Here’s a nice weekend write-up about the ethanol business that went nationwide. The story is by AP Food and Farm Writer Libby Quaid.
And here is another nice article from Paddock Talk on how and why Ford is focused on ethanol.
Wet Day for Team Ethanol
Rookie Jeff Simmons in the #17 Team Ethanol car for Rahal Letterman Racing started the Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix 13th – his best Indy pole position yet, ahead of teammate Danica Patrick who was 15th. But, even though Jeff was in the lead on lap 9, Team Ethanol was one of at least seven cars that spun out on the slick track and he collided with another car on lap 19. Meanwhile, RLR teammate Buddy Rice finished fourth and Danica finished 8th.
Indy 500 Photo Album
I just uploaded most of the pictures I took during the Indy 500. Actually starting on the Thursday before the race. There’s 267 pictures in this Flickr album and I just don’t have time to label them all individually. If you really want to know who someone is let me know and I’ll try to identify them for you. I hope you like them. There’s another race today and we’ll be rooting the #17 car on.
View the photo album here: Indy 500 2006 Photo Album
Cowboys Coach Invests in Biodiesel
TexCom, Inc. has received a $6 million project finance equity commitment to expand its Biodiesel operations into the state of Oklahoma, according to a news release. A group led by former University of Oklahoma and Dallas Cowboys Coach Barry Switzer has committed $6 million as the equity component for a Biodiesel plant to be constructed for purposes of serving the diesel fuel needs for the State of Oklahoma.
Iogen Wants Loan Guarentees for Idaho Plant
Iogen officials say they want to build a $300 million plant to make ethanol from barley straw in Idaho, but they are waiting on loan guarantees from the U.S. Department of Energy that would cover any losses investors might have if the project failed. The Ottawa Sun reports the company would like to start building in the fall of 2007. The plant and a straw assembly facility would employ up to 200 people. Iogen has already contracted with 320 farmers to provide 400,000 tonnes of barley straw a year. An announcement on the loan guarantees is expected in early October.
Another Ethanol IPO
Reuters reports that number two U.S. ethanol producer VeraSun Energy Corp. is planning to go public later this month. The IPO is the start of an ambitious campaign by the company to double its ethanol output to 560 million gallons a year by the first quarter of 2008, according a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Ethanol Night at the Races
Indy’s not the only race celebrating ethanol. Brown County Speedway opens for the season with Ethanol Night tonight. The racing season in Aberdeen, SD will run through Sept. 30. Aberdeen is the latest site chosen for an ethanol plant to be built by Glacial Lakes Energy.
We Want More
According to the Renewable Fuels Association, new data from the polling firm Public Opinion Strategies shows that 78 percent of Americans support increasing the use of ethanol and two-thirds of Americans support the increased use of biofuels in general. Additional results show that 91 percent of Americans feel the country is facing an energy crisis and 53 percent believe we should diversify our energy supply by utilizing alternative energy sources like ethanol.
Coconuts for Biodiesel
It may not be just for suntan lotion anymore. International Fuel Technology Inc. of St. Louis and CIIF Oil Mills Group of the Philippines, the world’s largest coconut producer, have begun a research and development program to expand the use of coconut oil in biofuels blended with diesel fuel. According to a company release, the administration of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has set an Energy Independence Agenda aimed at attaining 60% energy self-sufficiency by year 2010, and has mandated the use of 1% coconut-biodiesel in all government diesel-fueled vehicles. Biofuels currently account for an insignificant percentage of the more than 7 billion liters of diesel fuel ($5 billion market) consumed annually in the Philippines.
Music Festivals Go Green
According to MTV news, some big name summer music festivals are making themselves more environmentally friendly by using biodiesel in fleets and generators.
For example, organizers of the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee June 16-18 plan to use 25,000 gallons of cleaner-burning biodiesel fuel for all its non-music stage generators. The Warped Tour, whatever that is, plans to use only biodiesel fuel for the tour’s 18 buses, 14 production trucks and half its backstage generators, which they say will reduce carbon-monoxide emissions by an estimated 16 percent, or roughly 500,000 pounds.
Now that’s radical. But I still wouldn’t let my kids go.