The Export Exchange 2010 got off to an official and social start this evening with welcoming remarks from U.S. Grains Council President/CEO Tom Dorr (left) and Renewable Fuels Association President/CEO Bob Dinneen. The conference is focused on connecting international buyers of DDGS and coarse grains with the U.S. market. I don’t know what the attendance totals are here but we …
Giant Sweet Potato May Be Viable Ethanol Feedstock
David Letterman is no stranger to ethanol. For several years, Team Ethanol competed on the Rahal Letterman Racing team. However, Letterman may not be well-versed in some of the more unique possible feedstocks that are being researched for ethanol, until this week. On Monday, Letterman was doing a special featuring giant vegetables and North Charleston native and horticulturalist, Janice Ryan-Bohac, …
BlueFire Finalizes Contract for Cellulosic Plant
BlueFire Renewables (formerly BlueFire Ethanol) has announced that it has finalized and signed an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract to build a cellulosic ethanol facility in Fulton, MS. The $296 million biorefinery, which includes a $100 million biomass power plant as part of the facility, will be constructed by Wanzek Construction, a subsidiary of MasTec, Inc. This was an …
Ethanol Summit on Health, Environment & Safety
The Nebraska Ethanol Board is hosting a summit on October 7, 2010 called the 2010 Ethanol Summit on Health, Safety and Environment. The Summit is being held in Grand Island, Nebraska and is targeted to ethanol producers and related industries and will focus on environment and safety regulatory issues within the biofuels industry. Sessions topics include: Recent Risk Management Plan …
Ethanol Report With New RFA Chairman
The board for directors for the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) last week elected Chuck Woodside, General Manager of farmer-owned KAAPA Ethanol in Minden, Nebraska as the new chairman for the organization. The election was held at RFA’s Annual Membership Meeting in Washington, DC. Woodside succeeds Chris Standlee, Executive Vice President of Abengoa Bioenergy, who served for three one-year terms. Chuck …
Green Plains To Aquire Global Ethanol
Green Plains Renewable Energy (GPRE) has announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Global Ethanol’s two operating ethanol plants located in Lakota, Iowa and Riga, Michigan. The two plants have a combined operating capacity of 157 million gallons per year (mmgy). The acquisition will increase GPRE’s annual production capacity by 31 percent bringing them to an annual ethanol …
Ethanol Production Drops Slightly
According to the Renewable Fuels Association, daily ethanol production for the week ending 9/24/2010 averaged 825,000 barrels per day (b/d) or 34.65 million gallon per day. These production numbers are slightly down from the previous week when the ethanol industry produced an average of 850,000 b/d and the four week average of 856,000 b/d. In addition, stocks of ethanol also …
DOE Reconfirms Support for Renewable Fuels
On Wednesday, the Department of Energy sent a letter to the State Energy Program and EECBG program grantees reiterating their support for the deployment of renewable fuels through funds awarded as part of the 2009 Recovery Act. There has been widespread frustration throughout the ethanol industry on the length of time it has taken for these funds to be dispersed …
New Regs Needed for Cellulosic Fuels to See Fruition
According to a new study published today in the October issue of BioScience, “Far-reaching Deleterious Impacts of Regulations on Research and Environmental Studies of Recombinant DNA-modified Perennial Biofuel Crops in the United States,” researchers argue that the current regulatory system will need a monumental overhaul in order for cellulosic bioenergy to reach its true potential. The authors write that cellulosic …
White House Reaffirms Ethanol Support
Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Policy Heather Zichal addressed the annual gathering of Renewable Fuels Association members yesterday. During her talk, she reiterated the President’s commitment to the ethanol industry regardless of feedstock or technology used. More specifically, Zichal addressed some of the current policies in place designed to expand the ethanol industry and the …