IN Corn Gives Money for E85

in_govmitch-danielsGovernor Mitch Daniels highlighted a bill at a ceremonial signing recently that revises the current corn marketing program to include a $500,000 ethanol program, funded by Indiana’s corn farmers.

Starting on July 1, 2009, the Indiana Corn Marketing Council (ICMC) — the state’s corn checkoff organization – will annually transfer funds into the Retail Merchant E85 Deduction Reimbursement Fund to ensure a balance of $500,000 to be used for the E85 sales tax deduction in the months of January, February and March each year. This program is part of House Bill 1398 which was passed earlier this year and signed into law.

in_corn_marketing“These funds will encourage fuel retailers to offer E85 and consumers to use E85 in their flex-fuel vehicles,” said Mike Shuter, ICMC president and a Frankton, Indiana farmer. “The ethanol industry is a major market for our corn and this program allows us to use our corn checkoff funds to help grow demand for ethanol, which grows demand for corn. “We want corn farmers contributing our state corn checkoff to know that they are putting a sizable amount of their dollars into this new ethanol program and that we should be able to measure its effectiveness for moving ethanol into the market because of the timeline the tax deduction will be available to retailers.”

Currently, 128 stations offer E85 in the state of Indiana.

corn, E85, Ethanol, Government

Down But Never Out

Joanna Schroeder

Fagen BoothI spent the last few days with old friends and making new acquaintances here in Milwaukee during the 22nd Ethanol Conference & Trade Show hosted by the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE). While it was slightly disheartening to see the trend of low attendance at ethanol conferences, such as the Fuel Ethanol Workshop, during the past year, it was heartening to see the new faces and to learn about all the great things that are happening in the industry.

Brian Jennings, Executive Director of ACE, noted that there are seven major opportunities for the ethanol industry:

  1. 1.  Policy Makers actually do get it.
  2. 2.  Support for RFS2 and tax incentives are not going away.
  3. 3.  The Age of Easy Oil is over.
  4. 4.  The days of corn ethanol are only going to get better while the days of oil gets worse.
  5. 5.  The President supports ethanol.
  6. 6.  The science & politics support moving beyond the blend wall (above E10) is not a matter of if but when.
  7. 7.  Blender pumps represent the future of pumps in this country. We’re not afraid of choice.

Jennings is correct in his assessment of the opportunities in the ethanol industry and on Tuesday, ACE, in conjunction with the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) along with several state corn groups, announced BYOethanol, a three-year initiative to install 5,000 blender pumps across the country.

I had a great time and learned a lot and was re-energized about the future of the ethanol industry. I’ll see you in Kansas City next year! You can see photos from the conference in my Flickr photo album.

ACE, conferences, Ethanol News

Join the Conversation with ACE

Joanna Schroeder

So you’re reading my blog post so you’ve made a step in the right direction to get the news on ethanol, but did you know that you’re only scratching the surface of knowledge? You can get more involved than ever in the ethanol industry without ever leaving your couch. You can “Join the Conversation” with all of the great tools that the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) offers.

Here is a peak at what you might be missing:

PR PanelYou may notice a “Social Media” theme here which is still new to many in the biofuels industry. One of the sessions, “Strategic, Advocacy and PR in the Era of New Media” was a great first step for attendees to learn how to get into the game. The panel included Kristin Brekke and Shannon Gustafson, with ACE along with Jeremy Bird, Organizing for America and Greg Veerman, Astronaut Studios. If you missed the session, check out ACE’s YouTube channel where they have several of the conference presentations or you can reach out to anyone of the speakers, or even our very own team here at DomesticFuel. And if this isn’t enough to keep you busy, check out my Flicker photo album from the conference.

ACE, conferences, Ethanol, News

Renew. Unit. Succeed. Determination.

Joanna Schroeder

IMG_1405“We must leave oil before oil leaves us.” Wise words from Brian Jennings, the executive director of the American Coalition for Ethanol during his general session presentation at the 22nd Ethanol Conference & Trade Show. We need to progress from short-term day to day crisis management to thinking long-term strategy, continued. Jennings. “We need to unite.”

A major theme of the conference delivered by both Brian as well as the other speakers and attendees was the need for the ethanol industry to unit. “We need to focus on things we have in common rather than focusing on differences. We can get more done. Only we can defeat ourselves,” said Jennings.

“We put way too much emphasis on who’s better. Who has better ideas. We need to put less emphasis on the me and put more emphasis on doing the work.”

Jennings also spoke about how the industry is really trying to make gasoline the alternative fuel, but that the industry needed political courage to change the status quo. He also encouraged the industry that the days of profitability are coming back, but if the blend wall isn’t increased it could be devastating– there is more capacity than demand. “We have to focus with laser like attention to creating more demand for ethanol.”

determinationIn closing, Jennings said, “We need to renew, unite and have the determination to succeed.” Well said.

You can see photos from the event in our Flicker photo album.

ACE, conferences, Ethanol News

US Navy to Develop Portable Biodiesel Production Unit

John Davis

BioAeroNavyThe U.S. Navy is working with Biodiesel Industries and aerospace and defense company Aerojet to develop a high-tech, remote-controlled, automated, portable biodiesel production unit.

This story from Biodiesel Magazine says the project at the Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center in Port Hueneme, Calif. will called ARIES… Automated, Real-time, Remote, Integrated Energy System:

With the resources and modus operandi of the U.S. Navy, along with Biodiesel Industries’ 10-year biodiesel production database, ARIES utilizes Aerojet’s systems control technologies to provide real-time sensing and management of important processing and chemical parameters, resulting in automation of the entire process. Biodiesel Industries stated that this enhances yields, makes quality control more reliable, and assures safety of personnel. This remote sensing also allows for monitoring and operation from one control center for multiple biodiesel processing centers located anywhere in the world.

Russell Teall, president and founder of Biodiesel Industries, said Aerojet and the Navy are perfect partners in this project. “For the past 15 years we’ve been developing proprietary technology for modular multi-feedstock biodiesel production. Combining the [Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center’s] specialization in energy and environmental systems with Aerojet’s history of advanced systems controls, enabled the implementation and first public demonstration of Biodiesel Industries’ ARIES platform. As the world’s largest consumer of diesel fuel, the implications for the Navy and the [Department of Defense] are clear.”

Officials expect that if the project works for the Navy, there will be benefits for the commercial sector.

Biodiesel

Biodesel Powers Radio at Iowa State Fair

John Davis

irfaThe Iowa Renewable Fuels Association has teamed up with legendary radio station WHO in Des Moines to power its Crystal Studio at the Iowa State Fair from August 13-23 using B20 biodiesel.

This IRFA press release says the diesel generators for the studio have been running on bodiesel during the fair since 2006:

“IRFA is proud to help continue the biodiesel tradition of WHO radio and the Iowa State Fair,” said Monte Shaw, Executive Director of IRFA. “With the largest farm audience in Iowa, WHO and the Iowa State Fair are the perfect partners to demonstrate the power and performance of Iowa-produced B20. As farmers begin the process of ordering fuel for the harvest, we want to encourage them to buy biodiesel, a clean, reliable alternative for the fall harvest season and beyond.”

IRFA is also airing “buy biodiesel” ads on WHO during the fair, and the green energy group’s members will also conduct on-air interviews to educate the public about the benefits of biodiesel.

Biodiesel

BP, Martek Ink Deal to Make Biodiesel from Sugars

John Davis

BPMartekBP and Martek Biosciences Corporation have signed a deal to develop an advanced biodiesel from sugars.

The agreement will use Martek’s ability to work with microbes and BP’s large-scale capabilites:

“Martek is pleased to partner with BP’s Alternative Energy team, to combine our unique algae-based technologies and intellectual property for the creation of sustainable and affordable technology for microbial biofuel production,” said Steve Dubin, Martek CEO. “BP’s global leadership and commitment to alternative energy solutions complements Martek’s own commitment to responsible and sustainable products and production.”

“BP is very pleased to be entering this important partnership with Martek,” says Philip New, CEO BP Biofuels. “As an alternative to conventional vegetable oils, we believe sugar to diesel technology has the potential to deliver economic, sustainable and scaleable biodiesel supplies. In partnering with Martek, we combine the world’s leading know-how in microbial lipid production with our expertise in fuels markets and applications, and our more recent experience in biofuels production and commercialization.”

The technology has been demonstrated in Martek’s field for more than 20 years and the challenge is to adapt this technology to the needs of the biofuels market, in terms of product profile and economics.

Philip New added, “This technology is also a perfect fit with our other strategic choices for biofuels, all based on sustainable feedstocks and fermentation to produce advanced biofuels. It is part of our approach of integrating sugar cane and lignocellulosic biofuels with advanced technologies to produce products with a wide range of uses.”

BP is contributing $10 million in capital to the project.

Biodiesel

Ethanol Report on Blender Pump Initiative

Cindy Zimmerman

Corn growers and the ethanol industry are teaming up to bring more choices to the consumer at the fuel pump.

Ethanol Report PodcastIn this edition of “The Ethanol Report” we hear from representatives of the National Corn Growers Association, the American Coalition for Ethanol and the Renewable Fuels Association about the “Blend Your Own Ethanol” campaign announced this week at the 22nd Ethanol Conference & Trade Show in Milwaukee. The goal of BYOethanol is to install 5,000 blender pumps nationwide over the next three years.

You can read more about it here or see a video and photos from the press conference announcing the partnership here.

You can subscribe to this twice monthly podcast by following this link.

Listen to or download the podcast here:

ACE, blends, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Ethanol Report, NCGA, RFA

Basketball Champ Loves Ethanol Maker

Cindy Zimmerman

After four NBA Championships, Shaquille O’Neal is pretty much a household word. Now he wants a new moniker to represent his investment in what could become the next big household appliance – the E‐Fuel MicroFueler™ that makes ethanol from organic waste or leftover alcoholic beverages.

E-FuelSometimes known as the “Big Diesel,” Shaq said during a demonstration of the microfueler in California last week that he now wants to be called “Big Ethanol.”

“They showed me how it works, and it was great,” said Shaq, who is having a microfueler installed in his own house.

O’Neal is one of the latest investors in San Diego-based GreenHouse Energy, a San Diego based alternative green energy company. GreenHouse has partnered with several companies, including Karl Strauss Brewing Company, Gordon Biersch Brewing Company and Sunny Delight, to convert 29,000 tons of liquid waste into ethanol using the MicroFueler process.

Ethanol News

BYOethanol: Press Conference

Joanna Schroeder

Unless you haven’t been reading our coverage of the 22nd Ethanol Conference & Trade Show hosted by the American Coalition for Ethanol, you’ve heard by now the news regarding the new blender pump program called BYOethanol. Pronounced “bio,” Blend Your Own Ethanol is a joint campaign between ACE, RFA and NCGA to bring 5,000 blender pumps online throughout the United States in the next three years.

You can learn more about this unprecedented program in my last post. You can also watch the announcement unfold in my video. Interested in seeing what else you missed? Check out our Flickr photo album.

ACE, corn, Ethanol News, Flex Fuel Vehicles, NCGA, RFA, Video