Bill Elliot to Attempt NASCAR Record with E85

e85_mustangTomorrow, Brent Hajek Motorsports will put Bill Elliott behind the wheel of an E85 powered Mustang FR500C Cobra Jet at Talladega Superspeedway in an attempt to break the NASCAR speed record. the current NASCAR top speed record sits at 212.089 mph and was set by Elliott in 1987 at the same track by a Ford Thunderbird.

The Mustang Cobra Jet that will be used to defeat the 22 year old record has already reached 252 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah under direction of Brent Hajek Motorsports.

bill_elliottRacing legend Bill Elliott has built one of the most distinguished records in NASCAR Cup history. Since 1976, Elliott has participated in close to 750 races, achieved 44 wins, collected 55 career poles and amassed winnings of some $73 million. With all of his incredible success, he still remains humble, stating, “We are all motivated by certain things. Of course, winning is one of them, but for me, the fans have always been the biggest motivational factor. I’ve said this over and over-our fans are the backbone of this sport and they are the reason we are able to do what we do.”

E85

Corn Ethanol Done Right

Cindy Zimmerman

Corn growers and ethanol producers have joined forces for a new ad campaign stressing how corn-based ethanol gets biofuels right. The campaign includes a full-page ad running in Politico, a Capitol Hill newspaper.

The print ad stresses important facts about corn and ethanol, such as the increase in yields over the last 20 years, the decrease in the amount of energy used to produce corn and the resulting greenhouse gas emissions, and that using ethanol helps cut GHG by up to 59 percent.

Collaborating with the National Corn Growers Association on the advertisement are Growth Energy, the Renewable Fuels Association, the American Coalition for Ethanol, and the Biotechnology Industry Organization.

See the ad here.

ACE, BIO, corn, Ethanol, Growth Energy, RFA

Soybean Growers Fight Back on EPA Rules

John Davis

asa_logo1As I posted before, the debate over the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rules for the expanded Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS-2) continues to rankle the folks who grow the biggest feedstock for biodiesel: soybeans.

The crux of the problem is that the under the new rules, biodiesel made from soybeans has been deemed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by only 22 percent… while it must reduce those emissions by 50 percent if it wants to count toward the RFS 1-billion-gallon goal by 2012. And soybean biodiesel makers are worried their green fuel will be left out in the cold… a bitter pill for many of tm to swallow considering how they’ve been in on the ground floor of greenhouse gas reduction for some time.

According to Southeast Farm Press, the American Soybean Association (ASA) has made their displeasure known in comments to the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research:

ASA sees numerous potential flaws in the approach EPA is using for indirect land use changes in its proposed rule. Further, there are numerous factors that ASA believes refute the possibility that significant international indirect land use change would result from the relatively small increase in U.S. biodiesel production called for under the RFS-2.

“The approach EPA has used in its proposed rule on RFS-2 implementation is significantly flawed and would do unnecessary and irreversible harm to the competitive position of the U.S. soy biodiesel industry,” said ASA President Johnny Dodson, a soybean producer from Halls, Tenn. “EPA’s projections of indirect international land use changes resulting from a quite small increase in biodiesel production are built on faulty assumptions, flawed analysis and misplaced penalties.”

ASA included a detailed list of the flaws in EPA’s assumptions in its comments to the Subcommittee. These comments are available here.

When calculating the life cycle GHG impact of biofuels, the statute directs EPA to consider direct and indirect emissions, including indirect land use, of all stages of the fuel and feedstock production. The primary area of concern and disagreement has emerged over the international indirect land use assumptions that EPA has proposed to use in conducting their updated life cycle GHG analysis.

The article goes on to point out how land use change has been going on long before biodiesel was even as part of the picture. And it says the way the EPA is extrapolating land use change for the future based on 2001-2004 cropland conversions is “illogical.”

Biodiesel, Government

Verenium Reports First Quarter Financials

Joanna Schroeder

Commission of Verenium's first cellulosic ethanol demonstration facility in Jennings, LA

Commission of Verenium's first cellulosic ethanol demonstration facility in Jennings, LA

Verenium Corporation today announced its first quarter earnings for 2009 reporting total revenues for the quarter ending March 31, 2009 at $14.4 million. Earnings are slightly down from first quarter 2008 when the Company reported $15.2 million in total revenues. 

According to a company news release, President and Chief Executive Officer, Carlos A. Riva, commented on the company’s financials by saying, “We had a strong start to 2009, beginning with the announcement of our 50/50 joint venture with BP for developing commercial cellulosic ethanol facilities. This critical partnership firmly positions us, along with BP, to be a first mover in the field of next-generation ethanol. As we look toward commercial operations, we continue to be very encouraged by the political climate and support for alternative energy and, specifically, biofuels.

Verenium has had several big announcements in the past few months including the consolidation of the company’s R&D headquarters to Jennings, LA; announced the second phase of the BP partnership to develop cellulosic ethanol from non-food feedstocks, and announced Highlands County, Florida as the location for their first commercial cellulosic ethanol facility. In addition, launched a new enzyme for the food and beverage industry called Veretase.  Visit www.verenium.com for more information about the Company’s financial report.

Cellulosic, Company Announcement

Biofuels Part of World Ag Forum in St. Louis

John Davis

worldagforumJust got word today that I’m headed to St. Louis next week to help cover the World Agricultural Forum’s Sixth Biennial World Congress, “Our Global Priority: Food Security—Financial, Trade and Technical Services,” for ZimmComm New Media, mostly on our sister Web site, AgWired.com.

For Domestic Fuel followers, there is plenty going on at the forum, especially in the sustainability field:

The 2009 World Congress will seek solutions to issues around agricultural production and supply, rising food costs, the crucial resource of water, and the impacts on agricultural economies and resources during a period of unprecedented financial uncertainties on a global scale. Defining strategies and creating solutions will require a better understanding of the drivers and challenges of agriculture and food production including labour, rising prices, shrinking sources of credit, leveraging of innovation and technology, creation of incentives for production and higher productivity, and reducing the impact of input costs to farmers. Each sector — government, private and private-public partnerships and civil society (NGOs) will be challenged to provide a road map to success by addressing the crucial issues of safe, affordable and reliable supplies of food, fuel, fiber and water.

If you’re in the St. Louis area on Tuesday, May 19th, check out the session entitled Food Security: An Integrated Approach to Biofuels. The session will be moderated by Henk Joos, Plant Science and Agronomy Director, D1 Oils and feature panelists Smt. Radha Singh, Former Secretary, Department of Agriculture, from India; Lee Broughton, Director, Corporate Sustainability, Enterprise; Ernie Shea, Project Coordinator, 25 X ’25; and Prof. Nuhu Hatibu, CEO, Kilimo Trust, East Africa.

Should be a pretty interesting conversation. Both Cindy and I will be providing coverage for the event, May 17-20. We’ll either see you there at the St. Louis Ballpark Hilton Hotel in downtown St. Louis or over on AgWired.com!

Biodiesel, Ethanol, International, News

Proven Energy Becomes Small Turbine Wind Leader

Joanna Schroeder

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has recognized Proven Energy, based in the west of Scotland (U.K.), as one of the world’s largest manufacturers of small wind turbines. A small wind turbine is defined as those with capacities of 100 kW and under. Proven Energy sold more than 5,800 kilowatts of wind energy worldwide in 2008, making them one of the most successful wind turbine manufacturers globally.

mainimage001According to AWEA’s recent small wind turbine global market study, at least 219 companies manufacture or will manufacture small wind turbines in the world. The small wind turbine market grew 78 percent in 2008 with the installation of 17,300kW of capacity. 

The company manufactures 2.5kW, 6kW and 15kW sized wind turbines for use in homes, businesses, schools, and municipalities. Replacing traditional forms of electricity generation (coal, natural gas) with a wind turbine can nearly reduce or eliminate electrical bills. The wind turbines can also provide electricity for remote applications including telecommunications sites operating in isolation of existing power. 

It’s anticipated that the small wind turbine market will continue to grow as recent federal legislation offers American taxpayers a 30 percent tax credit for installing renewable energy including wind or solar. Other tax incentives are available through the Rural Energy for America Program. 

Company Announcement, Wind

Japan to Start Study on E10

japan2Japan will begin a three year study on their allowance of 10 percent ethanol in their fuel. Currently, ths country only allows up to three percent of ethanol to help cut its greenhouse gas emissions.

Japan’s Ministry of Environment said they have given approval for two groups to study E10 issues. Osaka prefectural government will focus on ethanol made from discarded construction materials, while the Tokachi area in Hokkaido, northern Japan, will study E10 with ethanol made from farm waste.

Even if E10 were allowed, local feedstocks are at present too limited to make ethanol. Last year, Japan produced only 90 kilolitres of biomass ethanol at government-backed test plants. Also, no vehicle suitable for E10 is available in Japan although Japanese car makers sell such vehicles overseas.

Environment, Ethanol

Algae Project at Iowa Ethanol Plant Closer to Reality

John Davis

gpreAn ethanol plant in Southwest Iowa is closer to being able to produce algae, most likely to turn into biodiesel.

This press release from Green Plains Renewable Energy says the company and BioProcessAlgae LLC, a joint venture between Green Plains, CLARCOR Inc. (NYSE: CLC), BioProcessH2O LLC and NTR plc., have executed a grant award agreement with the Iowa Office of Energy Independence for a $2.1 million research and development grant from the Iowa Power Fund to build a project to use the water, heat and carbon dioxide from the production of ethanol to make algae at Green Plains’ ethanol plant in Shenandoah, Iowa:

“Algae has the potential to become an important carbon sequestration solution, biofuel feedstock and feed product,” said Todd Becker, President and Chief Executive Officer of Green Plains. “If the pilot project is successful, BioProcessAlgae will move to expand the photobioreactor system to full commercial scale. We believe that this pilot project will be one of the first operational installations of a photobioreactor system at an industrial plant in the United Sates utilizing emerging technology out of the laboratory.”

The Iowa Power Fund grant provides matching funds to install a series of photobioreactor units at Green Plains’ Shenandoah ethanol plant. Water, heat and carbon dioxide will be recycled from the ethanol manufacturing process to support continuous algae production. The grant provides funding through the end of the first quarter of calendar year 2010 with installation of the pilot project expected in the third quarter of 2009.

Now, while the press release never directly says what the algae would be used for, one would have to assume it would be for biodiesel. BioProcessAlgae officials believe the photobioreactor system is a very important step toward system commercialization of algae technology.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, News

New Company Buys Former VeraSun Ethanol Plant

Cindy Zimmerman

AgStar Financial Services has agreed to sell one of the six former VeraSun ethanol plants it purchased to the newly-formed Carbon Green BioEnergy of Chicago.

According to a news release, the 40-million gallon plant in Woodbury, Michigan will be the first direct ownership of ethanol production for Carbon Green BioEnergy when the sale closes in the next 30 days.

“This acquisition is particularly rewarding because it is a win, win,” said Jim Murphy, president of Carbon Green BioEnergy. “Clearly it represents a sustainable business opportunity for us and our partners. But importantly, it also demonstrates our tangible commitment to the Woodbury and neighboring communities with our focus on buying corn and selling ethanol and its
by-products locally, while reducing our carbon footprint.”

AgStar lending group continues ongoing discussions with qualified buyers for the five other acquired ethanol plants. “It takes a fair amount of time to work through the sales process for this size of facility. We look forward to making announcements on some of the remaining plants in the very near future,” said Paul DeBriyn, president and chief financial officer of AgStar Financial Services.

Ethanol, News

Corn Growers Adding Value to Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

Iowa corn growers are investing in a corn oil and animal feed processor plant to add value to corn ethanol.

The investment in Merrill, IA-based Plymouth Oil Company is being made through Iowa Corn Opportunities, an equity fund established by the Iowa Corn Growers Association for investment and business development. “Plymouth Oil Company represents an important step forward for the corn ethanol industry which is currently suffering from depressed margins. Adding value to corn made ethanol is critical right now,” says Pam Johnson, President of ICO and corn grower from Floyd, Iowa. “Plymouth Oil Company is creating high value human food, high value animal feed while demonstrating that both food and fuel can be economically produced from the same kernel of corn.”

“We are able to increase the protein content of the distillers’ grains, making them more useable as a feed source in the poultry, swine and dairy markets,” says Dave Hoffman, President of POC. Hoffman also says that “corn oil is a high value vegetable oil product that is increasing in demand as food processors switch from hydrogenated soybean oil in an effort to reduce trans-fats.”

Iowa Corn Opportunities made the decision to invest in Plymouth Oil Company because it “ultimately represents an important value added opportunity for the ethanol industry, livestock producers, consumers and corn growers alike.”

corn, Ethanol