Yuma doctor hopping on board booming ethanol trend

Dr. Sultan Lalani doesn't lose sleep over the biggest project he has ever done. And he said he doesn't lose any sleep over criticism of the proposed 55-million-gallon per year ethanol plant he hopes to build near Tacna either.

With a construction cost of $125 million, this plant is serious business, but Lalani said it doesn't overwhelm him. He wants to do the project, located at Avenue 47-1/2E and Highway 80, because he believes it will be good for the environment and good for Yuma County.

Lalani, an ear, nose and throat doctor in Yuma, said the idea to build an ethanol plant grew out of conversations with his daughter, Anita, who is a staunch environmentalist. They created Agrinext Ethanol LLC to try to make that happen.

"I come from a family that is industrial, business. Medicine is my passion, medicine is what I do, but of course, I do enjoy other challenges," Lalani said. "I thought this was a very good challenge."

Lalani was born in India and came to the U.S. in 1969. He received his medical training at St. Louis University, and in 1978, he came to Yuma to start his practice. While he says he would never leave medicine, Lalani said he had other goals, too. One is to make the ethanol plant a reality.

Because of America's dependence on foreign oil, Lalani said, he was interested in fuels that are renewable and domestic. One of the investors for the ethanol project started a grain facility in Kenya that Lalani later joined as a partner. Lalani said that experience in the grain business combined with the Arizona location make ethanol a logical next step.

"We thought about ethanol, which is basically the farming and grain business, and instead we'll be processing it."

Lalani said Arizona is a perfect place to produce ethanol because there is abundant farmland to grow feedstock and plenty of vehicles that need to be powered. He said the ethanol can be used in vehicles in Arizona or California.

There are hundreds of ethanol plants in the Midwest but only one other in Arizona, near Maricopa. Lalani said the Corn Belt has the feedstock but lacks the markets, so they still must ship the ethanol after it is processed.

While many ethanol operations use corn, Lalani said Agrinext can use sorghum, an annual grass that is often used as feed for livestock. Sorghum is very drought-tolerant and requires less water to grow than corn, making it a good fit for Arizona.

There are still questions about whether creating ethanol is a net benefit. The federal government has said ethanol creates 1.6 units of energy for every energy unit used to create the product, but some experts say the ratio is closer to 1-to-1. And if you have to burn as much fossil fuels to make ethanol as the energy ethanol provides, then there is no environmental benefit.

Local environmentalists, such as Cary Meister, conservation chairman of the Yuma Audubon Society, have questioned whether ethanol plants are actually "green" technology at all. Meister and others claim that the booming ethanol business isn't about environmentalism so much as it is about public policy.

Many ethanol plants now operating would not survive without their 51-cent per gallon federal subsidy, he says. And while President George W. Bush touted alternative fuels in his recent State of the Union address, most experts agree that America cannot wean itself off of oil by using ethanol from standard farming.

There is currently a mini-boom of ethanol development, with five facilities planned in Imperial County and many others across the country. According to the Renewable Fuels Association, there are 97 ethanol plants in operation and 33 under construction. Current capacity is 4,481.4 million gallons per year, and the capacity now under construction is 1,893 million gallons per year.

Lalani's project was recently met with opposition while receiving a rezoning from the Yuma County Board of Supervisors. Supervisor Greg Ferguson voted against the plan because of concerns about fires and the power that would be used to operate the plant. He questioned whether the plant would be so environmentally friendly if polluting fossil fuels have to be burned to create the ethanol.

Lalani said Agrinext hasn't decided on a power provider but is leaning toward clean-burning coal to run the plant.

The current timeline for Lalani's project is to break ground in May or June. Construction will take 14 to 18 months. "We hope to be in production by the later part of 2008," he said.

If things go well, the plant would expand to twice the size, 110 million gallons per year, after a year or two. But Lalani knows that is still far away. Most Tacna residents have seemed to be on board with the plant, which would bring needed jobs to the area.

This is one of the reasons Lalani wants to bring the plant to Yuma County, a place to which he moved for its climate and outdoor living that reminded him of India.

"I think challenge is good for anybody. It keeps your mind active. It's a good challenge because the concept is you are doing something that helps you but also helps others."

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Jeffrey Gautreaux can be reached at jgautreaux@yumasun.com or 539-6858.