Marketing Ethanol By-Products

Cindy Zimmerman

Prairie Gold The Illinois Corn Growers Association and Illinois Corn Marketing Board have created a new “for profit” corporation to commercialize high value co-products related to ethanol production.

According to a press release, the company known as Prairie Gold, Inc., “has licensed technology from the University of Illinois in order to develop and commercialize ethanol co-product processes and production. The research, funded in part by Illinois corn farmers through the corn checkoff program, uses low-energy technology that is cutting-edge to purify the oil, zein and xanthophyll products.”

Included in Prairie Gold’s mission is development and marketing of new biodegradable products in the food, nutraceutical, and plastic’s marketplace. The technology involves extracting a solvent soluble protein (zein) from corn prior to fermentation in a dry grind ethanol plant. This protein has been the subject in more than 3400 patents since 1976 and has the potential to become many things such as: biodegradable plastic, food and paper coatings, chewing gum base, biodegradable textile fiber, pharmaceutical encapsulation for time release medicines and much more.

Ethanol, News

Ethanol Places Third in Chili Bowl

Cindy Zimmerman

Chili Bowl 1 From the Indy to the Chili Bowl, ethanol is making its mark.

Chili Bowl 2 The number 86 Illinois Corn Marketing Board – Ethanol Performs, Auto Xpress, Hoosier Tire Midwest Spike Midget driven by 20-year-old Justin Allgaier placed third out of a record 267 entries in the 21st Annual O’Reilly Chili Bowl Midget Nationals held in Tulsa, Okalahoma last month.

Illinois corn growers have been sponsoring Bergfield Racing’s ethanol powered Midget and Sprint entries in competitions for the last two seasons through their corn checkoff investment.

Ethanol, News, Racing

Tribe’s Waste Cooking Oil Fuels Reservation

John Davis

St Regis Mohawk Tribe logoThe St. Regis Mohawk Tribe straddling the U.S.-Canada border is working with Clarkson University in Upstate New York to turn the tribe’s used cooking oil from its casino into biodiesel. The fuel produced is expected to be more than enough to power the reservation’s solid waste facility generators and maintenance vehicles. According to a release on Clarkson’s website, the tribe will use 100% biodiesel… at least when practical with the weather:

“We plan to use 100% biodiesel (B100) fuel in the warmer months, however, since diesel truck manufacturers recommend using only 20% biodiesel (B20) in cold weather, the waste facility will switch to a 20/80 fuel combination during the winter,” remarked Laura J. Weber, Solid Waste Program Director with the SRMT Environmental Division.

Clarkson Engineers Without BordersMembers of Clarkson’s Engineers Without Borders chapter (some shown on the right) are working with the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe to build the biodiesel production system, test it, and offer the tribe help on how to operate and keep it maintained.

Biodiesel, International

Ethanol at the Races

Cindy Zimmerman

e-podcastYet another racing organization has joined Team Ethanol. The American Le Mans Series will begin running on a street-legal ten percent ethanol blend this season, which begins March 17 with the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Meanwhile, all systems are go for the IndyCar Series to start running on 100 percent fuel grade ethanol when the season begins March 24 in Homestead. The fuel got the green light at the first open-wheel test in Daytona last month.

Find out how these two great racing venues will show just how well ethanol performs in this edition of “Fill up, Feel Good.”

The “Fill up, Feel Good” podcast is available to download by subscription (see our sidebar link) or you can listen to it by clicking here. (5:45 MP3 File)

The Fill Up, Feel Good theme music is “Tribute to Joe Satriani” by Alan Renkl, thanks to the Podsafe Music Network.

“Fill up, Feel Good” is sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.

Audio, EPIC, Ethanol, Fill Up Feel Good, Indy Racing, Racing

Ciba Introduces Chemical to Stabilize Biodiesel

John Davis

Ciba logo Switzerland-based chemical company Ciba Specialty Chemicals has come up with a biodiesel additive touted to protect against degradation and oxidation to help extend the storage life of biodiesel. According to a press release on the company’s web site, the chemical will help make fuel quality consistent… no matter what the feedstock and process… and that will help the biodiesel meet certain industry and global standards:

As with other natural substances, if left untreated, biodiesel is susceptible to oxidative degradation. Degradation of biodiesel leads to the formation of lower molecular weight acids, peroxides and gums that can result in unwanted changes in both the properties and performance of biodiesel. These deposits and gums can result in damage to the engine and fuel injection systems.

Ciba says the chemical… known as Ciba IRGASTAB BD 100… can be introduced during production, storage, or even use, and it does not have to be pre-dissolved.

Biodiesel, International

VW Highlighted during “Real World Driving” at Alt Fuel Summit

John Davis

Attendees at the Designing Sustainable Mobility Summit in Southern California drove some of Volkswagen’s vehicles sporting the latest in alternative energy engines including biodiesel and hydrogen. This story on the Italian website, DueMotori.com, says those participating got the chance to try out these alternative fuels in a real-world driving environment… on local public roads:

“It’s important to demonstrate that raising the bar in such important areas as fuel efficiency and emissions reduction isn’t just accomplished with exotic or future-oriented technologies,” says Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of the Green Car Journal, which is hosting the Summit’s ride-and-drive. “Volkswagen’s demonstration of its clean diesel and twin charger engines provides real-world examples of environmentally positive technologies that are operating on highways today.”

VW Toureg TDI VW brought out a Touareg V-10 TDI that runs on B5 biodiesel, a Jetta with a highly efficient TSI engine… popular in Europe and possibly coming to America… and Volkswagen’s Touran HyMotion hydrogen fuel cell vehicle.

This event was similar to what VW did at the National Biodiesel Conference earlier this month (see Chuck’s previous post).

Biodiesel, Hydrogen

President’s Radio Address Focuses on Energy

Cindy Zimmerman

White House Radio In his weekly radio address to the nation Saturday, President Bush expressed optimism that energy policy is one area where both Republicans and Democrats can work together and make some progress.

“Republicans and Democrats both recognize these problems. We agree on the solution: We need to diversify our energy supply and make America less dependent on foreign oil,” said the president.

Bush said that his “Twenty in Ten” plan to reduce America’s gasoline usage by 20 percent in the next 10 years has received bipartisan support.

This past week, we took a key step toward my “Twenty in Ten” goal when I sent Congress my budget for the next fiscal year. The budget proposes $2.7 billion to expand alternative energy research, a 53 percent increase over the 2006 funding level. These funds will support further research into cellulosic ethanol, which can be produced from sources like wood chips and grasses. These funds will also support promising technologies beyond ethanol, such as new forms of biodiesel, lithium-ion batteries, and hydrogen fuel cells.

Read and/or listen to the president’s address on the White House website.

Biodiesel, Cellulosic, Energy, Ethanol, Government, News

Soybean Growers Call for Higher Subsidies to Help Biodiesel

John Davis

ASA logoThe American Soybean Association is asking Congress to raise soybean subsidies and provide an incentive payment to encourage development of biodiesel.

From the ASA web site:
Marketing loan rates should be set at a minimum of 95 percent, and target prices at a minimum of 130 percent, of this price average. For soybeans, these percentages would establish a $5.01/bushel loan rate (up from $5.00/bushel), and a $6.85/bushel target price (up from the $5.80 bushel) for the duration of the 2007 Farm Bill.
The current Bush Administration proposal calls for a support price of no more than $4.92 a bushel.

Also the ASA calls for A biodiesel incentive payment to support continued growth of the young U.S. biodiesel industry in the face of sometimes subsidized foreign imports. This is particularly important since biodiesel does not have a tariff to protect the biodiesel tax incentive from imports, similar to the tariff that shields the U.S. ethanol industry.

Continuation of the Biodiesel Education Program that awards grants for education programs for governmental and private entities that can switch to biodiesel. The 2002 Farm Bill created the existing program that has helped introduce truckers, health groups and many others to the benefits of biodiesel.

Biodiesel, Government, Legislation

Arkansas Legislature Moves Forward on $20 Mil Alt Fuels Bill

John Davis

The Arkansas State Legislature’s House Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development has unanimously approved a bill that would provide $20 million in tax dollars for the development of alternative fuels. The bill is sponsored by House Speaker Benny Petrus (D-Stuttgart).

Rep. Benny Petrus This from the Associated Press story in the Houston (TX) Chronicle:
“This is the only platform I’ve had as speaker,” the Democrat from Stuttgart said after the panel endorsed his proposal. “I’m real excited about this, and it’ll be a great opportunity for our state and our economy.”

The bill would take $10 million each year from the state’s General Improvement Fund and $10 million from general revenues. A spokesman for Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe was non-committal on whether the governor would sign the bill. Of course, it still has to make it through the full legislature.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, Government, News

NC Company Steps up Productions of Tiny Fuel Cells

John Davis

Microcell Raleigh-based Microcell has announced in a press release on its web site that it has bought an 80-thousand square foot facility in Eastern North Carolina to ramp up production of its microcell… the world’s smallest fuel cell (not just a clever title). This fuel cell is expected to help power cars in the future.

“Microcell is moving beyond research and development and is preparing for product commercialization. We anticipate the need for environmentally clean energy technologies to significantly increase in the next decade. Microcell projects to be a major player in this field.” said Andrew Williams, Microcell CFO.

Microcell adds this facility to its 12-thousand square foot headquarters in North Carolina’s Research Triangle. The new plant will employ about 100 people.

Car Makers, Flex Fuel Vehicles