This morning, Kathy Bryan, BBI International, was presented with the FEW High Octane award for a lifetime of commitment to the industry. Unfortunately, due to health reasons, she could not be with us. It was an emotional scene as her son Tom accepted the award for her.
We got to see a short slide show of photos of Kathy from throughout her career of promoting ethanol. It was very moving. She recorded an audio statement for us to hear which I have recorded and you can listen to below.
Gen. Wesley Clark, Growth Energy, provided the keynote speech this morning at the Fuel Ethanol Workshop. He gave a very “rouse the troops” speech which shows his ability to motivate our military troops when he was in active duty.
I would characterize the theme of his remarks as targeting the importance of ethanol for our national security. He also hammers home the idea that the whole issue of food vs. fuel is nonsense and that imported foreign oil is distorting our foreign policy.
Mike Bryan, CEO, BBI International, opened the general session this morning.
He was very focused on the image of ethanol in his remarks. He says that the problems in the industry aren’t really the kinds of things that a lot of people are attributing them to but that the image of ethanol is what has hurt the industry. He issued a call to action for more people in the industry to proactively work on improving ethanol’s image, especially on the local level.
I’ve started a photo album from the conference so please feel free to check it often: 2009 Fuel Ethanol Workshop Photo Album
You can listen to Mike’s opening remarks below. I’ll also have other speaker remarks posted during the morning so keep checking in!
Biofuels has been compared with fossil fuels, blamed for worldwide starvation, linked to CO2 increases and decreases, and born the brunt of scrutiny for rainforest destruction (aka land use). However, until now, biofuels have yet to receive a real beating on water use. Well, that day may be on the horizon with the release of the new Rice University study, “The Water Footprint of Biofuels: A Drink or Drive Issue?”
The paper studies the relationship between agrofuels and water shortage issues. The study’s lead author was Pedro Alvarez, George R. Brown Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and was funded by Rice University’s Shell Center for Sustainability.
The WorldWatch Institute has declared, “Water scarcity may be the most under appreciated global environmental challenge of our time,” and the Environmental Protection Agency has predicted that in the U.S. 36 states will suffer water shortages within the next five years if water use continues unchecked.
The report states, “As biofuel production increases, a growing need exists to understand and mitigate potential impacts to water resources, primarily those associated with the agricultural stages of the biofuel life cycle (e.g. water shortages and water pollution)–herein referred to as the water footprint.”
The report recommends that specific biofuel crops should be grown in certain regions. For example, corn for ethanol should be grown in states like Iowa where only one percent of the crops are irrigated, whereas significantly less corn should be grown in Nebraska where 61 percent of corn is irrigated. The report ultimately calls for more attention to the water footprint of biofuels as policies and mandates are put into place. However, it also states that with careful water usage planning, sustainable agricultural practices and energy conservation we can, “have our drive and drink our water too.”
The industry is not taking the concern over water lying down. Advanced biofuels are being developed with the need to use significantly less water and seed companies are developing hybrids that will ultimately cut water needs in half per acre. Like the continual debate as to the reality of global warming, we may be on the verge of a long debate on whether the world really has water quality and shortage issues.
At the 2009 Fuel Ethanol Workshop, the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition (NEVC) announced that it intends to unite with Growth Energy and become Growth Energy Market Development. In that role, they will continue in their 13-year mission to increase the availability of higher ethanol blends and flex fuel vehicles (FFVs). The additional resources will bolster Growth Energy’s aggressive goals to proliferate blender pumps across the country.
“For more than a decade, the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition has been carrying on the important mission of increasing the availability and use of ethanol,” said Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, Co-Chairman of Growth Energy. “We are excited that they decided to join forces with us and continue that work as a part of Growth Energy.”
In existence since 1996, the NEVC has assembled a broad coalition of like-minded industry and government leaders, environmentalists and consumers, and many other organizations and individuals interested in reducing oil imports, stimulating the economy, and improving the environment. The non-profit group had 1,600 members and their employees now become part of the Growth Energy team.
Phil Lampert, who was executive director of NEVC since 1997 and is now Vice President of Market Development for Growth Energy, said, “In 1995, the year before NEVC was founded, there were 10 E85 pumps and 500 FFVs in the United States. Today, we have more than 2,000 E85 and blender pumps and more than 8 million FFVs. As part of Growth Energy, I look forward to working with a wide variety of supportive groups and individuals to double or triple those numbers in the next few years.”
NEVC is the second ethanol association to become part of Growth Energy. The first was the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council which combined with Growth Energy late last year.
The 25th Annual Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo is underway in Denver, CO and I’m on location for the next couple days to bring you news, interviews and photos. I attended the opening reception this evening and met with many industry friends in a great social setting in the trade show. I saw Mike Bryan, CEO, BBI International, as I was leaving the reception and he seemed very pleased with the start of this year’s event.
Special thanks go to the Renewable Fuels Association for making our coverage of this event possible. RFA has been a long standing client of ZimmComm New Media and we really enjoy working with them.
Things will get kicked off tomorrow morning with the opening general session and I’ll be there. So expect to see information being posted throughout the day.
Celebrating a quarter century of excellence, the 25th annual FEW will offer cutting-edge content, unparalleled business development opportunities, and a lively tribute to industry progress. From its inception in 1985, this globally recognized event has helped facilitate the ethanol industry’s evolution by providing world-class programming that includes spot-on technical workshops and invaluable networking forums alongside the largest, most widely attended expo in the business.
I’d like to take a poll to see how many people thought that gas prices would never get higher than last summer where some areas around the country nearly topped out at $5.00 a gallon and for several weeks consumers in the South couldn’t even get gas.
Can you say deja vu? According to the Nebraska Ethanol Board, nationally gas prices have risen almost every day for the last 42 days. Several analysts expect that a return to $100 oil and $4.00 gas isn’t too far behind. Extremists predict that we could see $200 barrel of oil before the end of the year.
By now, you’d think that people would realize that ethanol helps consumers save money at the pump. Last summer, an Iowa State University study demonstrated that ethanol helped consumers save on average $500 per year.
Todd Sneller, administrator of the Nebraska Ethanol Board, notes that Nebraska drivers have already saved over $4.5 million in 2009 by buying E10. “If all the fuel sold in Nebraska in the past five years was E85, Nebraskans would have saved $2.6 billion.”
Since energy is tied so closely to our economy many economists are speculating that this steady rise in oil prices could prolong America’s recession. At the beginning of the month, OPEC’s Abdullah al-Badri told attendees at the Global Energy Summit that the price of crude oil needed to be much higher. OPEC intends to do this through modifying production quotas and shutting down oil refineries “until the surplus is depleted”. Demand for oil and gas has dropped 2.6 million barrels per day worldwide.
As people begin to trim their budgets to offset the higher fuel prices, you’d think they would send Big Oil a message that, “we’re not going to take it”.
Nebraska Ethanol Board chair Mike Thede sums it up, “We can invest in alternative, renewable, inexpensive fuels like ethanol, or we can continue the billion-dollar giveaway to Big Oil.”
In the wake of a California tanker truck accident over the weekend, ethanol industry representatives are stressing the importance of transportation safety.
The driver of a tanker truck hauling 8,000 gallons of ethanol on a highway in Long Beach was killed Saturday when the truck hit a guard rail and exploded into flames. Officials with the Renewable Fuels Association say the tragedy “refocuses attention on safety procedures and protocols with respect to various transportation fuels, including fuel ethanol.”
“While tragedies such as the one in California do happen, transportation of ethanol and other flammable materials is extraordinarily safe,” said RFA Communications Director Matt Hartwig. “Safety is the top priority of this industry and it is a responsibility we take very seriously.”
Hartwig says the Ethanol Emergency Response Coalition (EERC) has developed a wide array of safety information specifically related to ethanol production and ethanol-blended fuels that detail safety procedures and protocols to be followed to prevent accidents and to respond in the event of a spill or fire. EERC was formed by RFA in cooperation with the federal government, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, pipeline and transportation companies, and firefighting technology providers.
Photos from your summer vacation could mean cash in your pocket if you enter the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) “Flex Fuel Challenge” Summer Photo Contest. All you have to do is submit a photo of photo of yourself on vacation and submit it.
A panel of judges will choose one lucky first place winner, based on equal parts creativity and quality, to receive a $1,000 fuel gift card. The submission with the most on-line votes will receive a $100 fuel gift card and four weekly drawings will be held for $100 gift cards. In addition, the first 500 submissions automatically receive a $10 fuel gift card.
The contest deadline is July 31st and is open to all U.S. residents over the age of 18. Once all submissions are accepted, then the entries are open to receive votes from August 3rd through the 28th. Anyone and everyone can vote for their favorite photos.
Contest rules, deadlines and entry form can be found at e85challenge.com.
Okay, I just couldn’t resist this story. The citizens of Manchester are engaging in the green energy revolution by flushing the loo. Yes, you heard correctly. Simply flush your poo down the loo and generate renewable energy through biomethane.
In a UK first, United Utilities has teamed up with National Grid to convert a by-product of the wastewater treatment process into gas for injection into the local gas pipeline network and fuel for a fleet of sludge tankers. The ground-breaking initiative is centered on one of the country’s largest wastewater treatment plants at Davyhulme in Manchester. The program received funding from Defra’s Waste & Resources Action Programme.
Caroline Ashton, United Utilities biofuels manager, said, “The team is thrilled to have won this funding which will give the project a huge boost. It has been in development for some time, but now we can put our plans into action and the people of Manchester will soon be using ‘poo power’ to heat their homes.”
The biomethane that is produced from the ‘poo power’ program will either be injected into the gas grid as a substitute for natural gas or compressed for use in vehicles, also similar to compressed natural gas in cars. This “renewable resource” will help lower consumers’ energy bills as well as reduce the area’s carbon footprint. The pilot program will supply gas to about 500 homes with a goal of supplying gas to 5,000 homes.
To my knowledge there are no similar programs underway in the States. But if anyone knows of any, please leave a comment.
