Ethanol Producers and Consumers’ (EPAC) 18th Annual Ethanol Conference concluded in Kalispell, Montana yesterday. The conference featured more than twenty speakers within the one and a half day event. The focus of this year’s conference was to help dispel the myths of the food and fuel debate. Michelle Kautz of NEVC, Julie Ward of R.J. O’Brien, Steve Markham of CHS, …
Study Offers Objective View of Food Price Drivers
An agricultural public policy group is releasing a new study today that offers a comprehensive, objective assessment of the forces driving food prices. The Farm Foundation study “What’s Driving Food Prices?” was written by three Purdue University economists. Lead author Wally Tyner says that while ethanol demand is definitely the main reason for increased corn prices, the ultimate driver behind …
Open Fuel Standard Act Introduced
U.S. Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS), Ken Salazar (D-CO) and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) today introduced the Open Fuel Standard Act. The legislation would require that half of all new automobiles starting in 2012 be flex-fuel vehicles warranted to operate on gasoline, ethanol, and methanol, or be warranted to operate on biodiesel. The requirement would be increased to 80 percent by 2015. …
EPA Delays Ethanol Waiver Decision
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson announced today that the agency will not meet its July 24 deadline to issue a decision on the renewable fuels standard (RFS) waiver request submitted by Texas Governor Rick Perry. Johnson said in a statement, “Given the amount of work that remains to sufficiently answer the Texas request for a waiver from the …
Candidate Positions on Ethanol
Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain spoke to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Council of Presidents meeting in Washington DC last week by teleconference about various issues of importance to agriculture, including it’s role in America’s energy needs. McCain heralded his “Lexington Project” to make America energy independent which includes alternative fuels, ethanol, nuclear and offshore drilling. The plan …
VeraSun Starts Up New Ethanol Plant
VeraSun Energy has announced the startup of its 110 million gallon per year ethanol biorefinery located near Hankinson, N.D. The Hankinson production facility marks the 12th VeraSun biorefinery in operation, increasing the company’s annual operating capacity to 1.2 billion gallons. Construction on the Hankinson facility began in August of 2006 and was completed in June. The opening of the plant …
Verenium Advances Cellulosic Ethanol in Asia
US biofuels development company Verenium Corporation and Japanese trading company Marubeni Corporation recently announced the opening of a three million-liter-per-year cellulosic ethanol plant in Saraburi, Thailand. The cellulosic plant in Thailand is co-located with a facility that will produce ethanol from sugar-cane derived sucrose, which is widely abundant in the region. Sugar cane bagasse, the biomass residue from the sugar …
Senators Introduce Ethanol Pipeline Bill
Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) have introduced legislation aimed at helping to efficiently bring ethanol to communities across America by giving pipeline owners the same tax benefits they receive for moving petroleum products. The tax code currently states that Publicly Traded Partnerships are supposed to earn 90-percent of income from the exploration, transportation, storage or marketing of …
EPAC Holds Board and Membership Meeting
Ethanol Producers and Consumers (EPAC) kicked off their 18th Annual EPAC Conference on July 20 with their Board and Membership Meeting. The event is taking place at the Hilton Garden Inn in Kalispell, Montana and the theme of this year’s conference is “Ethanol: Fuel AND Food”. “This conference will help to counter the negative news items we hear today regarding …
Australia Race Cars to Run on Ethanol
Race cars in the Land Down Under will be running on 85 percent ethanol next year. Australian media sources report that V8 Supercars chairman Tony Cochrane announced on Sunday that all cars in the main V8 series and the Fujitsu Development Series will run on E85 made from sugar cane for at least five years starting in 2009. “We want …