Ethanol production increased another 14,000 barrels per day in February to 302,000 barrels (or 12.7 million gallons). That’s yet another new record, according to figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) publicized by the Renewable Fuels Association. RFA president Bob Dinneen says, “These numbers completely dispel the myth of ethanol shortages this driving season.”
Shrubby Willow Biofuel
A company called Genesis in New Zealand is studying the use of a shrubby willow to produce ethanol. Genesis CEO Dr. Stephen Hall was at BIO 2006 in Chicago where Chuck met him. He gave us a call last week to do an interview over the phone about this plant and its potential as an ethanol source. Hall says salix …
Switchgrass on Steroids
It’s called miscanthus and it’s a relative of switchgrass that’s WAY bigger, as you can see by the picture. University of Illinois researcher Stephen Long and graduate assistant Emily Heaton (in the picture, next to the giant grass – she’s only 5’4″) have been growing miscanthus for four years in Illinois. According to this article from Agriculture Online: In the …
New ADM CEO
ADM, the world’s largest producer of ethanol, has picked a Big Oil exec to run Big Ethanol. According to a company release, Archer Daniels Midland Company announced that Patricia A. Woertz has been selected as President, Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors, succeeding G. Allen Andreas, who remains as Chairman of the Board. Woertz, 53, most …
Hearing Panelists
Finally got around to editing some of the audio from the Senate Ag Committee hearing on biofuels yesterday. Separate sound files from each of the panelists, linked on their names, all around 5:00 in length. Renewable Fuels Association president Bob Dinneen talks about importance of ethanol in today’s market. “Today’s industry consists of 97 biorefineries… blended in 40 percent of …
Alcohol School
No, not how to drink it – how to make it. The Ethanol Technology Institute sponsors this event which will be in Toulouse, France at the end of next month. Ethanol Technology is owned by Lallemand Specialties, Inc. For 25 years, The Alcohol School has been educating fuel ethanol and distilled beverage producers in the science of alcohol production. The …
Back to the Future
JW is back from “spring fever” break and sent in this post from the future. Here’s a link to a real cool short film about the positive impact of alternative fuels. I found it from Joel Makower who worked on the project and works to promote green business. The goal was to take the doom out of global warming and …
Hate Message?
I had been meaning to do a post on this billboard, which I see every day crossing over the Missouri River bridge into Jefferson City, just because I thought it was great advertising. Now, the darn thing is causing controversy because it “implies hate and discrimination for no reason” according to the president of the St. Louis chapter for the …
The BOLD and the Biofuels
Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) is pushing a BOLD new energy initiative – BOLD, as in Breaking Our Long-term Dependence. Sen. Conrad introduced the legislation just before the spring recess and he talked about the details during this morning’s Senate Agricutlure Committee hearing on the future of biofuels. The BOLD act calls for “extending biodiesel and ethanol tax credits through 2013. …
If Talk were Fuel…
It would be cheap in our nation’s capitol. I just spent the past two hours and 15 minutes listening to the Senate Agriculture Committee hearing on Biofuels. The first hour was taken up with comments from 13 of the senators in attendance – thanking everyone for holding the meeting, saying how much they looked forward to hearing testimony from the …