Saab has become the first car maker to introduce a flex-fuel vehicle in Australia. Saab officials say the BioPower program will help them gauge demand for ethanol powered vehicles and renewable fuels in Australia, even though E85 is not yet commercially available in the country. According to AutoWeb Australia, Saab introduced the vehicles this week at a promotional event in …
Three More Ethanol Plants For Iowa
A Dallas company plans to built three new ethanol plants in Iowa that could produce up to 300 million gallons of fuel a year. According to the Des Moines Register, Harvest BioFuels LLC is scheduled to begin construction of a plant near Galbraith in eastern Kossuth County in April, with onstruction of plants near Garner in Hancock County and near …
Bill Would Increase Biofuels Infrastructure
Senator John Thune (R-SD) and Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO) this week introduced bi-partisan legislation designed to increase the availability of alternative fuels at the pump. According to Sen. Thune’s press office, the Alternative Energy Refueling Systems Act would provide for increased energy security for Americans by providing incentives for gas station owners across the country to install alternative fuel tanks, …
Upcoming Biomass Conference
Mark your calendars for Biomass and Biorefinery Deals 2007 March 26th-28th in Washington, D.C. Industry leaders along with government officials, and equity and venture financiers will get together at D.C.’s AED Conference Center to discuss the financial end of biomass operations. They will address federal incentives and programs for the development of new biomass energy projects, as well as the …
CBOT Official Says Biodiesel Contracts Still in the Future
Following up on Cindy’s post about the Reuter’s Global Biofuels Summit, I ran across this bit of news about the future of biodiesel futures from Reuters. The chief economist at the Chicago Board of Trade, Dave Lehman, told attendees at the summit that the biodiesel market is still not big enough to be a hedging tool. The biodiesel market is …
Reuters Global Biofuels Summit
Reuters News Service held a Global Biofuels Summit this week featuring industry leaders addressing a number of topics. Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla told Reuters that he predicts “a rapid rise in cellulosic ethanol production and utility-grade solar power.” Khosla says cellulosic technology is getting closer and closer to the market. “Remember, last year (cellulosic ethanol) was six to 10 years …
Ethanol Should Drive Farm Machinery Sales
When farmers are making money, they tend to spend it on better farm equipment. With grain prices higher and the biofuels business booming, the outlook is bright for farm machinery sales in 2007. According to a Reuters report, sales of farm equipment were disappointing last year despite the higher corn prices, but one industry analyst expects that to turn around …
Diamond Investment Opportunity
Meetings begin this week in Illinois to interest investors in the Diamond Ethanol plant at Charleston. Green Lion Bio-Fuels is the developer of the plant and others underway in Streator (Emerald Ethanol LLC), and Beardstown (Prairie Breeze Ethanol LLC). The meetings will offer interested farmers, landlords, and other off-farm investors an opportunity to buy shares in the Diamond Ethanol plant. …
Pacific Ethanol Announces Idaho Groundbreaking
Pacific Ethanol will soon begin construction on a 50 million gallon per year ethanol facility in Burley, Idaho according to a company announcement. The plant would be located mid-way between Boise and Salt Lake City, Utah and is expected to begin construction within the next thirty days. The Burley Idaho plant site is located on a parcel of 177 acres, …
Ethanol and Hydrogen Working Together
The Energy & Environmental Research Center at the University of North Dakota is leading a project to demonstrate the production of hydrogen at existing and future ethanol facilities in a unique, economical way, providing a near-term path toward a hydrogen economy. According to a center press release, the hydrogen produced could be used on-site in fuel cells to provide additional …