Rural Development Secretary Speaks at CUTC

Chuck Zimmerman

USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development Thomas DorrI really enjoyed getting to talk with our USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development, Tom Dorr, this evening. He was our keynote speaker at the CUTC.

He told corn growers and all the attendees that they’re doing a great job. He also said that there are challenges ahead like the recent Grocery Manufacturers Association attack on ethanol. He says that’s making it difficult to get the facts out to the media.

He points out that we’ve been through substantive increases in demand before like back in the early ’70’s with the Russian grain robbery that led to fears about escalating food prices. He said that no good deed goes unpunished and that we’ve had the good side of the cycle and now we’re going to have to suffer through the other side. He says it’s difficult to fight a well financed opponent that’s less inclined to deal with facts as opposed to dealing with emotion.

Here’s my interview with Sec. Dorr: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/ncga/cutc-08-dorr.mp3]

Here’s Sec. Dorr’s Keynote Address: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/ncga/cutc-08-dorr-keynote.mp3]

You can find photos from the CUTC here:
CUTC Photo Album

Audio, corn, CUTC, Government

Getting Set Up at the CUTC

Chuck Zimmerman

EPIC Mobile UnitThe fun and games are about to begin here at the Corn Utilization and Technology Conference. The event is being held at the Marriott in downtown Kansas City and I just got in and connected in the media room. There will be sessions tomorrow dealing with ethanol production so I should have some good stories to post.

In less than an hour we’ll kick things off with a Keynote Speech by USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development Tom Dorr. He’ll be introduced by NCGA First Vice President Bob Dickey. Afterward we’ll all head across the street for the opening reception.

On my way to the registration area I saw the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council’s mobile unit parked outside. I’m sure it’s getting ready to go on display since we do have booths and a poster session in a ballroom where the opening reception will be held.

corn, CUTC, News

North Amerian Wind Turbine Giant Increases Power

John Davis

Annual energy production from Brad Foote Gear Works is more than doubling with the purchase of additional advanced gear manufacturing systems. Brad Foote’s purchase from Germany-based Hofler Company amounts to more than $30 million. The company now owns 29 Hofler machines.

With the new equipment, Brad Foote’s annual production will grow from the current equivalent of 2,000 MW of installed wind turbine capacity to more than 5,000 MW.

Brad Foote is the largest producer of wind turbine gears in North America. The new grinding/gashing machines, which are used in manufacturing wind turbine gear systems, will be installed in its two manufacturing facilities in Cicero, Ill. According to Hofler, Brad Foote now has the largest worldwide concentration of Hofler wind turbine gear manufacturing equipment at any one site.

Brad Foote also has purchased the largest Hofler 4-meter internal/external hobber/gasher that Hofler has ever produced.

Brad Foote is a subsidiary of Broadwind Energy.

Energy, Production, Wind

Ethanol Goes for the Big Leagues On and Off the Track

John Davis

The 92nd Indianapolis 500 is one for the record books for Team Ethanol. Driver Ryan Hunter-Reay pilots the IndyCar sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) and just a couple weeks ago he piloted the car to a 6th place finish, the best ever Indy 500 for the team. At one point in the race, Ryan was cruising in 5th with just four of the League’s biggest names in car racing in front of him. Ryan says that’s when he thought, ‘We’re in it now.’ It being the big leagues.

e-podcastThat’s exactly where the ethanol industry’s leading executives consider themselves to be when it comes to fueling the nation. Oil and fossil fuels are big time competitors for ethanol, but a growing criticism of the renewable simply demonstrates the alternative fuel’s mounting success.

The best part? Both Ryan and the ethanol executives think they can take a win.

The podcast is available to download by subscription (see our sidebar link) or you can listen to it by clicking here (5:00 MP3 File):
[audio:http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3?http://www.zimmcomm.biz/epic/epic-podcast-6-2-08.mp3]

The Fill Up, Feel Good theme music is “Tribute to Joe Satriani” by Alan Renkl, thanks to the Podsafe Music Network.

“Fill up, Feel Good” is sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.

Audio, Cellulosic, corn, E85, Energy, EPIC, Ethanol, Fill Up Feel Good, Flex Fuel Vehicles, Indy Racing, News, Racing

Ethanol Push in Paradise

Cindy Zimmerman

Producers and politicians in Hawaii are promoting increased production of ethanol in the Aloha State.

KITV in Honolulu reports that state lawmakers are trying to encourage the production of sugarcane for ethanol on land that is currently not in production. Hawaii is one of only a handful of states that currently requires ethanol to be blended in all gasoline sold, but they have to import that ethanol from the mainland.

Gay Rob Sugar“In Hawaii, so much of our (agriculture) land is lying fallow, and it is not growing anything but weeds, and many people are eying it for other developments — mainly housing projects, and why would we want to encourage that over energy independence or food independence?” House Majority Leader Rep. Kirk Caldwell, D-Hawaii, said.

One company working towards producing ethanol from sugarcane on the islands is Gay and Robinson, which announced a partnership with Pacific West Energy last year to develop Hawaii’s first ethanol plant. Company officials say they still need more financing for the project but they hope to announce a deal soon.

Ethanol, News

Energy Abundance

John Davis

This weekend I visited the RIT/NASA AstroZone exhibit in St. Louis. The free exhibit was offered in conjunction with the 212th meeting of the American Astronomical Society and it offered all kinds of fascinating scientific demonstrations: from seeing yourself in infrared to star-gazing in a portable planetarium to being enveloped in Cosmic Collisions while watching a video a portable dome. I’m not going to lie, the free exhibit was geared towards children but, that’s why I had my little brother and sister in tow.

So what’s all this have to do with domestic fuel? One of the videos that I watched in one of the cool, miniature, omnimax-type domes said that one solar flare releases the same amount of energy as millions of 100-megaton hydrogen bombs. That’s just too big of a number for me to even grasp. But, it did get me thinking. The U.S. is awaiting an apparent “energy crisis” as oil becomes more scarce and gas prices go up. Yet, just one little burst from the sun emits enough energy to… well, again… I can’t even fathom how much energy millions of 100-megaton hydrogen bombs means. So it looks like there’s plenty of energy coming from the sun and it doesn’t look like that energy source will “dry up” anytime soon.

My point is, developing alternative ways to harness energy from an abundance of energy out there, yes abundance, is exactly what we should be doing. Whether it be from the sun, from wind, water, or corn and crops. It just makes more sense to start relying on what nature already offers us in plenty instead of continuing to chase after this “oil scarcity.”

corn, Energy, Hydrogen, Solar, Wind

USDA Chief to Defend Biofuels at UN Summit

John Davis

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Shafer is defending biofuels ahead of next week’s United Nations conference that will address the growing world food crisis.

This story in the New York Times says Shafer is taking a stand that biodiesel and ethanol are making a minimum contribution to any price hikes in food worldwide while making a major contribution to extending world energy resources:

Mr. Schafer took the offensive at a press conference on Thursday that discussed the food summit, planned for Rome. He said an analysis by the Agriculture Department had determined that biofuel production was responsible for only 2 to 3 percent of the increase in global food prices, while biofuels had reduced consumption of crude oil by a million barrels a day.

“We think that policy-wise in the United States of America — and certainly in the rest of the world — as we see the price of oil and petroleum escalate dramatically beyond anyone’s imagination, that one of the ways to deal with that is to produce biofuels which are renewables, better for the environment and help lower that cost,” he said.

Mr. Schafer’s remarks came as ethanol and biofuels are coming under increasing criticism from foreign leaders and members of Congress, as grocery prices climb in the developed world and malnutrition and hunger threaten to spread in the poorest nations.

Even a report critical of biodiesel and ethanol… released just hours before Shafer offered his counterpoint… admits that drought has played a major factor in food price hikes, and prices are expected to go down as weather returns to normal.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, International, News

Wind Power Company Receives Endorsement

John Davis

A Minnesota-based wind energy development company has received an endorsement from a maker of safety gear and clothing for the construction industry.

This press release from National Wind Assessments says the wind energy company picked up the product endorsement from Ergodyne. But why a deal of this kind?:

“National Wind Assessments and its parent company, National Wind have received a lot of press coverage and will soon be featured in an episode of Sustainable Planet, on National Geographic. When the filming takes place, they will be wearing our products,” says Howard Huber, Marketing Director, Ergodyne Work Gear. “We strongly believe in creating partnerships and relationships with high profile companies such as this, to showcase our innovative products.”

National Wind Assessments will utilize the company’s safety products, such as gloves, outerwear, elbow pads, back supports, and visibility vests when they complete on-site installations of meteorological towers and when they are photographed and filmed. National Wind Assessments will be featured in Ergodyne’s upcoming promotional materials.

“We are thrilled to endorse Ergodyne,” says Kevin Romuld, President of National Wind Assessments. “We feel a bit like a sports superstar. However, our employees love the gear and it helps us do our jobs safely. Ergodyne has a great, high-quality product line.”

As you might remember from my May 20th, 2008 post, National Wind has been selected to put in 10 meteorological towers in Northern Nebraska and will be using the Ergodyne products. The company has also completed advanced wind resource analysis for more than 100 wind energy projects across the United States.

Wind

Ethanol Hybrid Chopper

John Davis

Now that’s a mouthful. But that’s also pretty cool. The chopper pictured isn’t the ethanol hybrid, though it is a Cadillac. But, the e-magazine Winding Road reports that Cadillac boss Jim Taylor says an ethanol hybrid version is being built.

A motorcycle enthusiast himself, Taylor commissioned the Cadillac chopper in the photo above from Great American Chopper of Clawson, Michigan. More interesting still is a second bike that’s still in the works, which will feature a hybrid engine capable of running on ethanol or in a pure electric mode.

The hybrid Cadillac bike is being built by V20 Consulting of New York City, and has been tasked with displaying “GM’s strength in science and technology.” The bike is purported to be capable of a 0 to 60 sprint of 4.5 seconds, and should be unveiled for the public at this year’s Los Angeles Auto Show.

Click here to see the article at Winding Road.

Energy, Ethanol, transportation

Ethanol Terminal Opens in Arlington, Texas

U.S. Development GroupAccording to the Houston Business Journal, U.S. Development Group, LLC opened its ethanol handling and rail terminal in Arlington, Texas. The company will distribute fuel grade ethanol to north and central Texas. Union Pacific Railroad serves the facility and can store up to 130,000 barrels of storage.

Vice-President of U.S. Development Group, LLC noted, “This terminal will help bring cleaner air to the Dallas-Forth Worth area by more efficiently distributing fuel-grade ethanol to the metroplex. The Dallas Fort Worth Rail Terminal forms a key link in the supply chain needed to meet growing demand for cleaner-burning blended fuel. The ability to pump ethanol directly to gasoline blend terminals via pipelines significantly reduces the time and cost associated with secondary trucking.”

U.S. Development Group has five additional terminals across the country, two of which also handle fuel grade ethanol. These facilities are in Linden, New Jersey and Baltimore, Maryland.

Currently, there are 38 E85 fueling locations to serve nearly 600,000 flexible fuel vehicles in the state of Texas.

E85, Ethanol, Facilities, News, transportation