EPIC Fun Pack

Cindy Zimmerman

EPIC Fun PackThe Ethanol Promotion and Information Council unveiled a new Educational Fun Pack last week at the Green California Schools Conference.

The pack is equipped with six different units for teachers. The materials focus on English, geography, science, math, vocabulary, and social studies. The fun pack also includes 30 wristbands, 30 environmental window clings, 30 children’s books, 2 girls and 2 boys t-shirts, five Team Ethanol die-cast cars, a crossword puzzle, a word find, the “How Ethanol is Made” video, the “Ethanol 101” Power Point, and a poster with a board game on the back.

This fun pack is completely free to teachers and is available at www.drivingethanol.org/classroom.

EPIC, Ethanol, News, Promotion

AE Biofuels Now Publicly Traded

Cindy Zimmerman

AE BiofuelsAE Biofuels, formerly known as American Ethanol, has completed its plans to become a publicly traded company by merging with a firm known as Marwich II Ltd.

The California-based company is involved in both ethanol and biodiesel, with majority ownership of a plant in India that is designed to produce 50 million gallons of biodiesel per year and plans to commercialize a patent-pending next-generation ethanol technology that the company intends to use at its permitted ethanol plant sites in the United States.

AE Biofuels has six permitted ethanol plant sites in Illinois and Nebraska in addition to its biodiesel production facility in India.

AE Biofuels is also developing a pilot plant in Montana that will test a process for converting a wide range of plant materials into ethanol.

Biodiesel, Cellulosic, Ethanol, News

VeraSun Recives Venture Award

Cindy Zimmerman

VeraSun Energy, headquartered in South Dakota, was recently honored with one of ten Iowa Venture Awards by the Iowa Area Development Group (IADG).

VeraSun is one of the nation’s largest ethanol producers and is nearing completion a 100 million gallon ethanol production plant in Hartley, Iowa to complement their other two Iowa facilities located in Fort Dodge and Charles City.
Vera Sun Award
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey presented the award on behalf of the Iowa Area Development Group. Pictured left to right are Rand Fisher, President of IADG; Gerald Klemme, North West REC; Alan Lucken, North West REC; Todd Church, Plant Manager, Charles City, VeraSun Energy; Lyle Korver, CEO, North West REC; Joel Orthmann, President, North West REC; Bill Northey.

Ethanol, Facilities, News

Chrysler Fuel Cell Technology in California

John Davis

Chrysler LLCChrysler LLC has joined the California Fuel Cell Partnership, becoming the 34th member of the organization. Chrysler says the CaFCP is valuable colloboration that encourages engineers to develop solutions for hydrogen technology at an accelerated rate.

“We are pleased to welcome Chrysler as the California Fuel Cell Partnership’s ninth automotive member,” said Catherine Dunwoody, CaFCP’s executive director. “We’re looking forward to the new perspectives and ideas Chrysler will bring to the table as we all work together to commercialize this important transportation solution.”

California Fuel Cell PartnershipChrysler pioneered fuel cell vehicle technology more than 10 years ago. Fuel cells release energy from the reaction of hydrogen with a catalyst and oxygen. This clean technology operates at a high level of efficiency and is true zero-emission. Hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles emit only pure water vapor as exhaust. Fuel cell systems are part of Chrysler’s advanced- propulsion technology umbrella, which includes efficient gasoline engines, advanced diesels and hybrid powertrain systems.

Founded in 1999, CaFCP members have placed 188 fuel cell passenger vehicles and transit buses on California’s roads. In addition, CaFCP members have built 27 hydrogen stations, with 11 more planned, forming the largest hydrogen infrastructure in the world.

CaFCP describes itself as an organization of auto manufacturers, energy providers, fuel cell technology companies and government agencies, where members work together to promote the commercialization of hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicles.

Car Makers, Energy, Government, Hydrogen, Promotion

Suzuki/British to Develop Hydrogen-Powered Motorcycle

John Davis

SuzukiExploration of energy efficiency in transportation is no longer just for cars and buses. Suzuki is partnering with British Midlands Based Intelligent Energy to develop a hydrogen-powered motorcycle.

The British Midlands Development Corporation announced that Loughborough Innovation Center based Intelligent Energy and Suzuki have developed the Crosscage, a hydrogen-powered motorcycle that claims to make green driving a reality.

British MidlandsThe motorcycle, which runs in almost complete silence and emits pure water, is a joint venture between British Midlands based company, Intelligent Energy, the UK’s leading commercial developer of Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cell technology and the Japanese motorcycle and scooter giant.

Although the technology to build hydrogen-powered and fuel efficient vehicles exists, they carry hefty price tags. Until now, mass-production has eluded the industry and nobody has managed to build a commercially viable motorcycle. The Crosscage represents a huge breakthrough. By combining Suzuki’s capacity for mass-production and Intelligent Energy’s lightweight, air-cooled fuel cell design, the reality of affordable green transportation moves closer to reality.

Intelligent Energy“This is just one of many examples of innovation coming out of The British Midlands,” said Vern Sebby, President and CEO of the British Midlands Development Corporation, ” There are over 3,000 foreign companies operating in the Midlands and many of them are there to partner with our local companies and universities.”

Energy, Hydrogen, Production

Biofuel Producer Honored as “Great Oregonian”

John Davis

sequential.jpgSeQuential Biofuels, maker and seller of biodiesel and ethanol, has been honored as one of five recipients of Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski’s Gold Awards, recognizing “greatness in Oregonians.”

This story from the Portland (OR) News says the award was handed out recently at the Oregon Convention Center:

SeQuential, which opened the nation’s first biofuels station in 2006 on McVay Highway in Eugene, will open additional stations in Portland and Eugene in 2008. The company sells biofuel blends for every vehicle, with no engine conversion required. SeQuential’s products include E10, which can be used in every gas vehicle and decreases carbon dioxide emissions by about seven percent. Its E85 bioethanol, for use in Flex Fuel Vehicles, decreases carbon dioxide emissions by 59 percent. B99 biodiesel is suitable for most diesel vehicles and cuts carbon dioxide emissions by 80 percent. SeQuential also sells reduced-carbon B5 and B20 biodiesel blends suitable for any diesel engine.

In addition to reducing carbon dioxide and other toxic emissions into the environment, these biofuels directly displace foreign petroleum. In 2007, Oregon consumers avoided using more than 360,000 gallons of petroleum by using SeQuential biofuels.

The company, which was founded in 2002, also operates the largest biofuels retail network in the region with more than 35 biofuel pumps at independent retailers and 5,000 loyal customers. It is a partner in the SeQuential-Pacific biodiesel production facility in Salem, which will expand capacity from one million to five million gallons in 2008.

SeQuential is in pretty good company with this award. Previous winners include Intel and Nike. Check out the SeQuential crew below. Congrats guys!
sequentialteam.JPG

Biodiesel, E85, Ethanol, News

Rising Soybean Prices Idle Delaware Biodiesel Plant

John Davis

midatlanticbiodiesel.jpgThe high cost of soybeans, brought on by the popularity of biodiesel, has forced another biodiesel plant to stop operations while waiting for prices to subside.

This story in the Salisbury (MD) Daily Times says the Mid-Atlantic Biodiesel plant in Clayton, Delaware has had to quit producing biodiesel:

The Mid-Atlantic Biodiesel facility has the capacity to refine up to 6 million gallons of biodiesel fuel per year. The plant opened in September 2006, but the rising price of soybean oil forced the plant to halt production this spring .

The plant began production with nearly $1 million in state and federal grants and a $5 million loan from the Delaware Energy Office. Company president Martin Ross says the company has kept its loan payments up-to-date.

Ross says soybean oil is currently priced too high to make biodiesel production profitable.

This news comes just about a month after an Evansville, Wisconsin biodiesel plant had to suspend operations because of high soybean prices (see my November 17th post “The Vicious Cycle of Irony”).

Biodiesel

Daryl Hannah Selling Biodiesel El Camino

John Davis

hannahcamino.jpgspecial secret surprise!!!
the baddest assest biodiesel “el camino” ever
with your own b100 biodiesel pump + station!!!

That’s how the ad for Daryl Hannah’s own El Camino (that she says she has driven everyday for the last four years) reads. The eco-friendly actress is selling her biodiesel-powered El Camino AND biodiesel pump and station with easy instructions on how to make biodiesel. You can see the car and an bio-beast.jpgall-terrain, biodiesel vehicle called the “ranch bio-beast” at her web site dhlovelife.com (this is the products main page). Click on the fantasy play things icon (no, not THAT kind of fantasy).

Hannah promises more details on the El Camino, such as price, on December 20th… maybe a green stocking stuffer? I also need to give props to the web site ecorazzi for pointing me toward this story.

Biodiesel

Swedish Bio-Fuel Sports Car

Cindy Zimmerman

“The Future of Things” has a feature on a future bio-fueled sports car called CCXR.

Future CarThe elite Swedish sports car manufacturer Koenigsegg has created a new bio-fuel powered sports car named CCXR. This Limited Edition CCXR is the first homologated car currently in production to reach over 1,000 Brake horsepower, and a top speed of over 400 km/h (250+ mph). In addition, the CCXR is environmentally friendly, as it runs on E85 (bio-fuel). Keonigsegg plans on displaying the new edition CCXR at the Geneva International Motor Show scheduled for March, 2008.

According to Keonigsegg, the CCXR’s performance is even better than that of the standard CCX thanks to the bio-fuel, “the ethanol in bio-fuel has the positive side effect of cooling the combustion chambers, as well as a higher octane value, well over 100 RON, which gives the high power.” The company explains that for this reason, the power reaches up to 1018 hp at 7200 rpm, and the torque can reach up to 1060 nm at 6100 rpm.

Car Makers, E85, Ethanol, News

New Report Puts Food vs Fuel “to Bed”

Cindy Zimmerman

InformaThe price of corn has less to do with the price of food than many other factors, according to an extensive new study by Informa Economics based on 20 years of price data.

The Informa report identifies the so-called “marketing bill”—the portion of final food costs that excludes grains or other raw materials—as a key driver of the consumer price index (CPI) for food, largely due to rising energy and transportation costs. Another significant factor in consumers’ food bills is surging global demand for commodities.

The report finds a comparatively “weak correlation” between corn prices and overall food costs. In fact, just four percent of the change in the food CPI could be attributed to fluctuations in the price of corn. Simply put, growing U.S. ethanol industry is not the cause of food price inflation.

“This analysis puts to bed the argument that a growing domestic ethanol industry is solely responsible for rising consumer food prices,” said Informa Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bruce Scherr. “The statistical analysis plainly details that energy-intensive activities such as processing, packaging and transporting, as well as the cost of labor, have a far greater impact on consumer food bills than the price of grain. It may be politically convenient to blame ethanol for rising food prices but it doesn’t make it factually accurate. As far as Informa is concerned, this
debate is settled.”

The Informa study was funded by the Renewable Fuels Foundation and during a Monday morning press conference chairman Bill Lee commented that “our friends in the food, livestock and petroleum industries have been you could say “super sizing” the impact commodity prices have on food,” and he hopes this report will “be the end of the disingenuous comments from the food and livestock industries about the impact of corn prices and ethanol on food prices.”

Informa press release
Complete study
Reuters story

Ethanol, News, RFA