This was no tough crowd for the president – with the exception of a anti-war protester who started shouting during the speech and had to be escorted out. He said all the right things to make this group of renewable energy entrepreneurs happy. Here is the president’s full remarks – about 30 minutes worth – I’ll pick out some soundbites …
Ethanol Industry Connections
Everybody who is anybody in the ethanol industry are in attendance here at the Advancing Renewable Energy Conference in St. Louis. Here is Greg Krissek, (left) Director of Governmental Affairs with ICM, Inc., one of the nation’s major ethanol plant design/build firms, located in Colwich, KS. He is networking with one of the many attendees on hand about the potential …
Corn Grower President at Renewables Conference
The president of the National Corn Growers Association says the interest in renewable energy across the nation is really a renewed interest in agriculture. Ken McCauley, a corn grower from White Cloud, Kansas, says “it elevates agriculture to a whole new level” and he notes that ethanol and biodiesel are giving young people a new future in agriculture and helping …
Secretaries’ Day in St. Louis
The US Secretaries of Agriculture and Energy are the hosts of the Advancing Renewable Energy Conference in St. Louis this week. Both addressed the crowd, estimated at upwards of 1500 people, showing the huge interest in renewable energy nationwide. Both Secretaries talked about the great need for cellulosic ethanol – in fact, just about every speaker today has at least …
Home of the Biodiesel Rams
The newest breed of Dodge Ram comes factory-fueled with biodiesel. Under the Gateway Arch in St. Louis Tuesday, representatives from the National Biodiesel Board and Daimler-Chrysler announced that every 2007 Dodge Ram diesel coming off the assembly line at the company’s Fenton, Missouri north plant will be fueled with B5, a blend containing 5 percent biodiesel made from soybeans grown …
Food and Fuel “Synergy”
An international partnership to promote the use of ”green” fuels called the Global Bioenergy Partnership recently opened its secretariat at the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations headquarters in Rome. According to a press release announcing the new partnership, FAO has always actively promoted biofuels as a means of reducing poverty while producing clean, low-cost energy. Given the …
IRL Prepares to Fill Up, Feel Good
Learn more about the excitement at the Indy Racing League as they prepare to go 100 percent ethanol in 2007 in the latest “Fill Up, Feel Good” podcast from the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council. The podcast features comments from IRL President Tony George, VP John Lewis and Senior Technical Director Les McTaggert, drivers Jeff Simmons and Dario Franchitti, as …
A Grand Event
Well over 600 people were on hand for the grand opening of Missouri Ethanol on Monday in the small town of Laddonia, Missouri – which only has a population of 600! Flying over head to kick-off the event was the 100 percent ethanol-powered Vanguard Squadron, and at the podium to praise the farmer owners of the plant for their dedication …
Plant Manager Interview
The General Manager of Missouri Ethanol is Robin Venn. He’s currently in the process of getting his house sold in Kansas City so he can move to the Laddonia area. I interviewed Robin after the grand opening festivities were winding down. He says that all the employees of the ethanol plant are from Missouri which he thinks is unusual but …
Melon Ethanol
How about a nice juicy slice of – ethanol? The National Watermelon Association is preparing for some research with USDA, the University of Georgia and an ethanol plant in Florida to use the estimated 700 million pounds of watermelons that are wasted each year for ethanol production. “We’re really excited about this,” says Watermelon Association Executive Director Bob Morrissey. “This …