The new planted acreage report from USDA shows more corn than most anyone expected, given the wet spring weather that delayed planting in many areas. According to USDA, corn planted area for this year is now estimated at 92.3 million acres, up 5 percent from last year. That’s more than growers expected to plant back in March and the second …
Butte College First In Nation To Go ‘Grid Positive’
Butte College in California is the first in the nation to go ‘grid positive’. The school will generate more electricity from its solar arrays than it consumers and will deliver the excess renewable energy back to the electric grid. The college sits on a 928-acre wildlife refuge located 75 miles from Sacramento. The solar array is comprised of 25,000 solar …
Wildlife & Renewable Energy Program Announced
To learn more about the effects of energy facilities on wildlife, the Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) has created a wildlife and renewable energy program. The study aims to understand the movements of birds and bats and how they interact with various forms of energy such as wind turbines. BRI is currently involved in several areas of wind power research and …
Fuel Ethanol Workshop In Review
The mood was very upbeat at the 27th International Fuel Ethanol Workshop. I spoke with Tom Bryan, BBI International, about how he would characterize this year’s event which concluded yesterday. Tom says the technical sessions were extremely well attended. In fact, chairs had to be added to some of them due to the attendance in them. He says there were …
What Would Happen If Ethanol Tax Credit Extended?
There are several proposed amendments to current ethanol tax policy including the VEETC and tariff. Many believe that these incentives will disappear at the end of the year, but what would happen if they were extended? Today, the blender’s credit (VEETC) is 45 cents and the ethanol tariff is 54 cents. According to research conducted by University of Missouri economists, …
Oil Independence for a Stronger America Act Introduced
Today U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tom Carper (D-DE), Tom Udall (D-NM) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) introduced the Oil Independence for a Stronger America Act today in an effort to eliminate dependence on foreign oil by 2030 and create a National Council on Energy Security that would be charged with providing recommendations to the President and Congress to ensure America’s …
Biofuel IPOs On The Rise
The biofuels industry is making a come-back with several successful IPOs (initial public offering) over the past few months. Today, KiOR announced its initial public offering of 10,000,000 shares of Class A common stock at $15 per share. The company raised nearly $138 million of proceeds from the IPO which occurred on June 24. Other successful IPO’s include the much-awaited …
Stabilizing Food Prices
Our latest ZimmPoll asked, “What can G20 ag ministers do to stabilize food prices?” The answer is Nothing, 31%; Increase productivity, 23%; End biofuels production, 18%; Regulate markets, 17%; Improve crop reporting, 8% and Stockpile food, 3%. Can they actually do any of these things? Well, I guess they can do nothing. They met recently and did come up with …
Bob Dinneen Keynotes Fuel Ethanol Workshop
At the 2011 Fuel Ethanol Workshop the Reverend of Renewable Fuels, Bob Dinneen, CEO, Renewable Fuels Association took the stage as a keynote speaker. Bob started his presentation with a report on several policy issues and then moved to a “conversation” with attendees in which he took questions. Bob first touched on yesterday’s EPA announcement of a label for E15. …
Dr. Bruce Dale Receives FEW Award of Excellence
This morning at the 2011 International Fuel Ethanol Workshop, the 2011 Award of Excellence was presented to Dr. Bruce Dale, Michigan State University, by BBI International VP, Tom Bryan. Dale, professor of chemical engineering and associate director of the office of biobased technologies at Michigan State University, received the award for his extensive research in the areas of indirect land …