Growth Energy Backs Testing of Curb Pump Dispensing Hose

Chuck Zimmerman

growth_energyGrowth Energy has joined Veyance Technologies, Inc., to seek approval from Underwriter Laboratory (UL) for a liquid fuel hose capable of dispensing ethanol from blender pumps. This is the first ethanol hose to be submitted for UL approval since the lab revised its standards in October 2006 for equipment to carry high-level ethanol blends.

“For the past three years, our efforts to promote an open fuel market where consumers have a choice about what kind of fuel to pump have been stymied by regulatory obstacles to establishing a certified fuel dispensing system,” said Bernie Punt, Growth Energy board member. “Most state and local fire officials require UL certification or similar accreditation. The submission by Veyance Technologies is a landmark step in completing the higher-level blender certification process and opens the market so consumers have more choices of fuel.”

veyance_tech“Veyance Technologies is pleased to be in a position to make the submission to UL for its review and consideration,” stated Paula Russell, Veyance Technologies. “We have invested significant resources in development of a curb-pump hose and are confident it will meet the robust U.L. standards. We appreciate the financial support being provided by Growth Energy that is allowing us to submit the hose without further delay. The UL certification testing process is expensive and Growth Energy’s financial support has been critical in allowing us to move forward with the effort.”

Punt said that final certification and approval of a curb-pump hose — also referred to as a blender pump — capable of dispensing different grades of ethanol-blended gasoline, is expected by next spring.

Ethanol, Growth Energy

Ethanol May Be Innocent in Baltimore Police Car Problems

Cindy Zimmerman

Baltimore police may have charged the wrong suspect in the crime of disabling city cop cars last week.

A Baltimore Sun blogger is now reporting that the gasoline supplier, IsoBunkers, conducted its own tests and “found the gas was 10 percent ethanol — just what it was supposed to be.”

In a story that went nationwide, Baltimore city officials blamed an ”unusually high amount of ethanol in gasoline” when over 200 police cars experienced engine problems after fueling up at a city-run pump.

IsoBunkers officials noted that only police cars were affected by the breakdowns, not other city vehicles that used the same pump. City officials are now saying they will continue the investigation to determine exactly what did cause the problem.

Ethanol, Ethanol News

Alcohol Can Be A Gas Live Event Recorded

Chuck Zimmerman

Dave Blume’s Alcohol Fuel For Sustainable Living and the International Institute for Ecological Agriculture held a live event today which you can watch the recording of below. It was conducted at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles this morning.

Presenters included Actor/activist Daryl Hannah, actor/activist Ed Begley Jr. (honorary MC), L. Hunter Lovins (President of Natural Capital Solutions) and David Blume (author Amazon.com best selling Alcohol Can Be A Gas!).

Included in the presentation are:

* Tour the Daryl Hannah Pontiac TransAm Firebird (featured in the movie series Kill Bill) newly converted to run on Alcohol Fuel, too cool/totally GREEN
* Watch Ed Begley Jr. (as he Daryl Hannah and David Blume) install an Alcohol Fuel conversion kit in Ed’s Toyota Prius (easy and practical!)
* Hear global sustainability initiative report from Hunter Lovins (as she recently presented at the International Green Industry Conference in Asia)
* Witness a smog shoot-out between gas and Alcohol Fuel powered cars
* See home heating and cooking solutions that run on Alcohol Fuel
* Learn how Permaculture science and small-scale Alcohol Fuel production are being used globally to create economic and ecological balance

Ethanol, Video

E85 Promotion in Sauke Center, MN

ala-mnAn E85 promotion will be held at the Holiday Kranz Super Stop at 1185 Main Street South in Sauke Center, Minnesota on Tuesday September 29. The alternative fuel will sell for 85 cents off per gallon from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Additional in-store specials will be a 2-liter of Pepsi for 85 cents and 85 cents deluxe car wash with E85 purchase.

mn_corngrowers_assnEvent Supporters include the Stearns County Corn Growers, Kranz Super Stop (Holiday), Minnesota Corn Growers Association, American Lung Association in Minnesota and the Minnesota Clean Air Choice™.

There are now 361 E85 fueling locations in the state of Minnesota; the most E85 stations of any state.

corn, E85, Ethanol, Facilities, News

Get Renewed With RFA

Chuck Zimmerman

Renewable Fuels Association LogoAs I posted earlier, RFA has a new logo. That prompted me to call on CEO Bob Dinneen, the Reverend of Renewable Fuels, to find out what the new look signifies for the organization. To start with, Bob says that RFA has doubled in staff size in the last 18 months with new staff in the area of marketing, technical resources and lobbying. He says that just as the industry has grown they’ve had to grow to continue to serve it. He says they have more than 100 years of ethanol experience represented on the staff.

Bob sees that the challenges faced by the industry have grown along with it. So he sees it as a dynamic industry and marketplace that RFA has had to adapt to. He sees improvements in the industry financially just as improvements are being seen in the economy in general but it is still “tough.”

Bob says the organization will be holding its annual meeting this week and members will be discussing priorities for RFA like the RFS2 and “helping EPA get it right” and next year’s sunset of the ethanol tax incentive. He believes the industry is up to the challenges though.

Listen to my interview with Bob below:

Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

Department of Energy Awards POET $6.85 Million

Joanna Schroeder

COB2-300x279The Department of Energy (DOE) awarded POET $6.85 million to help establish a market for corn cobs. This is the first portion of the funds which are expected to provide an additional $13.15 million next year. Cobs are the feedstock for POET’s effort to commercialize cellulosic ethanol which is officially dubbed Project LIBERTY and under construction in Emmetsburg, Iowa.

The second portion of the funds will be dedicated to helping develop the feedstock infrastructure for cellulosic ethanol production. For many months, POET has been working with equipment manufacturers to help speed the process of getting cob-harvesting technology into fields.

“DOE has shown an incredible commitment to speeding the commercialization of cellulosic ethanol,” POET CEO Jeff Broin said. “With this grant, we’ll be able to help farmers take advantage of this new revenue stream while helping our nation realize all the benefits of second-generation ethanol.”

The DOE has been a major supporter of Project LIBERTY. The two grant increases will bring the total financial commitment from DOE to $100 million. The entire project is estimated to cost $250 million and is expected to go online in 2011.

Cellulosic, corn, Ethanol, News

Ethanol Co-Product Demand in China

Cindy Zimmerman

The U.S. Grains Council’s (USGC) Annual China Corn Tour currently underway is finding big demand for the ethanol co-product distillers dried grains for livestock feed in that country.

According to Cary Sifferath, USGC Senior Director in China, drought conditions in China this year have led to high corn prices. “Those high prices have led to some opportunities for US feed grains products, specifically distillers dried grains (DDGS) products from the US ethanol industry,” Cary said. “We had roughly 8,000 metric tons of DDGS that was exported from the US into China and right now for 2009 we can easily predict 250,000 to 300,000 tons of distillers dried grains being imported by China’s feed and livestock industry, especially in the southern and coastal areas of China where DDGS has become a very competitive feed ingredient.”

Drought conditions in some areas of China are expected to result in crop losses of up to 50 percent this year.

Pictured in the photo are Sam Niu, USGC assistant director for China, Sifferath, and National Corn Growers Association board member Guy Davenport of North Carolina.

corn, Distillers Grains, Ethanol, Ethanol News

RFA Announces New Logo

Chuck Zimmerman

Renewable Fuels Association LogoThe Renewable Fuels Association has a new look and color scheme. The organization announced their new logo today but says they will supply the “same great service.”

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), long recognized as the voice of America’s ethanol industry, has gone through some changes in the past 24 months. New staff additions have bolstered the RFA’s already unparalleled expertise and expanded its activities beyond its traditional role as ethanol’s chief advocate in Washington.

Given the additions and expanded capabilities of the association, the RFA has refreshed its logo and color scheme. For more information on the logo, including how to use it in place of the old logo, please email Christina Martin at cmartin@ethanolrfa.org.

RFA President Bob Dinneen welcomed both the expanded capabilities of the association as well as the unveiling of the new logo:

“America’s ethanol producers are in a constant state of innovation, creating new processes and developing new technologies that will increase our ability to produce ethanol is an increasingly sustainable manner. As it is with the ethanol producers, so too is it with the trade association representing them. The Renewable Fuels Association has undergone a transformation over the past 24 months, adding expertise and capabilities to better serve America’s ethanol industry beyond its traditional role as the voice of the industry in Washington. Such expansion in the capabilities of the RFA required a refreshing of our logo and image. Thus, the new look – but same unparalleled expertise – of the Renewable Fuels Association. “

RFA

Wisconsin Corn Ethanol Sponsors Lung Walk

Cindy Zimmerman

Wisconsin’s corn ethanol industry is putting on the green and walking for clean air at Milwaukee’s annual Lung Walk October 4 at the Milwaukee County Zoo and is offering free Green Team T-shirts to everyone who joins them.

The walk is a major fund-raising event that helps the ALA, the oldest nationwide voluntary health agency in the United States, fight lung disease through education, community service, public policy and research. As part of the year’s promotional efforts supported by Wisconsin’s corn checkoff, the Wisconsin Corn Promotion Board is the official sponsor of the Lung Walk’s Green E85 Team and paid for the commemorative T-shirts shirts for all team members. Badger State Ethanol, Didion Ethanol, United Ethanol and the UWGP ethanol plant, along with several individual corn growers made major donations to the Green E85 Team effort, helping meet the team fund raising goal of $1,500.

corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Ethanol Plants Left Out of Greenhouse Gas Reporting

Cindy Zimmerman

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued final regulations for the nation’s first greenhouse gas reporting system to begin in 2010, but ethanol plants have been removed from the initial list of facilities required to report emissions.

EPAThe regulations require large emitters of heat-trapping emissions to begin collecting greenhouse gas (GHG) data under the new program which will cover approximately 85 percent of the nation’s GHG emissions and apply to roughly 10,000 facilities. Ethanol plants were on the list when it was first proposed in March.

According to EPA, the new reporting system will provide a better understanding of where GHGs are coming from and will guide development of the best possible policies and programs to reduce emissions. The data will also allow businesses to track their own emissions, compare them to similar facilities, and provide assistance in identifying cost effective ways to reduce emissions in the future. This comprehensive, nationwide emissions data will help in the fight against climate change.

Among the facilities that are included in the program are extractors of crude petroleum and natural gas, coal and oil refineries, industrial landfills, and wastewater treatment plants.

Environment, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government