Consumers Fuel Up With E85 and E10

John Davis

Les DiCarlo with Epic fuel attendantMost customers lined up waiting for cheap gas greeted me, camera in tow, with eager smiles. Happy to be saving some cash and fueling up with ethanol I’m sure. I chatted with a few friendly faces, Les DiCarlo, Jimmy Spayer and Jim Labeau.

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

You can listen to my interview with Jimmy Spayer here. Jimmy drove from Spring Valley, IL, to attend today’s promotion:
[audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/audio/Spayer_Jimmy.mp3]

You can listen to my interview with Jim Labeau here. Jim filled up his minivan with E85 for the first time:
[audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/audio/Spayer_Jimmy.mp3]

Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 Photo Album

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

Ryan Hunter-Reay Embraces Ethanol

John Davis

Gas City lowers prices of E10 and E85 fuelI think it’s safe to say that all of us a part of the ZimmComm Media crew have been eager to meet ethanol’s new driver Ryan Hunter-Reay and hear what he has to say about driving with Team Ethanol. I lucked out and got to be the first one of the ZimmComm bunch to introduce myself to the Indy Driver. Ryan stressed the importance of brining ethanol education to the community, and he says that consumer education starts at the pump.

You can listen to my interview with Ryan here:
[audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/audio/Hunter-Reay_Ryan.mp3]

Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 Photo Album

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

Gas City Encourages Public Awareness of Ethanol

John Davis

Bill Shireman, Gas City Executive Vice President Gas City Executive Vice President Bill Shireman says his company has been promoting ethanol for about a year and a half. Bill says pump promotions like today’s help educate the public and encourage consumers to fuel up with ethanol fuel blends. Yesterday, the Joliet Gas City was selling unleaded gas for $3.25 and $2.75. During the Epic ethanol pump promotion consumers with flex-fuel vehicles were able to fuel up with VeraSun E85 for just $0.85 cents a gallon and all consumers could fuel up with an E10 ethanol blend for $2.15, which was last year’s Peak Antifreeze 300 qualifying race time.

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

Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 Photo Album

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

Pump Promotion Kicks Off Chicagoland Indy 300 Festivities

John Davis

Mark Lambert, Communications Director for Illinois Corn Growers Association Greetings from Chicago! Well, Joliet actually. I’m in Illinois with the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council to bring you coverage of the 2007 Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway. Epic, VeraSun Energy and The Illinois Corn Growers Association kicked off race weekend with an ethanol pump promotion at Gas City near the track in Joliet. Gas City sold more than 2,250 gallons of 10 percent ethanol-blend fuel and 450 gallons of 85 percent ethanol-blend fuel, with one in six cars pumping E85. Just before the promotion got underway I spoke with the Communications Director for the Illinois Corn Growers Association, Mark Lambert, about how much cash consumers would get to save by fueling up with E10 and E85 fuel blends.

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

Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 Photo Album

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

North Carolina Drives Toward Statewide Ethanol Fuel Blend

John Davis

North Carolina Biotechnology Center A newly appropriated biofuel center in North Carolina will be the state’s launch pad for its latest targeted benchmark with biofuels.

Catalyzing an entire new industry for North Carolina is the long-term task of the newly established Biofuels Center of North Carolina, which moved to reality Tuesday following its first board of directors meeting.

Funded with a $5 million initial appropriation from the 2007 General Assembly, the non-profit corporation will in coming years implement North Carolina’s Strategic Plan for Biofuels Leadership. The Plan was mandated by the General Assembly in 2006 and presented to its Environmental Review Commission in April of this year.

The Plan offers a challenging goal: by 2017, 10 percent of liquid fuels sold in North Carolina will come from biofuels grown and produced within the state.

At current usage rates, production of almost 600 million gallons will be required.

“Meeting this bold goal will require enormous commitment, new resources, and untold acres of energy crops across the state,” said W. Steven Burke, chair of the Biofuels Center’s board of directors. “Meeting the goal will also yield a sector of impact statewide, particularly for rural and agricultural communities. How often does a state have opportunity to create a large new industry with widespread benefit?”
Read More

BIO, Biodiesel, Ethanol, Facilities, Legislation

Fisker to Offer Premium, Environmentally Cars

John Davis

Fisker QuantumFisker Coachbuild -maker of fine sports cars – has teamed up with Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide – a company specializing in hybrid vehicles – to build premium hybrid American cars.

A company press release says the new Fisker Automotive will offer a range of environmentally-friendly premium cars, debuting at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show in January. Fifteen thousand vehicles will comprise the initial production starting at under $100,000:

“The troubled environment is captivating the attention of the world. Developing a premium luxury green car which also delivers attractive design can make a difference. We are extremely excited to join our automotive design expertise with the plug-in hybrid technology of Quantum in Quantum Drive. This breakthrough chassis development will allow us to deliver a design with dramatic proportions — one which will carry the Fisker badge,” expressed Henrik Fisker, CEO of Fisker Automotive, Inc. “We want people to drive beautiful fast cars that make environmental sense — cars that are eco-chic and will have less of an impact on global warming.”

Quantum is providing a cutting-edge plug-in technology known as Quantum Drive for the vehicles. The first production cars are currently in the design and technology development stage.

Car Makers

Coast to Coast Biofuels Workshops

Cindy Zimmerman

BBI WorkshopsNo matter which coast you call home, BBI has a Biofuels Workshop for you this fall.

The Western Region workshop will be held October 9-11 in Portland, Oregon. The conference includes an opening keynote address from Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski and a conclusion on “Policies and Technologies for a Sustainable Biofuels Industry” by Alex Farrell, Assistant Professor, Energy and Resources Group, University of California Berkeley. In between, there are a number of panels on various aspects of both ethanol and biodiesel. Early bird registration for that event ends on September 14.

November 28-30 is the Eastern Region workshop in Philadelphia, featuring presentations from a similar group of distinguished guests. Registration information is also available on-line.

Biodiesel, conferences, Ethanol, News

Sleeping Biofuels Giant

Cindy Zimmerman

NAFAThe National Alfalfa and Forage Alliance recently conducted its first Renewable Fuels Summit, “Bioenergy Systems: Alfalfa the Sleeping Giant,” in Washington D.C.

The August 8 event, which had more than 80 registered attendees, included presentations on cellulosic ethanol, alfalfa as a green biomass alternative, the role of corn-alfalfa rotation in bioenergy systems, and more. Speakers also focused on United States Department of Agriculture research and development, as well as legislative updates.

NKNK Seeds, a business unit of Syngenta Seeds, Inc., was one of the event’s sponsors. Joe Waldo, NK alfalfa product manager with Syngenta Seeds said, “While many do not think of alfalfa as a potential source of fuel, the summit explored the role alfalfa can play in the biofuels industry, which is why we were proud to be an event sponsor.”

Summit proceedings can be ordered from the NAFA website. There is also a good article on the topic in this month’s Ethanol Producer Magazine.

Cellulosic, Ethanol, News

Ethanol Demand Hits Record in June

Cindy Zimmerman

RFAAccording to the Renewable Fuels Association, ethanol demand moved higher in June, to a new all-time record of 443,000 barrels per day (b/d). For the first six months of the year, ethanol demand is averaging 420,000 b/d.

Ethanol production also edged higher in June, though continuing to trail the ethanol demand. U.S. ethanol producers added 418,000 b/d of ethanol supply to the tight U.S. gasoline market, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). For the first six months of the year, ethanol production has averaged 393,000 b/d, producing just under three billion gallons of ethanol.

Ethanol, News, RFA

Senator Tours POET Plant

Cindy Zimmerman

POETThe Associated Press has a feature on South Dakota ethanol producer POET this week, focusing on the company’s ethanol research that “should allow it to squeeze 27 percent more fuel from each acre of the crop.”

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who toured the company’s headquarters and research lab last week, said there is only so much ethanol that can be made from corn starch.

“It’s just a way of moving on to have further independence from foreign sources of energy,” he said. “It’s a way of doing more to clean up the environment, and it’s obviously going to put money in farmers’ pockets.”

With the help of a Department of Energy grant, Poet plans to convert its Emmetsburg, Iowa plant into one of the nation’s first commercial cellulosic ethanol plants, using corn stover as well as corn kernels, which would produce more ethanol per acre of corn.

Ethanol, News, Research