Wichita powers up.
Oil and gas production in Wichita dates back over 100 years. While there are substantial companies that are in the business of extraction and refinement of oil, such as Koch Industries, Murfin Drilling and Berexco, Wichita is also home to companies like Universal Lubricants and BG Products which manufacture oil and grease for various industries.
Poet Ethanol production facilities
In 2019, wind energy surpassed coal for the first time as the largest energy source for electricity generation in the state of Kansas. Siemens Gamesa operates a manufacturing facility in Hutchinson, near Wichita, which assembles nacelles and hubs, critical components of a wind turbine. Since opening, the facility has completed nearly 5,000 nacelles, shipping to 16 U.S. states, as well as Canada, Chile and Peru. That's enough to power more than 3.8 million homes or roughly the total number of households in Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska combined.
Kansas ranks fourth in total biomass production, with companies benefiting from economical access to feedstock for bio-based fuels, as well as proximity to feedlots that serve as a market for the animal feed resulting from biofuel byproducts. With 3 million head of cattle on feed in southwest Kansas, biofuel plants can enjoy the cost savings of sending out wet distillers grains to nearby feedlots. In Wichita, Cargill recently invested $90 million to build a state-of-the-art 42,000 square foot biodiesel facility to serve the mid-west and beyond.
