The governor of Nebraska and representatives from the Renewable Fuels Association and the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council will be in “the Irish capital of Nebraska” this Friday for the groundbreaking of Holt County Ethanol, a subsidiary of Midwest Ethanol Producers. The O’Neill plant will produce more than 100 million gallons of ethanol each year, along with 350,000 tons of …
It’s What Michigan Wants
Michigan-based retailer Meijer opened its first E85 ethanol fueling station this week in Warren, MI. According to a company release, the pump is one of 20 which will be installed at Meijer gas stations across the state before the end of this year. In April, Meijer, General Motors, CleanFUEL USA and the State of Michigan announced a collaborative partnership to …
MU Economists Study Ethanol Impact
Demand for ethanol is shifting Midwest acreage away from soybeans and into corn, according to a University of Missouri agricultural economist. “Ethanol has major implications for corn acreage,” Pat Westhoff with the MU Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute said in an MU press release. New FAPRI projections indicate fewer acres planted to soybeans and wheat as more acres are …
Developing Corn For Ethanol
I just finished up a day at Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc. in Raleigh, NC. Although I blogged the event on AgWired I did run into an interesting story about ethanol. Syngenta is developing an amylase enzyme trait into corn which they hope to have on the market by 2008. In this picture a Syngenta scientist is conducting a simple iodine test for starch. That’s because the amylase enzyme speeds up starch conversion to sugar.
Georgia on Xethanol’s Mind
Xethanol Corporation has announced plans to construct a 50 million gallon per year cellulosic ethanol plant in Augusta, Georgia which would begin producing ethanol by mid-2007. According to a company release, the plant will be constructed on the site of a Pfizer pharmaceutical manufacturing complex that Xethanol will be closing on within 30 days. Christopher d’Arnaud-Taylor, Chairman and CEO of …
Making the Switch
USDA’s Agricultural Research Service says switching to switchgrass would make sense to make ethanol. A report in this month’s ARS magazine says “this deep-rooted carbon-storing perennial has great biofuel production potential.” This native perennial has been shown to store more soil carbon than the major U.S. farm crops. They found that switchgrass stores most of its carbon deep underground….The reason …
Focus on Ford in London
Ford has been generating ethanol excitement this week at the British International Motor Show in London with its Ford Focus FFVs. Ford announced that UK supermarket giant Morrison’s – which recently became the first retailer to sell “bio-ethanol” – became the proud owner of the 1,000,000th Ford Focus FFV sold in the country. The company also announced that the Focus …
Toyota “Considering” FFVs
While all of the “Big Three” U.S. car makers are pushing their lines of flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs) capable of running on up to 85 percent ethanol, Toyota continues to mull it over. A press release this week quoted Toyota Motor North America president Jim Press saying, Toyota is strongly considering introducing a flex-fuel vehicle program in the U.S. “We’re already …
Bush Praises IRL Ethanol Use
The Indy Racing League made a White House call Tuesday to meet with President Bush and talk about racing and ethanol. Indy 500 winner Sam Hornish Jr. presented the president with an autographed racing helmet and IRL CEO Tony George “shared a brief exchange” with Bush about ethanol, according to an IRL news release. The IndyCar Series is using a …
Pretty BioWoman
The stars just keep coming out for biofuels. The latest to lend a name to the domestic fuel movement is none other than Oscar-winning actress Julia Roberts, according to a release from Earth Biofuels. Ms. Roberts joins fellow Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman and country music legend Willie Nelson in promoting the use of renewable fuels such as Earth Biofuels’ biodiesel and …