Osage Bio Energy has a barley business partner and a winning bin builder. The Virginia-based company just announced an agreement with Perdue AgriBusiness to source barley to operate its first barley-to-ethanol bioprocessing facility. Perdue, a leading grain supplier in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, is committed to working with local farmers to supply Osage Bio Energy with its barley needs for …
Greener Tires
Reducing our dependence on foreign oil means looking at alternatives for all kinds of products that use oil as an ingredient – like tires, for example. Wood science researchers at Oregon State University have found that microcrystalline cellulose, which can be made easily from almost any type of plant fibers, could replace silica as a reinforcing filler in the manufacture …
Ethanol Report on Blender Pump Initiative
Corn growers and the ethanol industry are teaming up to bring more choices to the consumer at the fuel pump. In this edition of “The Ethanol Report” we hear from representatives of the National Corn Growers Association, the American Coalition for Ethanol and the Renewable Fuels Association about the “Blend Your Own Ethanol” campaign announced this week at the 22nd …
Basketball Champ Loves Ethanol Maker
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 …
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 …
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 – …
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 …
Solar Generated Ethanol
Bioengineering firm Joule Biotechnologies of Massachusetts recently unveiled a new technology that uses sunlight to directly convert carbon dioxide into ethanol. The process, called Helioculture™, produces what the company is calling SolarFuel™ liquid energy. According to Joule, the conversion requires no agricultural land or fresh water, and leverages a highly scalable system capable of producing more than 20,000 gallons of …
Biofuel System Follows the Crop
A Maryland-based biotech/biofuel company is working on the development of a portable biofuel production system called “Follow the Crop.” Atlantic Biomass Conversions president Bob Kozak recently explained the concept to Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD 6th) at his Go Green Energy Expo in Frederick, Maryland. According to Kozak, instead of bringing biomass to biorefineries, the bioconversion technology will go to the …
BYO Ethanol Initiative Launched
Corn growers and the ethanol industry are uniting to provide consumers with more choices at the pump, gas station owners with more product flexibility, and the nation with the ability to achieve its renewable fuels targets with a new campaign to increase the number of ethanol blender pumps nationwide. The campaign is a partnership between leading corn-producing states, the American …