E85 Days of Summer

Cindy Zimmerman

GMKrogerExpect some long lines at the pump Wednesday morning at the Kroger Store in Irving, Texas.

Kroger and General Motors have teamed up to sell E85 at that site for just 85 cents per gallon between 7:30 am and 9:30 am on August 8 as part of a promotion to spotlight GM’s flex fuel vehicles. The price is nearly 70 percent below the current price of more than $2.54 per gallon. Only flex-fuel vehicles can use 85 percent ethanol, but regular cars will be able fill up on E10 during the promotion for 20 cents off the regular price.

The first 100 customers with GM FlexFuel vehicles to fill up with E85 will also receive $25 Kroger refueling cards. Three of GM’s Chevrolet flex-fuel vehicles will be on display at the event – the Impala, Tahoe and Silverado.

Car Makers, E85, EPIC, Ethanol, News, Promotion

Kansas Cellulosic Plant Coming

Cindy Zimmerman

Abengoa Bioenergy will formally announce the site of its cellulosic ethanol plant later this month, but word is already out that it will be located in the southwest Kansas town of Hogoton.

AbengoaThe $300 million project, which will be partly funded by a $72 million Department of Energy grant awarded earlier this year, which will also include a traditional corn-to-ethanol plant, will be officially announced on August 23. It will include an 85 million gallon per year traditional corn ethanol plant and a 30 MGY cellulosic plant. The company already operates corn ethanol plants in Nebraska and New Mexico and has done extensive cellulosic ethanol research.

Abengoa Bioenergy’s parent company is based in Spain and the company’s North American headquarters are near St. Louis.

Cellulosic, Ethanol, News

Johanns Meets the Press Club

Cindy Zimmerman

Johanns Press ClubWhen Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns spoke at the National Press Club on July 27, the inevitable question about ethanol was asked.

“Corn-based ethanol may help the nation reduce its dependence on foreign oil, but critics say that ethanol costs almost as much as the energy it produces. Isn’t corn-based ethanol a wasteful way to produce energy, and won’t it increase the cost of food?”

Johanns first response was brief and to the point, “No, and it isn’t.”

After the laughter died down, he elaborated on the issue.

“Every year we have some inflation relative to food, 2 percent, 3 percent, somewhere in that vicinity, some years maybe a little bit more, a little bit less. This year with all of this debate raging we anticipate that food prices across the board will be impacted 2 to 4 percent, about average, maybe a little bit higher. Then when you look at that, many articles I read see that and then they go right to the conclusion, it’s because of ethanol, it’s because the price of corn got high and that’s the reason.

“They leave out a whole big piece of the analysis. What’s the big piece of the analysis? The farmer doesn’t get all of that. I’m sure they wish they did. But they get about 20 cents of the retail dollar. Actually the increase in the price of energy to ship that food can have as much or more of a profound impact on the price of that food than the corn you feed to the animal.”

Read the press club transcript here.

Ethanol, Government, News

Rex Invests in Ethanol

John Davis

REX logoElectronics retailer Rex Stores Corp. has invested the final $10 million in an Iowa ethanol maker. The investment completes the retailer’s $20 million investment stake in Big River Resources, LLC.

Big River logoThis article on BizJournals.com says last October, Rex invested the first $5 million in the company:

Big River pictureBig River Resources is a holding company for several entities including Big River Resources West Burlington LLC, which runs an ethanol plant in West Burlington, Iowa. The ethanol plant starting operating in April 2004 as a 40 million gallon per year plant and expanded to a 52 million gallon plant in August last year. It plans to eventually ramp that production up to 80 million gallons per year.

Big River also plans on building more ethanol plants.

Ethanol, News

NEVC Testimony

Cindy Zimmerman

The National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition (NEVC) testified this week at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources hearing on renewable fuels infrastructure, specifically looking at how to change the existing fuel distribution system to account for the anticipated larger volumes of ethanol and other biofuels.

NEVC”The 1,251 E85 fueling stations operating today in 41 states across the nation pale in comparison to the number of sites needed to satisfy the demands of the motoring public and the nation’s automakers,” said Phil Lampert, NEVC Executive Director.

The Senate approved a bill last month that provides a federal loan guarantee of up to $250 million for renewable fuel facilities, grants for creation of renewable fuel corridors and grants for transport of biomass to refiners. The House version is expected to provide grants for the installation of E85 fuel pumps and the production of flex-fuel vehicles, as well as authorize $1 billion in grants for cellulosic ethanol development.

E85, Ethanol, News

North Dakota Gets “e” for Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

A North Dakota law labeling ethanol at the fuel pump with the “e” logo officially went into effect this week.

EPICFargo hosted the state’s official labeling kick-off event on Thursday at the Cenex Convenience Store. North Dakota Governor John Hoeven; Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) executive director Tom Slunecka; state legislators and North Dakota corn growers were all on hand to speak about the North Dakota label switch and North Dakota’s commitment to biofuels.

ND EPIC“We’re increasing production of ethanol at a strong pace, and it’s important to increase public awareness of its benefits through our marketing efforts as well,” Hoeven, said. “Enhanced ethanol production is a win for our farmers and rural areas, and a win for our economy.”

The “e” logo was developed by EPIC, which will make the new labels available, free of charge, to retailers throughout the state. The labels are part of an effort to create a common label for ethanol pumps throughout the nation. Through increased use of the labels, consumers will easily be able to identify ethanol pumps everywhere that fuel is sold.

EPIC, Ethanol, News

Ethanol-diesel Car

John Davis

Terra Fuel logoAustralia-based Terra Fuel Technologies has come up with what I think is truly a revolutionary device. It’s a box that you add to a diesel engine that allows it to run on ethanol as well.

This story on C|NetNews.com says the box allows ethanol to be fuel-injected into the motor:

Who in their right mind would want this? Adding ethanol to a diesel engine actually improves performance of the vehicle by about 10 percent while reducing emissions, said Alexander Daniel, vice president of Business Strategies International, which is trying to help Terra Fuel get traction in the States.

Terra Fuel officials say you need a second tank to hold the ethanol.

Seems to me that using this in conjunction with biodiesel would be a near-perfect green engine… although those promoting the device say it’s better used in areas where it’s harder to either get or make biodiesel than ethanol.

Ethanol, News

Udall Bus Tour Wrapping Up

John Davis

Udall Bus
The Udall Legacy Biodiesel Bus Tour is wrapping up its 54-day, 8,606-mile, 26-cities, six-national-parks, six-Native-American-communities, cross-country tour. As you might remember from my posts in June, the biodiesel-fueled journey promotes environmental and Native American issues.

This story in the Tuscon (Arizona) Citizen says the trip wraps up Saturday in Southern Arizona, the home of the congressman for which the tour is named, Morris K. Udall:

For almost two months, 13 young people have put into action the words of the late congressman from Tucson.
In a tribute to Udall’s environmental legacy, they have traveled across the country in a green-certified biodiesel bus looking at a variety of environmental projects that have been successful.

The 13 who have made the long trek say they will take back with them many stories on how to treat the environment better… and you can bet at least one of the chapters will include biodiesel.

Biodiesel

Black Cabs Turn Green

John Davis

Radio Taxis LimitedSome of London’s famous black cabs will be going green. About 3,000 of the Radio Taxis Limited cabs will be running on a 30 percent blend of biodiesel.

This story on Biofuel Review says the biodiesel will reduce CO2 by 7 percent, significantly reduce oxides of nitrogen and carbon monoxide, and drop particulates by 4.7 percent. It does all this and delivers a nearly 10 percent improvement in mileage. It all adds up to a fleet-wide reduction of CO2 by nearly 3,000 tonnes:

Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, said: “London already has the best taxi service in the world, and I am working with the taxi trade to make it the cleanest. New regulations introduced this year, mean that the capital’s 20,000 black cabs must now meet strict emissions standards, making vehicles less polluting to help improve London’s air quality.

Biodiesel

Wind Farms Bigger in Texas

John Davis

Shell logoA wind farm four times bigger than what’s currently in operation is slated for construction in Texas.

According to this article on TechnologyNewsDaily.com, Shell WindEnergy and Luminant have announced they will build a 3,000 megawatt facility in the Texas Panhandle:

The proposed wind facility would be located in Briscoe County to take advantage of excellent wind resources and a relatively low cost of transmitting the wind power to wholesale markets. The two companies will also explore using compressed air energy storage, which uses electric fans to force air into underground caverns, compressing it, and usually involves employing the compressed air as an oxygen source for a gas turbine. The companies did not announce a timeline for either project. Luminant was formerly called TXU Power and is a subsidiary of TXU Corporation.

The current world’s largest wind farm is also in Texas… the 735-megawatt Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center, completed by FPL Energy, Inc. in late 2006.

Wind