The ethanol industry is criticizing Sen. Tom Coburn’s (R-OK) amendment to eliminate the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) immediately. During the past few months, the ethanol industry has acknowledged that the time is near for the tax credit to be phased out and has offered bipartisan plans to phase out VEETC over the next five years. Growth Energy has …
Ethanol Safety Seminar Coming to Portland
The latest Ethanol Safety Seminar is coming to Portland and will be held on June 15, 2011 at the Portland Community College, Science and Technology Building. The seminar is hosted by the Renewable Fuels Association and the Columbia-Willamette Clean Cities Coalition. There will be two FREE sessions – the first will be from 9:00 am – 2:00 pm and the …
Ethanol Faces Double Attack in Senate
The ethanol industry is facing a double pronged attack in the U.S. Senate. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) went to the floor last night with an amendment to eliminate the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) immediately, while at the same time Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is proposing to eliminate funding of ethanol infrastructure. “It is a two-pronged attack, it is …
Corn Acreage Lowered But Record Crop Still Expected
Farmland flooding is taking its toll on the outlook for corn acreage, but record production is still anticipated. The latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates from USDA out today lowered corn planted area for 2011/12 by 1.5 million acres from March intentions to 90.7 million acres. “Planting delays through early June in the eastern Corn Belt and northern Plains …
Spotted in DC
This advertisement was spotted in Washington DC this week and is part of a Beltway campaign being deployed by the Renewable Fuels Group (RFA). The ethanol organization is also advertising on politically geared websites as well as in DC political magazines such as Roll Call. This is just one element of a broader campaign the group is currently engaged in …
ACE Invites Presidential Candidates to Energy Forum
The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) is inviting the candidates for the 2012 Presidential Election to participate in an energy policy forum in Des Moines, Iowa on Wednesday, August 24, 2011. As part of the open invitation, ACE sent an open letter detailing the ethanol industry’s position on the ethanol tax incentive (VEETC). Last month, former Minnesota Governor Pawlenty called …
Chicagoland Speedway President Talks Ethanol
The President of Chicagoland Speedway is Scott Paddock. He manages a beautiful racing facility. This is a bird’s eye view of the track before the NASCAR STP 300 race. I spoke with Scott who says they’re celebrating their tenth anniversary. We talked about the fact that we were about to see the inaugural STP 300 race as well as the …
7th Annual Biofuels Financial Conference Around the Corner
Despite high oil prices, the financial future of the ethanol industry could be a challenge due to high corn prices, fluctuating energy prices and uncertainty of the future of ethanol policies such as the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC). To learn more about managing plant risk and to foster the environment for the biofuels industry to better work together, …
NASCAR Nationwide Series Says Ethanol Performing Well
The director of the NASCAR Nationwide Series is Joe Balash, pictured here before Saturday’s STP 300 at Chicagoland Speedway. He’s proudly displaying the American Ethanol name around the gas coupler on this car that just happened to be rolling by. That name is on all NASCAR cars. I talked with Joe before the race. He talks about how STP has …
Green Plains Builds Business
Green Plains Renewable Energy announced today its acquisition of a grain storage facility located in Hopkins, Missouri. The grain storage facility can house up to 2 million bushels of grain and was formerly owned by Horizon Grain of Hopkins, Inc and GS Grain LLC. The grain elevator is located about 45 minutes from Green Plains’ ethanol biorefinery in Shenandoah, Iowa. …