Plant Manager Interview

Chuck Zimmerman

Robin VennThe General Manager of Missouri Ethanol is Robin Venn. He’s currently in the process of getting his house sold in Kansas City so he can move to the Laddonia area.

I interviewed Robin after the grand opening festivities were winding down. He says that all the employees of the ethanol plant are from Missouri which he thinks is unusual but shows that central Missouri has the technical talent for a plant like his and that the plant is keeping those people near home.

Listen to our interview: Listen To MP3 Robin Venn Interview (3 min MP3)

Audio, Ethanol, Facilities

Missouri Ethanol Ribbon Cutting

Chuck Zimmerman

Missouri Ethanol Ribbon CuttingThe grand opening event for Missouri Ethanol is just finishing up with public tours. I don’t think they could have asked for better weather. I heard the attendence pegged at 585 but I think it was more than that. It was a big crowd on hand.

The stage was filled with dignitaries who all got up together for the ribbon cutting to kick off the official opening of the plant. Production is slated to begin by tomorrow.

Ethanol, Facilities

Racing to the Hill

Cindy Zimmerman

Ethanol Hot Rod The National Corn Growers Association, the Ohio Corn Growers Association and the Renewable Fuels Association are bringing an ethanol-powered, high-performance race car to Capitol Hill this week to promote ethanol.

Mark Thomas, five-time International Hot Rod Association Funny Car champion, and his Ohio Corn Growers-sponsored race car will be on the corner of Delaware Avenue and C Street NE on Wednesday, September 27.

Learn more about Mark and his passion for ethanol as a farmer and a driver by listening to the Domestic Fuel interview with him on our previous post.

Ethanol, Racing

Biofinance Conference

Cindy Zimmerman

Finance Conference Training on how to finance biofuels projects is the goal of Infocast’s Ethanol & Biodiesel Project Finance: The Tutorial, coming up November 1-3 in Chicago.

Here’s the pitch from the organizers:

Biofuels are red-hot, and getting hotter by the day! But developers and financiers must understand how to best take advantage of the national Renewable Fuels Standard and other incentives, as well as how to mitigate feedstock and technical risks, in order to structure projects to optimize revenue streams while minimizing risk exposure.

Biodiesel, conferences, Ethanol

Prices Coming Down

Chuck Zimmerman

Mid Missouri Gas Price on 9-23-06I was very pleasantly surprised to see the price of gas in Columbia, MO yesterday.

Since I drive a flex fuel minivan I filled up with E85.

Tomorrow I’ll be attending the grand opening of Missouri Ethanol in Laddonia, MO. I’ll be taking some pictures and doing some interviews and will ask about our gas prices and what role ethanol is playing in them currently.

Ethanol

Prairie Horizon Opens

Cindy Zimmerman

Prairie Ethanol Prairie Horizon Agri-Energy, LLC is celebrating the grand opening of its 40 million gallon per year ethanol biorefinery near Phillipsburg, KS.

Prairie Horizon Agri-Energy President Monte Abell says, “This project is the result of the commitment of a visionary board and the support of the community. They had a clear recognition of our need for renewable fuels and an economic boost. Although we are an ‘LLC,’ many of the 300 owners are farmers from Kansas and elsewhere in the Midwest.”

Ethanol, Facilities

Map of Progress

Cindy Zimmerman

As the biodiesel industry continues to grow, the National Biodiesel Board is mapping the progress.

Currently, there are 86 plants producing biodiesel throughout the nation. That’s up from 65 plants in April. NBB estimates there are another 65 plants under construction.

Keep up with the biodiesel growth by checking out the maps on the NBB website.
Existing plants map
Plants under construction or expansion

Biodiesel

Bunge Ethanol and Biodiesel Plans

Cindy Zimmerman

Bunge MGP MGP Ingredients Inc. and Bunge North America are considering jointly building an ethanol plant in the Atchison, KS area, according to a Kansas City Business Journal report.

In a filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Atchison-based MGP Ingredients said the companies have made no decisions to proceed beyond the investigatory stage.

In other Bunge news this week, the St. Louis-based agribusiness corporation announced it is teaming up with Memphis-based Biodiesel Investment Group, LLC to build Illinois’ largest biodiesel plant in Danville.

Plans are for the joint venture, Biofuels Company of America, LLC to build the 45-million gallon per year biodiesel plant adjacent to Bunge’s soybean processing facility in Danville, Ill. Work on the site is already under way with plans for the plant to be operational in the first quarter of 2008.

Biodiesel, Ethanol

The Crackpot From Caracas

Chuck Zimmerman

Caracas CrackpotWe really try to stay away from politics here on Domestic Fuel but sometimes you just have to say something. Actually this picture which I found on GOP and the City kind of says it all for me.

What kind of a lunatic would come into our country and proceed to call our President “the devil?” This chunky little dictator I guess. I don’t care if you like President Bush or not Mr. Hugo. Don’t come into our country and make your outlandish statements and expect that it’s going to have a positive impact on your image. As the news outlets all over the country are reminding people over and over, Citgo is owned by the Venezuelen government and we do have fuel choices.

You can find more stories about this here, here and here.

Commentary, International