Pioneer was demonstrating the new mobile app for their Dynamic Pricing Platform during the just concluded 2011 International Fuel Ethanol Workshop. I spoke with Steve Crowe, Pioneer Business Manager, Biofuels about the new method of interacting with your DPP account. That’s his iPhone in the photo in front of the monitor showing the desktop version. Steve says that smartphones have …
IRL Moving To E85 In 2012
The CEO of the Indy Racing League is Randy Bernard, seen shaking hands with Iowa Corn Growers CEO, Craig Floss, during last weekend’s Iowa Corn Indy 250 activities. I spoke with Randy who says that the League has been working to create a lot more buzz and excitement this year. Judging by the sell out crowd for the Iowa race, …
Iowa 15% Ethanol Incentive Takes Effect
Iowa could become the first state in the nation with fuel pumps sporting the new 15% ethanol (E15) labels approved this week by the Environmental Protection Agency along with final rules allowing E15 to be used in all 2001 and newer passenger vehicles later this summer. Effective July 1, Iowa retailers are eligible for a three cent per gallon tax …
USDA Finds More Corn Acres Than Expected
The new planted acreage report from USDA shows more corn than most anyone expected, given the wet spring weather that delayed planting in many areas. According to USDA, corn planted area for this year is now estimated at 92.3 million acres, up 5 percent from last year. That’s more than growers expected to plant back in March and the second …
Fuel Ethanol Workshop In Review
The mood was very upbeat at the 27th International Fuel Ethanol Workshop. I spoke with Tom Bryan, BBI International, about how he would characterize this year’s event which concluded yesterday. Tom says the technical sessions were extremely well attended. In fact, chairs had to be added to some of them due to the attendance in them. He says there were …
Bob Dinneen Keynotes Fuel Ethanol Workshop
At the 2011 Fuel Ethanol Workshop the Reverend of Renewable Fuels, Bob Dinneen, CEO, Renewable Fuels Association took the stage as a keynote speaker. Bob started his presentation with a report on several policy issues and then moved to a “conversation” with attendees in which he took questions. Bob first touched on yesterday’s EPA announcement of a label for E15. …
Dr. Bruce Dale Receives FEW Award of Excellence
This morning at the 2011 International Fuel Ethanol Workshop, the 2011 Award of Excellence was presented to Dr. Bruce Dale, Michigan State University, by BBI International VP, Tom Bryan. Dale, professor of chemical engineering and associate director of the office of biobased technologies at Michigan State University, received the award for his extensive research in the areas of indirect land …
Rick Serie Joins ACE
Ethanol industry veteran Rick Serie has joined The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) as its Director of Market Development. Brian Jennings, the organization’s executive vice president, said Serie’s talents make him a perfect fit for ACE and will help the advocacy fulfill its mission to make U.S. ethanol the consumer fuel of choice. Ron Lamberty, ACE senior vice president said …
Four Ethanol Plants to Install Advanced Oil Systems
Four ethanol plants have committed to installing ICM’s new patent-pending Advanced Oil System (AOS) corn oil extraction technology. According to ICM, AOS uses an emulsion-breaking approach to deliver a higher oil recovery rate than other technologies. The system can be added to plants without any current corn oil technology via separate skid mounted units or a modified version can be …
New Ethanol Yeast Product Released
A new yeast product for the ethanol industry was introduced this week by Lallemand Ethanol Technology. While the patent-pending product as of yet has no name, it is being commercialized through the partnership between Lallemand and Xylogenics, Inc. The new yeast is engineered to demonstrate characteristics that significantly change sugar uptake kinetics. The result is increased yields of up to …