Financing Closed For PA Plant

Cindy Zimmerman

BioEnergyBioEnergy International announced it has closed financing for Bionol Clearfield, enabling the 100 million gallon a year ethanol plant to begin construction in Clearfield, Pennsylvania.

“With the launch of the Clearfield Project, we have created a model of sustainability with partners Getty Petroleum Marketing Inc. and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” said Stephen J. Gatto, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BioEnergy. “Near the birthplace of the modern petroleum refinery industry, this destination ethanol plant and our cellulosic pilot, will help usher in the next industrial revolution of biorefineries, that will provide Pennsylvanians with home grown fuels first from corn, then renewable cellulosic feedstocks such as wood chips and biomass.”

BioEnergy International, LLC is a science and technology leader developing biorefineries using proprietary biocatalysts to produce high value renewable fuels and biobased specialty chemicals.

Cellulosic, Ethanol, Facilities, News

The Andersons Marathon Ethanol Plant Starts Production

Cindy Zimmerman

MarathonThe Andersons, Inc. and Marathon Oil Corporation today jointly announced ethanol production has begun at their 110-million gallon ethanol plant located in Greenville, Ohio.

AndersonsThis is the third ethanol plant investment for The Andersons, according to CEO Mike Anderson. “Locating in Darke County, the largest corn-producing county in the state, is ideal and the community’s reception has been exceptional. In addition to providing a viable alternative fuel source for our country, we look forward to serving the local farming community through corn sourcing and high-quality distillers dried grains.”

Gary R. Heminger, executive vice president of Marathon Oil Corporation says the Greenville facility is the largest ethanol plant in Ohio. “Marathon is one of the first U.S. oil companies to initiate its own ethanol production operations,” said Heminger. “Marathon has been blending ethanol fuels for more than 15 years and is among the largest blenders of ethanol in the United States.”

Ethanol, Facilities, News

Ethanex Inks Deal to Buy Nebraska Plant

Cindy Zimmerman

Ethanex Ethanex Energy has finalized an agreement to buy Midwest Renewable Energy in Sutherland, Neb., for $220 million in cash and Ethanex stock. The deal was first announced last November.

According to a company release, the existing plant, which has a production capacity of 26 million gallons per year, is currently undergoing a two-phase expansion, after which its total projected plant capacity will be 111 million gallons a year.

Ethanol, Facilities, News

That’s Trillion – with a “T”

Cindy Zimmerman

A new analysis by Cambridge Energy Research Associates estimates that $7 trillion in new investment is expected to flow into the alternative energy industry before 2030.

That’s TRILLION with a T.

GulfAccording to the report, “increasing public concerns about climate change — and its potential economic and political security consequences — are driving public policy and private investment to bring clean energy technologies from the fringes of the global energy industry to the center of activities as quickly as possible.”

The result of this rising public and private momentum is an increase in worldwide clean energy investment that could surpass US$7 trillion by 2030 in cumulative real 2007 dollars, according to the CERA report Crossing the Divide: The Future of Clean Energy. “We are seeing a major shift in public opinion, reinforced by the expectation that carbon policies could fundamentally change the competitive landscape of the global energy business,” said Daniel Yergin, CERA Chairman and IHS Executive Vice President. “This is providing a vital impetus that is moving clean technology across the great divide of cost, proven results, scale and maturity that has separated it from markets served by mainstream technologies and processes.”

The analysis looks at a variety of alternative energy sources, including biomass, solar and wind.

News, Research

The Makers of “Fields of Fuel”

Cindy Zimmerman

Josh Tickell and Greg ReitmanThe man behind the movie “Fields of Fuel” attended the National Biodiesel Conference this week in Orlando and held a private screening for the biodiesel-based film that won critical acclaim at the recent Sundance Film Festival.

Josh Tickell, who has been a biodiesel backer for more than a decade, is tickled that his labor of love was chosen for the Audience Award for Best Documentary Film at the Sundance.

“Of the thousands films that were submitted, the 16 that got in, ‘Fields of Fuel’ was the number one audience choice,” he said in an interview with Domestic Fuel after the screening. “It felt pretty fantastic to walk up on stage and get the award.”

“Fields of Fuel” producer Greg Reitman says they are now looking ahead to getting the film into other festivals. “From that point on, Josh will basically do a 50 city tour around the country and we will essentially be in theaters by mid-May.” He says there are several major theatrical distributors looking at the film now.

The film, which highlights both biodiesel and ethanol, has been years in the making and a number of industry sponsors aided in the effort including: Nova Biosource Fuels, Solazyme, BBI International, Ethanol Promotion and Information Council, Renewable Energy Group, Earth Biofuels, and John Deere.

You can listen to the full interview with Josh and Greg here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/biodiesel/nbb-tickell.mp3]

Audio, Biodiesel, EPIC, Ethanol, News

GM Bets on E-85

Cindy Zimmerman

GM E85General Motors unveiled the 2009 FlexFuel Chevy HHR this week at the Chicago Auto Show, a small SUV that will be the first four-cylinder model in General Motors Corp.’s North American lineup that can run on straight gasoline or blends of up to 85 percent ethanol.

In a speech at the show, GM North America President Troy Clarke stressed the auto maker’s commitment to ethanol.

“We will continue to make more of our lineup FlexFuel-capable because we believe ethanol, and specifically E85, is the best near-term answer to reduce our nation’s dependence on oil as energy demand rises here and around the world,” Clarke said.

“The focus needs to be on making E85 more available by developing cellulosic ethanol sources and dramatically increasing the number of stations that offer E85,” he said.

GM is the auto industry leader in offering FlexFuel models – 11 for 2008 and more than 15 planned for 2009. GM already has 2.5 million ethanol-capable vehicles on the road and hopes to have 20 million in service by 2020.

E85, Ethanol, Flex Fuel Vehicles, News

LifeLine to Supply Indy Fuel

Cindy Zimmerman

Indy logoLifeLine Foods of St. Joseph, Missouri will join forces with the IndyCar® Series for the 2008 season as the official supplier of the 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol used in all IndyCar Series cars.

lifeline foodsLifeLine Foods is a unique company that uses corn to produce food and fuel. One portion of the kernel is processed and marketed to the food industry while the remainder of the corn kernel is used for, among other things, cattle feed and energy needs. Utilizing a bran energy recovery system, total plant energy needs will be reduced by approximately 50 percent. This method insures that the company is getting the most value out of corn, benefiting the agriculture, food and ethanol industries.

EPIC logoLifeLine was contracted by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) to supply approximately 120,000 gallons of the fuel to the IndyCar Series. With the transition to an ethanol-blend in 2006 and then 100% fuel-grade ethanol in 2007, the IndyCar Series was the first motorsports league to require use of a renewable fuel.

corn, EPIC, Ethanol, Indy Racing, News

NEVC Board Meeting

Cindy Zimmerman

The National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition held its 2008 Annual Board of Directors meeting in St. Louis February 4 and 5.

At the meeting, two new board members and five executive officers were elected.

NEVCThe 2008 NEVC Executive Officers include: Chairman Bernie Punt, Siouxland Energy Livestock and Coop; Vice-Chairman Dwayne Siekman, Ohio Corn Growers Association; Secretary Scott Negley, Dresser Wayne; and Treasurer Roger Moore, Minnesota Corn Growers Association.

The new board members for 2008 are Kevin Kuykendall, president of White Energy, and Ray Hutchinson, vice president of Business Development for Gilbarco Veeder-Root.

Chairman Punt said, “As the 2008 Chairman of the NEVC, I look forward to establishing a relationship with the diverse group of their representing members. Working together will allow this organization to meet the challenges involved with introducing E85 into the marketplace and increasing ethanol use; and decreasing the country’s dependency on foreign oil.”

Ethanol, News

Secretary of Agriculture Biofuels Message To Livestock Producers

Chuck Zimmerman

Me and Sec. EdOur Secretary of Agriculture, Ed Schafer, made his first major public policy speech today at the Cattle Industry Convention in Reno, NV. I had the pleasure of meeting him and talked someone into snapping a photo too. I thought you might be interested in hearing an audio clip from his speech here this morning since he hit the subject of high feed prices and renewable energy head on.

Basically, he said that with the growth of cellulosic ethanol production there should be an easing of feed price pressure within a short time as the technology and non-food stocks form of ethanol production continues to rapidly develop.

Sec. SchaferHe says there’s no way we can get away from the reality of the need to become more energy independent here in America.

He does admit that there will be higher feed prices in the short term but he stressed that the President’s energy bill provides an outline toward the future which is cellulosic.

You can listen to Secretary Schafer’s comments here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/cbb/cic-08-schafer-renewable-fuels.mp3]

Audio, Government, News

Growing a Seed for Biodiesel and Plastics

John Davis

danforthmetabolix.jpgA Massachusetts biotechnology company has joined with a Missouri research firm to develop an oilseed that can produce both biodiesel and plastics.

And this story from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says Metabolix Inc. and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center will get some money from the state of Missouri to work on the idea:

“It’s exactly what the civic leadership in St. Louis has been positioning St. Louis and the state to become,” said Rob Monsees, executive director of the Missouri Technology Corp., which gave a $1.14 million state grant to the project. “Metabolix is hopefully the first of many examples of plant biotechnology companies that are going to be finding their way to Missouri.”

Scientists from the company and the Danforth Center are working to genetically modify certain oilseeds to produce plastic polymers as they grow. Once harvested, the crop would be broken down into oil for biodiesel refineries and polymers for the production of bioplastics that break down into environmentally friendly waste.

Bioplastics — plastic derived from plant or microbial sources, rather than petroleum — would provide biodiesel facilities with a valuable co-product that they could sell to offset the cost of producing fuel for autos and trucks.

“This is an opportunity that’s potentially very good in terms of the economics,” said Oliver Peoples, Metabolix co-founder and chief scientific officer.

The work will go on near the Danforth Center near St. Louis with plans to open a pilot plant in 2011.

Biodiesel