Report posted Nov. 25, 2009, at 3:05 p.m. CST

Chief Ethanol Fuels Inc., located in Hastings, Neb., celebrated its 25th anniversary with more than 270 guests from the community and across the country. Sen. Ben Nelson, D., Neb., a longtime supporter of ethanol, spoke at the event and praised Chief Ethanol for its commitment to the industry and for its potential to replace oil in the future.

According to Duane Kristensen, vice president of operations and general manager, "Chief Ethanol is the first commercial, dry mill ethanol plant that's been continuously run during those 25 years. And we're planning on being here for another 25 years."

During the past quarter of a century, the ethanol industry has struggled with difficult economic periods, but the current recession may be the worst anyone's seen since the plant came online. Kristensen cites the company's dedication to a philosophy of regulated growth as the reason it has been able to remain profitable during the economic downturn. According to Kristensen, "The people that designed and built this plant still believe in it and I think that's indicative of why this plant has been here for 25 years."

Over the years, the plant has grown from its initial design of 10 MMgy to 70 MMgy today. As technologies have improved, the plant's design made adapting a reasonable solution. "The good thing about this facility is t's been easy to make improvements and make additions," Kristensen said. "We've been aggressive in doing those things, such as putting in molecular sieves. That's the standard now for this industry, but when we started up we were not using them."

Chief Ethanol was the first ethanol plant built in Nebraska and paved the way for the plants that followed. Today, Nebraska ranks second in the nation for ethanol production.

This celebration is not simply for Chief Ethanol's achievement, but can also be seen as a milestone for the industry as a whole, said Kristensen. "Ethanol is here to stay."