A biofuel research center will be established in Binghamton as an arm of a new biodiesel manufacturing and processing plant to be built in Cortland County.

Officials announced plans last month for the biodiesel plant for Route 11 in Cortlandville. The project is a joint effort between the New York Center for Liquid Biofuels at Morrisville State College and its research partner Empire AgriFuel. The project is getting a $4 million grant from New York state.

The planned research facility in Binghamton, to be built with the cooperation of the New York Susquehanna & Western Railway of Cooperstown, will examine biofuel use in locomotives.

The crushing plant in Cortland County will initially be capable of handling 200 tons of raw material a day, or about 2.4 million bushels of soy or canola per year, and produce 5 million gallons of biofuel.

According to the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, New York farmers harvested 9 million bushels of soybeans in 2006. Production has increased by 20 percent per year since 2000.

Officials expect the new plant will give farmers a new market for their crop.

Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin