E Energy Adams Webcam Live

Chuck Zimmerman

E Energy Adams WebcamIf you’ve ever wanted to watch an ethanol plant being built, well now you can.

E Energy Adams is letting you get a very up front and personal view of their plant construction.

They’ve got a very cool live webcam set up which allows you to control it (pan, tilt, zoom, etc.). This is a still photo from earlier today. You have two choices of what kind of stream you want to view, Motion Jpeg or Mpeg-4. You can watch as the crews are hard at work. If more than one person is on at the same time it puts you into a queue so you wait your turn. Then you’ve got about a minute before your time’s up.

E Energy Adams WebcamHere’s a photo from just a few minutes ago. It doesn’t look quite as busy at night.

The mission statement for E Energy Adams says, “Our goal is to use locally grown grains to produce an environmentally friendly fuel which will add value to the local economy while generating profits for both our investor owners and area grain and livestock producers.”

Listen to an interview with E Energy Adams chairman Jack Alderman who was at the Homestead IndyCar race this past weekend. Listen to MP3 File Jack Alderman (2:30 min MP3)

Audio, Ethanol, Facilities, News, Video

New Team Ethanol Sponsors

Cindy Zimmerman

The Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) has announced additional sponsors for the No. 17 Rahal Letterman Racing Team Ethanol 2007 IndyCar® Series season.

Team EthanolCompanies who have joined forces with the founding partners Fagen Inc., ICM Inc., and Broin Companies as major sponsors include:

Endress+Hauser Inc.
A&B Process System
E & I Specialists, Inc.
Victory Energy
Novozymes
Flottweg Separation Technology
US Water Services Pioneer

Additional sponsors are WINBO Tank; McCormick Construction; Alfa Laval; Tranter; Fremont Industries, Davenport Dryer; NY Blower; Monsanto; Eclipse Burner; Kenny Pipe & Supply; KL Process; Advance Tank; Brown Tank LLC; Invensys Foxboro Co.; J & D Construction; and Laidig Systems, Inc.

EPIC, Ethanol, Indy Racing, News

Broin Adds Another Plant in Ohio

Cindy Zimmerman

Broin Companies The Broin Companies has announced a third ethanol production facility in the state of Ohio and their 31st construction project overall.

Marion Ethanol, a 65 million gallon per year facility, will be located near the northern Ohio community of Marion in Marion County.

Mike Wagner, executive director of the Buckeye Renewable Fuels Association and past executive director of the Ohio Corn Growers, said, “Our number one goal for several years has been to develop an ethanol industry in the state and we welcome the Broin Companies, one of the best in the industry, to Marion, Ohio.”

Broin expects to start construction in the next 30-60 days with a construction time period of 12-14 months.

EPIC, Ethanol, Facilities, News

Homebrew Biodiesel Makers Running Afoul of Tax Laws

John Davis

The other day I told you about a pair of Wisconsin biodiesel homebrewers who have been sent a tax bill by the state for about 33 cents a gallon of what they’ve been making and using in their vehicles. Now, a Virginia man has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor tax evasion on biodiesel he’s been making and selling.

According to this story in the Roanoke (VA) Times, Sam Bolt of Carroll County, Virginia got suspended one-year jail sentences and a $250 fine. A plea bargain ended up dropping a related felony charge:

“I’m satisfied with that,” Bolt said outside the Carroll County courthouse. “Getting this over with is my concern.”

Commonwealth’s Attorney Gregory Goad said things might not be over yet. There are still issues relating to tax payments the Internal Revenue Serive and the state Department of Motor Vehicles may pursue, Goad said.

“Consideration of everything else he’s got coming is why we did what we did here today,” Goad said. “He’s got a lot of issues to address outside these proceedings.”

Bolt was making biodiesel out of vegetable oil. He made about 5,600 gallons during a three-month period.

“If being innovative and supplying cheap fuel to the public to reduce the stranglehold foreign oil has on us is the charge, I’m guilty,” Bolt said outside the courthouse.”I think the American people want this.”

According to the article, even the judge in the case admitted Bolt might be a pioneer… but he said homebrewers need to get up-to-speed on fuel regulations.

Biodiesel

Smells Like Popcorn

Cindy Zimmerman

Indy CarsABC News has a nice feature on ethanol in the IndyCar Series that features comments from drivers, ethanol industry representatives, race car engineers and President Bush.

If you go to an IndyCar racing track this season, you might notice there’s something different in the air: Instead of fuel, it smells a little like popcorn.

“It’s a bit sweet, I think — more of an organic smell,” explains race car driver Jeff Simmons, the driver of Rahal Letterman Racing’s Team Ethanol Honda/Dallara in the IndyCar series.

EPIC, Ethanol, Indy Racing, News

Special Delivery by Alternative Fuel

Cindy Zimmerman

Bush-USPSAfter meeting with the CEOs of major automobile manufacturers on Monday, President Bush spent Tuesday taking a look at alternative fuel vehicles used by the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx, UPS, and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

According to a White House fact sheet, the U.S. Postal Service has the “largest alternative fuel vehicle fleet in the world. Almost 13 percent of the 289,000 vehicle fleet are alternative fuel vehicles such as hybrids, biodiesel, compressed natural gas, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.”

UPS operates the largest private alternative fuel fleet in its industry, using more than 1,500 compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, propane, hydrogen fuel cell, and hybrid vehicles. Fed-Ex and the Washington Metro are using or investing in hybrid-electric diesel trucks and buses.

They note that large fleet operators like these are participating in the Department of Energy’s Clean Cities Program, which works through a network of more than 80 volunteer coalitions to promote alternative fuels and vehicles, fuel blends, fuel economy, hybrid vehicles, and idle reduction.

Meanwhile, an Associated Press report criticized the president for “talking, for two days in a row, about converting switchgrass and wood chips into ethanol,” instead of focusing on the congressional standoffs over Iraq and controversy over the firings of US attorney generals.

Biodiesel, Clean Cities Congress, E85, Flex Fuel Vehicles, Government, Hydrogen, News

Ground Broken at New Biodiesel Plant in Wisconsin

John Davis

North Prairie Production logo Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle and officials with North Prairie Productions, LLC were among those at a groundbreaking ceremony in Evansville for the state’s latest biodiesel plant. According to this article posted on the Wisconsin Technology Network web site, when completed, the plant will produce 45 million gallons of biodiesel a year:

Gov Jim Doyle “Our state has the ideal resources to be a national model for renewable energy – from agriculture and forestry, to manufacturing and cutting-edge innovation,” Doyle said in prepared remarks.

Doyle brought the state’s checkbook with him giving NPP $250-thousand in funding. But the bulk of the money to build and run the plant is coming from private investors:

Mike Robinson Mike Robinson, president of North Prairie Productions, is delighted with the state’s support, but even more grateful to investors. While biofuels have plenty of detractors, Robinson said about 800 investors, all Wisconsin residents, have committed an average of $30,000 to the company as part of an equity drive that will close on April 5.

No single investor has more than a five percent stake. “It really is a broad-based Wisconsin ownership,” Robinson said, “and we’re proud of that.”

Soybeans will be the feedstock for the biodiesel. Construction is expected to continue over the next year.

Biodiesel

Fueling Station Interview With Khosla

Cindy Zimmerman

Fueling Station Our friends at “The Fueling Station” in St. Petersburg, Florida alerted us to an in-depth interview they did with biofuels venture capitalist Vinod Khosla.

I did a post about this blog when they first got started in August of last year. Still love the name and the logo. The authors, St. Petersburg Times reporters David Adams and Craig Pittman, do a great job reporting on biofuels in the Sunshine State. That’s where they interviewed Khosla – he was in Orlando for the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) conference.

In case you have never heard of Mr. Khosla, his company Khosla Ventures is investing heavily in new energy technology companies in the United States, as well as places like Brazil and India. An Indian-American, he was one of the co-founders of Sun Microsystems and has gone on to make a name for himself as a promoter of ethanol investments.

BIO, Ethanol

Remembering Paul Dana

Cindy Zimmerman

It was one year ago today that one of ethanol’s strongest advocates died tragically doing what he loved best – racing. It is a significant tribute to Paul Dana that he accomplished a major goal in his life, getting the IndyCar Series to switch to ethanol, before he passed away.

This past weekend’s inaugural race on 100 percent fuel grade ethanol at Homestead-Miami Speedway was bittersweet to many on Team Ethanol who worked with Paul and helped him to make his dream come true. “Early on Paul Dana saw the potential that ethanol and renewable fuels could bring to racing, the greening of the racing platform,” said Ethanol Promotion and Information Council Executive Director Tom Slunecka. “Paul worked tirelessly to help bring the ethanol industry together with the racing industry.”

In Memory of Paul Dana
Paul

EPIC board member Greg Krissek of ICM met Paul early in his quest to move ethanol into the IRL. “His vision helped us start this process and that vision is being carried on by many others today,” said Krissek. “It was a great start and we are carrying that legacy forward for him.”

Paul Dana was a native of St. Louis and in an interview Domestic Fuel did with him in January 2006 he said, “I’ve always been a little bit of a weird duck in racing in that I have been an environmentalist and thought about ways that we could take our leadership position as drivers and put that at the disposal of something useful.”

“Racing exists as an industry to sell cars and tires and motor oil and here we’ve got this great American success story in ethanol,” Dana continued. “The ag industry has developed a very viable fuel industry as a secondary product and with the IndyCar Series being based in the midwest, its a natural fit.”

In his very last interview, done with Domestic Fuel the night before last year’s Homestead race, Dana was happy and enthusiastic about the future. “It’s a whole new world and a bright new day and I can’t wait for the season to start tomorrow,” he said.

Besides the legacy Paul left behind with IndyCar Series moving to 100 percent ethanol, he left an even more important legacy to his wife and family – his son, Conor Paul, who was born in December, just a few weeks shy of nine months after Paul’s death. Paul’s wife, Tonya Bergeson-Dana, bravely endured a few media interviews over the weekend marking the anniversary, one of which aired during the Homestead race broadcast on ESPN2. One story in particular by the Miami Herald is well worth reading.

We miss you, Paul.

Audio, EPIC, Ethanol, Indy Racing, News, Racing

E is Indy

Cindy Zimmerman

I am Indy The Indy Car Series is very proud of its new alliance with the ethanol industry.

If you check out the official IndyCar website, you’ll find some great information about how the IndyCar Series is “going green” with ethanol.

There’s great video from last week’s press conference on Capitol Hill honoring the IndyCar Series switch from methanol to ethanol, as well as a nice piece on what the drivers have to say about the switch.

Danica Patrick says, “I think it’s a good accomplishment and something we should say out loud, we’re all green in the fuel department.”

Tony Kaanan sums it up by saying, “If we can run them in our race cars at 240 miles an hour, I think they can run in their street cars.”

EPIC, Ethanol, Indy Racing, News, Racing