TDOT Going Biodiesel

John Davis

TDOT BiodieselTennessee’s Department of Transportation (TDOT) announced today that it is expanding its use of biodiesel into vehicles used in Nashville.

According to a release on TDOT’s web site, the agency has been using biodiesel for two years in a 130-vehicle test fleet in East Tennessee as part of the Pilot Fleet Program:

Nicely“It’s imperative that government and businesses begin identifying ways to improve air quality,” said TDOT Commissioner Gerald Nicely. “Using biodiesel is an effective way TDOT can reduce harmful emissions and protect our environment.”

TDOT is using B20… 20% biodiesel and 80% regular diesel fuel. Eighty-one heavy-duty dump trucks, bull dozers and back hoes are using the biodiesel.

Biodiesel, Government

Mow Greener

Cindy Zimmerman

Lawnmower The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed new regulations to cut harmful emissions from lawnmowers and other small engines. The new proposal would set strict standards for most lawn and garden equipment but would not go into effect until at least 2011.

In the meantime, lawn jockeys can do their part to help cut emissions by using 10 percent ethanol in their gas-powered lawn mowers, trimmers, edgers and blowers, according to the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC).

Small engines can efficiently burn E10, a blend of 90 percent gasoline and 10 percent ethanol. The use of E10 reduces greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 30 percent.

EPIC also offers other tips for conserving fuel and helping the environment during lawn care, such as keeping equipment well-maintained. Tuning up a typical walk-behind lawn mower at the beginning of the season can eliminate the same amount of exhaust emissions produced by driving a car 26 miles, according to Briggs & Stratton research engineers. It will also conserve gasoline. They also suggest leaving grass clippings on the ground instead of picking them up. Grass cycling makes the mowing process much faster and the grass blades redistribute nitrogen to the lawn and soil.

EPIC, Ethanol, News

Kansas City Racing Weekend

Chuck Zimmerman

Kansas City SkylineKansas City is drawing in racing fans for weekend action. I’m out at the Kansas Speedway track and just getting my bearings since I didn’t get to spend much time here last year.

Action will pick up tomorrow when the cars get to practice out on the track and then we have qualifying for Sunday’s race. I’ll be doing some interviews and taking lots of pictures in an effort to cover the news from the ethanol industry perspective. I hope you will enjoy it.

This evening I’ll be meeting with a number of Team Ethanol folks including members of the staff of EPIC. I should know more about what our schedule will be like after then.

2007 Kansas Lottery Indy 300 Photo Album

Ethanol

New Team Ethanol Show Car

Chuck Zimmerman

Team Ethanol Show CarI’m wondering how many times I’ve taken a picture of this car. Actually this is the new show car for Team Ethanol which was on hand at yesterday’s Snappy Mart pump promotion.

The demand for this show car is tremendous and there are now several of them that tour the country and get displayed at events of all types. One of the first things I noticed was the shiny front struts. Last year’s model had black ones. The paint job is fresh and contains several new sponsor logos this year too.

The “real thing” will be on the track tomorrow morning for practice laps in advance of Sunday’s race and qualifying is tomorrow afternoon. I’ll be at the track all day conducting interviews and taking pictures.

2007 Kansas Lottery Indy 300 Photo Album

EPIC, Ethanol, Indy Racing, News

IRL Loves Ethanol Public Relations

Chuck Zimmerman

Amy KonrathOn hand at the pump promotion for ethanol in Kansas City yesterday was Amy Konrath (pictured to the right of two representatives of Rahal-Letterman Racing). Amy works in public relations for the Indy Racing League.

I thought it would be interesting to hear her perspective about how the relationship between the IRL and Team Ethanol has benefited the League. She says it’s been great since it gives the IRL something to promote and focus attention on what they’re doing to help with our country’s energy needs.

Listen to my interview with Amy: Listen to MP3 Amy Konrath Interview (2 min MP3)

2007 Kansas Lottery Indy 300 Photo Album

Audio, Ethanol, Indy Racing, News

Jeff Simmons Feeling Confident

Chuck Zimmerman

Jeff SimmonsAlthough it was a cool morning yesterday, Indy car driver Jeff Simmons was on location at a pump promotion filling up gas tanks with gasoline blended with ethanol.

I interviewed Jeff about how he thinks these localized pump promotions work in terms of helping with consumer awareness and education. He thinks they’re very beneficial. It helps when a lot of local media show up to since I noticed several local tv stations, newspaper and radio on hand to interview Jeff and others.

Jeff says his #17 car functioned very well in the last race and he’s feeling very confident that this weekend’s race in Kansas City represents his best chance so far for a great finish.

Listen to my interview with Jeff: Listen to MP3 Jeff Simmons Interview (4 min MP3)

2007 Kansas Lottery Indy 300 Photo Album

Audio, Ethanol, Indy Racing, News

DTN Starts Biodiesel Trading Info

John Davis

DTN logoMarket information provider DTN has introduced a biodiesel trading platform. DTN ProphetX Biodiesel Edition provides biodiesel producers and investors with intelligence on agricultural and energy markets.

This news release posted on Grainnet.com says the service also provides pricing information, commentary and other risk management tools:

This edition is for anyone in the emerging biodiesel markets to ensure future profitability and support sound investment decisions.

DTN ProphetX Biodiesel Edition’s risk management tools create user-specific “what if” scenarios to determine gross margin, net profit, break-even prices, exposed production risks and optimal hedging strategies over a 12 month period.

The DTN Biodiesel Crush tools can even assist users in determining the most economical and profitable multi-feedstock selections and ratios for operations and local market conditions.

DTN officials say ProphetX Biodiesel Edition is the only trading platform of its kind out there.

Biodiesel

Learning Through Biodiesel

John Davis

Producing biodiesel is proving to be a valuable tool in teaching students chemistry and how to be friendly to the environment.

For example, one small school in Northern Michigan has an FFA group that is producing biodiesel from leftover restaurant grease and oil. This story in the Huron (MI) Daily Tribune says FFA members at North Huron High School, along with their adviser and science teacher Clark Brock, have been using a biodiesel maker bought by the FFA at a convention:

Brock said his students are learning quite a bit from the hands-on experience of producing the fuel.

“They’re learning a lot of chemistry,” he said. “They’re learning the process of how to take used vegetable oil and separate the triesters from the glycerin.” Students also are learning how to determine the quality of the vegetable oil that goes into making the biodiesel.

“They test the oil for fatty free acids,” Brock said. “If the oil is used for too long, or if there’s too much fat in it, the oil isn’t useable.”

There are plans to test the biodiesel in several vehicles this summer.

Now there’s a class project worth its weight.

Biodiesel

Watchdog Group Questions Study Credibility

Cindy Zimmerman

watchdog A consumer watchdog group is questioning the credibility of a widely reported Stanford University study warning that ethanol use could be harmful.

The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights says the school’s ties to ExxonMobil make the study’s findings “difficult to accept.”

ExxonMobil has given $100 million to fund Stanford’s Global Climate and Energy Program (GCEP). Though the ethanol study was not directly funded by that program, the author had a three-year grant from GCEP to study the impact of replacing fossil-fuel motor vehicles and electric power plants with hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and power plants.

The public cannot accept the results at face value when ExxonMobil has funded a major energy research program at the university and research results are in line with the giant oil firm’s corporate goals, FTCR said.

ExxonMobil Chairman Rex Tillerson is dismissive of ethanol’s prospects, recently telling Fortune Magazine, “I don’t have a lot of technology to add to moonshine.”

The study based on computer models has received widespread publicity, despite the fact that the model is controversial because it assumes complete conversion to ethanol use rather than partial.

Ethanol, News

Corn Pores Hold Ethanol Promise

Cindy Zimmerman

corn pores Purdue University researchers are opening the pores of corn to try and increase ethanol yield.

According to a Purdue news release, researchers have discovered that particles from cornstalks undergo previously unknown structural changes when processed to produce ethanol, an insight they said will help establish a viable method for large-scale production of ethanol from plant matter.

Their research demonstrates that pretreating corn plant tissue with hot water – an accepted practice that increases ethanol yields 3 to 4 times – works by exposing minute pores of the plant’s cell walls, thus increasing surface area for additional reactions that help break down the cell wall.

Using high-resolution imaging and chemical analyses, the researchers determined that pretreatment opens reactive areas within the cells of the corn stover that were previously overlooked. In the next step of processing, these enlarged pores are more easily attacked by enzymes that convert cellulose into glucose, which is in turn fermented into ethanol by yeast.

Cellulosic, Ethanol, News, Research