After arriving at Cheyenne, WY the interstate convoy attended an evening symposium called, “Interstate Perspectives.” We heard from highway historians and people who have worked on building the highways.
Well over 100 people attended to learn more about the highway system we’re travelling on.
Domestic Fuel coverage and participation in the AASHTO Interstate 50th Convoy is sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.
The Broin Companies are approaching a milestone. According to a release from the development, production, management, and marketing firm, “combining the production from plants now in operation and those currently under construction, the Broin Companies will push past the one billion gallon mark in annual ethanol production.” As the second largest producer in the industry, the Broin Companies have designed and constructed 23 operating ethanol plants and currently have nine projects under construction or development.
At our morning press conference today, Bill Newman (left), Safety Manager for Wyoming Ethanol drove up in Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal’s E85 GM Avalanche. It was nice to see someone from the ethanol industry on hand. The Wyoming Department of Transportation pointed the vehicle out to attendees and the brightly wrapped truck caught a lot of eyes.
Bill followed the convoy on to Cheyenne after the event. Before leaving though I asked Bill a few questions, including telling us a little about Wyoming Ethanol.
Listen to Bill: 
Bill Newman Interview (1 min MP3)
Domestic Fuel coverage and participation in the AASHTO Interstate 50th Convoy is sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.
Welcoming the AASHTO Convoy Crew to Wyoming today was John Cox, Director of the Wyoming Dept. of Transportation. We had a press conference at a rest stop at 8,600 ft., the highest spot on I-80.
John said he appreciates how the convoy is raising awareness of the interstate highway system and the role it plays in commerce coast to coast.
Listen to John’s comments here: WYDOT Director John Cox Remarks (2 min MP3)
BTW. John mentioned our fortune for the good weather we had (at that moment). It changed. By the time we got to our lunch we had a rain shower and the temperature dropped about 30 degrees. Then just before we got back on the highway the sun came back out and it warmed up again. I guess that’s life on the mountain top.
Domestic Fuel coverage and participation in the AASHTO Interstate 50th Convoy is sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.
Plans for a 125-million-gallon ethanol plant in Nebraska that will use coal as its primary energy source were announced this week by the Phelps County Development Corp, and Alcorn Energy LLC of Troy, Mich. According to a Kearney (NE) Hub news story, Alcorn Energy Chief Executive Officer Tom Randazzo said the large local supply of corn was one of the most important considerations in choosing the Phelps County site. “We are excited to also announce that Alcorn Energy has formed a strategic alliance with Agri Co-op to supply all the corn for our plant operation,” Randazzo said.
DuPont and BP are partnering up to develop, produce and market “the next generation of biofuels” to help meet increasing global demand for renewable transport fuels. Pioneer Hi-Bred International, a subsidiary of DuPont, is playing a role in this new partnership, according to Pioneer President Dean Oestreich. He says the first jointly developed product the partnership will bring to market is biobutanol. “Butanol is simply another molecule that is different than ethanol, but it’s also a fuel. And what we’ve done here is we’ve found a way, through use of our science, to make the process more efficient and economically viable.” Oestreich says biobutanol and ethanol in a blend can actually make a better fuel.
Here’s an inteview with Oestreich about the announcement and the potential for biobutanol. Pioneer Interview (7 min MP3)
The planned site of Florida’s first major ethanol facility served as the backdrop for Governor Jeb Bush this week as he signed into law the four-year, $100 million Florida Renewable Energy Technologies and Energy Efficiency Act, designed to encourage the development of alternative fuel technologies in the state.
U.S. EnviroFuels is planning a 40 million gallon per year facility at Tampa Bay’s Port Sutton (see previous post). The company is expected to break ground in August, and begin operations by October 2007. Read more in this Tampa Bay Business Journal article.
Making our arrival in Laramie, WY enjoyable was the Commissioner of Tailgating, Joe Cahn.
Joe is a chef who travels the interstate meeting interesting people and tailgating at every chance. He’s going to do this for us again in Omaha with a “Taste of America.” I asked him to tell people that besides the corn he will roast, it can also be made into ethanol to fuel the cars and trucks that get you to the tailgate party.
Here’s what Joe had to say yesterday: Commissioner Cahn Interview (3 min MP3)
Domestic Fuel coverage and participation in the AASHTO Interstate 50th Convoy is sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.
There are a lot of cameras floating around on this trip and you have no idea when someone’s going to take your picture. This is an ethanol blogger in action.
Right now it’s getting late. We’ve got a dominos game going on here in the lobby of the hotel in Laramie, WY.
I think it’s time to call it quits although we don’t have an early start or far to go tomorrow!
Cruising along I-80 today I came across a form of renewable energy sitting on a hilltop. These windmills are just huge.
You can see them from so far away and then it takes forever to get close to them.
I counted over 100 in this windmill farm. Then after getting around the hill there was another group on the next hill.
I don’t know much about wind power but as I’ve been driving the interstates in the last few years I’ve been seeing more and more of these. You can find out more about it here.
Domestic Fuel coverage and participation in the AASHTO Interstate 50th Convoy is sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.
