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

Fast Action

Cindy Zimmerman

Badger State Ethanol Media stories about Badger State Ethanol in Wisconsin being badgered by state officials about selling E85 too cheap prompted Governor Jim Doyle to declare that ethanol is not subject to the state’s 1930s-era minimum markup law which requires wholesalers to charge gas stations at least three percent more than they paid.

“Wisconsin is emerging as a leader in ethanol and other renewable fuels, and we need to build on that momentum,” Governor Doyle said. “I want to send a clear message to producers and consumers of ethanol that the State of Wisconsin will not do anything to artificially drive up the price. More and more drivers are turning to ethanol-based fuels because they are cheaper, and that is a trend we want to continue.”

Gary Kramer, President and General Manager of Badger State Ethanol is happy. “At a time when the legislature has been hostile to ethanol, Governor Doyle has shown incredible backbone in the fight to make our state and our country more energy independent,” Kramer said. “I applaud his action today.”

Ethanol, Government

Delivering Biodiesel to Truckers

Cindy Zimmerman

Gulf Hydro Gulf Hydrocarbon recently opened a new biodiesel terminal at the Intercontinental Fuel Terminal in Houston, TX. The new terminal allows trucks from major local distributors and area truck stops to load diesel and biodiesel fuel and access its automated loading systems. Drivers are able to select a blend of their choice, from B10 to B100, drivers come with a partial load of diesel and “splash blend” the biodiesel on site. Hewitt

Gulf Hydrocarbon president Jess Hewitt says, “With the demand for diesel at 55 billion gals annually and biodiesel production at 75,000,000 gals annually, there is a significant demand for biodiesel to be used as a diesel fuel blend stock.”

Thanks to Nicole Haagenson for sending me that information.

Biodiesel

MO Soybeans and Cargill

Cindy Zimmerman

MSA cargill Another place Domestic Fuel will be on Wednesday is at a press conference where a group of Missouir farmer-investors will announce plans for a joint venture with Cargill “to enhance the future of Missouri’s biodiesel industry.” Missouri Senator Jim Talent will also be there at the Cargill Soybean Processing Facility in Kansas City, right after he gets an award at the ACE meeting – giving equal time for ethanol and biodiesel.

We hope to get that interview with a Cargill rep about food versus fuel while we are there.

Biodiesel

Off to ACE

Cindy Zimmerman

ACE Domestic Fuel will be in Kansas City on Wednesday for the American Coalition for Ethanol 19th Ethanol Conference & Trade Show. This event is SOLD OUT with 1500 participants – no on-site registrations will be accepted. So, if you have not registered and want to know what’s happening there, you can find out here on DF.

We expect to bring you comments from Missouri Governor Matt Blunt and Kansas Governor Karen Sebelius and much more. Stay tuned.

Ethanol

USDA Energy Paper Released

Cindy Zimmerman

USDA During a visit to Sioux City, Iowa on Tuesday, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns released the latest farm bill forum theme paper – this one on USDA’s role in renewable energy and energy efficiency programs.

“During the Farm Bill Forums, we heard real enthusiasm from producers about the potential for agriculture to unleash new sources of energy and income,” said Johanns. “We have seen ethanol production more than double in four years. USDA is committed to encouraging the entrepreneurial innovation of America’s farmers and ranchers to help build a new energy economy.”

The renewable energy analysis paper released today, as well as previously released analysis papers, are available at www.usda.gov/farmbill.

Energy, Ethanol, Government

Veg Oil vs Biodiesel

Cindy Zimmerman

Rabobank The biodiesel boom is changing the dynamics of the global vegetable oil industry, according to a new report out by Rabobank’s Food and Agribusiness Research group. According to a news release, the report “finds that the increasing global appetite for biodiesel and other biofuels is driving demand for vegetable oils to historic levels in world markets, leading to higher prices for vegetable oils relative to meals and causing soybean crushers to reevaluate their business models.”

Alejandro Reca, PhD, Executive Director of Rabobank’s Food and Agribusiness Research group in the Americas says “The tremendous opportunities presented by biodiesel today are attracting non-traditional investors to the agribusiness sector, such as financial institutions and private equity firms, as well as traditional energy and agribusiness players. The result is that our energy and agricultural markets are becoming increasingly interrelated.”

Could it be that we might be able to produce BOTH food and fuel from crops and not have to choose one or the other???

Biodiesel

Happy Anniversary Energy Bill!

Cindy Zimmerman

Bush Sign It was one year ago today that President George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 at the Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico. At the signing ceremony, the president said the bill had three main objectives – energy conservation; making more productive use of domestic energy resources, including coal, and nuclear power, and oil and natural gas; and help diversify our energy supply by promoting alternative and renewable energy sources. RFA

For the Renewable Fuels Association, or RFA, the most important part of that bill was the Renewable Fuels Standard, RFS – establishing for the first time a nationwide baseline for renewable fuel use. RFA sent out a release marking the anniversary and noting the “period of unprecedented growth and importance” the ethanol industry has seen over the past year, with construction started on 29 new ethanol biorefineries, representing nearly 2 billion gallons of annual ethanol production capacity.

In that release, there’s a quote from RFA president Bob Dinneen that puts ethanol in perspective with the other points of the energy bill. “While ethanol is not the solution to all of our energy problems, it is a critical element in achieving cleaner-burning fuel and some measure of energy independence. It will take a host of technologies to reach our ultimate goals, but ethanol and other renewable fuels are uniquely positioned to lessen our dependence on foreign oil today and to replace most of our imports in the future.”

Energy, Ethanol, Government

FFA Today to Feature Biofuels

Cindy Zimmerman

FFA This month’s FFA Today! show on RFD-TV will present a special episode featuring bio and renewable fuels initiatives in the United States.

The show will feature an interview with Agriculture Undersecretary Thomas Dorr in Washington, D.C., and a segment on “BioTown, USA” in Indiana.

Along the way, you’ll see how FFA is riding the leading edge of the renewable fuels movement through a Chapters in Action segment featuring FFA chapters across the nation and the creative ways they are participating in renewable fuels projects.

FFA Today! airs Monday, Aug. 21 at 8 p.m. eastern on RFD-TV.

Biodiesel, Ethanol

Earthrace is Here

Cindy Zimmerman

Earthrace The first 100-percent pure biodiesel race boat arrived last week in Seattle. Earthrace, “the World’s Coolest Boat,” is on a promotional tour in advance of its assault on the record for circumnavigating the globe, according to a release from Imperium Renewables, formally known as Seattle Biodiesel.
Imperium

Not only is it cool-looking, it’s cool-burning — as its biodiesel engines emit 78 percent less carbon dioxide.

Through a sponsorship by the Port of Seattle, the boat was on display at Bell Harbor Marina through Sunday, August 6. It then heads down the Pacific Coast, stopping in Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego before cutting through the Panama Canal en route to the eastern United States. Stops are planned on the east coast in Annapolis, Richmond, New York and Portland, Maine.

Check out the port tour site for exact days when the cool Earthrace boat will be in your area.

Boat photo by John King courtesy of Earthrace.

Biodiesel