Diamond Investment Opportunity

Cindy Zimmerman

DiamondMeetings begin this week in Illinois to interest investors in the Diamond Ethanol plant at Charleston.

Green Lion Bio-Fuels is the developer of the plant and others underway in Streator (Emerald Ethanol LLC), and Beardstown (Prairie Breeze Ethanol LLC).

The meetings will offer interested farmers, landlords, and other off-farm investors an opportunity to buy shares in the Diamond Ethanol plant. Stock offerings for the Emerald Ethanol and Prairie Breeze Ethanol plants conclude later this month.

More information can be found on the Diamond Ethanol website.

Ethanol

Pacific Ethanol Announces Idaho Groundbreaking

Cindy Zimmerman

Pacific Ethanol Pacific Ethanol will soon begin construction on a 50 million gallon per year ethanol facility in Burley, Idaho according to a company announcement.

The plant would be located mid-way between Boise and Salt Lake City, Utah and is expected to begin construction within the next thirty days.

The Burley Idaho plant site is located on a parcel of 177 acres, with direct access to both the Union Pacific Railroad and Interstate 84. Burley, Idaho is in the Magic Valley region of the state, where a resident population of over 300,000 dairy cattle and 100,000 feedlot cattle will be sufficient to consume all wet distiller’s grain from the new ethanol facility. A fuel blending rack is within eight miles of the plant site.

Ethanol, News

Ethanol and Hydrogen Working Together

Cindy Zimmerman

EPA The Energy & Environmental Research Center at the University of North Dakota is leading a project to demonstrate the production of hydrogen at existing and future ethanol facilities in a unique, economical way, providing a near-term path toward a hydrogen economy.

According to a center press release, the hydrogen produced could be used on-site in fuel cells to provide additional power for the plant or as fuel for hydrogen vehicles.

“Hydrogen production integrated with an ethanol facility will provide an important source of renewable energy for both stationary and transportation fuel cell applications in a hydrogen-based economy,” said Chad Wocken, EERC Research Manager. “This technology will help facilitate regional and national growth in hydrogen utilization.”

The EERC will highlight this research project as well as many other efforts in renewable fuels and energy during the North Dakota Department of Commerce Renewable Energy Day, this Friday January 19 at the State Capitol Building in Bismarck, North Dakota.

Ethanol, Hydrogen, News, Research

State of the Union Speculation

Cindy Zimmerman

The anticipation is mounting for President Bush’s 2007 State of the Union address to be made on January 23. The media is already busy speculating about what the president will talk about, with stories out this week that global warming will be on the teleprompter, although the White House is denying reports that Bush will advocate mandatory emissions caps in an effort to combat global warming.

Spokesman Tony Snow said, “If you’re talking about enforceable carbon caps, in terms of industrywide and nation wide, we knocked that down. That’s not something we’re talking about.”

However, promoting alternative energy sources such as hydrogen and ethanol is expected to be emphasized in his speech, as it was last year. Such alternatives would be in line with White House support of voluntary steps to curb greenhouse emissions.

Reuters and other news outlets are saying that Bush “is likely to call for a massive increase in how much fuel ethanol that U.S. refiners must mix with gasoline in coming years.”

Ethanol, News

Pocatello Next on Biodiesel Bandwagon

John Davis

PocatelloA couple of days ago, I told you about how Cincinnati, Ohio had changed its bus fleet to biodiesel and saved the city nearly half-a-million dollars last year. Now, officials in Pocatello, Idaho are making the change to the cleaner form of fuel. They expect to change the city’s entire fleet… cars, buses, snowplows… over to a 20% blend of biodiesel.

That bandwagon seems to be just getting bigger everyday.

Biodiesel, Government

Biofuels Buoy Cargill’s Second Quarter Earnings

John Davis

cargillCargill reported that its second quarter earnings for last year jumped 34 percent over the same time a year ago… due in part to the increased demand for ethanol and biodiesel. Earnings went from about $500 million in the same quarter in in fiscal year 2006 to more than $660 million dollars for the quarter ending November 30th. In addition, the first six months of FY2007 Cargill earned $1.16 billion. That’s a jump of about 16 percent!


In a company statement, Cargill Chairman and CEO Warren Staley, said “Similar to the first quarter, we experienced fast-changing markets in the second period, brought about by the interest in biofuels, investor flows into commodity futures and other markets offering diversification, and expansionary economies in many parts of the world. ”

Cargill runs two ethanol plants… one in Eddyville, Iowa and one in Blair, Nebraska… and this past spring has just opened a biodiesel plant in Iowa Falls, Iowa.

Biodiesel, Ethanol

New York to Get First Commercial Biodiesel Plant

John Davis

A former brewery in New York state will soon be brewing up biodiesel. Officials with GS AgriFuels have announced a partnership with Homeland Energy to build a biodiesel plant at the site of the old Miller Brewing Company plant in Fulton. Homeland Energy already has an ethanol plant adjacent to the site.

In a release on Business Wire, GS AgriFuels President and Chief Executive Officer, Thomas Scozzafava, says “We are pleased to have been able to partner with Homeland Energy and participate in this, our first majority-owned biofuels production facility. I’m proud to be involved with a project that will re-utilize an existing industrial facility to produce clean fuels that will benefit both the central New York economy and its environment.”

The 10-million gallon-a-year plant will use some of the old brewing equipment and storage tanks already in place and is expected to begin production later this year.

Biodiesel

Research to Work on Ethanol from Beet Pulp and Wheat Bran

Cindy Zimmerman

DyadicBiotech firm Dyadic International, Inc. has joined with a consortium in Europe to work on producing ethanol from sugar beet pulp and wheat bran.

According to a company release, the Florida-based company will be working on the research and development project with one of Europe’s leading producers of bioethanol, Royal Nedalco, and other partners funded by the Netherlands government.

Jan Verdoes, Ph.D., Research Director, Dyadic Nederland BV, said, “Sugar beet pulp, with its currently low value, high volume at centralized locations and abundant carbohydrate content, is an attractive feedstock for the production of bioethanol. Wheat bran, a byproduct of wheat processing, is another attractive bioethanol feedstock. However, the enzyme preparations to economically extract sugars from these materials and the yeasts required to ferment these unusual sugars for large-scale ethanol production need to be further developed. Our research projects are designed to overcome these technical problems and contribute to the development of economically viable renewable fuels for the future.”

Ethanol, News, Research

First New Fuel Ships for Indy

Cindy Zimmerman

TankerThe first tanker truck loaded with 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol to power this year’s IndyCar® Series left the Renova Energy plant in Torrington, Wyoming this week bound for Indianapolis.

According to a release from the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council, the plant was contracted to supply approximately 120,000 gallons of the fuel to the IndyCar Series in 2007. Renova Energy currently produces 10 million gallons of ethanol a year, with new construction planned for a 20 million gallon plant in Heyburn, Idaho.

All IndyCar Series cars will run on the 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol for the first time when the series holds the first Open Test of the season at Daytona International Speedway Jan. 31-Feb. 1.

EPIC, Ethanol, News