Every year that the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) has been a sponsor at the Buffalo Chip Campground for the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally we get the chance to visit with founder and president of The Chip Rod “Woody” Woodruff, and this year was no exception. Woody is a laid back guy who founded the campground 33 years ago so people …
Future for Ethanol Blends
Getting higher blends of ethanol in the marketplace continues to be frustrating, even with the approval of E15 (15% ethanol). The biggest problem continues to be roadblocks by oil companies, according to American Coalition for Ethanol Senior Vice President Ron Lamberty, who compared the sale and use of E15 to premium gasoline. “If you total (all the) vehicles that could …
Motorcycles Fill up on Free E10 at Sturgis
The third annual “Free Fuel Happy Hours” sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association at the Buffalo Chip Campground for the Sturgis Motorcyle Rally was once again a rousing success. “Obviously everyone has a motorcycle here, but they also have other engines at home, whether it be car, truck, SUV, lawnmower, you name it,” said RFA Director of Market Development Robert …
Export Opportunities for Ethanol and DDGs
U.S. exports of ethanol totaled 59.9 million gallons (mg) in June, up 13% from the seven-month low in May, according to a Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) analysis of government data, and the opportunities are expanding. That was the topic for the last session at the American Coalition for Ethanol conference this week in Minneapolis and one of the speakers was …
Ethanol Plant Innovators
Four ethanol producers who are innovating plants through new process and product technology took the podium at the American Coalition for Ethanol conference this week to talk about what they are doing. First up was ACE president Ron Alverson of Dakota Ethanol who talked about the importance of carbon, particularly the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and how it …
Collin Peterson Honored for Ethanol Support
The American Coalition for Ethanol meeting in Minneapolis this week honored Congressman Collin Peterson of Minnesota with its highest award for supporters of ethanol, the Merle Anderson award. Anderson himself presented Peterson with the award, as well as an ethanol lapel pin and five dollars for his campaign. Peterson says ethanol has been great for agriculture and he continues to …
RFA Pumping up Ethanol for Motorcycles
The Renewable Fuels Association is pumped up to provide some free 10% ethanol for motorcyclists attending the 74th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally this week. RFA set up this morning for the Free Fuel Happy Hours taking place from 1–4 pm today through Thursday. This is the sixth year that RFA has had a presence at the legendary motorcycle event and …
ACE President Optimistic About Ethanol Industry
American Coalition for Ethanol president Ron Alverson of Dakota Ethanol says there are lots of reasons to excited about the ethanol industry right now. “We’re just super competitive,” Alverson said in his opening comments at the 27th annual ACE conference, showing a graph indicating the positive price spread between ethanol and gasoline. “I think we’re building new markets because of …
Increasing Ethanol Yield
One way enzyme technology can help ethanol plants is by yielding more ethanol per bushel of corn. At the recent Corn Utilization and Technology Conference, Nathan Kreel with Novozymes talked about Olexa, a unique enzyme designed for oil recovery. “We developed it mainly to enhance corn oil extraction for the customer, but we are seeing there are a lot of …
Oxygenate from Ethanol and Corn
xF Technologies Inc. is an advanced biofuel company that has developed a chemical process to convert corn or biomass plus alcohol (especially ethanol or methanol) into an oxygenate that can be blended with gasoline and diesel. “It’s a completely chemical process – no enzymes, no bacteria, no fermentation,” said Bob Randle of xF Technologies, who spoke at the recent Corn …