SynSel Energy to develop biofuels plant in Cairo, Illinois

February 11, 2019

SynSel Energy, Inc. of Elk Grove Village, IL announced plans to develop a biorefinery in Cairo, Illinois on the former site of a shuttered wood mill. SynSel will repurpose the same renewable wood feedstock formerly used by the wood mill, to produce 180,000 gallons per day of environmentally responsible advanced “tank ready” synthetic biofuels. 

SynSel CEO Tim Tawoda stated, “Cairo, IL is a strategic, centrally-located US port at the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Ohio River, with the busiest river traffic in the nation. The site has an abundance of available wood feedstock in close proximity, and it has all the industrial and transportation infrastructure necessary for a SynSel plant, including a short-haul rail line owned by our Co-Developer, the Cairo Public Utility. Wood feedstock will be shipped by river barge to minimize obtrusive truck traffic in the community. The SynSel plant will bring needed employment to the tri-state area across many sectors of the community.”

Regarding the environmental benefits of SynSel fuel, Tawoda explained, “While electric vehicles represent a 56% reduction in life-cycle greenhouse gas reductions compared to conventional vehicles, SynSel fuels represent life-cycle greenhouse gas reductions of over 90% using the same comparison.”