The National Biodiesel Board is showcasing colorfully wrapped bean-powered vehicles. This photo is the “Bean Bus” at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland. NBB has a number of other photos of vehicle wraps on their website and they want more. If you have a creative way you’ve shown your support of biodiesel, send them a picture and a brief discription. Some of the other organizations that have sent in pictures include the South Dakota, Kentucky, Iowa and Minnesota Soybean Councils.
Great Race for Team Ethanol
Saturday night at Nashville Superspeedway Danica Patrick equaled her best IndyCar® Series finish of fourth and rookie Jeff Simmons posted his top IndyCar Series finish of seventh as Rahal Letterman Racing posted one of its strongest outings of the 2006 IndyCar Series season.
According to a news release from EPIC, Patrick overcame a whirlwind week of media scrutiny with a stellar run matching her best IndyCar Series result. Starting tenth, Patrick moved through the field and ran as high as second en route to posting her top finish of the season. Jeff Simmons started 15th in the No. 17 Team Ethanol Honda/Dallara/Firestone machine but ran his best race of the season and finished seventh. In Simmons topping his career best IndyCar Series finish (tenth) from Kansas, Simmons has posted back-to-back top-ten results.
I Filled Up At the Wrong Pump
Travelling home late last night from a road trip I stopped for gas at an MFA Oil store in Columbia, MO.
It was very late and I was not very attentive I will admit. I looked at the pump on the island I was pulled up to and noticed that higher octane gas containing ethanol was priced the same as regular unleaded. That seemed to be a no-brainer.
However, when I was almost full I looked up and saw this sign for the first time and found out that they have an E-85 pump at a different island. Whoops. It’s 55 cents cheaper per gallon and I’m driving a flex fuel vehicle. Well, that was just par for the course on a day when my flight was an hour and a half late and I got to drive home for 2 hours through driving rain (we needed it here in Missouri though).
It’s nice to be seeing more E-85 pumps though. I’ve just got to be more observant!
Minnesota Study
Don’t think I have been ignoring the University of Minnesota study out this week that has given ethanol some bad press. I have just been playing catch up after being out of the office for a couple of days.
Fact is, the study is actually positive in many ways. For one thing, the report finds that ethanol from corn produces roughly 25 percent more energy than is consumed in growing the corn and producing and delivering the fuel, which refutes some studies that have claimed a net loss.
More importantly, the main point of the study is that ethanol could only replace about 12 percent of the gasoline used in this country, even if we used all of the corn grown to produce ethanol. That is very true. The point is, NObody in the ethanol industry has EVER claimed that ethanol is the end all and be all for the US becoming energy independent. BUT, it can REDUCE our dependence on foreign oil. That is the key – and it is already doing that.
Here is a good story about the Minnesota study that puts it in perspective, from the Lincoln Journal-Star.
Also, it is important to note the positives about biodiesel in the report, but comparing it to ethanol is kind of like comparing apples to oranges. Most passenger vehicles in the US do not run on diesel fuel, but lots of big trucks, buses, and boats do – so that is where biodiesel will help lessen our dependence on foreign oil.
Here’s another good point, direct from the press release from the University. According to Douglas Tiffany, research fellow, department of applied economics and another co-author of the study, ethanol and biodiesel plants are early biorefineries that in the future will be capable of using different kinds of biomass and conversion technologies to produce a variety of biofuels and other products, depending upon market demands.
And .. both ethanol and biodiesel have a long-term value as additives because they oxygenate fossil fuels, which allows them to burn cleaner. Biodiesel also protects engine parts when blended with diesel.
So there are really lots of positives in the report, while many of the media reports have dwelled too much on the negatives.
Biodiesel Rebate
California-based CaseStack, Inc. is offering truckers a rebate to use biodiesel. According to the National Biodiesel Board, the Green Rebate Program began July 1 and will end two months later on September 1, 2006. CaseStack will give a rebate of 10 cents per gallon on any blend of biodiesel – up to $50.00 for the entirety of the program – per truck driver. Detailed information can be obtained through CaseStack’s Web site, by calling toll free 1-866-567-6644 or by texting the word “green” to 30364.
CaseStack, a logistics company, warehouses and handles shipping for several companies. CaseStack officials estimate that 70 percent of the truckers targeted in this program deliver to Wal-Mart distribution centers.
Another NE Ethanol Plant
Renewable Agricultural Energy, Inc. of Boulder, Colorado and Gothenburg Improvement Company of Nebraska are planning to construct an ethanol plant in Gothenburg. According to a release, they have purchased 275 acres of land in Dawson County, which “has excellent direct rail and highway infrastructure and is an ideal location for serving western ethanol markets.”
With new plants being announced everyday it’s kind of hard to keep track of how many there are, but according to the Nebraska Ethanol Board there are a dozen plants already operating in the state and six more under construction. Another 22, including this one, are listed on the NEB website as being under consideration and a number of them have already announced their plans, bought land or otherwise moved forward with their proposed plants.
US BioEnergy News
US BioEnergy Corporation of Brookings, SD has announced plans for a 100 million gallon per year ethanol facility adjacent to the CN Railway in Dyersville, IA. According to a company release, the plant will be a gas fired, dry-grind ethanol facility similar to one the company is building in Albert City, Iowa.
Media Training
I have been on the road for the past two days, up in Sioux Falls, SD at the Broin Companies to help with media training for some of the industry’s ethanol ambassadors. 
It was a very interesting group of people who are proving the performance value of ethanol in different types of vehicles. In the photo, I am doing a mock interview with one of the members of the Vanguard Squadron while the rest of the team looks on. The Vanguard Squadron is a precision aerobatic team based in South Dakota that has been flying planes powered by 100 percent ethanol since 1993. Great, fun group of guys. I will be posting more about them in the future.
Also at the event was Scott Jensen (see previous post), his wife Lisa and brother Jim, all part of the Ethanol Express Pull Truck team.
All of them were learning how to be more effective spokespersons for the ethanol industry when they are out at events.
Michigan Alternative Fuel Incentives
Here’s a story that ought to rile up the people who can’t seem to understand the need to provide businesses in America with incentives to develop and use alternative fuels. These folks like to use the word subsidy as if it’s a bad word. I think incentive is a much better word and in the case of this story, it’s more accurate. This is from Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm’s website last Friday:
In her weekly radio address, Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today announced she has signed a package of legislation that will, for the first time, create incentives for consumers who buy alternative fuel vehicles and service stations that make ethanol and biodiesel available to their customers.
“The state that put the world on wheels will be the state that makes those wheels independent of foreign oil,” Granholm said. “As more E-85 and flex fuel vehicles are produced by the Big Three automakers, it is essential that we make biodiesel and ethanol products more widely available to encourage their use.”
Granholm said a portion of the $2 billion 21st Century Jobs Fund is being targeted to developing alternative energy production in Michigan. As the automotive capital of the world, Michigan is a logical choice to be the center of alternative energy research and production.
The seven-bill package reduces the gas tax by 36 percent on fuel that contains ethanol and by 20 percent on biodiesel blends. The legislation also provides grants to service station owners who want to renovate or expand their existing stations to make E-85 and biodiesel available and allows for the creation of new agriculture renaissance zones to help spur additional ethanol and biodiesel plants.
More on Sugar-Ethanol Study
Here is a link to the power point presentation used by USDA economist Keith Collins during the press conference Monday unveiling the sugar to ethanol study. Have not yet gotten the actual report from USDA, but this might help answer some questions – or generate more.