It seems like the number 17 Team Ethanol Indy Car is all over the place. It’s here on display at the Farm Progress Show courtesy of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC). The man who’s been touring this around is Alan Slunecka, farmer and brother to EPIC Executive Director, Tom Slunecka. The vehicle here has a simulator attached and …
Dupont/Bunge Announce Treus
One of the big announcements here at the Farm Progress Show on opening day was from Bunge and Dupont who have a biotech alliance. Basically they’ve created a new brand, “Treus.” This is being done to “reflect their expansion of the companies’ soy collaboration beyond food and nutrition products to include industrial applications, biofuels and other opportunities.” Low linolenic soybean …
Panda Powers Plants With Poop
Texas-based Panda Energy has announced plans to build a 100 million gallon per year ethanol plant in Sherman County, Texas. According to a news release, the Sherman plant will generate the steam used in the ethanol manufacturing process by gasifying more than 1 billion pounds of cattle manure a year. Once complete, it will be one of the most fuel …
Debunking The Food vs. Fuel Myth
The incoming 1st Vice President of the National Corn Growers Association is Ron Litterer, Greene, IA. Here at the Farm Progress Show, I talked to Ron about the impact of using more and more corn for fuel and what his thoughts are on the issue of how that affects other uses of the commodity. Ron’s being interviewed here by Tom …
Monsanto’s Processor Preferred Program
Hello from the Farm Progress Show in Amana Colonies, IA. This is one of the biggest farm shows in the United States. Over 460 companies are on display out here in the middle of a corn field. The weather is not cooperating yet. It’s raining and muddy but I’m sure it will clear up over the next day or so.
Another Record (yawn)
Gotta admit – it’s getting old. Every month is a new record with ethanol production. I mean, just how many times can we say that? But, it’s a good thing – we’ll worry when it starts going down! The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) today announced that U.S. ethanol production increased in June to 318,000 barrels per day (b/d), an all-time …
New Blog on the Block
St. Petersburg Times reporters David Adams and Craig Pittman have started a new Florida-based biofuels blog called The Fueling Station. They promise to “provide regular updates with news about your favorite energy source from renewables to nuclear.” On the site now are interviews with Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Dr. Jose Sifontes in Gainesville talking about “his waste transformation bioreactor …
Ethanol Efficiency Explained by Rocket Scientist
Here’s an interesting commentary from the Providence (RI) Journal written by a “former rocket scientist and combustion specialist.” Maurice Webb is his name and he explains the gasoline vs. ethanol mileage question as follows: The fact is that higher fuel-heating values do not necessarily provide better engine performance (mileage). Engines equipped with carburetors do not perform well with ethanol because …
Ethanolics Anonymous?
There’s a saying in the ethanol world – “drink the best and burn the rest” – but a couple of Iowa State University researchers are out to turn that saying on its head. ISU researchers Hans van Leeuwen and Jacek Koziel are working on a process to quickly and cheaply convert fuel ethanol into the purer alcohol used in cocktails …