Grainnet

Ralston, IA-–As part of the federal funding designated to benefit the military and our men in uniform, West Central Cooperative in Ralston, IA has been identified as a recipient, along with General Atomics of San Diego, CA of $3.3 million dollars for a pilot research project involving waste plastics and biodiesel.

This announcement came Tuesday from Congressman Tom Latham’s office.

These funds are part of the Defense Appropriations Bill for 2006, approved late last week by Congress.

West Central and General Atomics will use these funds to explore the possibility of using biodiesel to dissolve waste plastics.

These waste plastics are generated at the front lines, and typically consist of containers used with supplies consumed by soldiers.

The idea is to dissolve the waste plastic in the biodiesel, while simultaneously creating potential fuel from the plastics.

West Central CEO Jeff Stroburg sees this as a great opportunity, “We’ve been working with General Atomics for the past year on this project.

"We’re excited about the prospect of biodiesel breaking into even more diverse markets.”

Stroburg also cited his enthusiasm for entering into this new field with a trusted partner such as General Atomics.

The General Atomics-West Central partnership arose over a year ago, when General Atomics was approached with the idea by one of their main customers.

General Atomics was looking for a premier company in the biodiesel field to team with for this project.

The $3.3 million dollars provided in this grant will fund the majority of the research needed to finalize this pilot project.

The Battlefield Plastic Biodiesel project is expected to take approximately three years to complete.

General Atomics’ Program Manager, James Elliott, says, “This project affords the opportunity to make a real difference in the how biodiesel is used by the military.

"By combining West Central’s biodiesel expertise with GA’s technology development expertise, the project could provide a viable waste-to-energy process for front-line use by our soldiers.”

General Atomics was conceived in 1955 at San Diego, CA for the purpose of harnessing the power of nuclear technologies for the benefit of mankind.

See Related Websites/Articles:

• West Central Coop

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