Before the International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo, I received an email from Marcia Massey, who read my story, “Top of Biofuels Class,” printed in the May issue of Ethanol Producer Magazine. Massey went through the online courses offered through Southeastern Illinois College, one of the biofuels training programs featured in my story. She had a question for me about cellulosic ethanol feedstocks.

Always on the lookout for interesting blog topics, I decided to ask her some questions. I’m glad I did. I was thinking it would be nice to share the story of a biofuels student with readers, and, as it turned out, Massey had a very interesting perspective indeed. As many of the students that go through these programs are, Massey is a nontraditional, older student, who took the courses as part of a career change. She had a car accident several years ago, and took the online courses while recovering.

Unfortunately, although Massey is still very interested in a career in biofuels, she isn’t currently working. “I am still facing challenges but I am not letting that stop me, I'm ready to get back out there and go to work,” she said. “I have worked since I was 11 and bought my house at 16 have always been an independent woman. This has been the only time I have not worked.”

Massey worked from December of 2013 to March 2014 as a lab technician and helped with on payroll and tax paperwork at a facility in Benton, Ill.  The company was working to restart an idled ethanol plant, a process I wrote about back in August 2013. The plan was to produce 7 MMgy ethanol and corn products, such as corn grit or corn bran flakes, utilizing a front-end fractionation system. Another interesting facet of that project was that the owners intended to hire mainly disabled veterans and use the plant as a job training facility. Unfortunately, the project never made it past the commissioning phase. “I would have loved to seen it make through the startup process, but it was very challenging and pricey due to the many years it set unused,” she told me.  

Massey actually started the training while working at the ethanol plant in Benton. However, by the time she completed her coursework in May 2015, work to restart the plant had halted. Because she enjoyed her job at the plant she’s hopeful she could someday find a new job at a biofuels facility, working her way up from the bottom. She found the courses she took to not only be interesting but it changed her outlook on the future of biofuels. “What I really enjoyed about the program is how you learn about how many types of many different processes there is to make biofuel, and how much of a difference it could make on the environmental impact,” she said. “I also was impressed by how many different sources of biofuels that could be use in the process, and it makes me want to try other sources to stop the food vs. fuel debate.”

I’m glad I had an opportunity to get to know Massey a little better and I wish her all the best. I hope you enjoyed learning more about how the project in Benson and the biofuels training program offered by Southeastern Illinois College, both of which had such a deep impact on at least one person.