NASCAR Champ is Excited About Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

Former NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace may not be on the track racing himself anymore, but he is still a team owner and racing analyst and he is thrilled that every series in NASCAR will be using a 15 percent blend of ethanol this year.

IRFA Rusty Wallace“When we hit Daytona, get ready,” Wallace said. “Because NASCAR is the number one source of motor sports in the entire world and when NASCAR runs ethanol, it’s going to be on everybody’s radar.”

As the keynote speaker at the Iowa Renewable Fuels (IRFA) Summit on Tuesday, Wallace stressed the power of ethanol, the fuel efficiency, the clean burning of the fuel, and the extensive testing that has been done in the cars with ethanol blends. “All they did was take the E15 and put it into current race engines,” he said. “We have run the blend of ethanol up to 30 percent in our NASCAR engines. It keeps making more power the higher we go.”

Wallace gave a lot of credit for NASCAR’s use of ethanol to Growth Energy, the lead group in the American Ethanol partnership with NASCAR. “These guys have really worked their brains out with NASCAR putting this program together to get E15 on the racetrack,” he said. “Without Growth Energy this wouldn’t have happened.”

Listen to or download Wallace’s address at IRFA here: Rusty Wallace at Iowa RFA Summit


IOWA RENEWABLE FUELS SUMMIT PHOTO ALBUM

Audio, Ethanol, Growth Energy, NASCAR

Clark to Coordinate NE Corn Board Ethanol Program

John Davis

There’s a new face on the Nebraska Corn Board staff, and she’ll serve as the board’s ag program manager coordinating ethanol programming.

Kimberly Clark will direct the board’s efforts to increase in-state demand for ethanol, improve and expand the infrastructure of blender pumps and ethanol movement within and outside Nebraska, as well as maintaining a working relationship with ethanol development staff in other corn-producing states, the National Corn Growers Association, ethanol industry groups and Nebraska’s ethanol plants:

“The ethanol industry is critical to Nebraska and Nebraska corn farmers, so having Kimberly on staff to coordinate our ethanol programs is significant,” said Don Hutchens, executive director of the Nebraska Corn Board. “Kimberly’s background and experience will help continue the success we’ve seen with ethanol, and her ability to connect with and educate consumers about ethanol will be a tremendous asset.”

Clark, a native Nebraskan from Leigh, comes to the board from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she served as the research project coordinator in dairy-related research projects.

corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, News

Former Senator is Biofuels Convert

Cindy Zimmerman

IRFA Rick SantorumFormer Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania was never a believer in ethanol, biodiesel and other forms of renewable energy until one devastating day in American history.

“I looked at this issue differently, until 9/11,” the senator said during an address at the Iowa Renewable Fuels (IRFA) Summit in Des Moines on Tuesday. “To me, 9/11 changed the game as we look at energy production in this country.”

Santorum believes that domestic production of renewable liquid fuels in critical to this country’s national security. “Post 9/11, I went from someone who was skeptical at best of developing domestic sources of energy, to being a grand proponent of such things,” he said. “My pledge to you is to work with this industry to create a bigger and bigger place in the market for domestically produced ethanol and biodiesel.”

Santorum, a conservative Republican who served two terms in the U.S. House and two terms in the Senate, is considering a run for president in 2012 – as is former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich who also spoke at the IRFA event this week.

Listen to or download Santorum’s address at IRFA here: Rick Santorum at Iowa RFA Summit


More photos from the IOWA RENEWABLE FUELS SUMMIT

Audio, Biodiesel, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government

E85 Workshop to be Held in San Antonio

Cindy Zimmerman

Coming up next month, the Alamo Area Council of Governments Clean Cities Coalition, in partnership with the FFV Club of America and Protec Fuel, will be conducting an E85 workshop in San Antonio, Texas.

The workshop is being held to continue the steps towards advancing transportation choices and economic development in the region, targeting local government officials, business decision makers, fleets, media professionals, and interested citizens on the benefits and opportunities of flex fuel vehicles and ethanol. It will also connect key flex fuel vehicle fleets with ethanol fuel providers.

Topics covered at the workshop will include: Federal/ State/Private FlexFuel Vehicle fleet in Texas, E85 refueling locations, fuel ethanol production; Meeting the Energy Policy Act, National Renewable Fuel Standards, upcoming compliance issues; Refueling infrastructure funding opportunities, supply logistics, blending economics, future opportunities, 2nd generation ethanol in Texas; National public education and outreach campaign and assistance from national ethanol organizations; FFV fleet operators will share their experiences and provide their lessons learned to the group; and an open forum for fleet managers, fuel providers, and technical assistant support teams to exchange information.

Ethanol workbooks and program materials will also be handed out at this workshop.

The workshop is FREE and will include a lunch beginning at noon and concluding at 3 p.m. on February 10 at the Alamo Area Council of Governments in San Antonio. To RSVP for this workshop, contact Yliana Flores at nrtemp@aacog.com.

E85, Education, Ethanol, Ethanol News

President’s Energy Goals Sound Familiar

Cindy Zimmerman

Representatives of the renewable fuels industry were pleased to hear President Obama talking about energy independence during his State of the Union address last night, saying that we need to “break our dependence on oil with biofuels, and become the first country to have a million electric vehicles on the road by 2015” as well as mentioning wind and solar, nuclear, clean coal and natural gas, and even alluding to the promise of algae as an energy source. However, the goals that Obama laid out are very similar to the goals presidents of this country have been talking about for decades.

Obama SOTU 2011Yesterday’s Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit in Des Moines concluded with a piece that aired on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” in June 2010 about how the last eight presidents have gone on television and promised to move America towards a more energy independent future. The segment was filled with Stewart’s trademark humor, but it is sobering to think about how long this country has been touting energy independence and yet still be facing so many hurdles, skeptics and downright enemies who continue to impede that progress.

Stewart showed clips of all of the past eight presidents, from Nixon to Obama, talking about moving “beyond a petroleum-based economy,” first playing clips of both Obama and George W. Bush saying almost the exact same words. He follows up with Clinton, Bush 42, Reagan, Carter, Ford and Nixon making similar statements and talking about ideas like solar, natural gas, fuel cells and even “gasohol.”

Funny, but unfortunately, way too true. Take a look.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
An Energy-Independent Future
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog</a> The Daily Show on Facebook
biofuels, Commentary, Ethanol, Government, Solar, Video, Wind

Sustainability Hard To Define

Chuck Zimmerman

We had the most results of any ZimmPoll so far with the question: “What does “sustainability” really mean to the public?” By a big margin, most say “A combination of factors” at 47%. That’s followed by “Farm managed for profit/growth,” 25%; “green,” 13%; “organic,” 10% and “local,” 5%. So I think it’s safe to say that sustainability is not understood to mean any one thing and probably within the ag community as well as the general public. For this reason I don’t see how we can expect people to agree on a definition much less use this word to create meaningful legislation. Your thoughts?

Our next ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question of our farm readers, “Which tillage practice do you employ on most of your farming operation?” Let us know and thank you for participating.

ZimmPoll is sponsored by Rhea+Kaiser, a full-service advertising/public relations agency.

ZimmPoll

Canola Biodiesel-Powered Jet Car Heading to Vegas

John Davis

A jet car that runs on biodiesel made from canola is expected to be featured in one of the premier car shows later this year.

Western Canada’s PortageOnline.com reports the Prairie Gold, owned by Kevin and Gwen Therres of Prairieland Motorsports, produces 7,500 horsepower and can make it up to 254 miles per hour in a quarter mile (see some pretty cool video of it in action below), and it will be featured at the SEMA show in Las Vegas:

“We were just at the PRI (Performance Racing Industry) show in Orlando. They came to us at PRI and asked us if we wanted to be featured in the SEMA show in Las Vegas,” [Kevin] says. “For a lot of people in the car world, the SEMA show is the ultimate show to have a car come to. Incredible. Here we are from Humboldt, Saskatchewan and we’re being invited to that show. We’re just ecstatic.”

The Canadian Canola Growers Association sponsors the car.

Biodiesel, Video

Biodiesel, Ethanol on Sidelines in State of the Union

John Davis

Just like a year ago, proponents of biodiesel and ethanol must be wondering if their green fuels were part of President Barack Obama’s “clean energy” comments in this year’s State of the Union address. Meanwhile, solar, nuclear and electric vehicle advocates have to be feeling pretty good about themselves as they received specific shout-outs during the hour-long speech.

Appearing before a joint session of Congress (and what seemed like a much more collegial environment), Obama outlined in very broad, non-specific terms, such as “clean energy,” “renewable energy,” and “biofuels,” his vision for the future of alternative energy:

We’ll invest in biomedical research, information technology, and especially clean energy technology – an investment that will strengthen our security, protect our planet, and create countless new jobs for our people.

Already, we are seeing the promise of renewable energy. Robert and Gary Allen are brothers who run a small Michigan roofing company. After September 11th, they volunteered their best roofers to help repair the Pentagon. But half of their factory went unused, and the recession hit them hard.

Today, with the help of a government loan, that empty space is being used to manufacture solar shingles that are being sold all across the country. In Robert’s words, “We reinvented ourselves.”

That’s what Americans have done for over two hundred years: reinvented ourselves. And to spur on more success stories like the Allen Brothers, we’ve begun to reinvent our energy policy. We’re not just handing out money. We’re issuing a challenge. We’re telling America’s scientists and engineers that if they assemble teams of the best minds in their fields, and focus on the hardest problems in clean energy, we’ll fund the Apollo Projects of our time.

At the California Institute of Technology, they’re developing a way to turn sunlight and water into fuel for our cars. At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, they’re using supercomputers to get a lot more power out of our nuclear facilities. With more research and incentives, we can break our dependence on oil with biofuels, and become the first country to have 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.

The President also set a new energy goal: getting 80 percent of this nation’s electricity from clean energy sources by the year 2035, and he proposes using wind, solar, nuclear, coal and natural gas … all renewable energy sources … to get to that number. He says we can pay for this by cutting the billions of taxpayer dollars now going to the big oil companies.

Biodiesel, Electric Vehicles, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government, News, Solar

Demand for Glycerin to Keep Pace with Supply

John Davis

As the production of biodiesel is expected to grow with (finally!) the renewal of the federal $1-a-gallon tax credit and the new Renewable Fuels Standard requiring 800 million gallons of biomass-based diesel to be blended this year is implemented, the amount of glycerin is expected to also climb, possibly flooding the market.

But this article from Biodiesel Magazine says many new applications for the biodiesel by-product could help alleviate that surplus:

One of those areas being considered in particular is glycerin’s use as a potentially feasible feedstuff for swine. According to a study led by University of Illinois graduate research assistant Omarh Mendoza, diets for growing-finishing pigs may include up to 15 percent glycerin and achieve similar performance compared to conventional corn/soybean meal diets. The research was published in the Journal of Animal Science…

As more biodiesel plants are expected to come online this year, many will be open to finding new markets and uses for their glycerin. One of them, Ames, Iowa-based biodiesel producer and marketer Renewable Energy Group Inc., is expected to be a leading supplier of glycerin into the market. According to Dave Elsenbast, vice president of supply chain at REG, the company predicts glycerin production volumes will ramp up as new applications of the product rise.

“We think there will be more supply in 2011 as the biodiesel industry gets ramped up for RFS2,” Elsenbast said. “But, we think that there’s going to be a lot of continued new demands that hit the glycerin market that will be a good off-take for these additional supplied as they come on.”

REG, which owns a network of five operating biodiesel plants with the capacity to produce more than 160 million pounds of glycerin annually, predicts more than 700 million pounds of glycerin is expected to hit the market in 2011. That’s a near 59 percent spike in glycerin supply compared to the 427 million pounds of crude glycerin produced in 2009.

Elsenbast also noted that supply and demand will have the biggest impact on crude glycerin prices.

Biodiesel

Iowa Economy Powered by Renewable Fuels

Cindy Zimmerman

Iowa is an undisputed leader in renewable fuels production and that is extremely good for the state’s economy

IRFA Monte ShawAt the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit in Des Moines on Tuesday, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) released a new study detailing the positive benefits that provides for Iowa.

According to the report, the renewable fuels industry, both ethanol and biodiesel, accounts for $13.1 billion – about 8% – of Iowa’s gross domestic product. The industry generates $2.4 billion of household incomes, supports nearly 49,000 jobs and accounts for $588 million in state revenue.

“This is a profound success story that should be heralded from Shenandoah to St. Ansgar and from Sioux Center to West Burlington,” said IRFA Executive Director Monte Shaw.

Listen to or download Shaw’s address at IRFA here: Monte Shaw at Iowa RFA Summit

IRFA Terry BranstadProof of the industry’s importance to the state was the appearance of Iowa Governor Terry Branstad at the summit. It was not the first time that Branstad attended the conference. “I’ve been here in the audience in the past,” said Branstad. “This is the fifth and I’ve been to two or three of them.”

Branstad is proud of Iowa’s standing as the number one state for the production of both ethanol and biodiesel. He says one of his goals is to revitalize Iowa’s economy. “We know the renewable fuels industry can help us create jobs all over the state of Iowa, good paying jobs that add value to what we produce in agriculture,” he said.

Branstad says he would like to see the state legislature change the incentive for fuel in the state from 10 percent ethanol to 15 percent and he plans to continue to play a role on the national level to support renewable fuels. “I was one of the governors that helped found the Governor’s Ethanol Coalition and I’m looking forward to working with the new governors that are joining from states all over the country this year,” he said, adding that he will be talking to presidential candidates about the importance of renewable fuels.

Listen to or download Branstad’s address at IRFA here: Governor Branstad at Iowa RFA Summit


Click here to see photos from the IRFA Summit on Flickr.

Audio, Biodiesel, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government