The 2011 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is over and that means a lot of bikers went home more aware of ethanol and hopefully better informed about how it performs in their bikes and what it does for our economy. To get a wrap up on how it went for the ethanol promotion sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association I spoke with …
Long Ride To Sturgis
Riding all the way to Sturgis, SD from Richmond, Virginia was Doug Brandmahl. He was one of the participants I spoke with during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Doug says he’s been to Sturgis before and it’s worth all the pain in his butt to get there. He says he hadn’t thought much about ethanol before since it’s blended in all …
Understanding Ethanol Production at Sturgis
As Sturgis winds down I thought I’d share a comment from one of the attendees. He was wearing a Dekalb cap so I figured he might just know something about corn and perhaps ethanol. Joe Randall is from Missouri and was in the crowd that gathered to get some t-shirts. He says his son is on the family farm and …
Level the Playing Field for Biofuels
Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) announced this week his intent to introduce bipartisan legislation in the U.S. Senate that would help level the playing field for advanced biofuels such as algae. He wants to accomplish this by reforming the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) to make it technology agnostic. Of the 36 billion gallons required by the RFS, up to 15 billion …
Court Date Set in GreenShift Patent Infringment Case
A court date has been set for August 22 with Judge Larry McKinney in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Indiana to hear arguments in the consolidated GreenShift patent infringement case. Fifteen ethanol plants have been named in the suit as well as several other companies including ICM, GEA Westfalia Separator, GEA Mechanical, and Flottweg Separation Technology. …
Bikers From Australia See Need For Alternative Fuel
Bikers come a long way to go to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Probably none came any further than these folks from Queensland, Australia. They got some nice t-shirts from the on-location ethanol team. I asked them what they thought of using renewable fuels like ethanol. The answer, “I guess we’re really going to have to do something about an alternative …
Kansas Corn Helping at Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
The ethanol team got a helping hand this week at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally from Jere White, Executive Director, Kansas Corn Growers Association. Here he is handing out promotional t-shirts. I sat down with him to get his thoughts on this promotional opportunity. Jere says the audience is a little different than might have been considered in the past but …
Making Energy More Environmentally Friendly
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally sponsor Interstate Batteries likes seeing ethanol as a sponsor too since both companies are energy oriented. According to Mike Ragan there’s also a tie through the fact that both are working on more environmentally friendly means of producing energy. In my interview with him he describes how they’re changing some very old technology. He also made a …
New Biofuels Projects Funded
Ten new government-funded research projects were announced today to help accelerate bioenergy feedstock production. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited a waste-to-energy bioprocessing facility under construction in Florida today to announce that the Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Energy (DOE) have awarded 10 grants totaling $12.2 million to spur research into improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of growing biofuel and bioenergy …
Honoring Our Fallen Military and Veterans
The Traveling Wall by AVTT was on display at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. This wall contains names of those who have lost their life in service to our country, defending our freedom. I met Charlie Weatherly and John Barron both of whom work for AVTT and travel with the exhibit. Outside of the interview with them which you can listen …