Marketing at Top Speed

Cindy Zimmerman

EPIC at NAMA“Marketing at Top Speed” was the title of the presentation made to agrimarketing professionals this week in Kansas City by the executive director of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC), Tom Slunecka.

Slunecka told the members of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) that ethanol has brought a major paradigm shift to agriculture that stands to benefit every segment of the industry, including the livestock sector, in the long term. He urged them all to become “ethanol evangelists” and promote the good news about the fuel to fight those who are trying to undermine it.

EPIC certainly has a great story to tell, growing an organization to promote ethanol in less than three years into what is a major success story. Just this year alone, Slunecka says they have generated over 700 million media impressions for ethanol – mostly due to their high profile with the Indy Racing League and other motor sports venues. Ethanol may seem to be generating a great deal of negative publicity, but as the saying goes “there’s no such thing as bad publicity.” And there is no denying that ethanol has brought new life to rural America.

EPIC, Ethanol, News, Promotion

A Farmer’s Tale of Biodiesel

John Davis

High Plains JournalThere’s a great feature story in the latest issue of the High Plains Journal that tells the story of how one Kansas Farmer took the journey in deciding to grow his own biodiesel crop… even refining his harvest into his own green fuel.

Check out these excerpts:

Luke Jaeger was fed up with high fuel prices.

A few years ago, as he sat at his desk in his home near Minneola, Kan., Jaeger decided fuel prices were crimping his bottom line and it was time for a different approach to filling his equipment tanks.

Jaeger went online and searched the Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension Service files, talked with seed salesmen and visited with biodiesel specialists to plan his farm-scale biodiesel facility. But it wasn’t until the first seeds were planted that Jaeger’s vision of energy independence began to take a definite shape.

Jaeger purchased canola seed from a Nickerson, Kan., dealer and planted his first 60 acres last fall.

But, growing his own oil crop was just the first step in Jaeger’s plan. He also committed to building his own oil seed crushing and fuel refinery right there on his farm.

“We put in two 10-ton crushers, and the goal is to provide crushing for other area farmers who will grow winter canola or sunflowers and bring them to us to crush and then refine the oil into biodiesel,” Jaeger said. “They can bring us their seeds and leave with biodiesel.” The family is in the permitting phase of construction now and has joined the National Biodiesel Board. Eventually they will have all of the proper permits to process biodiesel and their product will meet American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards.

The article is an interesting story of Jaeger’s work and a good read… in my humble opinion.

Biodiesel, Ethanol

Safeway Converts Arizona Trucks to Biodiesel

John Davis

SafewayGrocery giant Safeway is converting its entire fleet of trucks in Arizona to 20% biodiesel.

The Arizona Star has more about the green grocer and the green fuel:

For the last 30 days, the company has worked to convert all 79 of its Arizona trucks to fuel that is 20 percent biodiesel made from domestically manufactured virgin soybean oil.
The conversion will reduce Safeway’s carbon dioxide gas output by 3,603 metric tons — equivalent to 780 passenger cars not being driven for one year, said Nikki Daly, company spokeswoman.

Biodiesel

Florida Crystals Wins Bid for Cellulosic Plant

Cindy Zimmerman

Florida Crystals The University of Florida has selected Florida Crystals Corp. as the site to build a cellulosic ethanol plant that will produce 1 million to 2 million gallons of ethanol a year, university officials said.

According to a South Florida Business Journal article, the plant is financed by a $20 million state grant and will operate as a research and development lab as well as a commercial facility. It is the first of its kind in Florida. Attendees at the Monday meeting where the decision was announced said Florida Crystals was selected over the second front-runner, Memphis, Tenn.-based Buckeye Technologies, because it has a large supply of bagasse biomass and it is already in the sugar business.

Cellulosic, Ethanol, News

Lignol Seeks DOE Grant

Cindy Zimmerman

LignolThe U.S. subsidiary of Canada’s Lignol Energy Corporation has filed a formal application for a $30 million U.S. Department of Energy grant to fund the development of a cellulosic ethanol commercial demonstration plant in Colorado.

Lignol Innovations Inc. has also signed a Project Development Agreement with Suncor Energy Products Inc. and its affiliate Suncor Energy to jointly fund the project development costs related to the DOE application.

“This DOE funding program is seeking to identify companies that can successfully develop biorefineries for ethanol and bio-based chemicals for industrial applications in the United States. Working closely with our stakeholders and industrial partners, we have developed a comprehensive application for DOE consideration,” said Ross MacLachlan, President and CEO of Lignol.

Cellulosic, Ethanol, News

Cellulosic Ethanol Summit

Cindy Zimmerman

Cellulosic SummitThe second annual Cellulosic Ethanol Summit in October will be a veritable “who’s who” in the rapidly accelerating industry of cellulosic ethanol.

The keynote address will be given by Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns. Among those on the multi-faceted program are Ross MacLachlan of Lignol Energy Corp. Doug Berven of POET, Jeff Passmore from IOGEN, Gerson Santos-Leon of Abengoa, Craig Evans from Alico and Arnold Klann, the President of Bluefire Ethanol, Inc. This panel of developers will discuss the projects in development and what they portend for cellulosic ethanol industry building. Check out the full agenda here.

The conference features a dozen corporate sponsors, including Verenium, Baker & McKenzie and Genencor among others, as well as an unprecedented twenty supporting organizations and media partners, including USDA, the US Department of Energy, 25 x 25, the American Coalition for Ethanol, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition (NEVC), the National Sorghum Producers, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), Nebraska Ethanol Board (NEB), and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA).

The event will be held October 15-17 in Washington, DC at the Almas Temple Club. Register on-line here.

Cellulosic, conferences, Ethanol, News, RFA

First Indiana POET Plant to Open

Cindy Zimmerman

POETPOET has certainly been staying busy with groundbreakings and grand openings. Next month, POET plant #21 will open in Portland, Indiana – the first for the company in that state. The guest of honor on September 14 will be U.S. Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), a huge ethanol supporter and biofuels industry expert.

The event will also include a flyover from the Vanguard Squadron – the world’s only 100 percent ethanol-powered aerobatic fleet – and a replica display of the #17 Ethanol Car from the Indy Racing League that is co-sponsored by POET.

POET Biorefining – Portland will produce 60 million gallons of ethanol per year and will push POET’s total annual production capacity to 1.11 billion gallons, making it the largest ethanol producer in the world.

EPIC, Ethanol, Facilities, News

Danish Wind Power Giant Breezing to Big Profits

John Davis

Europeans and Americans are showing just how serious they are in promoting and using wind energy by fueling big profits for the world’s biggest wind turbine maker.

This article from Forbes.com has more:

Vestas Windmills & logoDenmark’s Vestas Wind Systems, the largest wind turbine manufacturer in the world, said on Tuesday its sales for the second quarter of 2007 grew 18.6% to 1.1 billion euros ($1.5 billion) year-on-year, up from 900 million euros ($1.2 billion). Its post-tax profit got a five-fold increase, up to 51 million euros ($68.9 million) from 10 million ($13.5 million) a year earlier. Earnings per share grew by over five times year-on-year to 28 eurocents (38 cents) per share from 5 eurocents (7 cents) in the second quarter of 2006.

Strong demand for wind energy in Europe and the Americas, which accounted for 57% and 27% of quarterly sales respectively, also contributed to Vestas’ growth. “Political support, sentiment in general at a public level too, has improved somewhat,” said Gudme Raaschou (Bank)’s Mikkelsen. He added that the popularity of wind energy grew because gas supplies were concentrated in “fairly insecure” countries such as Russia.

The article goes on to say wind energy in stable countries such as Spain and the U.S. has certainly seemed like a much better investment to many investors than some more unstable places rich in un-renewable energy sources.

Wind

Hawaiian Utility Pledges Investment in Biodiesel Research

John Davis

Officials with Hawaiian Electric Co., Inc have pledged to invest an undisclosed amount of money into finding the right crops so the Aloha State can make its own fuel: biodiesel.

This story in the Pacific Business News says the utility plans to use the biodiesel it buys in its generators:

“At this stage, the most important thing we can do is this research on jatropha, on kukui nuts and other crops,” said Peter Rosegg, a spokesman for Hawaii’s largest utility, which is also the largest user of petroleum diesel in the nation.

Researchers at the University of Hawaii and the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center have been working with a range of crops to determine the best-suited options and production methods for Hawaii farmers.

The utility also will seek to jumpstart a local feedstock industry by putting its profits from a proposed biodiesel processing facility on Maui into a Biofuels Public Trust Fund in 2008 — money that will continue to fund research and development of energy crops.

The article goes on to say Hawaiian Electric will give preference to locally-grown feedstocks.

Biodiesel

Indiana Opens 88 Million Gallon Biodiesel Plant

John Davis

Louis Dreyfus Claypool
One of the nation’s largest biodiesel plants is up and running today as Louis Dreyfus Commodities opened the doors of its 88-million-gallon-a-year biodiesel plant near Claypool, Indiana (pictured above).

The opening gained the praise of the company owner, the state’s governor, and of course, the National Biodiesel Board:

Governor Mitch Daniels and Robert Louis-Dreyfus, owner of Louis Dreyfus Commodities, addressed the attendees. “Claypool is a strategic centerpiece for our company’s future,” said Louis-Dreyfus. “This plant affirms our century-old practice as a market innovator. We are grateful to be a partner with the state of Indiana and the local community in this new venture.”

NBB logo“Louis Dreyfus is helping to meet what we hope will be America’s continued growing demand for renewable, cleaner-burning biodiesel,” said Larry Schafer, NBB political senior advisor. Schafer attended the grand opening event today. “It is adding valuable refining capacity to our nation’s fuel supply and replacing foreign oil with environmentally friendly, domestically produced fuels.”

To give you an idea of just how big the plant is, the average biodiesel plant produces only about 9.5 million gallons a year. This is about NINE TIMES that big!

The opening comes during an unprecedented amount of growth for the biodiesel industry in America. The National Biodiesel Board says overall national production of biodiesel has gone from about 25 million gallons in 2005 to an expected more than 300 million gallons by the end of this year.

Biodiesel