The only Indy race to still run on homegrown corn ethanol is just around the corner. The 2010 Iowa Corn Indy 250, presented by Pioneer, will once again showcase 100% race powered corn-ethanol during the 4th annual race in Newton, Iowa on June 20. 2010 Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti won the very first Iowa Corn Indy in 2007, when …
USDA Chief Confident of Ethanol Blend Increase
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack believes that the Environmental Protection agency will increase the amount of ethanol allowed in regular gasoline above the current ten percent. “I’m very confident that we’re going to see an increase in the blend rate,” said Vilsack in a telephone press conference from Iowa on Friday. Vilsack also said that long-term extensions of the …
New Central Florida E85 Station
Motorists in Central Florida with Flex Fuel Vehicles (FFVs) can now fill up with 85 percent ethanol in Lakeland. The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and Protec Fuel have announced the availability of E85 for both the general public and government fleets at the Fleetwing retail station in Lakeland, which is near Tampa and St. Petersburg. The station utilized Protec Fuel’s …
Brazil Invests in Next Generation Ethanol
The Brazilian Innovation Agency, FINEP (Research and Projects Financing), and Brazil’s National Development Bank have entered into a new partnership to promote bioethanol development, providing up to $540 million in financing to the country’s biofuels sector to promote innovation in the field of bioethanol. The funding will be invested in technology projects over the next three to four years, which …
ZeaChem Breaks Ground on Biorefinery
Biomass refinery developer ZeaChem broke ground last week in Boardman, Oregon for a 250,000 gallon-per-year facility that will eventually be used to turn wood and other feedstocks into cellulosic ethanol. The plant will initially use ZeaChem’s technology to produce ethyl acetate, which the company says is a salable chemical intermediate and precursor to cellulosic ethanol. With a grant from the …
Importance of Biofuels in Rural Revitalization
The expansion of biofuels will play a significant role in the revitalization of rural America, according to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. “Why not create biofuel refineries and renewable energy plants that create jobs and markets for a product that otherwise might not be valued as much,” said Vilsack during a Rural Summit in Missouri on Thursday. “Why not …
Challenges Undermine Clean Energy Future
“If we refuse to take into account the full costs of our fossil fuel addiction — if we don’t factor in the environmental costs and the national security costs and the true economic costs — we will have missed our best chance to seize a clean energy future.” That is what President Obama said in his speech at Carnegie Mellon …
Growth Energy Takes Ethanol Message to DC Metro
Capitol Hill commuters will be hard pressed to miss the message that ethanol is America’s clean fuel as they travel the DC metro system this month. Starting at the foot of the escalator with a 10’x12′ floor mat with oil-soaked boot prints and the words “No beaches have been closed due to ETHANOL spills…. America’s CLEAN fuel,” the entire Capitol …
Ethanol Plants Improve Efficiency
Ethanol plants continue to increase in efficiency. A new University of Illinois at Chicago study of facilities that produce most of the nation’s ethanol found that the energy needed to make a gallon of the corn-based fuel decreased on average by about 30 percent within the past decade. The study, conducted by Dr. Steffen Mueller at the Energy Resources Center …