At the request of the Obama administration transition team, the Renewable Fuels Association last week submitted discussion ideas for an economic stimulus package partially designed to create green jobs and spur the green economy. According to a statement from RFA, “Some have misconstrued this communication as a request for federal assistance or a bailout. To the contrary, the RFA recognizes …
Obama’s Ag and Interior Choices are Pro-Ethanol
According to media reports, President-elect Obama will announce former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack as his choice for secretary of agriculture at a press conference scheduled for Wednesday. Obama also plans to announce his nomination of Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar as interior secretary at the same news conference. Vilsack served two terms as governor of Iowa from from 1998 until 2006 …
Comments Sought on Ethanol Specific Corn
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking comments on a petition to deregulate corn that has been genetically engineered to produce a microbial enzyme that facilitates ethanol production. USDA’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has regulated the corn, developed by Syngenta, since 2002. If approved, the petition would allow the corn, which goes by the name Event 3272, to …
Sweet New Crop for Ethanol
A Seattle-based biotechnology company is working on developing a crop that is somewhat of a cross between corn and sugar cane. According to a story in the Kansas City Star, Targeted Growth has been testing “sugarcorn” in test plots in Illinois and Indiana. Sugarcorn is a takeoff on a type of maize grown in the tropics, which grows traditional ears …
New Energy Secretary Involved in Ethanol Research
President-elect Barack Obama has chosen Dr. Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, to be his Secretary of Energy. Dr. Chu has been heavily involved in biofuels research to find alternative and more efficient feedstocks for ethanol and biodiesel production. At a 25x’25 Renewable Energy Summit earlier this year in Omaha, Chu said, …
USDA Lowers Corn Usage for Ethanol
The latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate (WASDE) from USDA projects less corn being used for ethanol this year. According to the report released this morning, ethanol use for corn was lowered by 300 million bushels lower “as prospects for blending above federally mandated levels decline.” Financial problems for ethanol producers are reducing plant capacity utilization for existing plants …
Positive Ethanol Plant News
Despite the tough economic climate for all industries, including ethanol, there are still some plants moving toward production. BioFuel Energy Corp. of Denver has reached a debt repayment plan with Cargill and two other debt holders to help the company get two plants on-line in Nebraska and Minnesota. According to a release from BioFuel Energy, “Despite the significant hedging losses …
Iogen Provides Cellulosic Ethanol for Race
For the second year in a row, Iogen Corporation of Canada fueled Green Alternative Motorsports’ (GAM) high performance race vehicle with cellulosic ethanol for the 25 Hours of Thunderhill endurance race in Willows, California. Iogen manufactured and provided 300 gallons of cellulosic ethanol for the GAM LeMans Prototype (LMP3) car #87 for the 25 hour race in which the car …
ACORE Forum Urges New Ethanol Policies
The American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) held a two day forum on Capitol Hill last week with hundreds of renewable energy executives, financial experts, and policy makers who remain optimistic about the industry’s future. The 2008 Phase II of Renewable Energy in America National Policy Forum featured Policy recommendations on renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable development, the environment and …
Ethanol Fuels Big Three Bail Out Caravan
The Big Three auto makers traveled to Washington this week to ask for a bailout in fuel efficient, high mileage cars, including flex fuel vehicles that run on up to 85 percent ethanol. General Motors’ Rick Wagoner (left) made the trip in a black hybrid Chevrolet Malibu, accompanied by a flex fuel Buick Lucerne, which runs on fuel that is …