The Associated Press reports that corn prices are at their highest levels in a decade and growers are looking at planting as much as 10 million more corn acres next year, according to Chris Hurt, a Purdue University agricultural economist. “It’s a wonderful time for corn producers. They’re extremely excited, but they’re also apprehensive because they’ve seen booms before and …
Green Theme at LA Auto Show
Somewhat like when President Bush was in St. Louis at the Advancing Renewable Fuels Conference, a heckler got the headlines when General Motors Chairman Rick Wagoner addressed the 100th Los Angeles Auto Show this week, according to this AP report. The man unfurled a large black-and-white contract of sorts and asked Wagoner if he would sign a pledge to be …
World Biodiesel Output May Triple by ’09
An analyst with Bunge Ltd., expects world biodiesel output to hit nearly 16 million metric tons by 2009. That prediction, which is more than triple the current 5 million metric tons this year, was made by Bunge’s Nancy DeVore at the Terrapinn Biofuels Finance & Investment World conference in London. Read more from Farm Futures.
02 Diesel + Energenics = EnerDiesel
A Singapore-based company has made a deal with O2 Diesel Corporation to market the ethanol-diesel blend in the Asia Pacific and South Africa. Under the agreement, O2Diesel will supply its proprietary fuel technology to Energenics, which will brand the fuel as “EnerDiesel — Powered by O2Diesel,” in Asia Pacific & South Africa. Read more.
Bean Breeding Groundbreaking
Monsanto is building a new soybean breeding facility in South Dakota. They broke ground just this week in fact. The site will develop and test new soybean varieties developed by Monsanto’s breeders, as well as varieties containing traits in various stages of pre-commercial advancement in the company’s product pipeline. The groundbreaking ceremony was held in conjunction with the dedication of …
Forestry Fuel Plants Planned for Northeast
Converting wood chips and other forestry and agricultural biomass to ethanol is the goal of an agreement between a Connecticut energy company and a Massachusettes cellulosic technology firm. According to a news release, Tamarack Energy, Inc. and Mascoma Corporation “will collaborate on the joint development of cellulosic ethanol facilities in New York, as well as follow-on opportunities in Pennsylvania and …
NearBio for Bio Near You
Finding biodiesel to fuel up with just got a little easier thanks to NearBio. The free service is designed to enable cell phone users to easily find nearby biodiesel fueling locations based on city, zip code, or GPS coordinates. According to a company news release, The comprehensive national database of over 1000 individually verified locations is updated daily and is …
High on Switch Grass
Switch grass has gone from a relatively unknown prairie grass a year ago to the rising star of the ethanol industry since being featured in the President’s State of the Union address in January. The Chicago Tribune reports on the growing interest in the grass for ethanol production. Agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland Co., the world’s largest producer of ethanol …
Ethanol Race in Maryland
The race is on to get the first ethanol plant in the state of Maryland, according to this article in the Baltimore Sun. A national boom in the use of ethanol has lured eight companies into a race to build Maryland’s first factory to convert corn into car fuel. Two of the proposals would put ethanol plants on the Baltimore …
North Dakota Considers Blender Pumps
Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota hosted a meeting Monday with government and ethanol industry leaders to discuss new ways to market ethanol in the state. According to an AP report from Fargo, some are suggesting the approval of blender pumps. Many drivers have been scared away by lower fuel efficiency and reports that cars with E-85 start poorly in …