The US Secretaries of Energy and Agriculture each talked about the need for cellulosic ethanol in two different venues this week. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman speaking at the Chicagoland Innovation Summit on Tuesday said ethanol is America’s best alternative energy source for the future, but researchers must develop a material other than corn to make it from. According to a …
HyVee Gas Pump in Iowa
Hello from Iowa. I’m not up here for anything related to renewable fuels but when you’re a blogger you see things of interest everywhere. I gassed up at a HyVee gas station and their higher octane gas containing ethanol was a lower price than regular. All the pumps have ethanol labels that promote the fuel additives benefits for cleaner air.
AgriTalking about Ethanol
Ethanol is pretty much a daily topic of discussion on the “AgriTalk” radio show that airs on about 70 mostly Corn-belt area radio stations, as well it should be considering major sponsors of the program include ADM, Monsanto, VeraSun, and National Corn Growers. Here are a couple of recent programs: Ethanol design company Fagen Inc. was a major sponsor of …
McCooking With Ethanol
The state of Nebraska is receiving $38 million from the USDA Rural Development agency for renewable energy and conservation, with most of the money to be used for an ethanol plant in McCook. According to the McCook Daily Gazatte, the funding incudes a “$10 million Renewable Energy Systems Guaranteed loan and a $25 million Business and Industry Guaranteed loan to …
Heartland Energy Sells Dogwood Stills
Heartland Energy Group Inc. of Louisiana is setting up the backyard still. A press release from Heartland announces the receipt of ethanol production equipment from Dogwood Energy, LLC (see previous post). Heartland Energy will exclusively sell and market Dogwood’s full line of ethanol stills and related ethanol products in the Louisiana territory. In addition, the agreement grants Heartland Energy, first …
Ethanol Market Reports
Fall is bringing in a bumper crop of stories about ethanol earnings, corn prices and whether the gold rush is over. Associated Press, NEW YORK — Makers of ethanol, an alternative fuel derived from corn, witnessed a third-quarter retreat from the strong industry conditions that characterized the second quarter: peak oil and ethanol prices, and rapid demand growth for ethanol …
Political Ethanol
Ethanol has become a campaign issue in many areas, with political candidates often trying to outdo each other in proving how supportive they are of domestic fuels. Take Missouri, for example. This story from the Columbia Missourian reports: There’s consensus on ethanol among the candidates for state representative seats in two rural Missouri districts: It’s good for farmers, good for …
Third Alternative Energy Plant Announced
Kansas City-based Alternative Energy Sources Inc. has announced plans to build a 110-million-gallon ethanol plant in Greenville, Ill., 45 miles east of St. Louis. According to a company release, this follows announcements in August that the company plans to build ethanol plants in Central Iowa and Northern Illinois.
Buy American
American Ethanol has broken first ground on its way to a planned two billion gallons of annual ethanol production. The Chicago-based company broke ground last week on the first of 15 planned 100+ gallon-per-year facilities in Nebraska and Illinois. Sutton, Nebraska was the site for the ceremony on Thursday, according to this story from the Lincoln Journal-Star. Another groundbreaking is …
Confusion Over E85 Pump Certification
Reports from the Detroit Free Press about E85 pumps losing their safety rating from Underwriters Laboratory are causing quite a bit of confusion in the ethanol world. Justin Hyde of the Free Press Washington Bureau followed up his first report yesterday with another one today giving further information, as well as an article in USA Today. The initial report had …