New York Becoming the Windy State

John Davis

Chicago might be known as the Windy City (actually dubbed for the city’s talkative politicians), but New York State seems to be putting nature’s wind to good use. RenewableEnergyAccess.com reports that 9,300 customers of New York State Electric & Gas… better known as NYSEG… and another 3,000 customers of Rochester Gas & Electric… RG&E… have signed up to get wind-produced energy since the two subsidiaries of Energy East Corporation started offering the program a few years ago:

NYSEG Wind Chart “The wind energy programs at NYSEG and RG&E are a natural fit with our commitment to do all that we can to protect the environment,” said Jim Laurito, president and CEO of NYSEG and RG&E. “We are pleased to be able to offer this environmentally friendly, renewable energy option to our customers.”

NYSEG customers are projected to consume 33.3 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of wind energy this year. In 2007, users of RG&E should use about 19.5 million kWh.

Wind

Ethanol Conference Blog Announced

Cindy Zimmerman

RFA Conference It’s official – the 12th Annual National Ethanol Conference has a new blog.

The Renewable Fuels Association made the announcement in a press release:

The RFA is pleased to bring you complete coverage of the NEC in real time at the National Ethanol Conference Blog (www.ethanolrfa.org/industry/conference/blog/). The NEC Blog will feature recaps, photos and text of speakers’ remarks, as well as providing a feel for the atmosphere inside the conference.

“As the premiere policy conference for the ethanol industry, the NEC has seen interest in the event grow nearly as quickly as the industry itself,” said RFA President Bob Dinneen. “As such, the RFA is pleased to offer an up-to-the minute accounting of conference events to those unable to attend. The use of new media is critical to providing policy makers, business leaders, media and other interested parties with current and accurate information. Following the conference, the RFA will continue to maintain the blog as a resource for those interested in the latest news from Washington impacting the U.S. ethanol industry.”

This year’s blog is being operated by Chuck Zimmerman of ZimmComm New Media. In addition to operating blogs for renewable fuel events, ZimmComm is also the publisher of energy.agwired.com.

Ethanol, News

U.S. Ethanol Giant Expanding into International Biodiesel Market

John Davis

ADM logo Archer Daniels Midland Co…. ADM… is already the largest ethanol producer in the U.S. Now, company officials want to become a major player in the international biodiesel market. Reuters quotes a Wall Street Journal report that says ADM plans to partner with Wilmar International to start a biodiesel plant in Indonesia. ADM will also have a biodiesel plant of its own in Brazil before July:

The Brazil plant is expected to be the nation’s largest, the paper said. Worldwide, the company projects a fourfold rise in biodiesel production over the next five years, the paper said.

ADM is playing it close to the vest and has not yet commented.

Biodiesel

Students On Board with Biodiesel… Literally

John Davis

City Academy logo Here’s a truly inspirational story. A group of students in Salt Lake City bought a bus on eBay to use for class trips. Now, the students at City Academy are even making their own biodiesel to drive the thing! Check out this story from KSL-TV:

City Academy Bio Bus Their science teacher Shea Wickelson is helping them learn how to make biodiesel, a combination of used vegetable oil and other chemicals.

Shea Wickelson, Science Teacher: “We spent a whole year of chemistry curriculum tying chemistry concepts to our coming up with sort of the perfect biodiesel formula, and all of the students did their own independent research.”

Maddy Hartley, High School Student: “We didn’t have to convert it, we didn’t have to add anything, we just run the biodiesel just like we would normal diesel, and the thing about biodiesel, the point of biodiesel, is to make vegetable oil a little less thick.”

By the way, City Academy is a public charter school that does college prep courses. Its motto is “Excellence and Innovation in Academics and Citizenship.”

Biodiesel

Ethanol Drives Ten Year Ag Forecast

Cindy Zimmerman

WAOB According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest projections, ethanol will dominate the farm economy for the next decade.

USDA’s Interagency Agricultural Projections Committee, headed by the World Agricultural Outlook Board, this week released “USDA Agricultural Projections to 2016.” According to the report, “strong expansion of corn-based ethanol production in the projections affects virtually every aspect of the field crops sector, ranging from domestic demand and exports to prices and the allocation of acreage among crops.”

USDA analyst David Stallings says by the year 2009, ethanol will consume 30 percent of US corn production, compared to last year’s 20 percent. He expects acreage to increase to as much as 90 million acres by that year and prices to level off after that.

“We see a fairly rapid increase in corn prices for 2007-08 and 2008-09, and then peaking in 2009-10 at an average farm price of $3.75 per bushel,” said Stallings. They don’t expect corn prices to drop below $3.00 a bushel for the next decade.

Ethanol, Government, News

Saab Gives 100 Percent a Go

Cindy Zimmerman

Saab 100 Saab plans to unveil a 100 percent bioethanol-powered engine in Geneva next month.

According to a news release:

GM Powertrain CEO Kjell ac Bergstrom said: ‘Bioethanol is a potent, high-quality fuel which opens up exciting possibilities in helping to meet the environmental challenges that face us. As the need to reduce energy consumption increases, we are exploring ways to run smaller engines that give relatively high power, with and without hybrid technology. This concept car shows that bioethanol can play a key role in this “right-sizing” process, while also minimizing fossil fuel emissions.’

Car Makers, Ethanol, News

Louis Dreyfus Buys More Brazilian Ethanol Plants

Cindy Zimmerman

International commodity trading company Louis Dreyfus is buying an addition four sugar ethanol mills in Brazil to become the second-biggest sugarcane processor in the country.

According to a Bloomberg.com report, Paris-based Louis Dreyfus, which already owns four sugar and ethanol mills in Brazil, expects the acquisition to boost sugarcane processing to 18.5 million metric tons by 2009, from 11.8 million tons this year, the company said in a statement. Financial terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed.

Ethanol, International, News

More E85 Pumps for Colorado

Cindy Zimmerman

Ritter Colorado motorists will soon have 40 more pumps to fill up with 85 percent ethanol.

According to a press release from Colorado Governor Bill Ritter’s office, 40 new E85 fuel pumps will open at 22 gas stations around this state this year, thanks to an effort by General Motors to expand the availability of the ethanol blend.

In addition to General Motors’ national effort, the Colorado expansion has been spearheaded by the Colorado E85 Coalition, a group of private companies, non-profit organizations, and government agencies dedicated to increasing Colorado’s use of renewable fuels. Two Colorado retailers, Pester Marketing and Western Convenience, will be installing E85 pumps in a total of 22 stations statewide with assistance from the Colorado E85 Coalition.

Car Makers, Ethanol, Government, News

Company Announces “100% Green” Biofuels Technology

Cindy Zimmerman

Diversified Arizona-based Diversified Energy, has announced a “breakthrough biofuels technology” that they say “offers a “100% green” biofuel product containing no fossil fuel components.”

According to a company release, the patent-pending process, termed Centia™, “provides several key advantages when compared with other biofuel processes like biodiesel, ethanol and others.”

Centia™, a name derived from Crudus Potentia (meaning “green power” in Latin), can utilize feedstock oils from edible and inedible animal fats, waste oils, agriculture crops like soybean, algae, newly proposed energy crops, or any other lipid-based feedstock.

Diversified is developing Centia through an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with North Carolina State University.

Energy, Ethanol, News

Deere Profits Run on Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

DeereDeere & Company announced worldwide net income of $238.7 million, or $1.04 per share, for the first quarter ended January 31, compared with $235.9 million, or $0.99 per share, for the same period last year, according to a company release.

Strong operating performance and a positive customer response to the company’s advanced products and services contributed to the quarter’s results, noted Robert W. Lane, chairman and chief executive officer. “This success puts the company in a stronger position to serve a growing customer base worldwide. In conjunction with increasing demand for renewable fuels and other positive global economic factors, it also strengthens our ability to deliver strong financial results,” said Lane.

According to an AP report, “analysts credited Deere’s rosier forecast and stock surge to rising production of corn-based ethanol, which has yielded high grain prices that give farmers more money to invest in equipment.”

Ethanol, News