The largest global cellulosic biomass harvest in history is underway and already the world is watching. Last week, Project Liberty kicked off their one-year biomass harvest pilot program as an effort to ensure all the correct logistics are in place in time for Project Liberty to go online in early 2012. During the event, I caught up with Scott Weishaar, …
Corn Growers Stress Ethanol Efficiency Gains
Recent studies show the significant efficiencies spurred by growth and development in the ethanol industry, according to the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA). “As we see it, this is just the tip of the iceberg,” said NCGA First Vice President Bart Schott. “Ethanol has proven to be an advantageous green alternative to foreign and ecologically precarious sources of petroleum. These …
Missouri Congressman Supports Biodiesel Tax Credit
Missouri Congressman Roy Blunt, fresh off a primary win to be the Republican candidate for Senator, stopped at the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) in Jefferson City, Missouri on Friday to voice his support for reinstating the biodiesel tax credit which expired at the end of 2009. “I’m very concerned that we continue to see good, job-producing tax credits in the …
ACE Update on Ethanol Blender Pumps
One year ago at the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) conference in Milwaukee, the BYO Ethanol campaign was launched as a joint effort between corn-producing states, ACE, and the Renewable Fuels Association with the goal of installing more blender pumps nationwide. Today that effort is more important than ever as the industry is face to face with the 10 percent …
ACE President Stresses Positives for Ethanol Industry
The president of the American Coalition for Ethanol is a great representative of this grassroots organization that was formed in 1988 – a family farmer from South Dakota who believes in the ability of agriculture to help serve the nation’s energy needs. “We have to keep reminding ourselves how fast we’ve grown in a relatively short time and answered the …
ACE Looks at Big Issues Facing Ethanol Industry
Attendance at the 23rd annual Ethanol Conference and Trade Show this week is considerably smaller than it was when the American Coalition for Ethanol meeting was held here in Kansas City just a few years ago – but the issues facing the industry have never been bigger. As everyone knows, two major policy-driven challenges face the industry – expiration of …
Renewable Energy Progress
Earlier this month, the 25x’25 Alliance released a progress report on where the nation is in terms of the goal of meeting 25 percent of our energy needs with renewable resources by 2025, and they held a press conference with representatives of all the major renewable energy sectors to talk about the report and what still needs to be done. …
Peanut Growers Hear About Ethanol and Biomass
Southern peanut producers meeting in Panama City Beach last week heard about ethanol and producing energy on a local level. Growth Energy representative Dennis Weise talked to the farmers about how they can advocate for domestically produced energy by getting involved. “We have to get outside of the corn belt now, so it’s important that we talk to folks from …
Indirect Land Use Uncertainty
I conducted a number of interviews with presenters at the recent Corn Utilization and Technology Conference and many of them were about biofuels, especially ethanol. Here’s one I thought you’d be interested in. The Land Use Conundrum . . . Corn, An Advanced Biofuel? That was the title of one of the sessions that was moderated by Jamey Cline, NCGA. …
IFT’s Biodiesel Booster Just in Time for Higher Blends
A St. Louis-based company has recently finished testing of a product that not only will boost the performance of biodiesel … just in time as more people look at using higher blends of the green fuel … but some it is being made from renewable feedstocks. International Fuel Technology’s Director of Science and Technology, Sergio Trindade, explains IFT’s DiesoLiFT 10, …