Retailers Pumped About Biodiesel

Cindy Zimmerman

Spinx A South Carolina petroleum retailer now makes a 20 percent biodiesel blend (B20) available at 35 public pumps statewide, signifying a trend of increasing availability to consumers nationally, according to the National Biodiesel Board.

The Spinx Company has opened the locations throughout upper South Carolina. Thirteen of the B20 pumps are in Greenville, SC, giving the city’s consumers a new level of convenience for choosing B20. Of The Spinx Company’s 35 locations, 11 are truck accessible.

“We are very proud to be able to work with our state and local governments to bring environmentally friendly fuels such as biodiesel to the Upstate,” said Stewart Spinks, Founder and CEO of the Spinx Company. “We are fortunate to have the immediate support of our customers to make the introduction of biodiesel such a success.”

Biodiesel

I Want To Go Fast

Cindy Zimmerman

ACE Indy Car I know, I know – the “Ballad of Ricky Bobby” is about NASCAR and this is an Indy car …. whatever. It still works. Believe it or not, there are lots of people out there in the real world who actually, shockingly – don’t really know the difference. I admit it … I never knew the difference until last year.

But, one major difference is that next year Indy will be running on 100 percent ethanol – NASCAR won’t. As one of the few remaining major racing series worldwide that uses gasoline for its competition fuel, NASCAR just made the switch to unleaded gasoline, something most of us have been using for over 20 years. Discussions about a future switch to either E85 or just plain ethanol are only in preliminary stages.

Meanwhile, the Team Ethanol Indy show car is always a hit when it makes a pit stop, like at the ACE meeting last week. This week, the car is on display at the Missouri Corn Merchandising Council/Missouri Corn Growers Association booth at the Missouri State Fair.

EPIC, Ethanol, Indy Racing

Souped-up Supra

Cindy Zimmerman

ACE Brad At the American Coalition for Ethanol meeting last week, Brad Mayo of Nashville had his souped-up 1997 Toyota Supra on display, which he has fine-tuned to run on up to 95 percent ethanol.

And not just run … run FAST! (Only in a street car race, of course – otherwise he drives the posted speed limit!)

Brad was working on this car when Chuck interviewed him prior to the Indy 500 this year (see previous post). It is a street car, so he drives it around all the time, which allows him to “e”vangelize about the performance aspects of ethanol since his sweet cherry red machine with the ethanol logo on it really catches peoples’ attention.

Here’s an interview I did with Brad at the ACE meeting: Listen To MP3 Brad Mayo (2:45 min MP3)

Audio, EPIC, Ethanol

Seeds For Growth

Cindy Zimmerman

Monsanto Sandia Sandia National Laboratories and Monsanto Company are joining forces to increase ethanol production through new varieties.

According to a press release, the arrangement is aimed at aligning Sandia’s capabilities in bioanalytical imaging and analysis with Monsanto’s research in developing new seed-based products for farmers, including corn products that may be able to produce more ethanol per bushel.

Ethanol, Research

Company Plans to Build First Cellulosic Plant

Cindy Zimmerman

Alternative Energy Sources, Inc. (see previous post) has announced plans to build the first cellulosic ethanol facility in the U.S. with the acquisiting of Flex Fuels USA Inc. of Huntsville, Alabama.

According to a news release, Flex Fuels USA has developed proprietary ethanol production technology methods of producing cellulosic ethanol made from biomass and other types of waste.

Kansas City, Mo.-based Alternative Energy Sources has signed a letter of intent to acquire all the company’s outstanding capital stock and expects to sign a merger agreement by Sept. 15.

Cellulosic, Ethanol

USDA and DOE Fund Biofuels Research Projects

Cindy Zimmerman

USDA DOE The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy are jointly funding some $5.7 million dollars in research projects aimed at the development of alternative fuel resources.

According to a USDA release, USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service and DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research awarded the grants “to facilitate the use of woody plant tissue, specifically lignocellulosic materials, for bioenergy or biofuels. The research projects will focus on poplar, alfalfa, sorghum, wheat and other grasses.”

The grants include:

Purdue University, Ind., $1.4 million.
The Noble Foundation, Okla., $800,000.
Texas A&M University, Texas, $800,000.
USDA-Agricultural Research Service, University of Wisconsin, $333,000.
Carnegie Institute of Washington, $359,100.
Brookhaven National Laboratory, NY, $300,000.
North Carolina State University, $700,000.
Kansas State University, $700,000.
University of Georgia, $445,000.

Here is some more information on the K-State and Oklahoma projects, which are being done in conjunction with each other, to do genetic research on making different types of vegetation, such as native switchgrass, more conducive to being turned into ethanol.

Government, Research

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