Discover Wisconsin on Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

Wisc Ethanol The first Choice Destination for 2007 on “Discover Wisconsin” isn’t so much a destination as a way of getting there.

The latest episode of the state’s tourism television show focuses on Wisconsin’s role in the domestic fuels industry, specifically E85. According to the show’s website:

With car manufacturers like GM offering a variety of E85-friendly vehicles, the new fuel is helping residents get to their favorite Wisconsin drive-to destinations with more money in their pockets. E85 is often cheaper than traditional gasoline – and most drivers don’t see a noticeable difference in gas mileage. In addition, we’ll take a look at some General Motors E85/flex-fuel vehicles, and dispel some myths associated with the fuel. We’ll tour the Chevy plant in Janesville to learn about what makes their vehicles different from regular gasoline vehicles. Finally, we’ll unveil a very special way that we at Discover Wisconsin are committed to the use of E85 fuel.

“Live Green – E85” will air January 6 and 7 on stations in and around Wisconsin.

Ethanol, News

Michigan Marching Orders

Cindy Zimmerman

Mich RFC As part of a series on “Making it in Michgan” the Associated Press did a report on the state’s campaign to become the nation’s leader in alternative fuels.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) – Gov. Jennifer Granholm laid it on the line for the members of the Michigan Renewable Fuels Commission.

“We want to be the state that shows the nation how it can be done,” she told them at their recent inaugural meeting. As traditional manufacturing jobs disappear and Michigan looks for ways to diversify its economy, the goal of the 26-member bipartisan commission is to help make the state a leader in researching, developing and producing alternative fuels, and in promoting vehicles that use them.

The commission is to present its recommendations to Granholm and the Legislature by early July.

Read more.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, News

Ethanol Factor in Planting Decisions

Cindy Zimmerman

High corn prices driven by increased demand for ethanol are causing farmers of various commodities to seriously consider switching crops for 2007.

Farm Futures reports that Nebraska farmers are considering planting corn in place of wheat they’ve already sowed.

With wheat futures high, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension cropping systems specialist Bob Klein says Nebraska producers planted probably 15% more wheat this fall. Now, with corn prices high, Klein says producers may kill off some of that wheat with herbicide to make way for corn in the spring.

Further to the west, some cotton and silage producers are considering a switch, according to the Western Farm Press.

Farmers in California and Arizona with parched wallets are eyeing a dangling carrot that could lead to improved grower incomes for those willing to produce specific feed grains to meet the insatiable needs of the nation’s exploding ethanol industry.

In the West, grower opportunities range from planting flexible corn hybrids that yield high quality silage for dairies as well as corn for ethanol – to foregoing cotton production for corn and grain sorghum.

Ethanol, News

The Good, the Bad, and the Indy

Cindy Zimmerman

Politicians, celebrities, race car drivers and investors all helped to make 2006 a year to remember for biofuels. Here’s just a few of the top stories on DomesticFuel this year.

January 31 – During his State of the Union address, President Bush uttered the catch phrase that marked a tipping point in the history of biofuels in America. “America is addicted to oil.” The president also brought fame to a mostly unknown plant called switchgrass. “We will also fund additional research in cutting edge methods of producing ethanol, not just from corn, but from wood chips and stalks or switch grass.”

WillieFebruary 5 – The star-studded National Biodiesel Conference kicked off in San Diego with a Super Bowl party. Luke Perry, Darryl Hannah and, of course, Willie Nelson all put in appearances at the event, which was covered from start to finish by DomesticFuel parent company ZimmComm on the Biodiesel Conference Blog.

Paul
March 26
– The first day of the Indy Racing League’s official switch to 10 percent ethanol fuel turned tragic when #17 Ethanol car driver Paul Dana was killed in a pre-race crash. Dana was instrumental in getting the IRL to switch to ethanol and his loss was a significant blow to people in both the racing and ethanol industries.

April 4
– Rahal Letterman Racing, the Indy Racing League and the ethanol industry announced the new #17 Ethanol car driver would be Jeff Simmons, an IRL Indy Pro Series driver from Connecticut.

April 25 – President Bush addressed the Renewable Fuels Summit 2006 in Washington, DC. Bush heavily promoted domestic fuels, both ethanol which he says has “the largest potential for immediate growth,” and biodiesel, which is why he “signed into law the first ever federal tax credit for biodiesel producers.”

May 26 – Approximately 1,200 people attended the grand opening celebration for the new $80 million Frontier Ethanol – the 100th ethanol plant to begin operations in the United States.

Ethanol CarMay 28 – The Indianapolis 500 runs for the first time on a 10 percent ethanol blend and begins to prepare for the switch to 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol in 2007.

August 9-11
– The 19th annual American Coalition for Ethanol conference is held in Kansas City, featuring a record number of attendees.

Bush
October 10-12 – The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy jointly sponsor the Advancing Renewable Energy Conference in St. Louis. President Bush told the group of about 1500 attending the event, “I like the idea of promoting a fuel that relies upon our farmers.”

2006 was also a year of record production and demand for biofuels, new legislation in dozens of states to encourage both, and lots of new alternative fuel vehicle introductions.

Look for lots more in 2007.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, News

Biofuels Top Ag Stories For 2006

Cindy Zimmerman

The dramatic growth in biofuels made from crops is the runaway favorite for the year’s top stories in agriculture.

“Emergence of biofuels as a factor in the farm economy really came out in 2006,” says USDA chief economist Keith Collins in a USDA Radio News report. “As that became realised in the second half of 2006 we saw commodity markets just explode.”

Listen to USDA Report by Gary Crawford. Listen to MP3 USDA Report (1 min MP3)

Brownfield Network ranked “growing demand during 2006 for crops that are increasingly used as sources of energy and that show promise for other uses” in the “2006 Ag Year in Review.

According to ag columnist Jack Dillard of the Shreveport Times writes, “For 2006, the two biggest stories and happenings in agriculture were the surge toward ethanol and the drought. Both could continue into next year.”

Agricultural journalist Jim Suber’s column in the Topeka Capitol-Journal puts biofuels in the number one and two spots for top ag stories of the year.

1. The dawning of awareness by the urban public that ethanol exists as a fuel and not just for a bathtub purple passion drink to make you sick on New Year’s Eve. Add other biofuels to the list, and then research sugar and sugar cane and try to sort out that with ethanol and trade tariffs and corn production and corn subsidies and alcohol subsidies. It will take an hour, I promise.

2. The entire biofuels/ethanol complex of thinking along with the skyrocketing dollar influence of commodities funds by investors who wouldn’t know a bushel of peas from a tub of cottonseeds has perhaps built in a new price base for corn and oily crops like soybeans. Maybe.

And from the Twin Cities’ Pioneer Press we read “For American agriculture, 2006 was unquestionably the year of ethanol.”

Indeed it has been.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, News

Ethanol Wins New Lottery Game

Cindy Zimmerman

KS Lottery The newest scratch ticket lottery game in Kansas is offering an E85 vehicle as a grand prize, according to a release from the Kansas Lottery.

The new Truck & Bucks game was developed by the Lottery, in partnership with the 3i Show and the GMC Division of General Motors. Players will have a chance to win a 2007 GMC Sierra E85 Crew Cab Pickup in a second-chance drawing.

At a news conference in the State Capitol, Governor Sebelius showed an oversized version of the new ticket and said the choice of a grand prize is a good one.

“By offering an E85 vehicle as a grand prize, the Lottery and its partners are helping promote an industry that is increasingly important to Kansas,” said Governor Sebelius. “Demand for ethanol is creating a growing market for Kansas grain.”

Read full release from Kansas Lottery.

Ethanol, News

Idaho to Consider Biofuel Incentives

Cindy Zimmerman

Idaho The Idaho Legislature will be considering proposals in the coming new year to make ethanol and biodiesel more attractive to distributors in that state.

Here’s the beginning of a very good article from Bonner County Daily Bee reporter Lucy Dukes about the biofuels climate in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

COEUR d’ALENE — Cindy James would consider using an ethanol-blended fuel if she could find it regularly at the pump.

“I would want to research it, of course,” said the Rathdrum woman.

“Price is a big factor, it depends on the price.”

Maybe the environmental benefits would outweigh paying a little bit more, she added.

The corn-based alternative to gasoline is not widely available in North Idaho, however.

The Holiday station in Coeur d’Alene is one of a few service stations in the area that sell an ethanol blend, said Russ Hendricks, southwest Idaho regional manager for the Farm Bureau.

Some people ask if it’s good for their car, some are happy to find it and others are afraid to use the blend, said station manager Jennie Jones.

“I tell them, you know, as far as I’m concerned I get good gas mileage out of it,” she said.

Read the whole article from the Bonner County Daily Bee.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, News

Biofuels Make Very Good Year For ADM

Cindy Zimmerman

ADM 2007 has been a pretty good year for Archer Daniels Midland Company, with investors looking at gains of over 30 percent thanks in a large part to increased demand for ethanol.

ADM earnings skyrocketed this year, according to an AP report, more than doubling in its fiscal first quarter ended Sept. 30 to easily beat Wall Street estimates.

In the first half of the year, the stock surged close to 90 percent. But investor enthusiasm has waned in recent months, mostly as oil prices continue to cool and drive down spot prices for ethanol. Since the summer driving season ended, the price of crude has declined to the $60/barrel range and shares of Archer-Daniels have shed about 23 percent of their value.

ADM shares traded at $32 Friday on the New York Stock Exchange where the stock has ranged between $24.05 and $46.71 over the past 52 weeks.


Read more.

Ethanol, News

Iowa’s Ethanol Production Soaring

Cindy Zimmerman

IA RFA By the end of the year, Iowa will have produced a record 1.5 billion gallons of ethanol, more than one quarter of all the ethanol produced in the nation this year.

According to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, Iowa ethanol plants will produce 36 percent more ethanol than last year’s 1.1 billion gallons.

With 26 biorefinies in operation, Iowa already has more ethanol plants than any other state. Another 16 new ethanol plants are under contruction and five major expansions underway which could more than double the state’s production by next year at this time. More than a dozen new projects are expected to be started in 2007.

Read more from the Associated Press.

Ethanol, News

Back in the Saddle

Cindy Zimmerman

The ZimmComm offices have been closed for the holidays. Spent quite a bit of time on the road seeing relatives the last week and it has been wonderful, but we are back in production again, cranking out Domestic Fuel news.

Hope your holidays have been glorious so far!

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