It’s Confirmed

Cindy Zimmerman

USDA-DOE conference President Bush is now confirmed to be the grand finale for the Renewable Energy Conference this week in St. Louis. He will make the final address on Thursday to attendees at the event, who will be hearing from other top administration officials on Wednesday, including Secretary of Energy Sam Bodman and Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns.

Just about everybody who is anybody in the renewable energy business will be in St. Louis this week. The conference includes liquid fuels like ethanol and biodiesel, as well as other bioproducts and renewable sources for electricity and heat. See the whole conference agenda here.

I will be bringing you as much of this event as possible, courtesy of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council, which is sponsoring coverage of the conference.

See you in St. Louis!

Biodiesel, Energy, EPIC, Ethanol, Government

Home of the Biodiesel Rams

Cindy Zimmerman

NBB Ram 1The newest breed of Dodge Ram comes factory-fueled with biodiesel.

Under the Gateway Arch in St. Louis Tuesday, representatives from the National Biodiesel Board and Daimler-Chrysler announced that every 2007 Dodge Ram diesel coming off the assembly line at the company’s Fenton, Missouri north plant will be fueled with B5, a blend containing 5 percent biodiesel made from soybeans grown in the U.S. (read full release)

NBB Ram 2 According to Reginald Modlin, Director of Environmental Affairs for Daimler Chrysler, delivering their diesel vehicles fueled with biodiesel is a first step in educating customers about the advantages of the fuel.

“We want to have our diesel products seen as environmentally-responsible products, which they are,” said Modlin. “We have also seen the public taking a great interest in renewable fuels, so we see a great opportunity here for manufacturers to get the word out that biofuels help reduce greenhouse gases and emissions over all. In addition, the natural lubricity of biodiesel actually helps us with engine maintenance. So, it’s an all around win for our customers.”

“What Chrysler is doing is advocating biodiesel blends in this advanced diesel technology,”said Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board, the industry’s nonprofit trade association. “They were the first to promote the use of B20 for fleets in the Dodge Ram. They are really leading the way in terms of promoting energy conservation and renewable energy.”

Listen to my interview with Reg Modlin here: Listen To MP3 Reg Modlin (5 min MP3)

Listen to my interview with Joe Jobe here: Listen To MP3 Joe Jobe (5 min MP3)

Audio, Biodiesel, Car Makers

Ethanol Talks

Cindy Zimmerman

The New York Times reports that two ethanol giants are talking about joining forces.

Undisputed ethanol production king ADM met with with ethanol’s financial guru Vinod Khosla to “discuss opportunities they might pursue together” regarding cellulosic ethanol according to ADM CEO Patricia Woertz.

ADM has a solid investment in ethanol from corn while Khosla, the founding chief executive of Sun Microsystems, has been investing in companies working on cellulosic ethanol and other alternative fuels.

Both Woertz and Khosla will be speaking at the USDA/DOE Renewable Energy Conference on Wednesday.

Ethanol

Ethanol Convert

Cindy Zimmerman

ADM ADM CEO Here’s an article on ADM CEO Pat Woertz, who will be one of the many speakers at this week’s Renewable Energy Conference in St. Louis.

The story talks about Woertz’s former life as a Chevron executive and her opposition to ethanol at the time, which she said was “tied to federal clean-air standards for vehicle emissions and the debate over how to meet them.” Now she says, “Things have evolved,” she said, and the oil industry and ethanol producers “have come to work much more closely on the fuel supplies for this country.”

Ethanol

Pacific Ethanol Plant Complete

Cindy Zimmerman

Pacific Ethanol Construction of Pacific Ethanol’s first plant in Madera, California is now finished and the ribbon will be cut on October 16. The 35 million gallon plant will then begin construction and should reach capacity by next month.

This is the plant with Microsoft money behind it (see previous post) – Bill Gates personally invested about $84 million dollars in Pacific Ethanol back in April.

Ethanol, Facilities

Ultimate Ethanol for Alexandria

Cindy Zimmerman

Broin Companies The Broin Companies last week announced plans for the development and construction of Ultimate Ethanol, LLC near Alexandria, Ind.

The plant will initially produce 60 million gallons of ethanol a year, but is designed to expand to 100 million in the future.

Ultimate Ethanol will be the 29th ethanol plant built by the Broin Companies, who will provide turnkey development, design, engineering, construction, management and marketing services for the project. Broin Companies is also constructing Premier Ethanol near Portland, Ind., which is scheduled for completion next fall.

Ethanol, Facilities

Biotech for Biofuels

Cindy Zimmerman

Monsanto Dr. Robert Fraley, Monsanto’s Chief Technology Officer, will be one of the presenters at the Advancing Renewable Energy: An American Rural Renaissance conference on Wednesday, October 11 in St. Louis. Dr. Fraley will be a panel speaker at the “Liquid Fuels and Bioproducts: Supply and Demand” breakout session on Wednesday afternoon. Dr. Fraley will share his scientific vision of agriculture’s role in helping to fuel our future energy demands.

St. Louis is the home of Monsanto, so the company is also offering tours for conference participants of its Crop Analytics Lab samples are analyzed daily to understand seed components and the potential energy, protein, and oil they provide for use as feed, fuel and food.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, Research

Ram Stuff

Cindy Zimmerman

Dodge RamSTL Ram DaimlerChrysler and the National Biodiesel Board are promising a “new breed of St. Louis Ram.”

Look for a big announcement on Tuesday when representatives will discuss new programs to promote modern, clean diesel vehicles and the benefits of renewable biodiesel fuel.

The diesel Dodge Ram is produced in St. Louis.

Biodiesel, Car Makers

Over 1000 Registrations for Renewable Renaissance

Cindy Zimmerman

USDA-DOE conference Over 1,000 people are now registered to attend the big USDA/DOE event next week in St. Louis, Advancing Renewable Energy: An American Rural Renaissance. There are rumors that President Bush himself will be attending the conference, although he is still listed as “invited.” Chances are pretty good the boss will show up, considering the magnitude of this event and the fact that his “America’s addition to oil” state of the union address has become a rallying call for renewables nationwide this year.

Even if Bush doesn’t show, there will still be plenty of others on hand to talk about the future of domestic energy sources – from ethanol and biodiesel to wind and solar. Wednesday, October 11 is the main day of the conference, featuring some 34 speakers and panelists. Ten more are on deck for Thursday, with the President of the United States penciled in as the grand finale.

Domestic Fuel will be providing coverage of the entire event.

Ethanol, Government

1000 Stations and Counting

Cindy Zimmerman

NEVC There are now over 1,000 E85 fueling locations in the United States, according to the National Ethanol Vehicle Association.

NEVC identifies a Cenex station in Bemidji, Minnesota as the nation’s 1,000 facility.

According to a news release from NEVC, the number of stations in the country has more than doubled since October of last year when there were just 438.

The organization notes that in January of 2003 there were just 100 E85 pumps in the country. That number increased to 600 in January of this year – and now 1000 just 10 months later.

Ethanol