REYNOLDS, Ind. | White County farmer Tonie Snyder delivered nearly 2,000 bales of corn stover -- the leaves and stalks of corn plants left in a field after harvest -- for BioTown USA's planned gasifier.
But the company that asked for the bales left Indiana's experiment in bioenergy months ago, and the farmers didn't have a written contract.
The state of Indiana recently stepped in and compensated farmers for about 54 percent of the bales, but setbacks such as the delayed payments made Snyder and others uneasy.
"There's something that they're not telling me, the town and everyone involved," Snyder said. "I personally feel (that) people feel Reynolds is being left out."
BioTown was announced with lots of publicity and big dreams more than two years ago. Reynolds was to become a model community for energy consumption and production. But some Reynolds residents are beginning to openly doubt the BioTown concept.
Those behind the project hope the start of construction on the digester and other milestones will calm the growing disquiet.
Work on an anaerobic digester will likely begin in the next 60 days, according to Doug Tischbein, regional director of Energy Systems Group, or ESG. The energy service provider is spearheading the bioenergy projects planned for the technology suite on the edge of Reynolds.
After work begins, it will take between 60 to 90 days to complete the anaerobic digester, according to Tischbein. The finished structure will convert cattle manure from BioTown Ag into electricity, which will then be sent out over the power grid.
"We're as anxious as everybody else to get this thing in the ground," Tischbein said.
Power generation should start by late summer 2008, according to Tischbein. Other projects planned for the BioTown technology suite, a gasifier and a biodiesel facility, are still in the planning stages.
Such predictions are positive news for the BioTown project, but some farmers have been hurt in the past by speculation.
Farmers delivered thousands of bales of corn stover when Rose Energy Discovery Inc. was still in charge of plans for a gasification plant. One even bought new baling equipment in response to the sudden demand.
It now seems unlikely that any of the delivered corn stover will be usable in ESG's gasification facility when it is eventually completed, according to Tischbein.
Eric Burch, communications director for the Indiana Office of Energy and Defense Development, said there is a plan to pay farmers in full for their deliveries, but not for equipment investments.
Rural Reynolds hog farmer Roger Wiese had a more cautious reaction to BioTown. When he heard that hog manure might fuel parts of the BioTown project, he didn't make any changes to his operation.
"There had been nothing discussed about the price of it, and obviously it has a tremendous value as a fertilizer," Wiese said.
It turned out that fresh manure is the most useful for bioenergy purposes. Hog manure is often stored for up to a year, so ESG's digester will be fueled mostly by cattle manure because fresh manure is needed, according to Tischbein.
John Heimlich, president of the White County commissioners and president of the BioTown USA Development Authority, said many Reynolds residents are taking an approach similar to Wiese's.
"I think they're just waiting to see what happens," Heimlich said.
