Our Secretary of Agriculture, Ed Schafer, made his first major public policy speech today at the Cattle Industry Convention in Reno, NV. I had the pleasure of meeting him and talked someone into snapping a photo too. I thought you might be interested in hearing an audio clip from his speech here this morning since he hit the subject of …
Biofuels Put on Defensive Again
Biofuels were put on the defensive once again as the journal Science published new studies that claim biofuels are worse for global warming than fossil fuels. Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dinneen issued a statement which said the studies took a simplistic view of land use. “Understanding the land use changes occurring around the globe is important to developing strategies …
Ethanol Education Pack and Contests
The science of ethanol can now be taught in the classroom in an informative and entertaining way with the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council’s (EPIC) new educational fun pack and student contests. The pack includes six different units for teachers – English, geography, science, math, vocabulary, and social studies. It also includes lots of fun stuff like the “How Ethanol …
US BioEnergy and VeraSun Pick Sioux Falls
VeraSun Energy and US BioEnergy will be moving in together later this year to start life as a merged company in Sioux Falls, SD. The two companies announced plans to get hitched back in late November and the marriage is expected to be finalized by the end of the first quarter of 2008, with the completion of the transition to …
Coskata Teams With ICM for First Plant
Next generation ethanol company Coskata on Wednesday announced an agreement with ICM Inc. to design and construct a commercial ethanol plant using Coskata’s biological fermentation technology. Last month, the young company made a splash at the North American international Auto Show in Detroit where a strategic partnership with General Motors was announced. Bill Roe, president and CEO of Coskata said, …
Biodiesel Energy Balance Improves
A new analysis was unveiled today at the National Biodiesel Conference in Orlando that shows the energy balance of biodiesel is a positive ratio of 3.5-to-1, up from the 3.2 to 1 ratio determined by the Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) and USDA in 1998. According to a release from the National Biodiesel Board, the new research …
Food Versus Fuel Session at Biodiesel Conference
One of the most popular sessions at this week’s National Biodiesel Conference in Orlando was “What’s the Rule on Food Vs. Fuel?” which featured a panel of experts including Chris Schroeder with Centrec Consulting, Jim Duffield with USDA and John Urbanchuk of LECG, LLC. All speakers made the point that biofuels may be getting the blame for higher prices, but …
RFA to Testify on Energy Act
The president of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) will present testimony Thursday to the Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee at a hearing on the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. Dinneen’s intends to tell the committee that the American ethanol industry stands ready to do its part to make the law successful. Putting the importance of developing a …
NASA-Funded Research to Study Biofuels Crops Impact
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is funding a $738,000 three-year study by South Dakota State University looking at possible environmental changes that could accompany a shift toward new biofuel crops such as perennial grasses. The three-year study will focus on land use in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, western Minnesota and northern Iowa. “If you look at one …
Iowans Choose Ethanol
According to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA), Iowans chose E10 nearly 74 percent of the time in 2007. This is up from 69 percent in 2006 and just below the all-time record of 75 percent set in 2005. “Iowa’s ethanol sales were strong in 2007 as E10 was often 10 to 13 cents per gallon cheaper than gasoline without …