Ethanol prices are up. This story in the Wichita Eagle reports that ethanol prices have gone up 35 cents a gallon since mid-November. “It’s a little bit of a surprise to see how much the market has rebounded,” said Dave VanderGriend, president of ICM at Colwich, one of the nation’s largest designers and builders of ethanol plants. “There’s still an …
One Million Gallon Milestone
Flex-fuel vehicle owners in Oshkosh, Wis. have purchased over one million gallons of E85 at the Renew fuel station located at Highway 76 and 41. Consumers took 830 days to purchase one million gallons of E85 and are well on their way to purchasing more. This marks the first time a Wisconsin gas station has sold more than a million …
ND Gov Disputes National Geographic with Renewable Energy Successes
North Dakota Governor John Hoeven is strongly disputing the contents of a National Geographic article that paints the Northern Plains state in a less-than-flattering light. The article entitled “The Emptied Prairie” talks about how so many towns have been abandoned because of tough times. But in a letter to the editor of the National Geographic, Hoeven points to how biofuels …
GM Makes Cellulosic Investment
An announcement by General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner at the opening of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit yesterday made for big alternative energy news nationwide. Wagoner announced GM’s partnership with Coskata, an Illinois company that has a process for for turning wood chips, grasses, or municipal waste into ethanol. Coskata uses a proprietary process that leverages patented …
Biofuels Demand Driving Corn & Soybean Price Spikes
Corn and soybean prices have gone to record levels as producers struggle to keep up with food and biofuel demands. Bloomberg.com says a new U.S. government report prompted traders to push soybean prices to a record of about $13 a bushel while corn prices hit an 11-year high of $4.95 a bushel: The world soybean harvest will fall 6.5 percent …
FAPRI Analyzes Energy Bill
The Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri has completed an analysis of the new energy bill, and the results seem to point to some pretty positive results from the legislation. FAPRI reports the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007, signed into law by President Bush on December 19th, will have positive consequences for …
Ethanol Outlook for 2008
2008 could be an even better year than 2007 for the ethanol industry. That’s the outlook of Renewable Fuels Association president Bob Dinneen. In the first “Ethanol Report” podcast for 2008, Dinneen gazes into his crystal ball and sees blue skies and big challenges for the ethanol industry this year. “I think we will continue to see dramatic growth in …
Ethanol Pioneer Dies
One of the original ethanol visionaries has passed away, but the plant he helped to build in 1984 continues to operate. The Washington Post today published the obituary of Donald Evans, a Washington area lawyer and “70s ethanol pioneer,” as the headline reads. In 1980, he and other partners formed New Energy Inc. of Indiana to build a $185 million …
POET Opens First Ohio Plant
POET hosted a grand opening ceremony Thursday for their 22nd ethanol production facility and the first in the state of Ohio. Some 3,000 people attended the opening of POET Biorefining – Leipsic, including Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, Ohio Congressman Bob Latta and Mike Wagner, Executive Director for the Buckeye Renewable Fuels Association. “The State of Ohio is excited to partner …
Detroit Auto Show Featuring Green-Fueled Vehicles
The 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit will feature vehicles using a variety of green fuels, including ethanol, biodiesel, hydrogen, and fuel cells. This story from The Auto Channel says when the public comes in to the annual gathering on January 19th-27th, 2008, they’ll see more clean fuels more than ever before: Going green is no longer a …