Ethanol supporters are not wishing OPEC a very happy 50th birthday this week. Growth Energy organized a press event in Washington today with more than 90 supporters and producers of domestic ethanol to mark the 50th anniversary of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries – better known as OPEC. “Since the inception of OPEC we have had conflict in …
Yeast Breakthrough Made for Cellulosic Ethanol
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have made a breakthrough that has some awfully big implications for cellulosic ethanol. They’ve been able to put genes from grass-eating fungi into yeast and created strains that produce alcohol from tough plant material: “By adding these genes to yeast, we have created strains that grow better on plant material than does wild …
Valero Corner Store Sells 85 Percent Ethanol
Valero Energy Corporation recently announced that one of its company-owned Valero Corner Stores in San Antonio has begun selling E-85, a blend of fuel consisting of up to 85 percent ethanol blended with unleaded gasoline for use in Flex Fuel Vehicles (FFVs). Valero also announced plans to continue introducing sales of E-85 at new Valero Corner Stores as they’re built. …
Record Corn Crop and More Ethanol Production
Some weather issues over the past month caused USDA to slightly lower the forecast for this year’s corn crop, but it is still expected to be a record at 13.16 billion bushels. The average yield was lowered due to average 162.5 bushels per acre, down 2.5 bushels from the previous month and 2.2 bushels below last year’s record of 164.7 …
Fiberight Receives $2.9M Grant for Cellulosic Plant
Fiberight-Blairstown Operating LLC has received a $2.9 million grant to help build a cellulosic ethanol plant in Blairstown, Iowa. The award was given by the Iowa Power Board Fund yesterday. Fiberight is developing technology to convert municipal solid waste into cellulosic ethanol, bio-chemical and other processed fiber products. The company has plans to bring the plant to commercial scale levels …
Ethanol Co-Product Exports Climbing
Distillers grains exports are hitting new highs. Exports of the ethanol co-product distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) hit a new record in July of 886,300 metric tons – which is more than was exported in the entire year in 2004. Total exports this year so far are 4.95 million metric tons, getting close to the total last year of …
Blue Dog Dem Unhappy with Obama’s Ethanol, Biodiesel Efforts
The leader of the Blue-Dog Democrats, the bloc of House Democratic centrists, says President Obama’s efforts on ethanol and biodiesel are dragging his overall grade for his first year and a half in office down to just average. The Hill reports that while Rep. Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin (D-S.D.), believes the President has done a good job on some economic issues, she’s …
Ethanol Plant Receives Grant to Use Biomass for Power
An ethanol plant in Iowa has received a nearly $2 million federal grant to use renewable biomass to replace the fossil fuels needed to run the biorefinery. The USDA announced that the award comes from the Repowering Assistance Program, part of the 2008 Farm Bill: Lincolnway Energy, LLC, based in Nevada, Iowa, has been selected to receive a $1.9 million …
Ethanol Production Numbers Up, Exports Surge
U.S. exports substantially climbed during the month of July, this after three consecutive months of sliding numbers, according to government data released today. Denatured and undenatured (non-beverage) ethanol exports totaled 25.2 million gallons, up 57percent from June. Large volumes were imported by Brazil and the United Arab Emeriates (UAE) this month after several months of not importing any U.S. product. …