A new partnership between the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) and the South Dakota Corn Utilization Council (SDCUC) is helping gas station retailers in South Dakota put in more ethanol blender pumps to let consumers with flex fuel vehicles have more options. The edition of “Fill up, Feel Good” features comments from EPIC Director of Operations Robert White and …
Ethanol Closer to Little Bo Peep
Is ethanol Little Bo Peep or the Ax Murderer? That’s the question National Corn Growers CEO Rick Tolman presented to the media during a press conference in Washington DC on Wednesday, pointing to the front page article on ethanol and corn prices in the Washington Post as being the latest example of making ethanol out to be the ax murderer. …
GM Announces Second Cellulosic Ethanol Partnership
General Motors and Mascoma Corporation of Massachusetts today announced a strategic relationship to develop cellulosic ethanol. The development is focused on Mascoma’s single-step biochemical conversion of non-grain biomass into low-carbon alternative fuels to help address increasing energy demand. It ties in with another partnership announced earlier this year with Coskata that uses a thermo-chemical process to make ethanol from non-grain …
South Dakota Blender Pump Program
South Dakota is poised to lead the nation in giving consumers a real choice at the pump with a new blender pump initiative announced Thursday. Through a partnership between the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) and the South Dakota Corn Utilization Council (SDCUC), the initiative will help gas station retailers obtain funding and the equipment needed to sell blends …
President Talks Ethanol in Press Briefing
President Bush talked about the farm bill, higher food and energy costs, expanding domestic oil production, ethanol and other alternative energy sources during a press briefing on Tuesday morning. The president was critical of Congress blocking efforts to explore in ANWR and to expand capacity and build more refineries, as well as a “massive, bloated farm bill that would do …
Importance of Ethanol
The development of agriculture-based biofuels is critical to revitalizing rural communities, according to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer. Speaking to farm broadcasters meeting in Washington, Schafer said managing the blending of energy and agriculture is one of the top priorities for USDA. “If we over the next ten years could convert one-fourth of the four billion barrels of foreign …
Groundbreaking on Oil from Ethanol
VeraSun Energy broke ground on a new facility last week that will tap into ethanol for oil. VeraSun’s patent-pending Oil Extraction process is designed to yield 7-8 million gallons of corn oil annually from 390,000 tons of distillers grains currently produced at VeraSun’s ethanol production facility in Aurora, S.D. The corn oil will then be made available for sale into …
Ethanol Industry Supports Farm Bill Changes
A tentative agreement reached by conference committee members on funding for a new farm bill would reduce the tax incentive for blenders to use ethanol from 51 cents a gallon to 45 cents. The president of the Renewable Fuels Association says they can support that. “We do understand that they are looking at that in order to pay for cellulosic …
New Buick Lucerne to be FlexFuel
General Motors is adding the 2009 Buick Lucerne sedan to its lineup of flex-fuel vehicles that can run on up to 85 percent ethanol. GM Vice President of Environment, Energy and Safety Policy Beth Lowery says the Lucerne, the first flex-fuel capable Buick passenger car, will be among more than 15 GM models with flex-fuel capability in 2009. “We continue …
Georgia Looks to Renewables to Reduce Energy Usage
Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue this week announced a commitment that Georgia’s state government will reduce its energy usage 15 percent by 2020 over the 2007 energy use levels through energy efficiency or in combination with renewable energy. To support further development of alternative energy in Georgia, Governor Perdue is creating an Energy Innovation Center that will enhance the economic development …