Ethanol Means Big Business For Small Railroads

Cindy Zimmerman January 16, 2007

Small railroads are seeing big opportunities in hauling corn to ethanol plants and then transporting the finished product and by-products back out again.

An Associated Press article discusses the potential ethanol is presenting for the Minnesota-basedTwin Cities & Western Railroad with its mere 200 miles of track.

Chief operating officer Mark Wegner said his trains carry mainly corn and soybeans. But ethanol is working it’s way into the lineup.

“It has gotten everybody’s attention and it is seen as a huge opportunity,” said Wegner.

Besides the Twin Cities and Western, Wegner also helps manages a second company, the 94-mile-long Minnesota Prairie Line. He said ethanol accounts for almost a quarter of the business on the two railroads. An ethanol plant in Granite Falls is one customer.

“Granite Falls, which opened in December of 2005, we do a good program of bringing corn into it as well as bringing ethanol and DDG’s out,” Wegner said.

DDG stands for distillers dried grain, an ethanol byproduct used for livestock feed.

Brunei Biodiesel

Cindy Zimmerman January 16, 2007

Even some oil-rich nations are getting on the biodiesel bandwagon. Check out this article in the Brunei Times. Apparently, the sultanate on the coast of Borneo in the South China Sea has inked an agreement with a private company to build two biodiesel and glycerine production facilities.

The facilities can produce 100,000 metric tonnes of biodiesel per annum in Phase 1 and 400,000 metric tonnes per annum in Phase 2. The entire project costs US$263 million

The plants will produce biodiesel from the leftovers from slaughterhouses and cooking oil. By the way, Brunei exports about $4.5 BILLION in petroleum products each year.

Biodiesel, International

Welcome New Blogger

Cindy Zimmerman January 16, 2007

Domestic Fuel welcomes our newest blogger, John Davis.

John is a 20 years+ veteran of traditional news and is getting his first taste of this “new media.” We’ve known John since Chuck hired him to work at the Brownfield Network in January, 2000 after he served an 11 year stint in the U.S. Air Force as a broadcast journalist. He’s getting out on his own now after working for Learfield Communications for almost six years as a network broadcaster.

John lives in Jefferson City, Missouri with his wife, two sons, two dogs, a cat, a mouse, and a fish! You can read more about him and his thoughts at his own website John C. Davis Online.

Welcome aboard, John!

Miscellaneous

US BioEnergy Claims Title of Largest “Pure Play” Producer

Cindy Zimmerman January 16, 2007

US BioEnergy Corporation has announced that with its Albert City and Central City ethanol plants now in commercial production the company can claim the title of “largest pure-play ethanol producer in the United States.”

“This is an important milestone for our company and to the revitalization of the American heartland,” said Gordon Ommen, CEO and chairman. “It’s the spirit and dedication of the American farmer that’s making this possible.”

US BioEnergy has also started site preparation work near Janesville, Minnesota for another plant. Fagen, Inc. will provide design, engineering and construction services for the project.

The company currently owns and operates three ethanol plants and has four additional ethanol plants under construction. Upon completion of these initiatives, the company will own and operate seven plants with combined expected ethanol production capacity of 600 million gallons per year.

Read more from US BioEnergy Corp.

Ethanol, News, Production

Cincy Buses Running on Biodiesel Save Nearly Half Million Dollars

John Davis January 16, 2007

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that buses in the city and the surrounding county ran on biodiesel, saving the city $450,000 last year.

(The metro area’s) 390 buses used about 3.6 million gallons of fuel last year – half of which was biodiesel.

But, there is one adjustment that has to be made for the city’s cold winters…

During warm months, Metro fueled all buses with a blend made of up to 75 percent of biodiesel. It switched back to 20 percent biodiesel blend in colder months because the biodiesel can jell in cold weather.

Either way, it’s another city in the heart of soybean country making use of a plentiful, renewable, close-to-home source of energy.

Biodiesel, Government

Arkansas Ag Chief Pushes Biodiesel

Cindy Zimmerman January 16, 2007

The Secretary of the Arkansas Agriculture Department wants his state to focus on biodiesel, not ethanol. The Arkansas News Bureau reports Richard Bell told state lawmakers other states that produce more corn are already dominating the ethanol field.

Bell told the House Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development Committee that Arkansas will have a chance to break into the ethanol market later, when technology is developed to allow the gasoline substitute to be made from wood products.

Of course, Arkansas is known for its forests, which could later supply cellulose-based ethanol production. In the meantime, biodiesel could be made from the abundance of soybeans grown in the state.

Biodiesel, Government

Busy Year Ahead for Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman January 11, 2007

2006 was an incredible year of growth of the ethanol industry and 2007 promises to be just as big. As production grows, education and marketing of the farm-based fuel becomes even more important and that is why the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council has a busy year already lined up. In this “Fill Up Feel Good” podcast, EPIC Senior Director of Marketing Reece Nanfito talks about some of the programs, events and promotions in the plans.

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. (5:00 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, News

Iowa to Get Second Biodiesel Plant

John Davis January 11, 2007

The opening of Iowa’s first biodiesel plant is set for this April in Newton, and now a second one will be built in Huxley. According to the Des Moines Register, a $15.4 million dollar facility, will be built by Ames-based Technochem.

The plant, which will employ 51 people, is expected to produce about 5 million gallons of biodiesel annually, and it will be involved in glycerine purification and vegetable oil processing, said Wade Greiman, an engineer for Snyder and Associates Inc., which is assisting city officials in Huxley.

In addition, the plant will perform research and development work, and it will manufacture biodiesel equipment, officials said.

Here’s the Register’s full article

Biodiesel

Stars of the Show

Cindy Zimmerman January 11, 2007

New vehicles capable of running on up to 85 percent ethanol are the stars of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this year, according to the Detroit Free Press.

For the first time, several automakers unveiled concept and production models capable of burning E85, the blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline backed by Detroit automakers as the most viable option for reducing U.S. oil imports. Even Toyota Motor Corp. jumped on the bandwagon, announcing its new Tundra pickup would offer an E85 version in the 2009 model year.

“If people are serious about reducing imported oil, this is the best thing you can do fast,” General Motors Corp. Chairman Rick Wagoner told journalists at the auto show preview. “There’s no question it’s a good thing to do. Can’t see why anyone would be against it.”

Florida Legislature Urged to Support Biofuels Production

Cindy Zimmerman January 10, 2007

Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture is a man on a mission – to make Florida the nation’s leader in biofuels production.

To that end, Commissioner Charles Bronson appeared before a joint meeting of the House Agribusiness and House Energy Committees on Wednesday urging them to consider tax incentives or some form of financial assistance that the state can provide to encourage growers to produce alternative energy crops and processors to locate facilities in Florida to convert the crops to fuel.

“You today are in a position of putting Florida ahead of the pack,” Bronson said. “It will be a Florida that looks much different than it does today.”

The Commissioner told legislators that unlike the Midwest, where corn is the primary alternative energy crop, research done at the University of Florida has concluded that by using certain bacteria, virtually any type of bio-mass can be broken down to fuel. That would include wood, forestry debris, plant stalks and even livestock waste in addition to conventional crops.

“The opportunities in Florida are going to shock you,” Bronson said.