A Lincoln company, Nebraska Air Quality Specialties, is doing the air quality permit work for the new Novozymes ethanol-enzyme plant going up in Blair.
The Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 12:00 am
A Lincoln company, Nebraska Air Quality Specialties, is doing the air quality permit work for the new Novozymes ethanol-enzyme plant going up in Blair.
Novozymes had a ceremonial groundbreaking Tuesday for the plant, and it is expected to start operations in late 2010. The Danish company said this week it is doubling what had been expected to be $100 million investment.
Nebraska Air Quality Specialties said it will work with the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality to expedite the permitting process.
Piyush Srivastav, president of the company, said his staff started working on the permitting paperwork in February.
“Until they have (the air quality) permit, they’re not allowed to start construction, so it’s an extremely important document and a fairly lengthy process,” Srivastav said. “We will be putting together the permit applications and negotiating on their behalf.”
“We’ve already started the legwork, it’s a several months long process.”
Srivastav said he recently travelled to China to work with Novo Nordisk Engineering Pharmaplan, the Danish firm designing the plant, and other Novozymes and NNE Pharmaplan staff from Denmark and the United States to assist with the design of the plant to meet the air quality regulations.
Srivastav wouldn’t say what the contract is worth to his company, but it could be in six figures, he said.
The Danish Crown Prince Frederik André Henrik Christian and the Crown Princess Mary Elizabeth, as they are known formally, were the guests of honor at the groundbreaking ceremony in Blair.
Initially, the focus of the new plantwill be to supply enzymes for corn-based ethanol, but the company says the plant will be designed with later expansions in mind to ensure Novozymes can meet demands for enzymes used to create cellulosic ethanol.