After four NBA Championships, Shaquille O’Neal is pretty much a household word. Now he wants a new moniker to represent his investment in what could become the next big household appliance – the E‐Fuel MicroFueler™ that makes ethanol from organic waste or leftover alcoholic beverages. Sometimes known as the “Big Diesel,” Shaq said during a demonstration of the microfueler in …
BYOethanol: Press Conference
Unless you haven’t been reading our coverage of the 22nd Ethanol Conference & Trade Show hosted by the American Coalition for Ethanol, you’ve heard by now the news regarding the new blender pump program called BYOethanol. Pronounced “bio,” Blend Your Own Ethanol is a joint campaign between ACE, RFA and NCGA to bring 5,000 blender pumps online throughout the United …
More Corn in the Forecast
Despite a late planting season, farmers are still expected to harvest the second biggest corn crop on record and U.S. corn supplies are projected at a record 14.5 billion bushels. According to the crop report released this morning, USDA is forecasting a 12.8 billion bushel corn crop – just two percent less than the record 2007 crop and five percent …
New North Commissions Study on Cellulosic Ethanol
For more than a year, officials at the New North, Inc., a regional collaboration effort focused on promoting regional cooperation and economic development in an 18-county region in Northeast Wisconsin have explored the economic development opportunities surrounding cellulosic ethanol production in Northeast Wisconsin. Earlier this week New North announced the results of phase one of what will be a multifaceted …
ACE & RFA Launch National Mid-Level Blend Campaign
The 22nd Ethanol Conference & Trade Show in Milwaukee kicked off with an announcement of the largest ever consolidated effort to install 5,000 mid-level blend, or blender pumps, throughout the country: BYOethanol. I know many of you are envisioning bringing your own ethanol to the upcoming college football tailgate party, but it really means, Blend Your Own Ethanol. The partnership …
Ethanol Welcomed at Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
Ethanol was welcomed with open arms at last week’s 69th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota where the Renewable Fuels Association partnered with the popular Buffalo Chip Campground and the Buffalo Chip Gazette to promote the use of ethanol blended fuels as a way to fight dependence on foreign oil. RFA’s Robert White – an avid motorcycle enthusiast – …
Newest GM Diesel to Burn B20
General Motors’ latest heavy-duty diesel engine is set to burn a 20 percent biodiesel blend. This post on PickupTrucks.com says the Duramax diesel V-8 will burn the green fuel to help it meet tough new emissions standards for 2010: The so-called LML Duramax will be certified to run on biodiesel blends of up to B20, which is 80 percent ultra-low-sulfur …
IRFA Hires Menke As Biofuels Manager
I always love to report when a fellow Iowan finds his way back home again. After serving for the past six years as a research assistant for U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) in Washington, D.C., Grant Menke has been hired as the Biofuels Manager for the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA). This IRFA press release has details: “It is certainly …
Scientists Trying to Make Fuel from Zoo Poo
Get your pooper-scoopers ready, because scientists in New Orleans are tapping into the products of some zoo animals’ backsides to move forward in green energy. The New Orleans CityBusiness reports that researchers at Tulane University are trying to produce butanol from the waste of animals from the zoo: A project to identify and genetically engineer bacteria to create butanol has …
Former VeraSun Ethanol Plant Now Farmer-Owned
A group of nine farmer-owned ethanol plants in the upper Midwest got together to purchase the former VeraSun plant in Janesville, Minnesota to make it an even ten. Guardian Energy LLC, headquartered in Shakopee, Minnesota recently entered into an agreement to purchase the 100-million gallon plant acquired by AgStar Financial Services’ lending group through VeraSun Energy’s bankruptcy in March of …