The American Coalition for Ethanol announced today the dates for its upcoming Washington DC fly-in. In its third year, the 2011 “Biofuels Beltway March” will be held Tuesday, March 29 and Wednesday, March 30. The timing is such to correspond with the 112th Congress that will be in full swing by that time. In fact, the new Congress is being …
Ethanol Groups Propose Alternative E15 Labels
Last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed an E15 label to support their ruling that cars manufactured after 2007 had the option of fueling with the 15 percent ethanol, 85 percent gasoline blend. The ethanol industry was not too happy with the result and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) said yesterday in a letter to the EPA their …
BIRD Energy Grant Awarded to Virent, HCL CleanTech
A $900,000 BIRD Energy grant has been awarded to Madison, Wisconsin-based Virent Energy Systems, Inc. and Isreal-based HCL CleanTech from the BIRD Foundation along with the U.S. Department of Energy and the Isreali Ministry of National Infrastructures. BIRD Energy is a program for the U.S. and Isreal to jointly develop renewable energy. Virent and HCL have partnered on a $2.1 …
IRFA Elects 2011 Officers
The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) has elected its 2011 Board of Director Officers and Executive Committee. New officers were elected during the organization’s annual meeting and will service a one-year term during the 2011 calendar year. The IRFA was formed in 2002 to represent Iowa’s ethanol and biodiesel producers. “Congratulations to the newly elected officers,” said IRFA Executive Director …
Ethanol Report on the Year Ahead
Now that 2010 is just a memory and Congressional leaders are returning to Washington this week to open the first session of the 112th Congress, what does the future hold for ethanol? In this edition of “The Ethanol Report,” Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen gets out his crystal ball and talks about the year ahead for the …
Protec Fuel Opens Three E85 Sites in Atlanta
Protec Fuel along with Indore Oil Company announce the opening of three new E85 sites in the Atlanta, Georgia vicinity. The three facilities will assist in fueling the nearly 25,000 flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) in the area. Indore Oil partnered with Protec Fuel to offer E85 through the group’s turnkey E85 infrastructure program. “Over the past three years we at …
Gene Opens Up More Potential Biomass for Biofuels
Researchers in Oklahoma have discovered the gene responsible for how dense of material a plant grows, and that discovery could open the door to more biomass for biofuels grown in the same amount of land. This press release from the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation says making denser plants allows farmers to increase the amount of biomass without increasing their agricultural …
Ethanol Report on 2010
As the champagne corks pop this New Year’s Eve, the ethanol industry will be celebrating more than they were a year ago. In this edition of “The Ethanol Report,” Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen talks about the year that 2010 was for the ethanol industry. “In many ways, 2010 was a record setting year,” Dinneen says. It …
China DDGS Dumping Probe Surprises US
The announcement this week out of Beijing that China’s Ministry of Commerce has launched an anti-dumping probe into the ethanol co-product distillers dried grains (DDGS) from the US came as a surprise to the U.S. Grains Council (USGC). “The U.S. Grains Council has a 25 year history of market development and capacity building programs in China and values the U.S./China …
New Yeast Strain Could Help Cellulosic Ethanol Production
A collaborative effort has produced a yeast strain that speeds up the process of making ethanol from cellulosic materials. Researchers at the University of Illinois, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of California at Berkeley, Seoul National University and the oil company BP worked together to develop the newly engineered yeast strain that can simultaneously consume two types of sugar …