Iowa Speedway Loves Ethanol

Chuck Zimmerman

Craig ArmstronThe Vice President of Iowa Speedway is Craig Armstrong. He’s the always smiling face that we in the media get to see when we cover the Iowa Corn Indy 250. This is a photo of him introducing the drivers at their press conference.

I don’t think you’ll find a bigger supporter and fan of American made corn ethanol and for good reason. The race track has had a very close partnership with the race sponsor, Iowa Corn Promotion Board and Pioneer Hi-Bred. He says they all win in this deal. The race track is really glad to have this race because although there are more race fans per capita in Iowa than any other state in the country, they are under-served in terms of feature races.

You can listen to my interview with Craig below.

Iowa Corn Indy 250 Photo Album.

Audio, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, IA Corn Indy, Indy Racing

Polk County Farm Bureau Supporting Ethanol

Chuck Zimmerman

Polk County Farm BureauThere were a lot of volunteers helping pump gas during the Kum & Go E-85 pump promotion in Des Moines in advance of the Iowa Corn Indy 250. Some of them were from the Polk County Farm Bureau.

I spoke with Carol Miller, past President and Board member. She and her family are farmers. They really appreciate the relationship with Kum & Go and getting the word out about E-85. She points out that 35 gallons of E-85 purchased replaces a barrel of foreign oil. She says the Indy Car drivers love it because they use less fuel. She’s hoping to be at the race on Sunday.

You can listen to my interview with Carol below.

Iowa Corn Indy 250 Photo Album.

Audio, corn, E85, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Farm Bureau, IA Corn Indy, Indy Racing

Venom Energy Drink And Indy

Chuck Zimmerman

Marco Andretti and MarcusWho doesn’t like cute baby pictures? No one I know. Meet Marcus who met Marco Andretti at the Kum & Go E-85 pump promotion in Des Moines. They share the same birthday too!

But that’s not the story here. It actually is about Venom Energy Drinks, part of the Dr Pepper Snapple Group. Venom is Marco’s sponsor and they were on hand to share product samples. I spoke with Tom, Regional Representative. He says that the product has been out about 3 years and their premier sponsorship is the Venom Race Car. There are photos in my online album.

He says the Indy Car has been a great way to get there name out in front of the public. I asked him if he thought it would mix well with American made ethanol. That got a laugh since I don’t think the subject has ever come up. You can listen to our interview below

Iowa Corn Indy 250 Photo Album.

Audio, IA Corn Indy, Indy Racing

Alaska Gets First Commercial Biodiesel Plant

John Davis

Alaska is finally producing biodiesel.

This article from Biodiesel Magazine says the Alaska Green Waste Solutions plant (which uses equipment and know-how from its sister company, Pacific Biodiesel Technologies) is the state’s first commercial biodiesel plant and can turn used cooking oil into 1,000 gallons of the green a day:

“This is a great example of the community-based model we believe in,” said Bob King, President of Pacific Biodiesel. “Here we have a city that has very limited options for feedstock because of the harsh growing conditions, yet they can still be producing their own sustainable fuel. Use the resources in your area and it can happen.”

Constructed in Salem, Ore., by Pacific Biodiesel Technologies and JVNW, the plant was disassembled for shipment and reassembled in Anchorage. Built in six shipping containers, the facility includes storage for feedstock, biodiesel and glycerin, utilities and the biodiesel produces system. It can be shipped anywhere, assembled on site and ready for production quickly.

Alaska Waste officials are pretty pleased at the development of the Anchorage plant:

“Today is very exciting for us because this program has been in the development for several years. We were the first refuse company to introduce curbside recycling, the first to offer commercial customers pre-consumer food waste composting and now we are diverting more than 200,000 gallons of used cooking oil from the waste stream and using it to fuel our fleet,” said Jeff Riley, Chief Operating Officer for the company.

Biodiesel

Indy Drivers Discuss Iowa Corn Indy 250

Chuck Zimmerman

Indy Car DriversThis afternoon the IRL and Iowa Speedway held a driver’s press conference. Participating are (l-r) Graham Rahal, Tony Kanaan, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Alex Tagliani. The drivers were in a great mood but you could sense how eager they are to get on the track. They’ll be testing tomorrow.

I recorded the press conference and thought I’d share the opening questions and statements from the drivers. They talk about the track (things like bumps) and you’ll hear Ryan say how much he appreciates being able to race for Ethanol again.

After years of covering Indy races I finally had a chance to ride in one of 2-seater cars this afternoon. I actually got strapped in and was ready to go before the rain drops fell and it was canceled. Bummer. Maybe next time.

Iowa Corn Indy 250 Photo Album.

Audio, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, IA Corn Indy, Indy Racing

Ethanol Groups Frustrated Over E15 Delay

Cindy Zimmerman

Growth EnergyThe ethanol organization that filed the petition with the EPA to increase the ethanol blend rate to 15 percent has gotten very little information about why a decision is being delayed again.

“We’re trying to find out what additional tests have been added in,” said Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis during a press conference today. “The people who filed the waiver should have been notified that they were adding new tests.”

The Environmental Protection Agency sent out the following short statement regarding the delay to selected reporters late Thursday that still has not been posted on the agency’s website:

DOE (Department of Energy) is on track to complete testing designed to determine the impact of higher ethanol blends on vehicles built after 2007 by the end of September. DOE is also testing some vehicles built before 2007 and is also testing tanks and other fuel handling equipment to see how they might be affected by E15. While results from the tests conducted to-date look good, EPA will not make a final decision until DOE completes its current comprehensive testing of the newer vehicles. EPA is taking steps to ensure the appropriate pieces are in place should the results of the complete set of tests be positive. Based on DOE’s schedule, EPA believes it will be able to make a final determination on whether to approve the use of higher ethanol blends this fall.

Buis believes the Department of Energy is causing the delay, not EPA. “Obviously this administration has been very strong supporters of renewable energy,” said Buis. “I would say this is not political, I would say we’re trapped in some bureaucratic maze here and we want to unravel it.”


Download the Growth Energy press conference or listen here [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/growth-energy/growth-epa-delay.mp3]

Renewable Fuels Association LogoRenewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen expressed frustration over the delay. “We think this is EPA being derelict in its duties,” said Dinneen in an audio statement. “They need to expedite this work and make sure consumers have options.”

Worse than the delay, in Dinneen’s opinion, is the indication that EPA is now talking about possibly approving E15 first in 2007 and newer vehicles, and then 2001 and newer. “Now they’re not talking about bifurcating the market, they’re talking about trifurcating the market!” said Dinneen. “This is just idiocy.”


Download Dinneen’s statement or listen here [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/rfa/rfa-epa-delay.mp3]

Read More

ACE, Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government, Growth Energy, RFA, USDA

High Tech Indy Engines, High Tech Pioneer Corn

Chuck Zimmerman

Iowa Corn Indy 250It’s going to be a happy Father’s Day for Iowa corn growers and Pioneer Hi-Bred when the Iowa Corn Indy 250 gets underway Sunday. The race is being presented by both organizations again this year.

I met Pioneer’s Joe Foresman, Senior Marketing Manager, Biofuels and MarketPoint Resource, during the Kum & Go E-85 pump promotion yesterday. He says the story this race tells for Iowa and for farmers is a very exciting one. It sends a great message to the state and the nation about how we can use the renewable fuel, ethanol. Pioneer has 3,000 employees in Iowa who are very proud of their involvement in the race. I asked him if he liked the analogy between the high tech engines powering the Indy cars and Pioneer’s seed technology. He did.

By the way, if you’re tweeting the race or want to follow the Twitter conversation then please use #indycorn in your tweets. You can use Twitter Search to see who’s tweeting.

You can listen to my interview with Joe below.

Iowa Corn Indy 250 Photo Album.

Audio, biofuels, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, IA Corn Indy, Indy Racing

Serving Up E-85 With Iowa Corn Growers

Chuck Zimmerman

Iowa Corn Indy 250 Kum & GoPumping gas into your car that only costs 85 cents/gallon sure seems like a sweet deal and it was for many motorists pulling into an east Des Moines Kum & Go yesterday. The company has been committed to the support of this American grown blend of fuel and showed it in style with a party atmosphere late on a weekday afternoon.

Iowa Corn Indy 250 Kum & GoPictured in the middle of the Iowa Corn Growers gas pumpers is Matt Chase, Kum & Go. He works in the gasoline department for the company and E-85 is one of his priorities. He says that they’ve been working with Iowa Corn Growers for about 5 years. The timing of the grand opening for their E-85 pumps at this location was just perfect with the Iowa Corn Indy 250 race this weekend. You can listen to my interview with him below.

I also shot a video clip of Indy Car driver Marco Andretti pulling up in race car driver style to have the Iowa Speedway car filled by fellow driver Ryan Hunter-Reay. More interviews from the pump promotion will be coming your way soon. Today I’m heading out to the track (after a severe storm passes) to check out the activities so I’ll be coming to you next from there.

Iowa Corn Indy 250 Photo Album.

Audio, corn, E85, Ethanol, Ethanol News, IA Corn Indy, Indy Racing, Video

Kum & Go Opens E-85 Pumps With Indy Car Drivers

Chuck Zimmerman

Iowa Corn Indy 250 Kum & GoIt’s time for another Iowa Corn Indy 250 and that means that drivers are in promotion mode. Today Ryan Hunter-Reay (right) and Marco Andretti were on hand for the grand opening of E-85 pumps at a Des Moines Kum & Go where you could buy the fuel for 85 cents/gallon!

Ryan will be driving the Ethanol USA Team Izod Indy Car in the race. He and Marco are both glad to be racing with an American made renewable fuel. They’ve proven the performance capability of ethanol and expressed their appreciation for the support of Iowa corn growers. I’ll be covering the activities of this year’s race weekend once again thanks to the Iowa Corn Promotion Board. I’ve got a photo album started for the weekend which I’ll be adding to periodically: Iowa Corn Indy 250 Photo Album.

You can download my interview with Ryan (mp3) or listen here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/iacorn/ia-corn-indy-2010-ryan.mp3]

You can download my interview with Marco (mp3) or listen here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/iacorn/ia-corn-indy-2010-marco.mp3]

Audio, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, IA Corn Indy, Indy Racing, Miscellaneous, Video

Report Says Fuel Cell Vehicles to Get Hot by 2020

John Davis

A new report says that by the year 2020, the fuel cell vehicle market will see growth.

CNET’s Green Tech blog says the Pike Research report, entitled “Fuel Cell Vehicles,” says the green transportation is very close to being a commercial success:

The U.S. is predicted to be the largest fuel cell vehicle (FCV) market with about 134,000 vehicles sold annually, followed by China (about 129,000 FCVs), and Germany (about 127,000 FCVs).

A total of about 670,000 fuel cell light vehicles are predicted to be sold annually around the world by 2020.

Transit buses are expected to lead the market with Pike Research forecasting “sales growing at a compound annual growth rate of 31.7 percent by 2015.”

Pike Research reasons that over the next 10 years the technology surrounding alternative fuel vehicles will become standardized, more hydrogen refueling stations will become available, and fuel cells themselves will become less expensive. This confluence of events which is predicted to happen within the next 10 years, should lead to an increased adoption, according to Pike Research.

The article goes on to say that the noncompetitive nature of fuel cell development and emerging standards for refueling and tank components is helping drive wider adoption of the technology. Department of Energy grants and corporate sponsorship of pilot programs for hydrogen fuel cell transit buses are also propping up fuel cell technology.

Miscellaneous