Sound Bites

Cindy Zimmerman

I have been going over some of the several hours of audio I collected last week at the Advancing Renewable Fuels Conference and picked out quotes from some of the major speakers. ADM CEO Patricia Woertz Ethanol derived from corn and vegetable oil based biodiesel are examples of here and now solutions that deserve investment support. We believe that corn …

Biodiesel, Energy, Ethanol, Government

Renewables in the News

Cindy Zimmerman

The Advancing Renewable Fuels Conference in St. Louis last week received very extensive national and even international coverage. Here’s just a sampling of links to stories from reporters who were on the scene: From the international press, Deutsche Presse-Agentur: Speaking to a meeting on renewable energy in St Louis, Missouri, Bush hailed the savings at the petrol pump for truck …

Energy, Government

Guest Blogger on Renewable Energy Conference

Cindy Zimmerman

Here is a contributing blog entry from Beth Calabotta, who is oilseeds-biodiesel technology manager with Monsanto, on this week’s conference in St. Louis. Besides spending hours in the exhibit hall at the Monsanto booth, Beth had a front row seat for the president’s address and got pretty close when he hit the floor to meet and greet right after his …

Commentary, Energy, Ethanol, Government

President Promotes Renewables

Cindy Zimmerman

President Bush got a nice round of applause when he just said, “I like the idea of promoting a fuel that relies upon our farmers.” “I guess we have some farmers here,” he said. “We’re up to five billion gallons of ethanol,” he adds. “We’re just in the beginning stages of an industry that’s evolving. We want you to succeed. …

Energy, EPIC, Ethanol, Government

The Eagle Has Landed

Cindy Zimmerman

We just received word that the president is on his way to the convention center from the airport, so everyone is taking a quick seventh-inning stretch before they are locked up. The media has a nice mid-row seat, check-in was smooth and easy, now we are just waiting for the main event. We’ll keep you posted. I will give a …

Energy, EPIC, Government

Ethanol Industry Connections

Cindy Zimmerman

Everybody who is anybody in the ethanol industry are in attendance here at the Advancing Renewable Energy Conference in St. Louis. Here is Greg Krissek, (left) Director of Governmental Affairs with ICM, Inc., one of the nation’s major ethanol plant design/build firms, located in Colwich, KS. He is networking with one of the many attendees on hand about the potential …

Audio, Energy, EPIC, Ethanol, Government

Media Security

Cindy Zimmerman

Security has been really tight here for the Renewable Energy Conference, especially for speakers and media. They won’t let anyone through this restricted area unless they have a media badge and only staff are permitted to escort any other attendees to the media room for interviews. There were about 100 media registered for the conference itself, and several more local …

Energy, Government

Preparing for the President

Cindy Zimmerman

The line was long to go through security at the Advancing Renewable Energy Conference in St. Louis. President Bush is scheduled to address the crowd of more than 1500 about lunchtime. We have been informed that we will all be in “lock down” here at the convention center between 11:00 am and 1:30 pm – no one in or out. …

Energy, Government

EPIC on Display

Cindy Zimmerman

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns did a little walk through of the trade show at the Advancing Renewable Energy Conference in St. Louis on Wednesday and stopped in front of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council display with the Indy Car show vehicle. The flashy green and blue Indy Car continues to generate lots of attention wherever it goes, more so …

Energy, EPIC, Ethanol, Government