In Memory of Paul Dana
What a difference a day can make. If yesterday was a good day at the races for ethanol – bad doesn’t even begin to describe today. Yesterday at about this time, Chuck was on the phone with Paul Dana who was just on top of the world, happy that he had qualified ninth for the first IRL Indy Car race of the season. That was the last media interview the 30-year-old race car driver ever did, which is not a distinction we here at Domestic Fuel ever hoped to have. I spent the day today at a meeting and out of touch from home base here, so I was shocked when I got back home and Chuck told me to check the website to find out what happened. He wouldn’t even tell me, just that it was bad. I assumed it must have been a crash, but I never imagined it would have taken the life of someone we had just interviewed – someone we had come to know through our involvement with Team Ethanol. Paul died doing what he loved but our hearts are saddened by the loss of someone with such a bright future. Eternal rest grant unto him, Lord – and let the perpetual green light shine upon him. Amen.
Ethanol Industry Saddened By Loss of IRL Driver Paul Dana
Today the Rahal-Letterman Racing team suffered a serious blow when the #17 Ethanol car was in a pre-race warmup accident and driver and ethanol champion Paul Dana died from the injuries he suffered.
“It is a black day for us, and on behalf of Rahal Letterman Racing, our sponsors and associates, our prayers and sympathy go out to the entire Dana family,”
said team co-owner Bobby Rahal, the 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner.
“This is a great tragedy. As a result, and in honor of Paul, we will not run the team’s No. 15 (with driver Buddy Rice, the 2004 Indy 500 winner) and No. 16 (with driver Danica Patrick, the 2005 Indy 500 and IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year) cars in today’s event.”
“Paul was a very special guy,” said David Vander Griend, president and CEO of ICM, a primary sponsor on the Team Ethanol car. “He demonstrated his belief in what ethanol can do for all of America through his racing. He helped us with so many things in bringing ethanol to the IndyCar Series. He will be missed tremendously. Our thoughts are with his family today.”
Domestic Fuel sponsor and Ethanol Car sponsor, Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) has released a statement. You can read the full release from EPIC here (Word doc).
I also spoke with EPIC Executive Director, Tom Slunecka a few minutes ago. He is obviously still in shock over the tragedy after spending some time with Paul during the last couple days and being onsite when the accident occurred. On behalf of the EPIC staff, board and members, Tom offers his condolences to the Dana family, his friends and teammates. You can listen to Tom’s statement here: 
EPIC Statement (1 min MP3)
Tragedy At Toyota Indy 300
Just before the Toyota Indy 300 got started this afternoon I found out about the tragedy this morning. Paul Dana, driver of the #17 Ethanol car for Rahal-Letterman Racing has died from injuries he suffered in a pre-race warmup crash. This is an absolute shock since I had just interviewed Paul yesterday afternoon. You can read the story on the Indy Racing League website here.
I will be speaking with Tom Slunecka, Executive Director of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC)shortly and will post his statement. EPIC is a sponsor of the car that Paul Dana was driving.
Cindy and I offer our prayers for Paul, his family, the Rahal-Letterman team, EPIC and all the people affected by this tragedy. I had the honor to meet Paul and interview him several times over the last year. He is a hero in my eyes. You won’t find a better role model for what you can achieve if you work hard and stay focused. He was an untiring champion of ethanol and I can’t imagine at the moment what we’ll do without him.
I’ll have more information to post soon.
Interviews From Toyota Indy 300
We couldn’t be trackside in Homestead this weekend for the Toyota Indy 300, but as Ma Bell used to say long distance is the next best thing to being there so we got some on the phone reactions from a couple of major stakeholders in the IRL-ethanol future. One is veteran racer and team owner Bobby Rahal of Rahal Letterman Racing who says he is pleased with how his team qualified for the Sunday race. “The team has qualified well with Danica third, Buddy Rice sixth and Paul Dana ninth, which is by far the best qualifying he’s ever had and we’re very pleased for Paul and the ethanol car for that kind of qualification.”
Listen to Chuck’s 3:10 interview with Bobby here.
Another person who is watching the race this weekend is Wayne Mitchell, vice president of ethanol plant design and contruction company Fagen, Inc. Mitchell is also a board member of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council and he says there’s no better venue than the Indy Car Series to show how well ethanol performs. “I’m excited to be a part of the Indy Car Series and to have them embrace our fuel at the ten percent level and going to 100 percent next year. It’s going to give us some real visibility this year and a real opportunity to demonstrate the performance side of our fuel.”
Listen to Chuck’s 3:22 interview with Wayne here.
Keep your eye on #17 – the bright green and blue Team Ethanol car – during the race at 3:45 pm Eastern Sunday. Go Team Ethanol!
Good Day at the Races for Ethanol
All three drivers for the Rahal Letterman Racing team, sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council, qualified in the top ten for tomorrow’s Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway – the first of the IRL Indy Car Series races to use ten percent ethanol fuel. The 2005 Rookie of the Year Danica Patrick will start third in tomorrow’s race, 2004 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice qualified for sixth, and rookie Paul Dana – driving the number 17 Team Ethanol car – qualified for ninth. Dana told us in an interview this afternoon, “It’s awesome to be qualified in the top ten in such a competitive field and it’s great for my confidence. I’m going for Rookie of the Year this year and it’s a real strong starting spot. But pay day is tomorrow.”
The top two qualifiers today broke the track’s previous qualifying record, set in 2004 by Buddy Rice, and as part of an ethanol industry-sponsored team Dana says he was pleased to see the ethanol-enhanced fuel perform well. “The cars are always going quicker year after year so it’s pretty normal to see a track record, but we’re certainly happy that ethanol could be a part of it.” Listen to Dana’s interview here.
Saab to introduce First Ethanol Hybrid
The unveiling of the world’s first ethanol-electric hybrid car will take place next week at the Stockholm car show, according to this story from Forbes, which got the story from the online edition of Dagens Industri (DI).
Unlike the Toyota Prius which combines an electric motor with a petrol engine, Saab’s hybrid will combine an electric motor with an E85 Ethanol engine. Saab officials are not saying when the vehicle might be available for sale but it will likely be at least 2010.
JW Writes: EPA on Why Diesel is not Green
I was searching a cool website by the EPA that categorizes various vehicles by their green factor, or by how efficient and clean burning their emissions are. I noticed that no diesel engines were listed among the vehicles and sent a note to ask why. This is the reply I got from the EPA.
The reason why you are having trouble finding diesel vehicles is that there aren’t very many offered for sale in the U.S. Only one Mercedes Benz model and a couple of Volkswagen models have been certified to comply with EPA’s strict emission standards. Even though they may be fuel efficient, diesel vehicles have inherently higher levels of oxides of nitrogen, a lung irritant, and particulate matter, a likely carcinogen. These pollutants are particularly difficult to control in diesels, and most auto manufacturers have chosen not to produce them for sale in the U.S., since they are unable to comply with EPA’s strict “Tier 2” emission standards. Car companies are now working on improving the technology needed to control diesel pollution from vehicles, so we will likely be seeing more models in the next few years.
As they mentioned, there are some that meet the standards, and since they are only comparing gasoline versions, there’s no figures for engines burning biodiesel.
So while diesel engines weren’t that green initially, they are getting better and by burning biodiesel, you can vastly improve their environmental impact, and reduce emissions.
Ethanol To Make IRL History This Weekend
The 2006 IRL IndyCar Series starts this weekend the Homestead Miami Speedway with tanks ten percent full of ethanol. Here’s a good story from Crash.net about the history making change and Rahal Letterman’s Team Ethanol. Includes this quote: “Team Ethanol and its key sponsors have made a significant impact on the IRL IndyCar Series in the last few years,” said Bobby Rahal, co-owner and founder of Rahal Letterman Racing. “The leaders of Broin, Fagen and ICM have a vision on how they can positively affect the availability of fuel with ethanol that is a renewable resource.”
Hawaiian Ethanol Power Plans
Hawaii is still trying to figure out how to meet state government requirements for ethanol in gasoline and now the electric company wants to use it for power. The Hawaiian Electric Company, also known as HECO, made Pacific waves this week when officials announced they could use ethanol for a new power station on Oahu. According to this story in the Pacific Business Journal, “We would love to use locally produced ethanol in the new Campbell Industrial Park plant from day one of operation in 2009,” said Hawaiian Electric Co. President Mike May. Oahu Ethanol Corp., which already was preparing to produce ethanol next year, is at Campbell Industrial Park, next-door to the HECO power plant site. Oahu Ethanol President Dan KenKnight plans to produce ethanol initially from imported molasses and then get local growers to supply him with sorghum.
I have read several articles on this from Hawaii and I have to say I just don’t get it. Like this story in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, they say this “could help ethanol businesses that are just getting started in Hawaii.” Why do they need more help? The state is requiring that at least 85 percent of gasoline sold contain 10 percent ethanol, starting next month. However, there is currently NO ethanol produced in Hawaii. Seems like there is already a built-in market without the local power industry wanting to use any ethanol that is produced there and it’s not likely they can ever produce enough ethanol on the islands to meet that demand. I’m confused.
Biodiesel Living the Jeep Life
We have a picture now to identify posts from contributing blogger JW.
Jeep has announced that their new Liberty CRD (Common-Rail Diesel) has surpassed 10,000 vehicles sold in just under 2 years on the market, doubling the estimated production. I was excited when I first heard about this vehicle, as I’ve known that a diesel engine is more efficient and powerful than their gas powered counterparts. With biodiesel becoming a popular alternative, people will continue to flock to todays more efficient diesel engines. The success of the Jeep Liberty CRD only supports that fact. Here is a link to the news release from the National Biodiesel Board.