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The joint venture cellulosic ethanol plant established by DuPont and Dow Chemicals, heavily funded by federal and state benefits operated only from 2016-2018. The Nevada, IA. facility consumed 700,000 bushels of corn cobs and stalks (stover) each year and was projected to produce 30 million gallons of ethanol annually. The plant originally cost $400 million but was a complete technical and financial failure.
In 2018 the Nevada IA. plant was purchased by Verbio North American Corp. a subsidiary of a German parent company involved in sustainable energy. It was intended to erect an $80 million ethanol production line and hire 48 workers. Initially the company intended to produce natural gas using stover but when the ethanol plant is completed, natural gas will be produced through a fermentation process. The company was awarded $1.3 million in tax credits in 2018 when they acquired the DuPont-Dow plant but it has not achieved the predetermined volume of production or attained the promised payroll.
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