Methane facility work delayed

Because of a bureaucratic delay, major construction work on converting a former ethanol plant on Tucumcari's north side into a methane facility has been delayed by about a month.

That doesn't mean the principals are standing pat, though. In recent weeks, they've been readying the site with upgrades and other small construction jobs for so the plant and its offshoot operations are fully operational by spring 2021.

During a tour of the idled ethanol plant on a chilly Thursday morning, Tucumcari Bio-Energy President Robert Hockaday detailed some of the work done in recent weeks:

n Cleared about two acres east of the plant and laid irrigation lines so they can plant cover crops there and install a hoop greenhouse;

n Built a greenhouse just west of the plant and dug a trench for electrical lines to it;

n Installed a new system in the plant's pump house that uses well water on the property.

Hockaday said the crops and greenhouses, the latter which will be run by David White and Rob Mason, would part of the interactive operations around the methane plant. Methane is a flammable gas that's carbon-neutral that can be used in compressed-natural gas vehicles.

He said the greenhouses would contain a pool of tilapia fish and perhaps mussels that can be sold to markets. Their manure would fertilize plants grown there - including cold-weather crops such as broccoli, greens and parsley, then warm-weather plants such as tomatoes - and add to the methane plant's fuel.

"The theory is these systems will interact together," Hockaday said inside the greenhouse. "It'll look like a Garden of Eden when it's done."

Hockaday said the methane plant conversion was supposed to start this month with they help of more than $1 million from new market tax credits from the New Mexico Finance Authority, plus millions more in private lending.

However, the state agency said late last month the money would be delivered about 30 days later than anticipated.

"There reorganized how they were going to allocate their money," he said. "It's really frustrating."

Much of the money will be used for engineering costs to convert the ethanol plant to methane. Once construction begins, it will create about 20 jobs, plus another 20 full-time employees who will work at the plant once it's operational.

Once the methane plant reaches full production, Hockaday said Tucumcari Bio-Energy could produce up to $12 million in methane, carbon dioxide and fertilizer a year. Manure from cattle feedlots that dot the region would be the primary fuel for the plant.

Tucumcari Bio-Energy in 2018 enlisted the help of New Mexico-based Sandia Labs National Laboratories to see whether converting its ethanol equipment to methane was feasible. Sandia Labs showed how the company could modify existing tanks to minimize risks and find an ideal temperature range for methane production.

The company also received assistance with a feasibility study from the Arrowhead Center at New Mexico State University. The university also will help secure two patents for the company on its production methods.