Congress May Cut RFS Funding

Cindy Zimmerman

According to an AP article, House and Senate spending bills would drastically reduce Environmental Protection Agency dollars for a law designed to boost ethanol use.

The article reports that of the $11.4 million requested by President Bush to implement the Renewable Fuels Standard in last year’s energy bill, the House has approved only $2.4 million and the Senate only $1.4 million.

“It’s as if they haven’t read their own press releases about the need to promote alternatives to gasoline,” said Frank O’Donnell, president of the Washington advocacy group Clean Air Watch.

House lawmakers did not respond to requests for comment, but a spokesman for Sen. Conrad Burns, the Montana Republican who chairs the Senate subcommittee, said Burns expects the funding to increase in final House-Senate negotiations on the bill.

Government

Big Plant Planned For Indiana

Cindy Zimmerman

Daniels Aventine Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels joined officials from Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings, Inc., Consolidated Grain and Barge Co., and the Ports of Indiana Friday to announce plans for a 220 million gallon ethanol facility.

The plant, which will be the largest in the state, will be built on 116 acres at the Port of Indiana in Mount Vernon, according to a release from the governor’s office.

“A critical success factor for our economic comeback plan is the production of more energy right here in Indiana. Clean coal, corn, soybeans and wind power can all be sources of jobs directly and indirectly by giving us an energy edge over other states,” said Daniels.

Ethanol

Consistency is the “e”

Cindy Zimmerman

ACE TomEthanol Promotion and Information Council Executive Director Tom Slunecka took to the podium at the American Coalition for Ethanol meeting this week to talk about how EPIC and ACE are working together to add value to the “e”.

“EPIC has only been around for about 18 months, but we are starting to make a real impact with consumers around the country,” Slunecka said. “Building a brand and a consistent look and feel for ethanol is vital for the long term viability of this industry.”

Slunecka drove home the point that one of EPIC’s major goals is to have consistent pump labeling for ethanol nationwide, so that the “e” will be universally recognized by consumers as a symbol for ethanol. “Consistency is the ‘e’,” he said.
e
South Dakota was the first state to go “e” and over 4500 gas stations in the state now sporting the colorful stickers on pumps with ethanol blends. “Illinois will be the next state,” Slunecka said. “Our goal is to get over 25 states by the end of the year.”

The ethanol “e” really stood for Everywhere at the ACE meeting. Walking through the trade show, it seemed like the “e” signs were in at least every other booth. That included ethanol plants, allied industries and other organizations like state corn grower groups. Nice to see how EPIC is really pulling the industry together to work for consumer education and promotion.

EPIC, Ethanol

ACE Reporters

Cindy Zimmerman

ACE Reporters Here we are, Chuck and Cindy, together again for the SECOND week in a row – here at the American Coalition for Ethanol meeting in Kansas City.

But, don’t get used to it. Chuck left today for Norway to attend the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists annual congress. We both attended that event together last year in Switzerland because it happened to fall just before our 25th wedding anniversary.

We do love working together. We have been doing that since before we were married, still students at the University of Florida majoring in broadcasting. We used to work on the television studio crew together at WUFT-TV. Since then, we’ve teamed up for the better part of our careers. Most people think we are crazy – which is probably true – but we are happiest working together.

Ethanol

A Sad Day For Team Ethanol

Chuck Zimmerman

Steve King & ParentsI just received some very sad news regarding Steve King, King Racing. Steve was involved in a bad accident last evening at the 46th Annual Knoxville Nationals. I’ll just use the statement on the website:

Steve passed away at 15:32 today. He loved you all. Thank you so much for your support. Please keep our family in your prayers.

Steve is pictured to the right of his parents, Danny & Naomi. I met them prior to this year’s Indianapolis 500 on Ethanol Day. Steve was a tireless supporter of the ethanol industry and was a part of Team Ethanol. You can hear his passion for racing and this renewable fuel in the interview I did with him there.

Our hearts go out to Steve’s family. He and they are in our prayers and always will be.

Ethanol, Racing

ACE is the Place For Governors

Chuck Zimmerman

Kansas Governor Kathleen SebeliusThe American Coalition for Ethanol meeting in Kansas City featured the governors of rival states, one Democrat and one Republican, who both agree on the importance of ethanol to the economy.

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius told the record crowd attending the 19th annual ACE conference that to be successful, “our commitment to biofuels has to be real. It can’t just be a marketing pitch or an advertising slogan. Although I must say it is kinda cool to team up with the Indy car drivers as we promote this across the country.”

You can listen to her speech: Listen To MP3 Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius Speech (11 min MP3)

Missouri Governor Matt BluntGovernor Matt Blunt of Missouri received a long round of applause from the group when he talked about signing the ten percent ethanol standard for Missouri.

“The legislation requires that by January 1, 2008 virtually all gasoline sold in the state of Missouri will contain ten percent ethanol. With my signature, Missouri became the fourth state to enact such a law.”

You can listen to Governor Blunt’s Speech: Listen To MP3 Missouri Governor Matt Blunt (14 min MP3)

Audio, Ethanol, Government

Senator Talent Receives ACE Award

Chuck Zimmerman

Senator Jim TalentMissouri Senator Jim Talent was on hand today to help promote the Paseo Biofuels/Cargill biodiesel plant announcement in Kansas City. He was certainly the biofuels Senator today.

Before coming over to the biodiesel presentation, Talent was attending the American Coalition for Ethanol convention which is also taking place here in Kansas City. Senator Talent received the ACE Legislative Leadership Award.

The award is given to a policymaker who goes above and beyond to promote the U.S. ethanol industry and strengthen rural America. Sen. Talent was selected for his leadership in championing the 7.5 billion gallon Renewable Fuels Standard for ethanol and biodiesel, as well as for his sponsorship and support for the Small Producer Tax Credit and E85 tax credit, all of which were included in last year’s Energy bill, now law.

I interviewed the Senator after his presentation. He talks about how important this proposed facility for the local community and the state of Missouri and gave a perspective on what’s happening in Washington, DC. For example, he said that the big oil companies are actively discouraging their franchisees from installing E85 pumps and he might sponsor legislation to prevent this pressure.

You can listen to my interview with Senator Talent here: Listen To MP3 Senator Jim Talent Interview (4 min MP3)

Audio, Biodiesel, Ethanol, Government

Interview With Cargill’s Teddy

Chuck Zimmerman

Wayne TeddyWayne Teddy is the President of Cargill’s Grain & Oilseed Crush Supply unit for North America. He was on hand this morning at the Paseo Biofuels announcement.

I got to interview Wayne after his presentation. We moved into the shade because it was another very hot day in Missouri. Wayne says that while the equity drive is taking place for the new company there will be some negotiating of the final details of the joint venture and expects a groundbreaking by the fall. He says the proposed joint venture facility will mean more jobs, more demand for Missouri soybeans and be a flagship facility for Cargill.

I also asked him about whether there is a food vs. fuel concern on the part of Cargill. He says the supply of feedstocks is currently sufficient to meet the demands of both. He acknowledged that some people perceive Cargill as fueling this debate but that although it is something that should be discussed, Cargill is investing very heavily in biofuels and that it’s not an issue of Cargill being anti-biofuels but that agriculture view the whole issue of biofuels from a reasonable perspective.

You can listen to my interview with Wayne here: Listen To MP3 Wayne Teddy Interview (5 min MP3)

Agribusiness, Audio, Biodiesel, Facilities, Production

Paseo Biofuels Announced

Chuck Zimmerman

Paseo Biofuels AnnouncementDale Ludwig, Executive Director of the Missouri Soybean Association (MSA), was the emcee today for a major announcement in Kansas City, MO.

Cargill and MSA announced plans for a 40-million gallon per year biodiesel plant adjacent to Cargill’s existing soybean processing facility here. The plans are for the facility to be jointly owned by Cargill and Paseo Biofuels, LLC, a new entity that will be owned by Missouri soybean farmers.

It’s expected that if all proceeds according to plans the facility will begin production next year. To get to that point they have to first complete a $24 million equity drive which kicks off today.

Biodiesel, Facilities, Production

So Many Plants, So Little Time

Cindy Zimmerman

Here’s a brief run-down of some recent plant related announcements:

Indiana – Premiere Ethanol and the Broin Companies broke ground August 3 on a state-of-the-art 60 million gallon per year ethanol biorefinery near Portland, Indiana. When fully complete, Premiere Ethanol will use 21 million bushels of corn and produce 356,000 tons of Dakota Gold Enhanced Nutrition Distillers Products™.

New York – Governor George E. Pataki has announced that Empire Biofuels LLC, an ethanol refining company, plans to invest $87 million to build a 50 million gallon per year corn-to-ethanol refinery at the old Seneca Army Depot in Romulus, New York.

California – US Farms Inc. has established a wholly owned subsidiary, Imperial Ethanol, dedicated to establishing an ethanol processing facility located in Imperial County, Calif.

Michigan – NextGen Energy, LLC, based in Southfield, announced plans for two ethanol plants to be built in Michigan. One will be in Watervliet in Berrien County in the southwest corner of the state. The other is in McBain, located in Missaukee County in the central part of Northern Lower Michigan.

Ethanol