Pratt — The collapse of the ethanol boom continues as a Pratt-based ethanol producer is the latest to file bankruptcy.
Gateway Ethanol LLC has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, estimating it owes between $50 million and $100 million.
The filing comes weeks after Minneapolis-based Dougherty Funding LLC sought to have Gateway placed in emergency receivership to preserve any money being returned to creditors. It moved to foreclose on the company's plant in May, saying Gateway defaulted on a $54.3 million loan used to build the facility.
In a motion field in the U.S. District Court of Kansas in September, Dougherty noted that the plant was closed. The lender stated that Gateway officials informed Dougherty that the company had only enough money to operate "'another week or so."'
Orion Ethanol Inc. owns 62 percent of the company, which is publicly held and started operating only 11 months ago. Orion said the plant's annual capacity was 21 million bushels of corn and grain sorghum.
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gr (anonymous) says…
And I thought alternative energy was so much more cost effective.Ha!
storm (anonymous) says…
Even though there isn't enough water to grow the corn, where are the corn lobbyists?
wysiwyg69 (anonymous) says…
it takes as much water to produce the ethanol as it does to grow the corn!
The_Original_Bob (anonymous) says…
I hate to see folks lose their jobs, but ethanol is a fraud.
autie (anonymous) says…
that writing has been on the wall for some time now. As the situation of distilling corn for ethanol doesn't get any better..the corn market will eventually crash some...and everybody that jumped on the plant corn bandwagon will suffer..and the price will plummet so I can afford frosted flakes.
jburn (anonymous) says…
A lot of business's are failing, sorry to hear it is hitting the farming community as well. The increase in food costs is being driven by crude oil costs, not folks making ethanol. The Cartels are killing us drop by drop ...
Jaylee (anonymous) says…
The_Original_Bob (Anonymous) says:I hate to see folks lose their jobs, but ethanol is a fraud.i dont think its fraud, it just needs more development, just like most alternative energy plans.
bndairdundat (anonymous) says…
"Maybe the city commission could buy the plant cheap and move it to Lawrence."Good idea, hawk. Only I would suggest setting pieces of it at each intersection of Mass st. from 6th to 11th and display it as art
The_Original_Bob (anonymous) says…
Jaylee -Eh, maybe if they don't use corn. I'll go with that. I'm not by any means a hippie environmentalist dude, but there just isn't a lot water left and corn based ethanol is not the answer.
feeble (anonymous) says…
Corn ethanol is dead end, if only due to the impact rising corn costs have on livestock.I'd like to see more investment in switchgrass:http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=grass-makes-better-ethanol-than-corn
Agnostick (anonymous) says…
Esq2eB (Anonymous) says:WHEW! Thank heavens I didn't buy a Hybrid!OIL!!!!!!!!!!!!____________________________________________________Okay.Sssooooooooooooooooooooo.........................Exactly what does a hybrid vehicle have to do with ethanol?Or oil, for that matter?Agnostickagnostick@excite.comhttp://www.uscentrist.org
classclown (Class Clown) says…
"Exactly what does a hybrid vehicle have to do with ethanol?"==================================I could be wrong, but isn't a vehicle that is designed to use flex fuel as well as gasoline considered a hybrid?I know the gas/electric cars are, but I'm under the assumption that gas/ethanol cars are as well.
ASBESTOS (anonymous) says…
Cellulosic ethanol and methanol is the deal. We cannot grow food and put it in gas tanks. Rep. Dr. Micheal Burgess is in the US House, and is a champion of the cellulosic ethanol production, and is opposed to corn based ethanol and the subsidies for it.How are Kansas Congressional officials position on this?
jimmy2 (anonymous) says…
Whoever wrote this neglected to mention that this plant lost power during this winter's ice storm resulting in pipe bursts and other major damages. It hasn't been on line since.This plant went under because it wasn't producing anything, not because of poor corn/ethanol spreads.It's a shame too. Hard working Americans invested in this plant and lost it all due to poor engineering and management. Kudos jburn.
Easy_Does_It (anonymous) says…
Can this place be converted into making Jack Daniels? I for one would like to see the Bourbon whiskey market flooded with new producers lowering the price to me, the end consumer.
The_Original_Bob (anonymous) says…
Jimmy -Did not know that. However, this is the 4th plant that has gone under in the region this year.
Sigmund (anonymous) says…
I see the government sponsored alternative energy plan is going as well as the government sponsored bail out of Wall Street and as well as your government sponsored social security retirement plan.I couldn't be more confident that the Bush/Pelosi/McCain/Obama plan putting both fiscal and monetary policy in the hands of a single unelected Treasury Secretary, and today's 1/2% interest rate by the Fed cut to encourage banks with too much bad Freddie and Fannie debt to borrow even more money is the solution to their problems. Fear not, if that doesn't work after three more 1/2% cuts the Fed will begin paying Banks to borrow, it will be glorious and elegant solution. So it is perfectly understandable why I am so hopeful for the changes Juan "I don't know how many houses I have" McCain or Barry "I've travelled to 57 States" Obama make to our private health care system. Government subsidized National Health Care will also be a great, great success! Just in case you were brain dead over the last couple of months your government, both democrats and republicans, is dangerously incompetent and you are being screwed so hard it will be decades before you will be able to sit comfortably.
EasilyAmused (anonymous) says…
Having read a great deal about this particular ethanol plant, the cause is not merely corn and milo prices, but an accumulation of problems: mistakes in the construction by the contractor, damage from last year's ice storm and quite possibly investment issues. Green energy shouldn't be completely discounted because of the failure of another ethanol plant in a time when so many things are failing. However, I do hope that people will continue to utilize new technology, including ethanol from grain byproducts (stalks, etc) and switch grass.
Sigmund (anonymous) says…
All alternative energy are alternatives because they are more expensive than the conventional sources. With gas headed quickly to $2.50/gallon no rational investor would risk a dime in this economy. The government has a lousy record, bordering on criminal, of picking winning technologies. Besides they are busy buying mortgages everyone knows are bad!
cds (anonymous) says…
classclown (Anonymous) says: "Exactly what does a hybrid vehicle have to do with ethanol?"==================================I could be wrong, but isn't a vehicle that is designed to use flex fuel as well as gasoline considered a hybrid?I know the gas/electric cars are, but I'm under the assumption that gas/ethanol cars are as well._________________A flex fuel vehicle is just that, a vehicle that is able to use different types of fuel. A hybrid uses a fuel powered engine and an electric powered motor. A Toyota Prius for example is not a flex fuel vehicle, it's not designed to use E85, it is only a hybrid (for now anyway).
classclown (Class Clown) says…
cds (Anonymous) says:A flex fuel vehicle is just that, a vehicle that is able to use different types of fuel. A hybrid uses a fuel powered engine and an electric powered motor. A Toyota Prius for example is not a flex fuel vehicle, it's not designed to use E85, it is only a hybrid (for now anyway).=========================================Ah. I was under the impression that "flex fuel" was a blanket term for any fuels besides standard gasoline. Therefore thinking that any vehicle that burned both gas and so called "flex fuels" would be considered a hybrid.Thanks for clarifying it.
RevJoel (anonymous) says…
Corn and sorghum should never have been used for ethanol production. There are other vegetation much more suited to the process than those two. Stinkweed is one.Pax ChristiRev. Joel+
jburn (anonymous) says…
Corn should be used if there is a lot available, as in the corn belt. Sugar cane is fine if you live in Hawaii, Florida or similar areas of the world that are hot and wet. Sweet potato's appear to work just about everywhere and are almost as efficient as sugar cane. All of the above and many more are great substitutes for gasoline because they can be used to create ethanol (which can be burned in all cars -- sometimes an inexpensive modification is necessary). Stinkweed and others are of interest for biodiesel creation (the vast majority of cars just can't use it though), but it's worth the exploration. A lot of this will be figured out by farmers and their family in many parts of the world, as they seek alternatives to expensive crude oil products just to power their machines and those vehicles of their families and the local community.Being free of the crude oil Cartels will be of great benefit to the worlds poor, and they can be -- by growing their own fuel.