The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is celebrating 30 years of advocating for the ethanol industry, and while the industry has come a long way since that time, some things never change. Giving the “State of the Ethanol Industry” address to some 1300 attendees at the National Ethanol Conference, RFA president and CEO Bob Dinneen started off quoting the organization’s first …
Live Feed of State of Ethanol Industry
Good morning from Phoenix, AZ and the National Ethanol Conference. We’re going to stream the opening remarks and state of the industry speech for you starting at 8am MST. On the stage will be Renewable Fuels Association Chairman, Chuck Woodside and President/CEO Bob Dinneen. After their remarks I’ll post the audio and recorded video for you as soon as I …
Gaining A Better Understanding of the Ethanol Industry
The Chairman of the Renewable Fuels Association is Chuck Woodside, KAAPA Ethanol, LLC. He gave everyone a welcoming speech prior to the start of today’s golf tournament. I spoke with him during breakfast. Chuck says he brings a lot of people from his company to the conference to gain a broader understanding of what’s been accomplished over the last year …
Preview of National Ethanol Conference
The National Ethanol Conference in now underway in Phoenix, AZ. Cindy and I are here and will bringing you all the action. We started out cool and wet for this morning’s golf tournament. The course remains open all afternoon for those who want to complete their round. I sat down with Bob Dinneen, CEO, Renewable Fuels Association for our annual …
Oil Scores a Victory in House, Ethanol Continues Battle
In an update to a story posted earlier this week, in a late night vote the House of Representatives have approved provisions that would block the implementation of E15 into the marketplace. Rep. John Sullivan (R-OK) presented a provision to the House Continuing Resolution (a short-term resolution that would fund the government through the end of this year) that would …
GROWMARK FS Platform is Homegrown Fuels
GROWMARK FS cooperatives promote a platform of homegrown fuels. That was the message Kevin DeGoey of the GROWMARK FS cooperative New Century in Iowa gave at the recent Iowa Renewable Fuel Association summit in Des Moines during a panel presentation by retailers and fuel distributors on how the approval of 15 percent ethanol blends can bring more fuel choices to …
Funding is Critical for Advanced Ethanol
Advanced biofuels from new feedstocks are facing a “chicken and egg” situation on the way to commercialization and that is why government funding remains vital to the industry. That was the message delivered by Chris Standlee, Executive Vice President of Abengoa Bioenergy, during a teleconference with other advanced biofuels company officials on Thursday. “It’s a critical ‘chicken and egg’ scenario …
Farm-based Missouri Oil Company to Grow Biomass
Missouri-based MFA Oil Company, a farmer-owned cooperative, has partnered with Aloterra Energy to form a biomass venture. This MFA press release says the new company, MFA Oil Biomass LLC, will pay about 1,700 family farmers to grow miscanthus for use as a biomass fuel and possibly ethanol in the future: [T]he 2008 Federal Farm Bill created the Biomass Crop Assistance …
Biofuels Part of Bright Outlook for Farm Economy
The full House Agriculture Committee held a hearing today to hear from Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack about the outlook for the farm economy, which is being supported by strong demand for ethanol and biodiesel. Vilsack told the committee that the farm economy continues to remain strong with U.S. agricultural exports, farm cash receipts and net farm income projected at …
Chromatin Sorghum Hybrids Topping the Charts
In 2010 biomass and sugar testing programs, Chromatin sorghum hybrids have demonstrated top performance when compared to other materials from public, private and commercial sorghum collections. This according to a company press release. Chromatin is a biotechnology company and its subsidiary, Sorghum Partners, LLC, sells sorghum seed products to growers. Several trials were conducted. In the first trial, 50 biomass …