Biofuels are gaining traction, lending support to manufacturers of tanks used to hold the alternative forms of energy. "We've seen an increase in sales because of biodiesel and ethanol," said Greg Ay-mong, vice president of wastewater treatment and biofuels at Highland Tank & Manufacturing Co., Stoystown, Pa., which has six plants and 20 sales and engineering offices around the country. The company is on course to produce 100 tanks this year vs. 30 last year and ten times the 10 tanks produced in 2005. The amount of material that goes into such tanks can be considerable. Jeff Cavey, standard tank sales manager at Modern Welding Co. Inc., Newark, Ohio, said that a 10,000- to 12,000-gallon tank might need between 8,000 and 10,000 pounds of stainless steel. Some ethanol producers use million-gallon tanks that are field-fabricated.
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