A biomass plant in Shakopee run by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and Rahr Malting is now generating heat and electricity around the clock by burning natural, nonfood materials, including prairie grass and oat hulls left over from making Cheerios.

“We burn all-natural products like oat hulls, barley malt dust, wood chips, and prairie grasses and turn that heat into steam. The steam pushes a turbine to make electricity, which we then sell. This is renewable energy. We don’t depend on the Middle East. We get all our materials to burn within 60 miles of the plant,” said Koda Energy General Manager Joe Johansen. “We don’t compete with food or row crops. We’re on the cutting edge of a whole new generation of energy production. This is just the start, and we’re very excited.”

Officials said:

Koda Energy gives Minnesota farmers an alternative to planting a new crop every year. Farmers can plant prairie grasses, such as switchgrass, which are perennials so they only need to be planted once. Once the crop is mature, it can be harvested once or twice a year. Then chopping and bailing are all that is required, along with occasional mowing. Prairie grasses can be ideal for marginal lands, such as highly erodible hills, stream beds, medians, and roadsides. Native prairies also have the benefit of increasing wildlife diversity and water quality. Farmers can sell their prairie grasses to Koda Energy at a greater profit since they won’t have to replant every year or have the added expense of seed. Additionally, little or no fertilizers or herbicides are needed.

They say the plant is cleaner than a coal plant and that the electricity produced is first used to run Koda Energy, with the excess then sold to Rahr Malting to provide all the electricity they need. Remaining electricity is then sold to Xcel Energy, which sells it on the open market with the profits returned to Koda. Rahr Malting also uses the heat Koda generates to steep, germinate and dry their barley to create malt.

Koda Energy reclaims much of the heat, so officials say they recover more than 70 percent of the energy generated, while a typical coal plant recovers only about 35 percent.