Green Korn

John Davis

Korn logoThe heavy metal band Korn will be running its tour on biodiesel this summer. Members Jonathan Davis, bassist Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu, and guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer made the announcement that the band’s eight buses and eight cargo trucks will run on biodiesel during a press conference today covered by MTV in New York’s Times Square:

Surrounded by a crush of photographers, fans and curious onlookers, Korn revealed that on the band’s Family Values Tour this summer, they’ll be traveling in vehicles that operate on domestically produced biodiesel fuels.

The conversion of the group’s eight buses and eight cargo trucks will help reduce by almost 50 tons the amount of carbon-dioxide emissions the tour produces, Davis said, and added that they’ll be asking the rest of the bands on the festival’s bill to follow suit. The band hopes the move will inspire others to make the switch, too.

“We all have children, and I just worry about my kids’ kids,” Davis, the proud owner of a Toyota Prius, said during the press conference. “[I worry about whether] they will have a place to live [and I hope] that they won’t have to live underground. I think it’s time we really did start trying to do something about getting rid of oil in general. We have the means to fuel cars in different ways. We have the technology to do it. We’re doing our part to set the wheels in motion.”

The band also announced it would start its own formula of biodiesel called Korntastic… although it’s still in development.

Biodiesel

Popping the Popcorn Propaganda

Cindy Zimmerman

The The Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB) and the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) today held a joint press conference and photo-op to dispel claims that ethanol and higher field corn prices result in higher popcorn prices for moviegoers. The “Popping the Popcorn Propaganda” event dramatically illustrated this point by displaying what $5 will buy you at a movie theater versus $5 from a farmer.

“The ‘blame ethanol’ game has gotten completely out of control,” stated IRFA Executive Director Monte Shaw. “From a consumer standpoint, for $5 you can buy 1 tub of popcorn at a movie theater or 38.5 pounds of popcorn from a farmer, which, when popped fills nearly a dozen 33-gallon trash bags.

IA Popcorn“From a farm standpoint, in 2006 the farmer received about 1.4 cents for the corn in that $5 tub at the movie theater. In 2007, that same farmer will receive about 2 cents to fill that tub. How can an increase of 0.6 cents to the farmer justify a price hike to movie goers or crazy headlines in the news media?”

To illustrate the point, IRFA intern Paul Brees spent 6 hours popping 38.5 pounds of popcorn – the amount you could buy from a farmer for $5. During the press conference, the 12 bags of popcorn stood in stark contrast to the one small bag of popcorn from the movie theater.

“We had a very visual example today of what actually goes to the farmer. You can use this same example when you talk about other products made with corn. For example, a six-pack of soda includes just 6 cents of corn sweetener, or only 1 penny per can. If your soda at the store is going up more than 1 cent per can, then you have to wonder where the rest of that increase is going,” said Craig Floss, CEO for Iowa Corn. “We know that it is not making it to our corn growers, so to blame them for the increase in prices at the grocery story is simply not right.”

Ethanol, News

Florida Ready for Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

EPICDespite a very limited availability in the Sunshine State, Florida consumers appear receptive to purchasing ethanol-enriched fuel at the pumps.

A national survey released by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) found that while Florida has a slightly lower familiarity with ethanol than the national average, more than 70 percent of respondents in the state said they were likely to purchase the renewable fuel after being provided with relevant information on the topic.

“Our research is proof that Floridians are open to ethanol and there is a consensus among several state leaders that the production and use of ethanol in Florida will be a major benefit to its citizens. We look forward to a resolution on any remaining regulatory hurdles,” said Tom Slunecka, executive director for the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC). “More than half the states in America, including California, have recognized the benefits of ethanol and we’re confident that Florida will join the movement yet this year.”

With one of the nation’s fastest growing populations, Florida depends almost exclusively on other states and nations for supplies of oil and gasoline.

EPIC, Ethanol, News

Presentations and Photos From Farm to Fuel

Cindy Zimmerman

Farm to FuelPresentations from the 2007 Farm to Fuel Summit in Florida are now available on-line at floridafarmtofuel.com.

All of the power point presentations from panels on Renewable Fuels Status Reports, Advancing the Science of Bioenergy, Business of Bioenergy, Biomass Resources/Feedstocks in Florida, and Renewable Energy Technology Grants Program are available, as well as the presentation on “25x’25 – America’s Energy Future” and more.

Domestic Fuel photos taken the summit are also now available on-line.
Click here to see a Flickr Photo Album of pictures from the summit.

Also, a nice summary of the summit from “a Californian’s view” can be found on Scott Miller’s BIOstock Blog.

Biodiesel, Cellulosic, EPIC, Ethanol, News, RFA

Government Incentives Key to Ethanol Expansion

John Davis

Right now, 98 percent of the ethanol produced in the U.S. is made from corn. But in order to meet the 2005 federal mandate of 7.5 billion gallons of ethanol a year by 2012… and then President Bush’s lofty goal of a 20 percent reduction in gasoline usage by 2017… and possibly now the U.S. Senate’s latest proposal of 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022 (with 21 billion gallons coming from something other than corn), it’s obvious there will have to be something other than corn fueling the green fuel. That’s where government incentives come in.

This article in Missouri Ruralist says state and federal subsidies that helped jumpstart much of the current growth will be instrumental in finding an even better source than corn to make ethanol:

While Congress is backing its standards with increased funding for renewable fuels research and development, the administration is taking steps as well. The Department of Energy announced this summer that it will spend $375 million in Tennessee, Wisconsin and California to develop non-food crops into biofuels. The department is already investing another $385 million in six alternative-feedstock ethanol plants in California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa and Kansas.

The article goes on to point out that government incentives helped ethanol double its output since 2003. It seems to reason that those same kind of incentives will spur the next feedstock’s growth.

Ethanol, News

Peanuts for Biodiesel

John Davis

peanutsNo, it’s not cheap biodiesel… although it certainly could end up being biodiesel for just peanuts. What I’m talking about is scientists at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service looking at using peanuts as the feedstock for biodiesel… maybe even cheaper than soybeans.

USDA logoThis article from the ARS web site says it could push the goober into the forefront of biodiesel research:

Agronomist Wilson Faircloth at the ARS National Peanut Research Laboratory at Dawson, Ga., and Daniel Geller, a collaborative engineer at the University of Georgia, are testing a peanut called Georganic. It’s not suited to current commercial edible standards for peanuts, but is high in oil and has low production input costs.

Georganic—or similar varieties—will likely be the future of peanut biodiesel because it can be planted and grown with just one herbicide application for weed control, compared to the three to four applications typically sprayed during a growing season for edible peanuts. Additionally, these fuel peanuts are grown without fungicides, which are the greatest input cost in traditional peanut production.

Right now, soybeans are primarily used for biodiesel, and they produce about 50 gallons of the fuel per acre. But peanuts could produce as much as 120 to 130 gallons per acre.

Biodiesel

Fill Up, Feel Good in Florida

Cindy Zimmerman

e-podcast Florida stands ready to fill up and feel good as it endeavors to become a leader in both the production and consumption of biofuels, including ethanol.

This edition of “Fill up, Feel Good” discusses the “Florida Needs Ethanol” campaign being conducted by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council and features comments made by Florida Governor Charlie Crist, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Charles Bronson, and EPIC Director of Operations Robert White at the recent Florida Farm to Fuel Summit in St. Petersburg.

The “Fill up, Feel Good” podcast is available to download by subscription (see our sidebar link)
or you can listen to it by clicking here (4:30 MP3 File): [audio:http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3?http://www.zimmcomm.biz/epic/epic-podcast-7-31-07.mp3]

The Fill Up, Feel Good theme music is “Tribute to Joe Satriani” by Alan Renkl, thanks to the Podsafe Music Network.

“Fill up, Feel Good” is sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.

Audio, EPIC, Ethanol, Fill Up Feel Good, News, Promotion

May Ethanol Numbers

Cindy Zimmerman

RFAAccording to the Renewable Fuels Association, both ethanol production and demand moved higher in May, reflecting the growth in the ethanol industry and the increased gasoline demand at the beginning of the summer driving season.

As oil refiners struggled to keep their facilities operating, ethanol production grew to an average of 406,000 barrels per day (b/d), according to information released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). This increase in production helped to mitigate the price spikes American drivers endured as a result of refinery maintenance problems, reduced gasoline inventories and higher crude prices.

Additionally, demand for ethanol also increased to an estimated 427,000 b/d per day. Both production and demand represent increases of 38 and 22 percent respectively over May 2006 figures.

Ethanol, News, RFA

Corn Prices Down

Cindy Zimmerman

CornRecent rain in the Midwest has helped the corn crop rebound and led to lower corn prices, according to a Forbes article.

After as much as 6 inches of rain in eastern Iowa and western Illinois, much of corn crop received relief after a dry June.

In mid-June, a little more than half of Illinois’ corn crop was in good to excellent condition, according to USDA’s crop reports. Last week, that figure was 81%. In Iowa, it was still healthy at 63%, held down by dry conditions in the western end of the state.

Corn prices hit $4 a bushel in February, but cash-market corn has lowered to around $3.

“This has really helped to increased the profitability for ethanol producers,” said Rick Kment, an ethanol analyst with DTN, an Omaha, Neb.-based agricultural market information company.

“You can make very good returns at $3 corn,” says Dave Nelson, chairman of Minneapolis-based Global Ethanol LLC, which has plants in Iowa and Michigan. “When it gets to $4, it gets pretty tight.”

“A meaningful decline in corn prices would suggest the potential for improving profitability and drive ethanol stock prices up,” Citibank analyst David Driscoll, who expects corn prices to level off at $2.75 a bushel in the long term, wrote in a note to investors.

Ethanol, News

Wind Association to Call for Renewable Electricity Standard

John Davis

AWEA logoThe American Wind Energy Association is calling on Congress to enact a Renewable Electricity Standard (RES). Leaders from the AWEA will join with Congressmen Tom Udall (D-NM) and Mark Udall (D-CO) on Tuesday, July 31st at 10 a.m. at the U.S. Capitol to call for wider support of the amendment that would require power companies to use 20 percent renewable sources to produce energy by the year 2020. Pennsylvania Congressman Todd Platts (R. PA) is also a co-sponsor of the measure.

This press release on the AWEA web site says the association will also debut a TV ad to promote their arguments of why this country needs an RES:

Studies show that an RES would:

* Slow global warming: By displacing the use of fossil fuels to generate electricity, an RES can cut emissions of conventional pollutants and greenhouse gases. A 20 percent RES would reduce carbon dioxide CO2 emissions by 15 percent below business-as-usual levels, equivalent to taking nearly 71 million cars off the road;
* Reduce energy bills: Energy research firm Wood Mackenzie found that an RES would lower natural gas and electricity prices and save more than $100 billion for American consumers;
* Create jobs: Wind and solar energy are likely to be among the largest sources of new manufacturing jobs worldwide during the 21st Century. A recent Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) study found that a 20 percent RES by 2020 would create over 350,000 new American jobs;
* Revitalize rural America: Farmers and rural land owners in windy areas are reaping payments of $3,000-$8,000 per turbine per year, while still being able to work their land. The “wind harvest” can carry hard-pressed farmers through difficult times, such as droughts, even if crops fail; and
* Strengthen energy security: Domestic renewable energy can reduce projected imports of liquid natural gas (LNG) from such unstable regions as Qatar, Russia and Iran and reduce U.S. energy payments to these nations.

Check out the ad at Power of Wind.com

Wind