The president of the American Coalition for Ethanol is a great representative of this grassroots organization that was formed in 1988 – a family farmer from South Dakota who believes in the ability of agriculture to help serve the nation’s energy needs. “We have to keep reminding ourselves how fast we’ve grown in a relatively short time and answered the …
First Blender Pump Opens in Ord, NE
Ord, Nebraska has a new blender pump. Country Partners Cooperative joined forces with Growth Energy to install the community’s first blender pump that now offers flex-fuel drivers E20 and E30. Driver’s can fill up with these higher ethanol blends at 424 North 14th Street, on the corner of Highway 70 and Highway 11. “We took advantage of Growth Energy’s funding …
ACE Looks at Big Issues Facing Ethanol Industry
Attendance at the 23rd annual Ethanol Conference and Trade Show this week is considerably smaller than it was when the American Coalition for Ethanol meeting was held here in Kansas City just a few years ago – but the issues facing the industry have never been bigger. As everyone knows, two major policy-driven challenges face the industry – expiration of …
The Economics of Ethanol from Corn Cobs
Producing a significant amount of ethanol strictly from corn cobs is possible but would require a specific set of circumstances to be economically feasible, according to a new report from Purdue University researchers. In the report “The Economics of Harvesting Corn Cobs for Energy,” Matthew Erickson and Wallace Tyner found that factors such as corn yield, farm size, harvesting equipment …
Ethanol Report on the Climate in Washington
It’s August in the nation’s capitol and the climate is hazy, hot and humid with a chance of afternoon thundershowers, which Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen says kind of describes what is happening on Capitol Hill these days as well – especially the hazy and stormy part. In this edition of “The Ethanol Report,” Dinneen discusses the …
Senators Press EPA and DOE on Ethanol Issues
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and a group of bipartisan senators met with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and Department of Energy (DOE) Deputy Secretary Daniel Poneman this week to discuss delays in the approval of E15 ethanol blend for vehicles, as well as other key issues related to the ethanol industry. Harkin says they talked with the officials about the importance …
Cane and Corn Ethanol Updates
The sugarcane harvest in Brazil is running ahead of schedule and the U.S. corn crop is progressing well, according to the latest reports. The cane crush in Brazil so far this year is running about 20 percent ahead of last year, which is not necessarily good news according to the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association’s (UNICA). Technical Director Antonio de Padua …
Brazil Aids Kenya with Sugarcane Ethanol Development
In past posts, I’ve written (or re-published) about how countries like Brazil are taking a leadership role in global biofuels development. I came across an article recently in the Business Daily that discusses how Brazilian biofuels experts are working with Kenya to boost their biofuels development. While there are still global concerns about biofuels relationship to food, especially food security, …
Tennessee’s Biomass Innovation Park Breaks Ground
Yesterday, Dallas Tonsager, the Under Secretary for Rural Development for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was on hand for the groundbreaking ceremony for Tennessee’s Biomass Innovation Park. The park is a unique campus that will develop technology to integrate and optimizes the entire biomass supply chain. It will also be the site for a $5 million Department of Energy-funded high-tonnage …