With a goal of providing 25 percent of the nation’s energy supply from renewable resources by 2025, the Ag Energy Work Group held it’s second National Ag and Forestry Renewabe Energy Summit, in Washington, DC this week. I apologize for having been remiss in doing posts about this group’s activities, especially since good friend Sara Wyant sent us some info …
Squeezing More Ethanol From Corn
Researchers at Iowa State University are working to squeeze every available drop of ethanol from a corn kernel. According to this UPI story, “they are working to create chemical catalysts that would increase the yield of fermentable sugars from corn.” The research is supported by grants of $305,000 from the National Science Foundation, $200,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture …
Some Cross Country Pics
Here’s some more pictures to go with the posts we have been receiving from the E85 Cross Country trip. These go with the Day 3 post when the team stopped in their home state of Iowa. They got lots of media attention there and switched out some team members so more students could take advantage of the opportunity to go …
Captain’s Blog – Stardate 03.09.06 – Day 4
The journey continues for the Iowa Central Aggies E85 cross country road trip. Here is the latest post from designated blogger Bradley Westrum. March 9-06 The road was still closed when we woke up this morning around 5:15, so we took our sweet time getting ready. Leaving the hotel in Cheyenne, Wyoming around 7:00 A.M. still knowing that Interstate 80 …
USDA Researching Bio-Membrane for Hydrogen Fuel Cells
Doesn’t look like much to me, but according to USDA’s Agricultural Research Service this is a picture of a prototype membrane that could be used to conduct ions in a hydrogen fuel cell. In an effort to reduce “American dependence on petroleum-based fuels,” researchers at ARS’ Environmental Management and Byproduct Utilization Laboratory in Beltsville, Md., have conducted preliminary studies which …
Wisconsin Senate Kills Ethanol Bill
The Wisconsin Senate indefinitely postponed action on legislation that would have required that all gasoline sold in the state contain ten percent ethanol, effectively killing it this legislative year. A press release from the Wisconsin Ethanol Coalition said that they will continue “efforts to promote the ethanol industry and its benefits to Wisconsin.” Majority Leader Dale Schultz issued a statement …
Kissing the Bricks
These pictures of the ICARE Cross Country E85 team – Alex, Bradley, Ashley and Tami – at the Indianapolis Speedway are so adorable I wanted to highlight them in a separate post so they wouldn’t be missed. Photo credits go to Whitney Copeland Cole of Indiana AgriNews who was the only media person at the Indy with the group. Great …
Captain’s Blog – Stardate 03.08.06 – Day 3
The continuing saga of the Cross Country E85 trip….courtesy of Bradley Westrum, blogging his way across the USA in a flex-fuel Chevrolet….still working on getting some pictures to go with these posts. March 08-06 – Today we got up around 5:15 to get ready for our big press day in Ankeny, Iowa. Arriving at the gas station around 6:30 we …
The Wild Green Yonder?
Bio jet fuel could be the next frontier for domestic fuel. I had to do some hunting to find the original article on the research being done at the University of North Dakota to make jet fuel from crop oils, but I finally found it in the Grand Forks Herald. According to the story, the military is very interested “because it helps …
Sunshine State Ethanol Talk
Couple of ethanol news items from Florida. First, Commissioner of Agriculture Charles Bronson mixed ethanol with strawberries at the annual Strawberry Salute Breakfast Monday, calling on the state’s agricultural community to become a leader in ethanol production. According to this story in the Lakeland Ledger, Bronson talked up a new biofuels process developed by the University of Florida’s Institute of …