German company Verbio buys new ethanol plant in South Bend

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- There's a new push to add more energy jobs in our area.

The new owners of the South Bend Ethanol Plant are planning to invest $230 million into modernizing the facility over the next three years.

While some people may say we are in the midst of an EV revolution, city leaders say we are still going to need natural gas for a number of years, especially for cars on the road today.

“So, as we move toward electric vehicle adoption, we're still going to need that for a number of years as we phase out internal combustion vehicles and move into electric vehicles," said Caleb Bauer, the City of South Bend Executive Director of Community Investment.

Verbio purchased South Bend Ethanol last year and is looking to make expansions to the ethanol plant by adding renewable natural gas to the facility.

The gas is processed from organic materials like corn which are placed into large digester tanks and fermented into natural gas, then added on to the natural gas pipeline.

There are still emissions, but it is not a fossil fuel since it doesn't involve fracking or drilling.

The president and CEO of Verbio says the target is 65 million gallons of ethanol a year and he hopes to add more jobs to the area.