who investigated the economic impact of an ethanol plant on the rural community in New York State. The study showed that ethanol can be produced in New York economically.
On April 10, 2002, Empire Biofuels, LLC was created by a group of NYCGA members who were interested in biofuel production. In the beginning, the group investigated the feasibility of biodiesel production but soon realized that ethanol production was the direction they wanted to pursue.
A new Board of Directors was elected in August 2003. The board consists of nine member/investors who direct the project’s progress. A Steering Committee of four was set in place to oversee day-to-day progress of the project.
In October of 2006 Empire partnered with Cilion to continue the development of the project in Seneca County. The partnership was logical as Cilion had the same destination market philosophy as Empire and operates in the same type of market with their other facilities.
In December 2006 the Board of Directors was reduced to seven members, subsequent to the partnership with Cilion.
