The American Coalition for Ethanol meeting in Minneapolis this week honored Congressman Collin Peterson of Minnesota with its highest award for supporters of ethanol, the Merle Anderson award. Anderson himself presented Peterson with the award, as well as an ethanol lapel pin and five dollars for his campaign. Peterson says ethanol has been great for agriculture and he continues to …
RFA Pumping up Ethanol for Motorcycles
The Renewable Fuels Association is pumped up to provide some free 10% ethanol for motorcyclists attending the 74th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally this week. RFA set up this morning for the Free Fuel Happy Hours taking place from 1–4 pm today through Thursday. This is the sixth year that RFA has had a presence at the legendary motorcycle event and …
ACE President Optimistic About Ethanol Industry
American Coalition for Ethanol president Ron Alverson of Dakota Ethanol says there are lots of reasons to excited about the ethanol industry right now. “We’re just super competitive,” Alverson said in his opening comments at the 27th annual ACE conference, showing a graph indicating the positive price spread between ethanol and gasoline. “I think we’re building new markets because of …
ACE Celebrates “Power by People”
This morning during the opening session of the 27th Annual Ethanol Conference, the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) launched a new campaign featuring the people of ethanol. Their redesigned website features personal and authentic stories of the people who built and continue to innovate the ethanol industry. In addition, ACE released a new video, “The Home Place”. “Instead of keeping …
Report Shows Oil Companies Paid 11.7% Tax Rate
According to a new report from Taxpayers for Common Sense, oil companies paid only 11.7 percent of the U.S. income in federal taxes over the last five years. This is compared to the statutory 35 percent corporate tax rate paid by other companies. “This is a perfect example of how the oil industry is allowed to play by a different …
Students Present Research at Ethanol Conference
Several University of Minnesota students are giving the ethanol industry a preview of their cutting-edge research in biofuels, biochemicals and bioproducts during the 27th Annual Ethanol Conference in Minneapolis. One such student is Sahana Ramanna who is a PhD student who is working on improving the pre-treatment technologies used for biomass, specifically Aspen. Ramanna explained that one of the most …
Minnesota Gov Mark Dayton Kicks Off 27th ACE Conf
The 27th Annual Ethanol Conference kicked off last night with some brief remarks from Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton. The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) annual event, taking place at the Depot Renaissance Hotel, began with hundreds of ethanol advocates who heard from Governor Dayton that he appreciated ethanol producers, “for what you are doing,” to boost the nation’s energy independence, …
Increasing Ethanol Yield
One way enzyme technology can help ethanol plants is by yielding more ethanol per bushel of corn. At the recent Corn Utilization and Technology Conference, Nathan Kreel with Novozymes talked about Olexa, a unique enzyme designed for oil recovery. “We developed it mainly to enhance corn oil extraction for the customer, but we are seeing there are a lot of …
Oxygenate from Ethanol and Corn
xF Technologies Inc. is an advanced biofuel company that has developed a chemical process to convert corn or biomass plus alcohol (especially ethanol or methanol) into an oxygenate that can be blended with gasoline and diesel. “It’s a completely chemical process – no enzymes, no bacteria, no fermentation,” said Bob Randle of xF Technologies, who spoke at the recent Corn …
Pacific Ethanol Gets $3 Mil Grant for Sorghum
California-based Pacific Ethanol, Inc. received a $3 million grant from the California Energy Commission to develop sorghum as a feedstock for ethanol. This company news release says it will work with Chromatin, Inc., CSU Fresno’s Center for Irrigation Technology and the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center. This undertaking also includes the California In-State Sorghum Program to support a lasting …