A Flagstaff couple in the business of beer is ready to brew up a different kind of fuel: ethanol.
Diane and David Williamson, who own Mogollon Brewery, have formed a private company to build and operate an ethanol refinery at Camp Navajo, an Army National Guard Base in Bellemont just outside of Flagstaff.
The company, Earth Friendly Fuels, would produce about 50 million gallons of corn-based ethanol a year. If technology improves, the refinery would then consume tree scraps from a waferboard wood plant proposed in Winslow, producing a product known as cellulostic ethanol.
Power for the plant would come from natural gas or biomass, which can be burned to produce steam-generated electric power.
“We’re very excited about the potential of development at Camp Navajo and we would absolutely welcome any alternative fuels company,” said Stephanie McKinney, chief executive officer of the Greater Flagstaff Economic Council.
Earth Friendly Fuels has met with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality to pursue permits for air pollution related to the plant, an agency spokesman said.
Coconino County planning staff said because the refinery is on military land, the county will have no authority to regulate the business.
Ethanol is the fuel added to wintertime gasoline to cut smog in metropolitan Arizona.
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