Mary Beth Stanek, GM’s director for Environment and Energy, has been making the midwest rounds recently talking about ethanol and the auto industry. This week she was in Des Moines at a biofuels forum sponsored by Successful Farming magazine. Last month she hit the Jackpot – Jackpot Junction, that is – in Morton, Minnesota where she attended the Minnesota Ag …
BP Funds Energy Biosciences Institute
BP has chosen the University of California Berkeley, the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to join in a $500 million research program that will explore how bioscience can be used to increase energy production and reduce the impact of energy consumption on the environment. According to a news release, the Energy Biosciences Institute will perform …
Grand Opening Brings Wall Street to the Heartland
US BioEnergy Corporation (NASDAQ: USBE) is celebrating the grand opening Wednesday of the company’s newest ethanol production facility by ringing the closing bell on the NASDAQ from the plant in Albert City, Iowa. The feat will be accomplished remotely via satellite from the 100 mgy plant which actually started operations in December. “Most companies go to New York in order …
Ag Outlook Forum Focuses on Energy
The theme for USDA’s 83rd annual Agricultural Outlook Forum next month is “Agriculture at the Crossroads: Energy, Farm and Rural Policy.” “USDA’s 2007 Agricultural Outlook Forum explores renewable energy’s future in biofuels, cellulosic, methane, and wind,” said Johanns. “The Forum’s national conversation about agriculture centers on the fascinating opportunities and challenges of renewable energy in the next farm bill and …
Freezing to Report on Global Warming
Being a Floridian at heart, if not by birth, I can honestly say I have never been in weather as cold as last weekend in Ely, Minnesota when I had the opportunity to attend Ely’s Winter Festival and visit with the community’s favorite son, arctic exporer Will Steger. Fortunately I did dress for the part, but I still had to …
Explorer, Environmentalist, Educator and Ethanol Evangelist
The dogs may be pulling the sled when world-renowned arctic explorer Will Steger departs on his latest expedition February 14, but the trip will be powered by ethanol. When Steger was looking for sponsors to support his Global Warming 101 expedition, he decided that the ethanol industry would be a natural choice. “I’ve been talking up the benefits of ethanol …
Download Freedom Fuels for Free
The documentary “Freedom Fuels” is now available for free download. “Freedom Fuels” takes an in-depth look at renewable fuel sources, such as bio-diesel, ethanol and vegetable oil. It explores the interaction of the petroleum industry and alternative fuels over the last 150 years, and examines the global impact that bio-fuels can have on our future. Visit www.mofilms.org to download the …
Global Warming at 28 Below
A quick Google news search for “global warming” today turns up nearly 2,000 articles in the first heading, thanks to a new study that says global warming is “underway right now, humans caused it, and it will continue for centuries, no matter what we do.” The study was released in Paris by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. At a …
Yet Another Record
The latest monthly figures from the Energy Information Administration show that U.S. ethanol production and demand reached record levels in November 2006. Production of ethanol in November averaged 343,000 barrels per day (b/d) while demand averaged 414,000 b/d. The Renewable Fuels Association released the new statistics, as they do every time the EIA report is issued.
Senate Energy Committee Holds Biofuels Conference
An all-day conference on biofuels was held Thursday by the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The conference featured six panels and 33 witnesses from industry, agriculture, infrastructure, research and development. Much of the testimony focused on the need for increased funding to develop cellulosic technology. National Commission on Energy Policy Counsel David Conover told the committee they …