With the 2012 crop year now underway, we’re introducing the BASF Production Poll. This new poll will be conducted twice each month during the season with timely questions that we think both farmers and non-farmers alike will find interesting. We’d love to hear from you. So let’s get started with our first one. How do you think the 2012 growing …
Brazil Expects More Cane and More Ethanol in 2012
Brazil is expecting more sugarcane and more ethanol production in 2012. According to the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA), the forecast for the 2012/2013 sugarcane harvest calls for 509 million tons, up 3.19% compared to the total amount of sugarcane processed in the previous harvest, which totalled 493.26 million tons. Data collected by UNICA, together with satellite image mapping of …
Growing GROWMARK Energy Business
From premium diesel, gasoline and lubricants to propane, biodiesel and ethanol, the GROWMARK Energy Division continues to grow and offer high quality products to member cooperatives and the general public. The annual volume for the cooperative system’s energy division exceeds 1.6 billion gallons of gasoline, distillates and propane, and about 80 percent of the gasoline marketed by GROWMARK and FS …
Infographic Illustrates How RFS is Working
The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) has released an ‘infographic’ entitled “It’s Working” which provides a vivid depiction of how the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) and ethanol are reducing oil imports and saving Americans money at the pump. ACE Executive Vice President Brian Jennings says the infographic’s attention-grabbing charts and statistics were an important part of the group’s recent DC …
Ethanol Safety Training in Chattanooga
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), Norfolk Southern Corp., and Tate & Lyle will co-host a free Ethanol Safety Seminar in Chattanooga, TN on April 18th at the Chattanooga Fire Department Training Center. The goal of this seminar is for attendees to gain a full ethanol emergency response training experience that they can put to use immediately in the field as …
Butamax and Gevo Need to Resolve Issues
Yet another press release came out this week regarding the Butamax/Gevo legal battle over isobutanol technology patent infringement and frankly, we are sick of hearing about it. This spat started over 16 months and dozens of press releases ago. There is no question that patents are important, but the fact is that both of these companies are holding up critical …
Early Planting Fuels Corn Production Speculation
Corn planting is running well above normal across the country, fueling speculation that this year’s crop could be huge. The crop progress report this week shows that seven percent of the nation’s corn crop is now planted – more than double normal for this time of year. Progress in some Midwestern states has already hit double digits. Missouri has 23% …
Ethanol Co-Product Gains Foothold in Oil Country
The livestock feed that is a co-product of ethanol production is gaining a foothold in the country that is synonymous with oil, thanks to the efforts of the U.S. Grains Council (USGC). Saudi Arabia has always been the oil capitol of the world, but when Venezuela took the number one spot last year, the Saudis began to focus on diversifying …
First Sorghum Renewables Summit This Month
The Sorghum Checkoff is hosting the first ever Sorghum Renewables Summit April 19-20 in Denver. The summit will bring together the industry’s leading researchers and companies for an event focused on agronomics, composition, technology, corporate governance and more related to using sorghum as a feedstock for renewable fuels. National Sorghum Producers chairman Terry Swanson, a grower from Colorado, says about …
Biofuels Groups Support RFS in Federal Lawsuit
Ethanol and advanced biofuels groups are mobilizing to fight a court challenge by the petroleum industry over the Renewable Fuel Standard. Six biofuel trade associations have filed a motion in the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to intervene in support of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) 2012 final rule being …