Ethanol refiners are looking at ways of getting more products out of the raw ingredients they are using, and one of those new products could be biodiesel.
Normally, corn is used to make ethanol and soybeans are used in biodiesel. But this article on the Truth About Trade & Technology web site says many ethanol plants are looking at changing their operations to extract the corn oil during the ethanol production process:
This would allow corn oil to be used for biodiesel production and change the nutritional value of the distillers’ grains (DDGs) produced by ethanol plants.
There are two ways to extract corn oil to make biodiesel.
Jeff Kazin, general manager of extraction technology at Renessen, says his company is working on recovering the corn oil before it heads to fermentation.
Renessen is joint venture of Monsanto and Cargill. It operates a demonstration plant near the Cargill plant in Eddyville.
Kazin says they are able to take about 70 percent of the corn oil out of the kernel.
About 4 percent of a kernel’s weight is oil. Therefore, a bushel of corn would have about 2.24 pounds of corn oil. With a 70 percent retention rate, Renessen is getting 1.5 lbs./bu. of oil per bushel.
“That is food-grade corn oil,” Kazin says.
He says that means the grain is high quality. The corn oil potentially could be sold at the same price — about 35 cents/lb. — as soybean oil is being trade at the Chicago Board of Trade.
Meanwhile, researchers at VeraSun are looking at getting the corn oil from the distillers grain after the ethanol is made. In fact, the company is already considering a 30-million-gallon-a-year biodiesel plant to refine that oil into biodiesel. GS CleanTech Corp. is already extracting corn oil at its Little Sioux Corn Processors ethanol plant in Marcus.
Aptly named Freedom Fuels, LLC has opened a new biodiesel plant near Mason City, Iowa (see picture from the 
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries… better known as OPEC… is starting to feel the heat of the increased use of biofuels. And the 
But one group that is pleased is the Renewable Fuels Association. In a statement e-mailed to energy.agwired.com, the group’s President Bob Dinneen praises the legislation, especially the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) of 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels, the majority of which must be the next generation such as cellulosic ethanol:
“Low carbon renewable fuels like ethanol are providing our nation a way forward to decreasing our dependence on foreign oil, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and creating new jobs and real economic opportunity. The bill Majority Leader Reid has brought to the floor of the Senate strikes the right balance between building on the progress the U.S. ethanol industry has achieved and providing the incentives necessary to realize the full potential of the industry in the future.
The CEO of the 
The slogan for the Indy Racing League is “I am Indy,” and that’s especially true for ethanol producers who are proud to be a part of this great sport.
“Energy costs have a much greater impact on consumer food costs as they impact every single food product on the shelf,” said Urbanchuk. “Energy is required to produce, process, package and ship each food item. Conversely, corn prices impact just a small segment of the food market as not all products rely on corn for production. While it may be more sensational to lay the blame for rising food costs on corn prices, the facts don’t support that conclusion. By a factor of two-to-one, energy prices are the chief factor determining what American families pay at the grocery store.”
The 
Much of the debate has been centered on the notion that the U.S. will not be able to produce enough corn to satisfy all markets, creating shortages and intensifying competition that will continuously drive the price of corn higher. However, industry officials say advancements in seed, farming and ethanol technologies are allowing American farmers to continue feeding the world while helping to fuel our nation. 
The Senate Finance Committee intends to discuss the tax plan on Tuesday, according to the committee chairman, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. The proposal would extend dozens of tax breaks, such the one for building wind turbines. It also would create incentives such as tax credits for technology to capture carbon dioxide – the leading greenhouse gas – from power plants.
“I’m not impressed with wind being the national energy source for America,” said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., who led the opposition to the renewable fuels standard.
Blue Earth Biofuels, which is building a 40-million-gallon-a-year biodiesel refinery with capabilities to go to 120 million gallons, has gotten the green light from the Hawaiian legislature to move forward with the project. But,