Dario Franchitti Peak 300 and Indy Series Champ

John Davis

Just one word is fitting for Canadian Club Driver Dario Franchitti: Champion. Dario cinched the the 2007 Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 after Scott Dixon fell behind the Scottish driver in the last few hundred feet of the race after racing with Dario neck and neck. The win also secured Dario the 2007 IndyCar Series Title. The Andretti Green Racing teammate …

EPIC, Ethanol, Indy Racing, News, Production, Promotion, Racing

Team Ethanol To Be Featured On TV

John Davis

While I was out shooting Team Ethanol Driver Ryan Hunter-Reay during the first practice run I got into a friendly competition for the best shots with the production crew working with John Basset. John clued me into to exciting news that Ryan Hunter-Reay is being featured on RushHD TV, a television channel that focuses on sports around the world and …

EPIC, Ethanol, Indy Racing, News, Production, Promotion, Racing

VeraSun Production Feeds EPIC Promotion

John Davis

VeraSun Energy, one of the country’s largest producers of ethanol, aims to expand its business as consumers become more educated about the fuel. Marketing Director Melissa Ullerich said VeraSun Energy supplies E85 fuel to more than 90 locations. Melissa said with plants in Aurora, SD, Fort Dodge, IA and Charles City, IA the company produces about 340 million gallons of …

Audio, BIO, E85, EPIC, Ethanol, Indy Racing, News, Production, Promotion, Racing

Committee Passes Energy Bill

Cindy Zimmerman

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has approved energy legislation that calls for 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels use by 2022. The bill also provides the necessary incentives to spur the development of commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol production. The bill received bi-partisan support in the committee, with eight Republicans and 12 Democrats voting in favor of passage. Three Republicans …

Biodiesel, Cellulosic, Energy, Ethanol, Government, News, Production

US BioEnergy Claims Title of Largest “Pure Play” Producer

Cindy Zimmerman

US BioEnergy Corporation has announced that with its Albert City and Central City ethanol plants now in commercial production the company can claim the title of “largest pure-play ethanol producer in the United States.” “This is an important milestone for our company and to the revitalization of the American heartland,” said Gordon Ommen, CEO and chairman. “It’s the spirit and …

Ethanol, News, Production

Taking the Gas Out of Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

Iowa State University researchers are working to cut the use of natural gas from the production of ethanol, which would make it less expensive to make since natural gas is the second largest expense in the ethanol process behind the corn. ISU Mechanical Engineering professor Ted Heindel, says they’re working with Frontline BioEnergy of Ames, Iowa to develop “fluidized bed …

Ethanol, Production, Research

Developing Corn For Ethanol

Chuck Zimmerman

Testing For StarchI 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.

Audio, Biotech, Ethanol, Production

Sugar Not So Sweet For Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

Producing ethanol from sugar cane or sugar beets in the U.S. would cost about 2 1/2 times more than it costs to produce it from corn. That is according to a long-awaited USDA study on the economics of producing ethanol from sugar authored by the agriculture department’s top economist Keith Collins. The detailed report compares production scenerios for sugar cane, …

Ethanol, Production