Chuck is in Nashville this week and plans to visit with a guy he interviewed at the Indy 500. Brad Mayo is a “tuner” – he fine tunes street cars to make them run faster on ethanol blended fuel. You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Brad about the finer aspects of fine tuning here: Brad Mayo Interview (5:14 min …
Ethanol Plant News
As always, it’s a challenge to keep up with all the ethanol plants being opened, planned, expanded, etc. But, here’s some of the latest in a nutshell. Illinois – Johnson Grain has announced it will build a 200 million gallon capacity plant near Springfield, IL (Belleville News Democrat-AP) Minnesota – Highwater Ethanol, LLC is planning a 50 mgy plant in …
Greenspan Sees Future in Cellulosic Ethanol
Testimony of former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday has gotten quite a bit of news coverage, especially his comments about ethanol. In his written remarks to the committee, Greenspan said “Corn ethanol, though valuable, can play only a limited role, because its ability to displace gasoline is modest at best. But cellulosic …
Other Countries Debate Ethanol Tariffs
The United States isn’t alone in taking government steps such as mandates, tariffs and tax incentives to get the renewable fuels business off the ground. Debate on such incentives is raging in Australia, according to ABC Online, which says New South Wales’ peak motoring body has blasted a Federal Government decision to increase the tax on home-grown ethanol and lower …
From Ethanol to Hydrogen
The head of General Motors’ research and development says ethanol could be paving the way for the use of hydrogen in cars in the future. GM’s Lawrence Burns told Reuters Wednesday that encouraging farmers to grow corn or other grains that can be converted into clean-burning, renewable fuel creates a system that can he readily applied to generating hydrogen as …
Political Ties Invest in Ethanol
Missouri Governor Matt Blunt made an ethanol mandate in the state one of his top priorities when elected. This year the legislature made that goal a reality – and now one of Blunt’s relatives is cashing in on the new state policy. According to the Columbia (MO) Tribune and other Missouri news sources, Andy Blunt, a lobbyist and political consultant …
Congress Endorses 25x’25
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa and House Ag Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia today introduced a concurrent resolution in both houses of Congress calling for 25-percent of the nation’s total energy to come from renewable sources by the year 2025. The 25X’25 plan has also gained the endorsement of numerous state legislators and Governors – as …
World Congress to Focus on BioFuels
New research and commercial production methods to meet increased demand for biofuels will be one focus of the third annual World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing, to be held July 11-14, 2006 at the Toronto Westin Harbour Castle Hotel, according to a press release from the Biotechnology Industry Organization, or BIO. Sessions include: An International Perspective on Biofuels and …
To Tariff or Not To Tariff
As legislation to extend the tariff on ethanol imports was being introduced in Congress, Florida Governor Jeb Bush was advocating an increase in ethanol imports by dropping tariffs on ethanol from Brazil. According to the South Florida Business Journal, Bush laid out a plan Monday that saw the nation’s usage of ethanol increase to 15 billion gallons by 2015 annually …
Ethanol in Oil Country
The first E85 pumps in Houston were opened on Monday by Kroger, according to the Houston Chronicle. Kroger intends to sell E85 at 18 locations in Houston and Dallas, said Russell Richard, consumer affairs manager for the Houston area. He said Kroger plans 11 more stores in the Houston area along with six in Dallas.