ALMS Driver Tom Milner Drives Ethanol Promotion

John Davis

#18 Bell Micro Porsche American Le Mans Series Driver Tom Milner greets a consumerEthanol is simply “a great fuel” for American Le Mans Series driver Tom Milner. Tom drives the #18 Bell Micro Porsche for Rahal Letterman Racing. The ALMS driver pumped gas and greeted consumers with a wide and welcoming grin as he gave them a first-hand account of using an E10 blend of ethanol fuel in a high-speed, endurance setting. Today’s EPIC-sponsored ethanol pump promotion at Sam’s Mart in Atlanta proved Tom is not only securing key positions out on the winding tracks of the AlMS, but is also settling comfortably in his role as an ethanol spokesman. Tom will be racing this weekend in the 2007 Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta. I spoke with Tom about the performance of ethanol in sports car racing and what that means for consumers.

You can listen to my interview with Tom here:
[audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/audio/Milner_Tom.mp3]

2007 Petit Le Mans Photo Album

Audio, E85, Energy, Ethanol, Flex Fuel Vehicles, News, Promotion, Racing

Shell Pumps Up Ethanol Frenzy Before Atlanta’s Petit Le Mans

John Davis

Pumping the American Le Mans Series #31 Ferrari F430 GT with E10 fuelConsumers enjoyed discounted fuel and free fountain drinks and coffee at the Sam’s Mart in Atlanta, GA this afternoon. The Ethanol Promotion and Information Council sponsored an ethanol pump promotion where consumers could fuel up with E10 fuel for 50 cents less than the going rate.

The promotion officially kicked off the 2007 Petit Le Mans race weekend for EPIC. American Le Mans Series drivers Tom Milner and Peter Dumbreck manned the pumps, handed out autographs and divulged the benefits of ethanol fuel to consumers. E10, a blend of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline, is “the official ethanol-enriched fuel” of the ALMS. This is the first year an endurance-based racing series has used a street legal renewable fuel.

The Sam’s Mart at New Northside Drive in Atlanta, GA pumped more than 1500 gallons of discounted E10 fuel for customers between 11:30 a.m and 1:30 p.m. Consumers were filling their tanks at a rate of $2.25 per gallon. This morning the fuel was selling for $2.75.

Racing fans also got to check out Peter’s #31 Ferrari F430GT, the official ALMS car for Petersen Motorsports/White Lighting Racing. Click here to check out the Ferrari’s deep, throaty throttle:
[audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/audio/ferrarithrottle.mp3]

2007 Petit Le Mans Photo Album

Audio, E85, EPIC, Ethanol, Flex Fuel Vehicles, News, Promotion, Racing

Product of the Year

Cindy Zimmerman

Agrimarketing Magazine In a near unanimous decision, ethanol has been chosen as the 2007 AgriMarketing Product of the Year by AgriMarketing Magazine.

According to the magazine, the entry was submitted by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC).

In just the past year, ethanol production has increased over 50%, given several segments of the ag economy a much needed boost, and increased household income by $6 billion.

The combined Nov/Dec issue of AgriMarketing magazine will feature a special supplement about ethanol and its impact on North American agriculture and agribusiness.

Agribusiness, EPIC, Ethanol, News

Iowa Farmers Union Sponsors Biodiesel Workshop

John Davis

Iowa Farmers UnionThe Iowa Farmers Union has joined with Green World Biofuels to offer a workshop to help people brew their own biodiesel to use in their homes or farm equipment. Covering the entire process from start to finish, it will be at the Green World Biofuels facility near Tiffin, just northwest of Iowa City on Friday, November 16th.

This press release posted on IowaPolitics.com has more:

Green World Biofuels‘Our workshops are designed to educate people who are seriously interested in biodiesel production,” says [Green World Biofuels owner Steve] Fugate. “You will leave very knowledgeable and excited about making and using your own biodiesel.”

Sources of oil will be discussed as well, including collecting used fryer oil and the potential for pressing oil from a farmer’s own seed (soy, canola, etc.)

Workshop cost is $25 per person including lunch. Financial support has been provided by the Leighty Foundation. Register by November 13 by calling 800-775-5227.

Biodiesel

Propel Biofuels Ready for Seattle Assault

John Davis

Propel BiofuelsIn what is being compared to a military assault, Seattle-based Propel Biofuels is ready to launch its offensive to sell biodiesel in the Pacific Northwest.

This article in the Seattle Times sets the scene:

The makeshift headquarters of Propel Biofuels looks a bit like an Allied war room before D-Day.

A map of Seattle and its environs teems with pins — potential sites for the company’s green-and-white biodiesel pumps. Most of the pins mark well-established gasoline stations that sell traditional petroleum-based fuels. By striking deals to sell biodiesel there, Propel executives think they can overcome the retail-distribution obstacles that so far have kept it an alternative fuel for a small circle of green devotees.

The invasion is about to begin, with the company’s first two pumps opening in mid-October.

“We’re not asking customers to radically change their behavior” in order to buy biodiesel, Propel founder Rob Elam said.

Elam might be the right man in the right place at the right time as the area is becoming a biodiesel mecca with the nation’s largest biodiesel plant, Imperium Renewables’ Gray Harbor facility… a 100-million-gallon-a-year refinery… in the neighborhood. And he might just have the winning attitude to make it all work:

Elam believes the secret to success is to make biodiesel visible and convenient. His team has talked to more than 100 gas-station owners on the West Coast, seeking arrangements to install pumps. “Generally the response is very enthusiastic,” Elam said. “We don’t ask them to have any hassle.”

Biodiesel

Biofuel Production Boosted by High-Biomass Research

John Davis

Texas Agricultural Experiment Station of The Texas A&M University SystemEnergy crop company Ceres, Inc. and the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station of The Texas A&M University System are collaborating in high biomass sorghum production for biofuels, through an exclusive, multi-year joint research and commercialization agreement. The collaboration is meant to focus on plants that are not designed to produce grain, but extensive resources for biomass. Biomass is the latest raw material of stems, stalks and leaves being used in biofuel production.

Today, sorghum-to-ethanol production uses the grain, like corn, but the plants themselves hold the greatest potential for biofuel production, says Peter Mascia, Ceres Vice President of Product Development. He notes that new technologies are making it possible to utilize the carbohydrates that comprise plant cell walls, called cellulose.

Ceres“As these technologies mature, farmers will transition from growing as much grain per acre to producing as much biomass as they can per acre, with as little energy and agronomic inputs as possible. This means new crops and specialized hybrids like these high-biomass sorghum types will be needed,” Mascia said.

As part of this agreement, Ceres will obtain exclusive commercialization rights to TAES’s high biomass sorghum hybrids developed in the joint research program. The TAES program will receive royalties as well as financial and technology support from Ceres. Other aspects of the collaboration were not disclosed.
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Agribusiness, Biodiesel, Research

ConocoPhillips CEO to Share Thoughts on ‘Shared Energy Future’

John Davis

Detroit Economic Club“Our Shared Energy Future” is the topic ConocoPhillips Chairman and CEO James Mulva will be discussing on Wednesday October 3, 2007. Mulva will present his thoughts on U.S. energy policy and layout plans for incorporating renewable fuels before the Detroit Economic Club at Burton Manor in Livonia, MI.

Mr. Mulva will describe the shortcomings of current U.S. energy policy, and why this is a critical issue for other industries and all citizens. He will also call for a new, comprehensive national energy policy that incorporates four major tenets: diversifying our energy sources, including fossil fuels as well as renewable and alternative forms of energy; lowering the carbon intensity of our energy supplies; improving the efficiency of energy use throughout the U.S. economy; and the critical need for greater government and private investment in technology and education.

ConocoPhillipsConocoPhillips is the third-largest integrated energy company in the United States, based on market capitalization, oil and gas proved reserves and production; and the second-largest refiner in the United States.

The Detroit Economic Club was formed in 1934 as a platform for the discussion and debate of important business, government and social issues. It is known internationally as a top speaking forum for prominent business and government leaders, who address members and their guests at the Club’s 35 meetings a season.

Biodiesel, E85, Energy, Ethanol, Flex Fuel Vehicles, Government, News

Fueling the Petit Le Mans

John Davis

Petit Le Mans The American Le Mans Series is spotlighting the performance of ethanol fuel at the Petit Le Mans race in Atlanta, GA. This is the first year the Le Mans Series has used E10 fuel to power its highly profiled endurance racing challenges. I’ll be in Atlanta when the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council and the American Le Mans Series give consumers a chance to test the performance of ethanol by offering discounted ethanol fuel.

Atlanta motorists can follow in the footsteps of the highly-technical race cars in the American Le Mans Series and make a choice at the pump for higher performance and cleaner air. E10, a blend of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline, will be available for $2.25 per gallon. The event will take place from 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2007 at the Sam’s Mart/Shell station located at 5640 New Northside Drive NW, Atlanta, GA 30328. Several race car drivers will be on hand to pump gas and sign autographs including Peter Dumbreck, driver of the Ferrari F430 GT for Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing and Tom Milner, driver of the #18 Bell Micro Porsche for Rahal Letterman Racing. During the event, participants can register to win tickets for the race, take a look at an actual American Le Mans Series race car and enjoy free fountain drinks and coffee provided by Sam’s Mart.

Atlanta area sports fans will be treated to a weekend of spectacular racing as the American Le Mans Series comes to town for the 10th annual Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. The green flag will drop shortly after 11 a.m. for the 10-hour/1,000-mile endurance-racing classic on Saturday, October 6. This year, the American Le Mans Series has chosen E10 as “the official ethanol-enriched fuel” of the series, the first time a street legal renewable fuel has been used in any endurance format. E10 is warranted for use in any vehicle built after 1980. E85 is a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline and can only be used in Flex-Fuel Vehicles (FFVs). There are more than 6 million FFVs on the road today.

EPIC, Ethanol, News, Racing

IndyCar Test Run at Iowa Speedway

John Davis

Iowa Corn Indy 250The 2007 IndyCar Racing Series has concluded, but racing fans still have a chance to catch leading IndyCar Series drivers tearing around the track at Iowa Speedway. IndyCar Series officials are testing the new speedway on October 3rd and 4th and the public is welcome to catch a final glimpse of top IndyCar drivers for 2007.

Top IndyCar teams, drivers, and cars are scheduled to be in Newton, Iowa, next week for two days of “Testing with the Stars” on the 7/8 mile oval track designed by former NASCAR Champion, Rusty Wallace. And, Rusty is scheduled to be in Iowa to welcome back an elite group of race car drivers that include: Helio Castroneves, Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti, Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon, and Dan Wheldon.

IndyCar® Series officials will conduct a technical test at Iowa Speedway at Iowa Speedway next Wednesday and Thursday, October 3-4. Drivers from Andretti Green Racing, Target Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske will test to refine the areodynamic package currently used at the .875-mile oval. The IndyCar Series held its inaugural race at Iowa Speedway in June with eventual series champion Dario Franchitti claiming victory by .0681 of a second over teammate Marco Andretti in the Iowa Corn Indy 250. The IndyCar Series is scheduled to return to Iowa Speedway June 22, 2008, and again in 2009.

The two-day event will be open to the public with food, beverages, and merchandise available for purchase. Tickets are $20 each for adults, 13 and over, and children 12 and under free with a paying adult – for both days of testing and any autograph sessions that may be available.
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corn, EPIC, Ethanol, Indy Racing, News, Promotion, Racing

The Future is Now

Cindy Zimmerman

RFAEthanol industry leaders want to tell the story that the future of cellulosic ethanol has arrived.

To that end, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is hosting a media event in Washington DC on October 2 featuring representatives from some of the pioneering companies that are making cellulosic ethanol a reality.

Among those companies are Abengoa Bioenergy, which is buidling the nation’s first commercial cellulosic ethanol plant in Kansas; POET, which is converting an existing 50 million gallon per year dry-mill ethanol plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa into a commercial cellulosic biorefinery; Verenium, a leading developer of biofuels derived from biomass and the developer of specialty enzyme products; and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) which is working with Conoco-Phillips on the development of renewable transportation fuels from biomass.

Acting Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Conner is also scheduled to make remarks at the event.

Ethanol, News, RFA