The summer travel season is here, and if you’re looking for a way to see the U.S.A. while driving on clean-burning biodiesel and ethanol, a roadtrip down Interstate 75 might be just the ticket. The latest edition of the National Biodiesel Board’s Biodiesel Bulletin talks about the I-75 Green Corridor, the planet’s longest biofuels corridor, that runs from Sault Ste. …
Wet and Dry Milling Focus of Conference
The 2014 Corn Utilization and Technology Conference is underway in Louisville, Kentucky and this year the focus is on wet and dry milling technologies and new uses. National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) president Martin Barbre says the event brings together researchers with the common goal of facilitating the next ground-breaking technologies and corn-based products of the future. “It’s a great …
American Ethanol Brings Troops to Tracks
American Ethanol “Troops to the Track” program welcomed members of the Armed Forces to the “Monster Mile” at Dover International Speedway this past weekend. The program, which is administered by the Armed Forces Foundation, welcomed service members and their families from Dover Air Force Base (AFB) to the Sprint Cup Series race that was won by Jimmie Johnson on Sunday. …
Aventine Re-Opens Ethanol Plant Using Sugar
A Nebraska ethanol plant is back up and running after being idled for two years. But this article from the Lincoln Journal Star says the biggest surprise is the fact that Aventine Renewable Energy Inc. in Aurora is making the green fuel from sugar, not the usual corn feedstock. The company is using sugar because it can. It’s even simpler …
DF Cast: Senators, Industry Push EPA on Biofuels
Time is ticking down for the Environmental Protection Agency to make a decision on how much renewable fuel will be mixed into the nation’s fuel supply, and ethanol and biodiesel groups are pressing for a change to what’s being proposed. On the biodiesel side, nearly 120 companies have just sent the White House a letter trying to reverse the proposed …
House Members Claim Majority Want RFS Changed
A coalition of U.S. House of Representatives member opposed to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) claim that a bipartisan majority of members “have expressed concerns regarding the current ethanol mandate.” In a press release, Reps. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Jim Costa (D-Calif.), Steve Womack (R-Ark.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) announced that 218 Members of the House agree “there is a serious …
State Incentives, Grants Help Open VA Ethanol Plant
Some seed money and a few years of production incentives offered by the state are finally helping open an ethanol plant sitting dormant since its building completion in 2010. This article from Petersburg, Va.’s Progress-Index says the Vireol Bio Energy LLC plant is up and running, and most importantly, selling ethanol. The company will receive subsidies to operate from the …
RFA Calls EWG Report Flawed
The Renewable Fuels Association is disputing findings of an Environmental Working Group report released today entitled, “Ethanol’s Broken Promise: Using Less Corn Ethanol Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions.” RFA president and CEO Bob Dinneen says the report relies on “overblown and disputed assumptions of land use change, making ethanol from corn appear to be worse than gasoline,” which he calls “simply …
How to Counter “Evils-of-Corn-Ethanol” Argument
With the unofficial start of summer, there’s no doubt you’ll be at picnics, reunions, get-togethers, etc., and there’s a pretty good chance that if you’re involved in ethanol, there’ll be somebody wanting to debate its merits… or more specifically, its evils. This article from Ethanol Producer Magazine relates a conversation the managing editor had on how corn ethanol is not …
Ethanol Blending Margins Positive Despite Price Rise
Despite a 60 percent increase in ethanol prices, a new record hit last winter, ethanol blending margins stayed positive for most of the period. This analysis from the University of Illinois credits the surprising outcome to highly positive blending margins at the start of the spike, which provided a healthy margin cushion as ethanol prices rose, as well as a …