Ground’s been broken on a new biodiesel plant in the Northern Missouri town of Moberly. This story in the Moberly (MO) Monitor says the $16.5 million Producer’s Choice Soy Energy plant and soybean crushing facility could be in operation by the beginning of March 2009: The almost 14-acre tract is filled with corn stubble today. But construction, to be done …
Corn Forecast Still Historically High
The first USDA forecast of corn acreage to be planted this year may be eight percent less than last year, but its still the second-highest acreage intention since 1949, according to the National Corn Growers Association. NCGA officials also point out that the anticipated 86 million acres of corn is still only an educated guess at this point, since almost …
EPIC Responds to Time Scam Story
The Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) has responded to last week’s Time Magazine cover story “The Clean Energy Scam.” Executive director Toni Nuernberg sent the following letter to the editor of Time in response to the article: In Michael Grunwald’s March 27 article “The Clean Energy Scam,” corn-based ethanol is the scapegoat of the week. Though Grunwald draws attention …
VeraSun and US BioEnergy Complete Merger
The nuptials of VeraSun Energy and US BioEnergy are now complete, following the blessing of all the family members. VeraSun announced that the merger with US BioEnergy was approved by a majority vote of shareholders of both companies and is effective April 1, 2008. At the same time, VeraSun announced the startup of its 110 million gallon per year production …
Introducing Domestic Fuel Cast
Because we do lots of interviews and generate quite a bit of audio here at Domestic Fuel and because we are broadcasters by training, we thought it was about time we started our own podcast. The Domestic Fuel Cast will feature people and news of interest in the alternative fuels industry. Expect it to run about 5-10 minutes in length …
Corn Planting Prediction Lower
USDA’s highly anticipated prospective plantings report is predicting that farmers will plant eight percent less corn and 18 percent more soybeans. Growers intend to plant 86.0 million acres of corn and 74.8 million acres of soybeans in 2008. Expected acreage is down from last year in most states as favorable prices for other crops, high input costs for corn, and …
Algae to Ethanol Research
Algae is already being used to make biodiesel by companies like Solazyme of California. Now researchers are looking into using algae to make ethanol. According to the Kalamazoo Gazette, a group of Western Michigan University researchers gave U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) a presentation of their ideas last week. Chemistry professor Steven Bertman said, “The unifying theme is recovery of …
Team Ethanol Off to Great Start
Team Ethanol is off to its best start of the Indy Car Series yet, finishing 7th in Saturday’s opening race in Homestead. Driver Ryan Hunter-Reay ran a great race and stayed in the top ten with all the big name drivers for the majority of the race. The 2007 Rookie of the Year was hoping for a better finish for …
FAPRI: Biofuels Will Drive Agriculture
Officials with the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute say biofuels will drive agriculture for at least the next 10 years. This story from Southeast Farm Press quotes FAPRI livestock analyst as saying “It’s hard to talk about a baseline without saying something about biofuels.” “We’re expecting in 2008 that ethanol production from corn to be nearly 11 billion gallons …
Texas Oilman Advocates Alternative Energy
Legendary oil investor T. Boone Pickens wants the U.S. to get off its addiction to foreign oil and fossil fuels. The 79-year-old multi-billionaire was on CNBC earlier this week talking about energy, oil prices and ethanol. According to Delta Farm Press, Pickens has changed his mind about ethanol. Pickens, who admitted he once opposed ethanol, said on CNBC’s daily “Squawk …