Looking at the headline you would think Governor Rod Blagojevich is against new ethanol research. Not so. According to the AP story, he is against the government wasting money, building a new center when they can just upgrade the current National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center in Edwardsville instead. The new center is proposed to research cellulosic ethanol, however, so the current …
VeraSun is Hot
Forbes is calling the pending IPO of VeraSun Energy a hot investment. “VeraSun Energy is profitable. Its planned IPO will be a winner, as the price of oil has hit about $70 per barrel amid high worldwide demand and growing concerns about the stability of the Middle East. VeraSun says it’s the second-largest ethanol producer in the United States with …
Mt. Vernon Plant Plans
ASAlliances Biofuels LLC plans to build a $125 million ethanol plant in Mount Vernon, Ind., according to news reports. ASAlliances Biofuels is a partnership comprised of the some of the biggest names in the ethanol and agribusiness industries – Cargill, Fagen and United BioEnergy. The Mount Vernon plant would be located adjacent to a Cargill grain elevator and would produce …
BioWillie Distributor Buys Into NC Plant
Earth Ethanol, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Earth Biofuels, Inc., today announced that it has signed a letter of intent to acquire majority interest in North Carolina-based Albemarle Biorefinery, Inc. of Raleigh, North Carolina. According to a Business Wire release, the company intends to build a state-of-the-art ethanol facility in the town of Jamesville, Martin County, North Carolina. Earth …
Fast Fine Tuning
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 …