General Motors made ethanol history Friday when a Chevy Silverado E-85 Flex Fuel Vehicle (FFV) served as the pace car for the GM Flex Fuel 250 at Daytona race, starting the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, according to a news release.
“GM is delighted to be able to sponsor the event tonight,” said Ed Peper, Chevrolet general manager. “We are delighted to bring a lot more awareness to the benefits of ethanol to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil.”
Ethanol Promotion and Information Council executive director Tom Slunecka was in Daytona for the event and congratulated General Motors for its success in creating consumer awareness of the value and benefits of ethanol. “GM’s promotion of E-85 fuel is helping to build the infrastructure needed for the ethanol industry to continue growing and replacing millions of barrels of non-renewable oil,” said Slunecka.
GM is really getting into this ethanol thing in a big way. If you haven’t checked out GM’s “Live Green, Go Yellow” website yet, you really should. It’s quite the deal. I would call the whole campaign very farmer friendly. For a little fun, play the Stalk Car Race game on the site. It’s cute – not real challenging, but cute.
How About A Chance To Win An iPod
If you’ve wanted to own an Apple video iPod then here’s your chance. It’s the New Holland “Down on the Farm” Classic iPod Keepsake Contest. One lucky winner will be drawn to win a new 30GB video iPod. The contest starts now and will run through March 15 with the winner being announced here and on all ZimmComm blogs on March 20, National Agriculture Day.
In case you’re not familiar with the Commodity Classic, it’s the combined annual meeting and trade show of the National Corn Growers Association and American Soybean Association. Both organizations with a stake in the renewable fuels industry. I’m sure there will be some news of interest for you there and I’ll be blogging the conference.
All the pictures I take and video and audio I record at Classic will be pre-loaded onto the iPod. One of those things will be country music star Michael Peterson’s performance that’s being sponsored by New Holland. Once we know who the winner is Michael will record a personal message which we’ll also load onto the iPod. And, there’s more. We’ll also load Michael’s newest CD, “Down on the Farm,” which you can currently only purchase from your local New Holland dealer. It won’t be out in stores until later this spring.
So, here’s how you enter. We’ve got an online form that you’ll need to fill out and just click on the submit button when done. There’s only a few questions. It’s fast and then you’re entered. You’ll get a confirmation email so that you know you’ve been entered. Or, if you’re at Classic, you can stop by the New Holland booth and enter there.
Miss Kansas Promotes Ethanol To Women
The reigning Miss Kansas, Adrienne Rosel, is discussing the benefits of ethanol for consumers and America at the Wichita Women’s Fair this weekend. Miss Kansas is meeting with women telling them that using ethanol-enriched fuel is something that women can do every day to help their loved-ones breathe a little easier, according to a media advisory from EPIC. The Wichita Women’s Fair is being held at the Wichita Century II Convention Center and runs through Sunday. Miss Kansas will be there through 5:00 pm Saturday February 18.
Fill Up, Feel Good E-Podcast
“Fill Up, Feel Good” is the name for the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council podcast. The first two podcasts were posted last month, the newest is online today. It features EPIC executive director Tom Slunecka talking about the importance of consumer education about ethanol in the wake of the momentum created by the State of the Union address and new promotions by car manufacturers. EPIC also sent out a news release addressing this same issue. Slunecka notes that the industry must meet the enthusiasm with education. “In December, consumer research showed that 70 percent of consumers still didn’t know what ethanol was or if they did they certainly weren’t considering putting it in their vehicle, so we’ve got a long, long way to go,” said Slunecka. “But with a platform like President Bush’s speech and General Motors’ announcement on E85 and Ford as well, we can start to move the needle.”
In the podcast, Slunecka discusses the current price situation of ethanol and encourages consumers to show their support for the move toward U.S. energy independence when purchasing new vehicles, even if E85 is not readily available yet in your area. “This is a chicken and egg type of conversation. You’ve got the ability to purchase the chicken today, and the ethanol industry will bring you that egg as soon as we possibly can.”
The “Fill up, Feel Good” podcast is available to download by subscription (see our sidebar link) or you can listen to it by clicking here. (8:56 MP3 File)
United For Biodiesel Quality
The Soybean Checkoff has helped grow the biodiesel industry to where it is today and they want to ensure continued growth by ensuring the quality of the product. To that end, the checkoff-funded National Biodiesel Board has formed the National Biodiesel Accreditation Commission (NBAC), which developed and implemented a voluntary industry quality-control program known as BQ-9000. The United Soybean Board sent a release out about it this week providing information about the program. (link to release)
Quality standards in the BQ-9000 program are based on the American Standard for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D-6751 Specification for Biodiesel Fuel (B100, 100 percent biodiesel) Blend Stock for Distillate Fuels. ASTM specifications are used to ensure the quality standards of petroleum diesel, gasoline and even ethanol. Americans rely on these specifications every day and now that same confidence can be found in biodiesel carrying the ASTM D-6751 standard.
“We strongly encourage all biodiesel manufacturers to become accredited by participating in the BQ-9000 program,” says NBB Chairman Darryl Brinkmann, a soybean farmer from Carlyle, Ill. “This will help ensure fuel quality and the great engine performance that I and the millions of other diesel users have come to expect from biodiesel.”
There is a website for the program – bq-9000.org – where marketers can get more information.
There was a pre-conference session devoted to BQ-9000 at the recent National Biodiesel Conference in San Diego. Here is a link to stories on the Biodiesel Conference Blog that include an interview with Leland Tong of Marc IV Consulting, which is helping to coordinate this program
Is the Price Right?
Tuesday’s USA Today had an article on how expensive E85 is compared to full fledged gasoline or 10 percent ethanol blends that might have given some ethanol proponents heartburn. But, it is indeed a fact that E85 currently does cost more in most areas unless the retailer chooses to make it less expensive for promotional reasons. And the article rightly notes that the main reason for the higher price has been higher demand driven by refiner needs for ethanol to replace MTBE. And the article also rightly notes that E85 has about 72 percent as much energy as conventional gas. So, the conclusion is that if gas costs $2.286 per gallon, the price of E85 should be 72 percent of that or $1.646 per gallon. That makes sense and it’s possible that will someday be the actual case.
But, I had a little conversation about this yesterday with Tom Slunecka, executive director of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council, who pointed out that the benefits of ethanol to the environment, to the economy and to the domestic security of the country are intangibles that add to the value of ethanol.
“Consumers need to be purchasing ethanol more on its value and less on its price. And now more than ever, they need to be committed to making a change in philosophy as to what fuel they are choosing to put in their vehicles,” Slunecka said.
And that is also true.
No More Oxygenate Rule After May
The Environmental Protection Agency has changed the rules requiring certain states to add oxegenates – like ethanol or MTBE – to gasoline to fight air pollution. Here’s the actual announcement from EPA made late yesterday:
In a move to provide greater flexibility in producing clean-burning gasoline to protect and improve air quality, EPA is revoking the two percent oxygen content requirement for reformulated gasoline (RFG) nationwide. The Energy Policy Act authorized the action, which reduces production burdens while continuing to protect the environment with clean fuel blends as the use of ethanol increases. Currently, about 30 percent of gasoline is RFG. The revocation takes effect nationwide on May 6 and in California 60 days after the regulation’s publication in the Federal Register.
In other words, the government is no longer going to tell refiners exactly how they have to make cleaner-burning gasoline. The new regulation implements a provision in last year’s comprehensive energy bill that did away with the oxygenate requirement – and that was in response to complaints by states that have banned MTBE because it pollutes groundwater, leaving them with ethanol as their only option.
Now, the smoggiest areas of the country in 14 states – California, Connecticut, New York, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin – and the District of Columbia are still going to have to meet clean air standards by using cleaner burning gasoline. They may still choose to use oxygenates, like ethanol, or go some other route.
What will this mean for the ethanol industry, since much of the increased demand lately has come from states replacing MTBE with ethanol? Likely not much, because while the energy bill eliminated the oxygenate requirement, at the same time it created a new renewable fuels requirement that calls for refiners to use four billion gallons of renewables this year, and 7.5 billion by 2012. So, as an article in USA Today states, the outlook is still bright for ethanol.
Biodiesel from the Heartland
Another sweetheart of a story for the day after St. Valentine’s.
Heartland Biodiesel is the name of a group of Missouri farmer-investors planning to build a biodiesel plant in Rock Port, MO. According to an AP report, the northwest Missouri plant will cost $40 million to $45 million to build and will employ about 28 people, producing roughly 30 million gallons of biodiesel per year.
“Renewable energy – that’s what everybody’s talking about,” said Kent Fisher, of Fairfax, vice president of the group’s board of directors.
The group’s website is under construction at www.hartlandbiodiesel.com and they have no logo available as yet.
Business is Sweet for Xethanol
According to a Valentine’s Day press release, Xethanol Corporation, a biotechnology driven ethanol production company, announced today that despite downtime over the holiday season, ethanol production at its Iowa BioFuels plant during January 2006 reached a record 502,000 gallons. That’s basically the story in a nutshell, not much to add, except that the company is working with Harris Group engineering firm to accelerate deployment of our proprietary technologies for producing ethanol from low cost biomass feedstocks.
Lots of News from US BioEnergy
US BioEnergy Corp. is moving from South Dakota to Minnesota. The company has also named a new president, according to a press release issued Tuesday. Brian Thome, a Director on the Corporate Board since the company’s inception, has been named President of the Corporation. As President, Thome will primarily be responsible for building the infrastructure necessary to support the rapid growth of the ethanol company. US BioEnergy – which recently partnered with CHS, Inc. (see previous post) – decided to move from Brookings, SD to St. Paul, MN to be closer to its business partners and a larger labor pool.
In another release issued today, US BioEnergy also announced that it will be acquiring Platte Valley Fuel Ethanol located near Central City, NE. Currently US BioEnergy has two plants under construction: US Bio Albert City, a 110 million gallon per year (mgy) plant in Iowa scheduled to be on-line in November 2006 and US Bio Woodbury, a 45 mgy plant in Michigan, scheduled to begin production in October of 2006. US Bio Janesville, a 110 mgy plant located in Minnesota is in the permitting phase and will begin construction sometime this summer. With Platte Valley, this would bring US BioEnergy production to approximately 250 million gallons per year by the end of 2006.