The President Has Left the Building

Cindy Zimmerman

CZ-Bush This was no tough crowd for the president – with the exception of a anti-war protester who started shouting during the speech and had to be escorted out. He said all the right things to make this group of renewable energy entrepreneurs happy.

Here is the president’s full remarks – about 30 minutes worth – I’ll pick out some soundbites later: Listen To MP3 Bush (30 min MP3)

Thanks again to EPIC for letting us provide this coverage on the spot. The photo taken by my friend farm broadcaster Dave Schumacher of KTRS here in St. Louis.

Audio, Energy, EPIC, Government

President Promotes Renewables

Cindy Zimmerman

REC-Bush-1 President Bush got a nice round of applause when he just said, “I like the idea of promoting a fuel that relies upon our farmers.”

“I guess we have some farmers here,” he said.

“We’re up to five billion gallons of ethanol,” he adds. “We’re just in the beginning stages of an industry that’s evolving. We want you to succeed. It’s in our interest as a nation for you to succeed.”

“In my judgement, the thing that is keeping ethanol from becoming more widespread is the lack of other feedstocks to make it,” the president said, again to applause advocating the use of tax dollars for research into cellulosic ethanol.

More to come….thanks to the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.
(This is cool being able to post live while the president is still speaking!)

Energy, EPIC, Ethanol, Government

The Eagle Has Landed

Cindy Zimmerman

REC We just received word that the president is on his way to the convention center from the airport, so everyone is taking a quick seventh-inning stretch before they are locked up. The media has a nice mid-row seat, check-in was smooth and easy, now we are just waiting for the main event.

We’ll keep you posted. I will give a few comments during the president’s address and then upload the audio immediately upon the conclusion of his remarks. There is not expected to be any press availability, nor is the president expected to tour the exhibit hall. Just in for remarks and back out again.

Thanks again to EPIC for sponsoring our coverage of this very historic event. As Undersecretary of Agriculture Tom Dorr just said, it’s great to have two government agencies – Energy and Agriculture – working so closely together for something that is so important to our nation.

Energy, EPIC, Government

Ethanol Industry Connections

Cindy Zimmerman

ICM Greg Krissek Everybody who is anybody in the ethanol industry are in attendance here at the Advancing Renewable Energy Conference in St. Louis. Here is Greg Krissek, (left) Director of Governmental Affairs with ICM, Inc., one of the nation’s major ethanol plant design/build firms, located in Colwich, KS. He is networking with one of the many attendees on hand about the potential of domestic fuels.

I interviewed Greg about this event and he said he has been in this industry for 17 years and never seen such excitement. “It’s fabulous to have this amount of interest and enthusiasm. This much growth sometimes makes it a little challenging, but I think the industry will figure that out.”

Listen to my interview with Krissek here: Listen To MP3 Krissek (6 min MP3)

Audio, Energy, EPIC, Ethanol, Government

Media Security

Cindy Zimmerman

Media Sign Media RoomSecurity has been really tight here for the Renewable Energy Conference, especially for speakers and media. They won’t let anyone through this restricted area unless they have a media badge and only staff are permitted to escort any other attendees to the media room for interviews. There were about 100 media registered for the conference itself, and several more local and national reporters are coming in today just for the president. This has gotten amazing coverage.

The registration fee for this event was pretty high – about $500 per person – but I can tell you it has been very well done. Not overdone, just well done. Okay, maybe the press security is a bit overdone, and the head-banging heavy metal transition music between speakers is annoying – but I have heard nothing but positive comments about the value of this conference to both attendees and the media. As several people noted, even a year ago an event like this would have barely gotten half the attendance and coverage it has recieved. And the main reason for the increased interest will be here today to repeat the line that set this industry on fire less than ten months ago – “America is addicted to oil.” I guess you could call this event group therapy to cure that addiction.

Energy, Government

Preparing for the President

Cindy Zimmerman

Line The line was long to go through security at the Advancing Renewable Energy Conference in St. Louis. President Bush is scheduled to address the crowd of more than 1500 about lunchtime. We have been informed that we will all be in “lock down” here at the convention center between 11:00 am and 1:30 pm – no one in or out.

Meanwhile, the city was also preparing for the president’s arrival this morning, setting up gates and barriers around the convention center to shut down roads for the presidential motorcade. Fun stuff.

First up on the program this morning is former CIA Director James Woolsey, talking about the importance of renewable energy for the nation’s security.

Energy, Government

EPIC on Display

Cindy Zimmerman

EPIC Johanns Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns did a little walk through of the trade show at the Advancing Renewable Energy Conference in St. Louis on Wednesday and stopped in front of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council display with the Indy Car show vehicle.

The flashy green and blue Indy Car continues to generate lots of attention wherever it goes, more so as the IRL prepares to move into full ethanol power next year for all races.

Energy, EPIC, Ethanol, Government

BioMax Machine

Cindy Zimmerman

Biomax Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns mentioned this mighty machine in his remarks to the Advancing Renewable Energy Conference on Wednesday.

It’s called the BioMax and it is a prototype combined heat and power system developed through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and USDA Forest Products Laboratory. The machine is “transportable, fully automated, and environmentally friendly” suitable for small businesses, rural homes and schools.

The process gasifies wood chips, or other biomass, and produces 15 kW of electricity.

Energy, Government

Corn Grower President at Renewables Conference

Cindy Zimmerman

NCGA President The president of the National Corn Growers Association says the interest in renewable energy across the nation is really a renewed interest in agriculture.

Ken McCauley, a corn grower from White Cloud, Kansas, says “it elevates agriculture to a whole new level” and he notes that ethanol and biodiesel are giving young people a new future in agriculture and helping to revitalize rural America. “Not just because of an ethanol plant, but also side businesses, support industry, builds your roads, builds your tax base, all kinds of good things for our local communities.”

Regarding food versus fuel – which I always ask about – McCauley says “We don’t feel there is a debate. As the industry grows, there’s going to be enough.”

As to the “naysayers,” McCauley says it’s simply “a failure to recognize change.”

McCauley is pictured here next to the brightly-colored “Live Green, Go Yellow” corn-wrapped Tahoe on display in the trade show – hoping to someday soon have one of his own just like it!

Listen to my interview with McCauley here: Listen To MP3 McCauley (6 min MP3)

Coverage of the Advancing Renewable Energy Conference sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.

Audio, Energy, EPIC, Ethanol

Focus on Fuels

Cindy Zimmerman

REC Fuels Despite the government’s best efforts to be all-inclusive with the Advancing Renewable Energy Conference, it’s all too obvious that liquid fuels are the main attraction. That was evidenced by the attendance at the afternoon break-out sessions – one on heat and electricity and one on liquid fuels. The liquid fuels session was SRO, probably around 600-700 people, if not more. I’m not good at judging that stuff – I just know it was full – and they were actually scanning our name badges at the doors to get an accurate count, so I should know that at some point. REC Heat

Anyway, point being, the heat and electricity session was half empty, as you can see by the picture. The room was also laid out differently, with tables and chairs, instead of just chairs – so I would estimate the attendance was maybe a quarter of what the fuels session was, at the most. Not that there are not exciting things going on with renewables in heat and electricity – just that the big money and interest is obviously in the fuel field.

Energy, Government