Front Range Energy LLC and Pacific Ethanol Inc. today announced the completion of Front Range Energy’s ethanol plant in Windsor, Colo.
According to a Pacific Ethanol release, the ICM-designed facility has a nameplate capacity of 40 million gallons per year of fuel ethanol. The plant produced its first ethanol on June 9, 2006, and expects to ship its first loads of ethanol and wet distillers grains later this week.
Pacific Ethanol, in addition to marketing all of the fuel ethanol and WDG output of the Windsor plant, has a contract to procure corn, manage plant operations and market products for Front Range Energy. Pacific Ethanol will market all the ethanol through its Kinergy Marketing subsidiary and will market all the WDG through its Pacific Ag Products subsidiary.
Front Range Ethanol is counted by the Renewable Fuels Association as the 101st ethanol plant in the country.
ADM CEO High on Ethanol
Archer Daniels Midland CEO Patricia Woertz is expecting big profits from biofuels for her company in the next few years. According to an AP article, Woertz said profits from the renewable fuel plants “will be quite robust at something less than that.” Speaking by webcast from a conference in Paris Tuesday, Woertz also said that while there are a number of new competitors in the business, ADM’s advantage is “around experience, network capabilities and cost advantages.” ADM is the largest producer of ethanol, with a 25 percent market share.
Incidentally, there was a little piece of financial advice in USA Today this week about whether now would be a good time to invest in ADM to take part in the growth of alternative fuels. Financial writer Matt Krantz says, “It sounds corny, but you are late to this party.”
Meanwhile, VeraSun’s party is just getting started.
VeraSun Rises
Financial services are buzzing this morning with the red-hot debut of VeraSun’s IPO. In the most recent Bloomberg report, the story is that shares of VeraSun Energy Corp., the second-largest U.S. ethanol producer, jumped as much as 34 percent on the first day after an initial public offering that tapped rising interest in alternatives to $3-a-gallon gasoline. The shares rose as high as $30.75 after the company and stockholders yesterday sold 18.25 million at $23 each to raise $419.8 million.
Prepping For The Cross Country Convoy
Hello from San Francisco. I know I said I’d start blogging the AASHTO 50th Anniversary of the Interstate event tomorrow but things got kicked off today. Right now those of us participating in the convoy that will take off Friday are getting prepped by Sunny Schust, director of communications for the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO).
She just welcomed us here and we’re preparing to learn more about how this whole trip is organized. Lots of questions and answers coming up.
Post Update: I interviewed Sunny after our morning session. She explains how this whole trip was planned and who is participating and why. You can hear our interview here: 
Sunny Schust Interview (5 min MP3)
I’ll be posting regulary on this trip over the next several weeks. We’ll learn a lot about the interstate highway system and of course focus on things like fuel, especially the alternatives like ethanol.
In fact, I’m participating as an “ethanol advocate” on behalf of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council, which is an offic
Ethanol Designer Honored
ICM Inc. of Colwich, Kan., has received the 2006 Governor’s Award of Excellence presented by Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius this week, according to a Kansas City Star report. The awards are the top honors a Kansas business can receive. ICM is an industry leader in the engineering and design of ethanol processing facilities
China Considers Ethanol
America is not the only country addicted to oil. China is now considering a change in energy policy to encourage the wider use of ethanol in order to improve air quality. According to China Knowledge, Beijing could set a target by the end of this year to include ethanol in the nation’s energy mix, the newspaper said, citing Fabrizio Zichichi, head of ethanol at Noble Group.
Such a move would indicate crucial political support for investment in the production, import and distribution of biofuel in China and could have an impact on world ethanol prices, which experts say will soon peak on current consumption patterns.
Ethanol, a clean fuel made from agricultural products, could reduce China’s excessive reliance on oil and coal, and also help spread wealth to the rural poor should a larger ethanol market in China be created, Zichichi was quoted as saying.
Louisiana Governor Signs Ethanol Bill
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco has signed into law a bill requiring refineries to mix ethanol with some of the gasoline they produce.
The governor issued a statement about the bill, saying she was “proud to join President Bush, the federal government and dozens of other states in promoting a biofuels market. As the President has said on many occasions, America is addicted to oil and the best way to break through this addiction is through technology. Louisiana has a long history of helping to meet this nation’s energy needs through its exploration and production of oil and natural gas and will continue to do so. It is only fitting that we position ourselves to be a leader in the rapidly developing biofuels industry as well. By promoting the use of homegrown, environmentally friendly energy, we have a real opportunity to help the nation through its energy crisis and greatly assist Louisiana farmers.”
Granite Falls Grand Opening
Granite Falls Energy, LLC is opening it’s state-of-the-art biorefinery in Minnesota today. Granite Falls will produce more than 45 million gallons of ethanol and 130,000 tons of distillers grains annually from more than 17 billion bushels of Minnesota corn. “Minnesota has long been a leader in expanding the production and use of ethanol and today’s grand opening celebration is continued evidence of that commitment,” said Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dinneen.
MI Lawmakers Call for More Ethanol
Sixteen members of Michigan’s congressional delegation, including Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, are calling on President Bush to pressure oil companies into setting a target for installing more ethanol filling stations by 2010. According to the Detroit Free Press, the Michigan lawmakers say the domestic auto industry has already done its part to increase ethanol use by committing to build up to 1 million E85-capable vehicles a year by 2008 and that the onus should now be on oil companies.
Ethanol Power Wins Challenge X
Engineering students from Virginia Tech University, utilizing E85/hybrid technology, beat out teams from 16 other universities in the U.S. and Canada to win the second annual Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainable Mobility competition, sponsored by the Department of Energy and General Motors last week in Mesa, Arizona. The Virginia Tech team redesigned a 2005 Chevy Equinox to utilize a split parallel hybrid that runs on E85 to edge out second-place Mississippi State University.