Allow me to introduce the first Domestic Fuel contributing poster. His name is John Wells and he resides not too far from us here in mid-Missouri with his wife Jennie and baby daughter Jillian. He’s a graduate of the University of Missouri with a degree in communications and and is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Public Administration. For the …
Ethanol Industry Ready to Replace MTBE
The president of the Renewable Fuels Association has sent a letter to the Energy Information Administration “countering assertions concerning the availability of ethanol for those gasoline markets transitioning out of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE).” According to a press release, RFA president Bob Dinneen wrote to EIA in response to a report entitled “Eliminating MTBE in Gasoline in 2006,” released …
Island Ethanol
Hawaii is finally making some progress in its requirement to blend 10 percent ethanol in 85 percent of the gasoline sold in the state. Chevron this week became the first energy company in Hawaii to begin blending ethanol, as required by the state by April 2, according to this story from the Hawaii Channel. As posted previously, Hawaii is running …
Empire State Biodiesel
Here’s an MSNBC story from Buffalo, NY that talks about biodiesel developments happening there – from a student at the University of Buffalo making biodiesel from waste grease to two small area businesses that have big plans for biodiesel production. Blue Sky Optimium Energy was started three years ago by a young Erie Community College graduate and Greenway Energy Group …
New Study Story Old News but Still Good News
An Associated Press story on the wire about ethanol producers being encouraged by “new study” is the study that came out at the end of January (see previous post) Just want to make that clear in case someone sees the story and thinks that this is a different “new” study. It is a very positive story for the ethanol industry, …
Ethanol “Gold Rush”
Good story in USA Today about the ethanol plant construction boom. I like these quotes from the article: “It’s a little bit of a dot-com atmosphere,” says John Skelley, president of Arizona Grain” and “It’s a gold rush right now,” CEO Jeff Broin (of Broin Companies) says.
Switchgrass Studies
Most people never heard the word “switchgrass” before it was immortalized by President Bush in his State of the Union address, but someday we could be running our cars on fuel made from the stuff. USDA’s Agricultural Research Service just released a new study on the feasibility of switchgrass for energy production, focusing specifically on the economics of growing the …
Energy Secretary Speaks in KC
Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman spoke to the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce today. According to this KC AP article, Bodman echoed the adminstration theme that we need to make ethanol from other sources besides corn. Bodman said the ethanol industry now consumes roughly 14 percent of the country’s corn crop. The crop’s regular purpose as human and animal feed will …
Big Company Gets Big Incentives To Build Big Biodiesel Plant
The biggest biodiesel plant in the world is being built in Claypool, Indiana, according to this article from IndyStar.com. The project, which was announced last year, combines a soybean processing plant with a biodiesel production plant. The facility will crush nearly 50 million bushels of soybeans a year, producing more than 1 million tons of soybean meal for animal feed …
Energy Excitement Generated at Summit
According to the press release from this week’s energy summit in Washington, DC, “Energy, enthusiasm and excitement marked the unveiling of 25x’25 to those attending the second National Agriculture and Forestry Renewable Energy Summit.” One of the most interesting news items from the summit was a survey of registered voters that shows overwhelming support for renewable energy initiatives. There is …