It was the “Bill and Tom Show” at the 2010 Farm Progress Show on Wednesday as Growth Energy hosted a discussion about ethanol between CEO Tom Buis and Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey held a panel discussion to talk about Growth Energy’s Fueling Freedom Plan, the upcoming energy bill and EPA’s pending decision on the E15 waiver.
Both Buis and Northey said there is a critical need for the EPA to approve E15 and open the market for ethanol in order to revitalize our rural economies, clean our skies and support the continued innovation in the ethanol industry.
“We don’t have a production problem, we have an access to the market problem,” Buis said. “By moving to E15 and eliminating the artificial barriers to the fuel market we can create a market for all ethanol to reduce our dependence on oil, strengthen our economy and improve our environment.”
“It is vital that Congress and the EPA move forward and approve these needed long-term policy proposals,” Northey said. “It is important that we send a signal to the industry and investors that support structures that will remain in place and allow the industry to continue to advance and adopt new technologies including eventually cellulosic ethanol.”
We’ll have audio from the panel to be posted along with commentary from Joanna Schroeder who was at the event.
At the grand opening, California Energy Commissioner Anthony Eggert (pictured) said the station development project, known as the Low Carbon Fuel Infrastructure Investment Initiative (LCFI3), will help the state with the development and deployment of low carbon fuels and clean vehicles. “The Energy Commission is proud to team up with Propel Fuels and the partner agencies to bring next generation low carbon biofuels, including cellulosic ethanol, to the nearly half a million flex fuel vehicle customers in California, while creating hundreds of green jobs, and continuing to lead the way in our nation’s battle against climate change,” said Eggert.
“Presently in California more than one million diesel and Flex Fuel passenger cars are capable of running on renewable fuels, but there hasn’t been a sufficient number of renewable fuel stations,” said John Boesel, President and CEO of CALSTART. “This program takes a major step forward by creating 75 new renewable stations which will give consumers the choice to say ‘no’ to oil dependence, ‘yes’ to the American economy and ‘yes’ to the environment.”
In the latest 
Mascoma CEO Bill Brady says the two companies share a common vision of converting cellulosic biomass to fuel in a low-cost, sustainable way. “The combined company has extensive commercial experience, with the application of our technologies around the world, and the technology breadth to offer a complete biofuels solution. We believe the combination of Mascoma and SBI significantly advances our capabilities in the cellulosic ethanol field and positions us for a successful future.”
Maas Companies is accepting sealed bids on the Genesis Ethanol I, a 2-4 million gallon-per-year micro ethanol plant located outside of Sioux Falls in Parker, South Dakota until Friday, Sept. 24. A winning bid may be awarded at that time or the top five bidders may continue a limited live auction Friday, Oct. 8 at 11 a.m. central daylight time.
The Florida Biofuels Association, together with several other organizations and state universities, are holding a meeting this month focused on growing energy feedstocks in the Sunshine State.
