McCain Blames Subsidies for High Food Prices

Cindy Zimmerman

In a speech on Wednesday not far from the corn fields of proud Missouri farmers, Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain blamed subsidies for higher food prices. “My administration will reduce the price of food by eliminating the subsidies for ethanol and agricultural goods,” McCain told an invitation-only group at the Harry Truman Library in Independence, Missouri. “These subsidies inflate …

Commentary, Ethanol, Farming, Opinion, politics

Registration Open for National Ethanol Conference

Cindy Zimmerman

“Growing Innovation – America’s Energy Future Starts at Home” is the theme for the 14th annual National Ethanol Conference to be held February 23-25, 2009 in San Antonio, Texas. Registration is now underway for the event which promises to be bigger and better than ever in the big state of Texas with over 2500 attendees expected. All the registration information …

conferences, Ethanol, RFA

Pacific Ethanol to Open New California Plant

Cindy Zimmerman

Pacific Ethanol has announced the start-up of its Stockton, California facility. The Company will hold a grand opening ceremony for its second California ethanol plant on October 10. “The start-up of our Stockton plant marks the achievement of our goal of 220 million gallons of annual production capacity and dramatically increases the availability of renewable fuels produced in the state …

Ethanol, Facilities, News

Improvements in Ethanol Efficiency

Cindy Zimmerman

A recent report clearly illustrates the energy improvements being made at ethanol biorefineries across country. According to the report by John Christianson, CPA of the independent accounting firm Christianson & Associates, the average amount of energy as measured by British Thermal Units (BTUs) required to produce ethanol and a livestock feed co-product across all ethanol production technologies was reduced by …

Ethanol, News

Nebraska Ethanol Forum

Cindy Zimmerman

The Nebraska Ethanol Board, in cooperation with the University of Nebraska Center for Energy Science Research, is hosting a policy forum in October to discuss issues of rising energy and food prices. The forum will provide an opportunity for Nebraska policymakers and consumers to better understand how ethanol policy plays a role in economic development, energy security, agriculture and the …

Ethanol, food and fuel, Food prices

Algae Biodiesel From Catfish Farms

Cindy Zimmerman

Algae has traditionally been a nuisance to catfish farmers, but it could end up being a new source of income for them and a new source of energy for the southeast. Ron Putt, an associate research professor at Auburn University, has been studying the feasibility of using algae from catfish farms for biodiesel production. “Currently I have a small project …

algae, Biodiesel

On-Farm Biodiesel

Cindy Zimmerman

Farmers on the panhandle of Florida can now make their own biodiesel on the farm with the help of the Three Rivers Resource Conservation and Development Council (RC&D) in Milton through USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. The council recently invested in a portable biodiesel extruder that can be taken out to local farms to make biodiesel from plants and used …

Biodiesel, Farming

Seed Summit Held to Meet Needs of Industries

Cindy Zimmerman

A summit was held last week in Chicago to address the role of seed technology in meeting the growing demand for food, feed, fiber and fuel. The goal of the American Seed Research Summit was to bring together research leaders from industry, academia and government to identify major seed research challenges and to develop a national strategy and action plan …

Agribusiness, food and fuel

POET to Open Two More Ethanol Plants

Cindy Zimmerman

The largest ethanol producer in the world just keeps getting bigger. POET is scheduled to open two more ethanol plants in the next four weeks – both in Ohio. That will bring the total number of POET plants to 26 as of October 24, with a total capacity of 1.54 billion gallons per year. The grand opening for POET Biorefining …

Ethanol, News

Bill Would Promote Biofuels Cooperation With Brazil

Cindy Zimmerman

While most of Congress was working on a bailout for the financial crisis last week, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed a bill that would strengthen energy cooperation between the United States and Brazil to promote the production and use of sustainable biofuels throughout Latin America. The legislation, authored by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Dick Lugar, would promote …

Ethanol, Government, News