You may have heard of a Tequila Sunrise – well, this is an Ethanol Sunrise. Chuck Zimmerman took these shots of the sun rising on the Poet Biorefining plant in Laddonia, Missouri Tuesday on his way to the 2007 InfoAg Conference in Springfield, Illinois. According to POET’s website, POET Biorefining – Laddonia began operations in September of 2006. The state-of-the …
First Sugarcane Ethanol Plant Planned
Gay & Robinson Inc. and Pacific West Energy LLC have formed a partnership to develop the first fuel ethanol plant in America to create renewable power and clean-burning ethanol fuel from sugarcane. The new 12-million-gallon-per-annum plant will use sugar juice and molasses as feedstock. According to a news release, “the newly created partnership, Gay & Robinson Ag-Energy LLC, will also …
Governor’s Ethanol Challenge
The Minnesota Governor’s Ethanol Challenge is happening this week at four Wissota dirt tracks– July 10 in Alexandria, July 11 in Madison, July 12 in Willmar and July 13 in Montevideo. According to the American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest, the Midwest Modified class races are “auto racing at its roots – loud, local and promoting an alternative fuel …
Biofuel Output Forecast
The International Energy Agency is forecasting that global biofuel output will double from 2006 levels to 1.75 million barrels a day in 2012. According to a Dow Jones newswire report, the agency included its second annual report on biofuels in its medium-term oil market report through to 2012, released on Monday. IEA also raised its 2006 biofuel supply baseline by …
EPIC and RFA at Green Grand Prix
Hybrid and alternative fueled vehicles were in the spotlight July 6 at the Green Grand Prix in Watkins Glen, NY. The event is organized annually by the Seneca Lake Pure Waters Association, according to Executive Director Carol Fitzgerald. “This was our third annual Green Grand Prix and it was tremendously successful,” said Fitzgerald. “The goal of the event was to …
U.S. House Allows Sugar as Ethanol Stock
The U.S. House Agriculture Committee is considering a measure that would allow U.S. growers to sell cane and beet sugar for making ethanol. It’s part of an 111-page proposal updating U.S. agriculture subsidies. This Reuters story says the proposal was written by Ag Committee chair Cong. Collin Peterson of Minnesota: Support rates for sugar would rise under the proposal, to …
Shipping Ethanol Could Be Literally On Track
Ethanol producers facing the dilemma of not being able to ship much of their fuel through pipelines… but also not wanting to burn more fuel to make deliveries of the green fuel… have found the answer in an industry that can ship large quantities at a relatively cheaper price than semi-trucks: trains. This article in Business Week says the boon …
US Tells EU No Way on Ethanol Ban
C Boyden Gray, the American representative to the European Union, says his country won’t be considering any ban on ethanol production for fuel. The US program has come under some fire for using a food source, corn, to make the fuel source, ethanol. Forbes.com reports his comments came during an international conference in Brussels, Belgium: ‘The only way to stop …
Cellulose Poised to Unseat Corn as Ethanol King
Corn-based ethanol, right now, is the king of the alternative energy world, but experts say ethanol made from cellulose is the next big thing on the horizon. This story on CNN.com says while lawmakers in Washington, DC are debating a far-reaching energy bill with lots in it pertaining to renewable fuels, they want more of those biofuels to come from …
Georgia Cellulosic Plant Gets Permit
Range Fuels has been awarded a construction permit from the state of Georgia to build the first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in the United States. According to the company, ground breaking will take place this summer in Treutlen County, Georgia for a 100-million-gallon-per-year cellulosic ethanol plant that will use wood waste from Georgia’s forests as its feedstock. Phase 1 of …