The domestic ethanol industry is pleading with the Indy Racing League to reconsider the decision to make Brazil the official ethanol supplier for the 23 IndyCar Series races. In a letter to IRL commercial division president Terry Angstadt this week, Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dinneen implored the IRL to “at least ensure that the Indianapolis 500 be run on …
Florida Biofuels Developing
At the same time Florida was hosting the third Cellulosic Ethanol Summit in Coral Gables this week, U.S. Sugar announced an agreement with Coskata to explore building a 100 million gallon per year cellulosic ethanol facility in Clewiston, Florida. The facility would be the world’s largest second generation ethanol facility, converting left-over sugar cane material into ethanol. That is great …
Ag Secretary Slams Food Industry for Ethanol Attack
Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer spoke to the Cellulosic Ethanol Summit Wednesday in Florida and outlined all the advancements being made in biofuels and the potential for the industry in the future. “Nobody is talking about us going backward,” Schafer said, then quickly corrected himself, saying “almost nobody,” noting that the Grocery Manufacturers Association and some others would like to …
Ethanol Industry Fights Back
The ethanol industry wasted no time fighting back today against another attack by the food industry to blame higher prices on ethanol production. The newly-formed Growth Energy called on the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) to “discontinue its deceptive attacks on the government’s investment in ethanol and other renewable fuels.” Growth Energy held a press conference shortly after the group “Food …
Florida Wants to Lead Cellulosic Ethanol Production
Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Charles Bronson believes that Florida can be a leader in the production of cellulosic ethanol. “Because of the amount of sunshine, water and year-round growth that we have for cellulose potential, I think Florida can lead the nation in this process,” Bronson said during the Cellulosic Ethanol Summit on Tuesday. Bronson was the keynote speaker at …
Cellulosic Ethanol Summit in the Sunshine State
The third annual Cellulosic Ethanol Summit is underway in Coral Gables, Florida this week. Summit chairman and Renewable Fuels Association president Bob Dinneen kicked off the event on Tuesday morning. It is the first time the summit has been held outside of Washington DC and one of the reasons Florida was picked is because the state has become a leading …
Ethanol Report on Land Use
In this “Ethanol Report” podcast, Geoff Cooper of the Renewable Fuels Association talks about a new land use report just released. The report systematically refutes claims that ethanol production will divert land from agricultural use, stressing that agricultural land can expand without “jeopardizing forest or other sensitive lands.” The report also gives historical context to global agricultural land use as …
New Ethanol Group Wants to Be Aggressive
The newly formed ethanol advocacy group, Growth Energy, has aggressive plans for attacking some of the major issues impacting the growth of biofuels. During an interview at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting annual meeting, Growth Energy board member Greg Krissek of ICM said they want to “especially focus on the federal work being done on mid-level and higher level …
Report Indicates Little Land Use Impact for Ethanol Production
The amount of agricultural land required to produce 15 billion gallons of grain ethanol in the United States by 2015, as required by the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), is likely to be less than 1 percent of total world cropland, according to a new report released today by the Renewable Fuels Association. According to the report, “Understanding …
Consumers Support Ethanol
Biofuels top the list as the most acceptable avenue to long term energy security in the nation, according to a national consumer survey commissioned by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC). EPIC Executive Director Toni Nuernberg said they interviewed over 1,000 consumers nationwide for the survey. “About 73 percent of them responded that they want to see domestically produced …