ACE Conference 2026

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

A Tale of Two Tortillas

Cindy Zimmerman

There are two sides to the stories out this week about the increased cost of tortillas in Mexico, being blamed partly on increased demand for corn to be made into ethanol.

One is that it will cause the poor in Mexico to go hungry because they can’t afford to pay more for the basic staple of their diet.

The other side is that Mexican farmers, who are among the country’s poor, are making more money because of the higher prices.

As first reported in the LA Times, high corn prices are wreaking havoc on Mexico’s inflation rate and forcing shoppers to pay more for eggs, milk and tortillas. But they’re a godsend to farmers such as Victor Manuel Amador Luna.

With world corn prices riding high on strong demand from U.S. ethanol producers, Amador is looking to expand production on his farm about 125 miles east of Mexico City in the state of Puebla. He planted most of his 222 acres with corn this year and would like to buy more land.

Other news outlets have picked up the story and run with it on different angles, like this AP report which places part of the blame for the higher tortilla prices on corporate monopolies.

The San Francisco Chronicle put it this way:
Just why tortillas cost so much remains murky.

Corn prices are spiking in the United States, with crop yields low and demand high. The production of the gasoline additive ethanol has taken off in the past year, consuming millions of bushels of corn.

But Mexico grows most of its own corn for consumption. And the yellow corn used for ethanol and livestock feed is different from the sweet white corn that’s ground into masa for handmade tortillas, although some mass-produced tortillas are made from yellow corn.

Mutters about monopolies and price gouging have been rising, leading Mexico’s antitrust agency to say on Thursday that it will investigate hoarding and price manipulation.

Besides investigating, the Mexican government is importing 650,000 metric tons of duty-free corn in an attempt to drive down tortilla prices.

Ethanol

Sorghum Growers Sweet on Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

NSP Other crop producers are reaping the benefits of higher corn prices driven by ethanol. Among them are the sorghum farmers, who are meeting this week in New Mexico. Brownfield Network’s Peter Shinn reports that ethanol was the focus of Monday’s general session at the National Sorghum Producers (NSP) annual meeting.

NSP President Greg Shelor, a Kansas sorghum grower, told Brownfield that’s because ethanol is already increasing sorghum producer profitability. “On the ethanol, that’s real promising for another market for our grain sorghum because it’s interchangeable with corn in all these ethanol plants, so it just gives us another market and gets our price up there a lot closer to corn.” In fact, in some locations, sorghum is commanding a 10 to 15 cent per bushel to premium to corn, according to several growers in attendance here.

Two prominent national ethanol experts addressed sorghum growers Monday morning. One of them is Ethanol Promotion and Information Council Operations Director Robert White, who told Brownfield sorghum can do much to ease the concerns of those who are worried the ethanol industry may use too much corn.

“Corn’s not the only game in town,” White said. “We use sorghum today – that’s why we’re talking about ethanol here today.”

The other ethanol export to address Monday’s NSP general session was Dr. John Ashworth, Team Leader of Partnership Development for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s National Bioenergy Center in Golden, Colorado. He told sorghum growers their crop will play an even bigger role in ethanol production as cellulosic technologies are perfected.

Ethanol, News

BIO Supports Governors

Cindy Zimmerman

BIO The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) supports the incentives outlined in the Governors’ Ethanol Coalition report, Ethanol from Biomass: How to Get to a Biofuels Future.

According to a BIO release, “The technology for commercial production of ethanol from cellulosic biomass is ready today, but no modern biorefineries are currently operating to make use of the technology,” said BIO President and CEO Jim Greenwood. “The production incentive proposed by the governors would help jumpstart the construction and commercial operation of modern biorefineries by pioneering companies. We need to move quickly to ramp up production of renewable fuels that can help America move toward energy independence.”

BIO supports the Governors’ Ethanol Coalition’s recommendations to create a Cellulosic Ethanol Production Tax Credit and to fully fund research, demonstration and incentive programs authorized in the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

Ethanol, News

Greener Snow Blowing With Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

E Clearing the driveway in the winter months can help clear the air if you use ethanol-enriched gasoline in your snowblower.

According to the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council, small engines can efficiently burn 10 percent ethanol blends and the use of E10 reduces greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 30 percent.

“It’s important to think green year round,” said Joanna Schroeder with the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC). “Winter air pollution is a concern for many communities across the U.S.”

The EPA describes “particle pollution” as microscopic particles in the air that can get deep in the lungs, with potential serious health problems. Particle pollution can occur throughout the year.

“Small engines in snow blowers perform well with ethanol-enriched gasoline, without sacrificing performance,” said Ralph Groschen with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Ethanol Program. “Check your owner’s manual and be sure to use fresh fuel at the start of the season.”

Read more from EPIC.

EPIC, Ethanol, News

Ethanol Means Big Business For Small Railroads

Cindy Zimmerman

TCW RR 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.

Read more.

Ethanol, News

Brunei Biodiesel

Cindy Zimmerman

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

John Davis.jpgDomestic 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!

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