New EPIC Board Member Man of Many Hats

John Davis

One of the newest board members of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council is a man of many hats. Ray Defenbaugh is the CEO of Big River Resources, a company that’s based in Southeast Iowa. The company already operates a one 100 million gallon ethanol plant and another is under construction. But, Ray doesn’t just know ethanol production. He’s also …

Audio, EPIC, Ethanol, Facilities, News

VeraSun Delays Startup of Third Plant

Cindy Zimmerman

Due to the current market volatility, VeraSun Energy will delay the startup of its 110 million-gallon-per-year ethanol production facility in Hankinson, N.D. This is the third VeraSun facility that has delayed startup operations this month due to market conditions, the other two being Welcome, Minn., and Hartley, Iowa. Construction on the Hankinson facility will be completed by the end of …

Ethanol, Facilities, News

Ethanol Investing Decline

Chuck Zimmerman

The issue of investment and financing for ethanol plants and bio refineries in general was addressed today by Chris Groobey, Baker & McKenzie, LLP. He works on project financing with investors and lenders and mostly in renewable fuels. He painted a pretty bleak picture. In fact, he says the New York investment community is not interested in biofuels right now. …

Audio, Biodiesel, Ethanol, Facilities, Farm Foundation, News

Flexibility and Diversification Key To R&D Risk

Chuck Zimmerman

Two key words in a presentation at the Transition To A Bio Economy Conference were flexibility and diversification. These are important to managing risk, especially in R&D for renewable fuels. Our presenter was Gordon Rausser, University of California, Berkeley, who was here with his assistant Maya Papineau. I interviewed them both together after the presentation. Gordon says that we should …

Audio, Energy, Facilities, Farm Foundation, News, Research

Improving Ethanol Plant Efficiency

Cindy Zimmerman

Improving the efficiency of ethanol plants is critical for a number of reasons, but especially in light of high corn prices that are cutting into margins for producers. POET has been working on improving the efficiency of their plants for years now according to President and CEO Jeff Broin (pictured here on the left with Nathan Schock, director of public …

Ethanol, Facilities, FEW, News

Ethanol Industry Winners

Cindy Zimmerman

Two ethanol plants were honored by the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday with the Energy Star Combined Heat & Power Award. POET Biorefining in Ashton, Iowa, and East Kansas Agri-Energy, LLC in Garnett, Kan., were recognized with the award for reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. In April 2004, POET began full production at an ethanol plant in Ashton. …

Ethanol, Facilities, FEW, News