“The Ethanol Effect” is a new PBS documentary produced by Detroit Public Television that debuted earlier this month and is available on-line for anyone to see. We want to know what you think about it. The documentary is hosted by energy and environment reporter David Biello and includes comments from a variety of ethanol industry representatives and supporters, including Renewable …
Super Yeast Yields Better #Ethanol Economics
A new innovative “super yeast” could very well improve the economics of ethanol production. A collaborative research team from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) have engineered a yeast strain that nearly doubles the efficiency of plant sugar to biofuel conversion. The team focused on the baker’s and brewer’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a microbe …
Students Visit Guardian Energy for #Ethanol Education
The Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association has organized its seventh student tour of a Minnesota ethanol plant. Seventh and eight grade students visited member plant Guardian Energy, a 130 million gallon-per-year ethanol biorefinery located in Janesville. During the tour, students learned about various components of ethanol production including incoming grain grading, grain handling, grain storage, liquefaction, fermentation, distillation, distiller grain drying, corn …
Nano-Spike Catalysts Convert CO2 Into Ethanol
Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Lab have developed a way to convert carbon dioxide directly into ethanol. The team is researching an electrochemical process that uses tiny spike of carbon and copper to convert CO2 into ethanol. Their discovery involves nanofabrication and catalysis science. “We discovered somewhat by accident that this material worked,” said ORNL’s Adam …
RFA Hosting Free Ethanol Seminars in Florida
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is hosting free ethanol safety seminars this week in Ocala, Florida on October 17 and 18, 2016 at Florida State Fire College. Attendees will learn proper training techniques that emergency responders and hazmat personnel need to know to effectively respond to an ethanol-related emergency. Those who complete the course will receive Certificates of Completion. Both …
Growth Energy, Sheetz Promote #E15 in N. Carolina
Drive for the Cure 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway took place this week and Sheetz, one of the country’s largest E15 retailers, showcased their car alongside Growth Energy as a means to raise awareness of the ethanol fuel blend. E15, which fueled the Sheetz #62 car, is now available at 61 Sheetz stations across North Carolina. During the promotion, the …
POET to Add Combined Heat & Power to #Ethanol Plants
POET is adding new combined heat and power energy generation systems to six of its biorefineries located in Ohio and Indiana. The new systems, that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve ethanol’s environmental footprint, will reduce the ethanol plants’ reliance on electrical energy grid as well as recover waste energy to be used in the plants. The system will …
Taurus Energy Joins MN Bio-Fuels Association
Sweden-based Taurus Energy has become the latest member of the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association. The company, which also has operations in Minnesota, is a research and development business that develops yeasts for ethanol production, among other industries. “We are pleased to welcome Taurus Energy as our latest vendor member. Taurus Energy has made new forays into yeast technology and we look …
RFA Celebrates National Farmers Day
Today is National Farmers Day and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is sending out a big thank you to farmers in honor of their role in producing food, fuel and fiber for the U.S. and the world. RFA quotes the words of Thomas Jefferson, “Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, …
RaceTrac Expands E15 Access for Customers
RaceTrac announced that it has expanded E15 sales to four locations in Florida, giving consumers access to a higher biofuel blend. RaceTrac recently joined a list of major retailers as part of the Prime the Pump initiative, which works in collaboration with Growth Energy to expand consumer choice for higher blends of ethanol, like E15, to Americans across the nation. …