The Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee is Collin Peterson who represents Minnesota’s 7th Congressional District. He took the stage here today at the ACE Convention.
During his remarks he mentioned that the House farm bill had less money allocated for renewable fuels research than some wanted, including the USDA. I got to speak with him afterward and asked him about this very subject.
Peterson says that they didn’t want to overdo it and that he feels that there is adequate funding in his bill. One thing he says they want to make sure of is that there aren’t overlapping projects and he has a concern that if they had put more money in the bill for this type of research it would have been taken away by appropriators later. He says they can always address an increase in funding for research later if the need arises and that the public would be very supportive of it since he believes the topic of renewable fuels is one in which agriculture has the most support from the urban population.
I also asked him about the whole food vs. fuel issue. He thinks that has died down and as he put it was “ginned up” by people who had other interests.
You can listen to my interview with Congressman Peterson here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/ethanol/ace-07-peterson.mp3]
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty just finished speaking here at the ACE Convention.
Right now Minnesota Governor, Tim Pawlenty is speaking here at the ACE Convention.
Breakfast was in the trade show here at the ACE convention. 
The 
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A potential big producer of Ohio ethanol is Greater Ohio Ethanol, LLC (see its proposed plant picture on the left), which received $85.5 million in state incentives to get going. It’s part of $450 million in government loans and state-backed incentives to get the industry off the ground in Ohio.
Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines has agreed to buy 15 million gallons of biodiesel this year… and another 18 million gallons a year for the next four years… to run some of its cruise ships from Seattle-based biodiesel giant Imperium Renewables.
“We believe this is the single-largest long-term biodiesel sales contract to an end user in the U.S.,” the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Indiana Clean Energy, LLC is getting ready to break ground on a $90 million, 80-million-gallon-per-year biodiesel plant in the next couple of months (see the artist’s rendering).
The 20th annual 
After proven success in several communities, CityHome™ is focusing efforts on Chicago and the more than 2,000 buses that Chicago Public Schools rely on every day. Success in Chicago means great news for the ethanol industry because every bus will use about eight percent ethanol. This significantly reduces hazardous emissions and creates a better environment for children-and all members of the community. This cleaner burning fuel is even compatible with other clean air technologies and equipment.