The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking comments on a petition to deregulate corn that has been genetically engineered to produce a microbial enzyme that facilitates ethanol production. USDA’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has regulated the corn, developed by Syngenta, since 2002. If approved, the petition would allow the corn, which goes by the name Event 3272, to …
Sweet New Crop for Ethanol
A Seattle-based biotechnology company is working on developing a crop that is somewhat of a cross between corn and sugar cane. According to a story in the Kansas City Star, Targeted Growth has been testing “sugarcorn” in test plots in Illinois and Indiana. Sugarcorn is a takeoff on a type of maize grown in the tropics, which grows traditional ears …
Biodiesel, Ethanol Part of Alberta RFS
Some of our friends north of the border seem to be taking a cue from us, as Alberta has enacted a renewable fuel standard of 5% ethanol and 2% biodiesel by 2010 as part of Premier Ed Stelmach’s Provincial Energy Strategy: This new standard of five-per-cent ethanol in gasoline and two-per-cent renewable content in diesel by 2010 will help Alberta …
New Energy Secretary Involved in Ethanol Research
President-elect Barack Obama has chosen Dr. Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, to be his Secretary of Energy. Dr. Chu has been heavily involved in biofuels research to find alternative and more efficient feedstocks for ethanol and biodiesel production. At a 25x’25 Renewable Energy Summit earlier this year in Omaha, Chu said, …
USDA Lowers Corn Usage for Ethanol
The latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate (WASDE) from USDA projects less corn being used for ethanol this year. According to the report released this morning, ethanol use for corn was lowered by 300 million bushels lower “as prospects for blending above federally mandated levels decline.” Financial problems for ethanol producers are reducing plant capacity utilization for existing plants …
Positive Ethanol Plant News
Despite the tough economic climate for all industries, including ethanol, there are still some plants moving toward production. BioFuel Energy Corp. of Denver has reached a debt repayment plan with Cargill and two other debt holders to help the company get two plants on-line in Nebraska and Minnesota. According to a release from BioFuel Energy, “Despite the significant hedging losses …
Automakers Submit Loan Plans-Reaffirm Commitment to FFVs
Reported from the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, the Detroit 3 automakers (Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors) submitted plans to the Congress which seek bridge loan funds in order to sustain business operations during a period of unprecedented decline in demand for new motor vehicles. As part of each of their business plans, the Detroit 3 restated their previous commitments to …