Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company in Benson, Minnesota is celebrating a decade in the ethanol industry. The plant opened in 1996 and today is a 45 million gallon per year ethanol biorefinery. In addition to producing fuel ethanol and marketing E85, CVEC also produces a top-shelf vodka under the Shakers brand. According to a Renewable Fuels Association press release, CVEC also recently broke ground on a new biomass gasification system that will significantly reduce the biorefinery’s natural gas use by converting biomass material, such as corn stover, distillers dried grains, corn, wheat straw and wood wastes, into energy.
Test Specifications for B20
The Engine Manufacturers Association has released a test specification for biodiesel fuel to facilitate testing and evaluation of how blended biodiesel fuels perform in today’s clean-burning diesel engines. According to a release, the EMA specifications establish technical requirements for blends of petroleum fuel and biodiesel fuel that can be used to assess the effects of such biodiesel fuels on engine performance, durability and emissions.
The National Biodiesel Board has been working cooperatively with EMA on test specifications since last October.
“By approving these specifications, EMA is acknowledging the growing demand and use of B20 by customers all over the country,” said Joe Jobe, CEO of NBB. “While many original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, have taken positive steps toward B20 approval, EMA’s actions are a huge step toward national biodiesel blend fuel standards that will enhance fuel quality measures and increase acceptance of B20.”
Biogas Grant
Intrepid Technology and Resources, Inc., an Idaho-based renewable alternate energy company, has received a $50,000 grant from the Idaho Department of Water Resources to install anaerobic digestion technology to produce useable energy from dairy biogas. According to a company release, the grant will be used to purchase energy measurement equipment at the Whitesides Dairy biogas plant. The equipment will monitor the heating values of the gas, determine its energy content, contaminate levels and flow rates either onsite or offsite locations and will assist in the expansion and remote operation of the Whitesides biogas plant.
The Rock
As we drove over the Bay Bridge today I tried to get a good shot of Alcatraz.
The rock actually looks very pretty sitting out in the bay. We were a long way off and moving pretty fast.
So that’s about all the sight seeing photos for you from San Francisco until tomorrow. We’ve got a final dinner tonight and will get to meet the AASHTO executive director, John Horsley. I’ll interview him about our trip and probably won’t have a chance to post again until tomorrow evening in Reno, NV. You can follow the convoy route by visiting the AASHTO website here.
The Golden Gate
We’re not going to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge but I did get to see it on a beautiful sunny day here in San Francisco.
This is a view from Lincoln Park where we’ll be meeting with our U. S. Secretary of Tansportation, Norman Mineta, tomorrow morning.
I don’t think it’s always this clear so we had a great photo op today.
Drivers Education Trip
Here’s some of the drivers of the convoy vehicles at the Lincoln Park staging area for tomorrow morning’s kickoff event. We got a lesson and view of our course for tomorrow through San Francisco.
We stopped here for a few minutes to take a break since we got caught in an unexpected traffic jam.
That won’t happen tomorrow as all construction will be halted on our path and we’ll have police and CHP personnel clearing things out ahead of us.
Leading The Way
Here’s what I think we’ll be seeing most of tomorrow, at least the lead vehicle in our Interstate Celebration convoy will.
The California Highway Patrol took us on a little tour of our route to the Lincoln Park staging area for tomorrow morning’s kickoff.
Then we proceeded across the Bay Bridge and back. It gave us an opportunity to sight see a little.
CA Highway Patrol Escorts
The California Highway Patrol was a big part of our day. The main man was Lt. Avery Brown who’s helping coordinate everything and they have a lot of assets involved in tomorrow’s kickoff. He says that about 75 CHP personnel will be involved and that doesn’t count San Francisco police.
Lt. Brown took the drivers along the route we’ll travel tomorrow so we can see it and learn how we need to handle things like major intersection turns and our lineup at the Lincoln Park kickoff ceremony. It also gave us an opportunity for a little sight seeing and picture taking.
I interviewed Avery and I think you’ll hear why he’s the organizer: 
Lt. Avery Brown Interview (3 min MP3)
ACE Prepares for Annual Conference
Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius will be the keynote speaker at the 19th annual American Coalition for Ethanol Conference & Trade Show, August 8-10 in Kansas City, Missouri at the Crown Center. Governor Sebelius, who currently serves as chair of the Governors’ Ethanol Coalition, will address the conference on Wednesday afternoon. Topics of interest to be discussed at the conference include: grassroots efforts for ethanol at the state level, petroleum marketing basics, cellulosic ethanol, distillers grain, and many more. Also, an Ethanol 101 session “From Ground Breaking to Profit Making” will be featured again this year in a longer, more interactive format. Registration information and agenda for the conference are available on the ACE website.
IRL Doing Well with Ethanol
Indy Car drivers seem pretty pumped about ethanol, according to this Dallas Business Journal article, which quotes Bombardier Learjet 500 winner and two-time Indianapolis 500 winnner Helio Castroneves and 2004 IndyCar Series Champion Tony Kanaan – both Brazilians. The article says the IRL switch to ten percent ethanol this year has been “problem-free” and Dan Layton, spokesman for Honda Performance Development, makers of the sole engine used in the IRL, says that improved fuel mileage may require the fuel tanks in Indy cars to be reduced next year in order to keep drivers from out-running their tire-life.
Here’s an interview Chuck did at the Indy 500 with Ethanol Promotion and Information Council executive director Tom Slunecka, who is also quoted in the article. Tom discusses a number of the points in the article, including Brazilian support of ethanol, the fuel’s environmental benefits and performance aspects, and the expectations for next year when IRL goes to a full 100 percent ethanol. Tom Slunecka Interview (7 min MP3)