Petroleum terminals in Texas, New York and Michigan have announced the availability of pre-blended biodiesel within the last month, according to a release from the National Biodiesel Board. Distribution Drive, a wholly owned subsidiary of Earth Biofuels, Inc. and Motiva Enterprises, an oil company headquartered in Houston, Tex., announced Monday that the Motiva Enterprises terminal in Dallas will now offer biodiesel at any blend level. That’s the one that got all the media attention this week, since it’s in “big oil” country. The others that opened with less fan fare were Sprague Energy in Albany, NY and RKA Petroleum Cos. in Romulus, Michigan.
New Team Ethanol Driver Announced
The ethanol legacy will live on with the Indy Racing League (IRL). Rahal Letterman Racing announced today the selection of Jeff Simmons as the driver for the No. 17 Team Ethanol Honda/Panoz/Firestone car. Simmons will replace Paul Dana who died March 26.
“Paul realized the benefits of using ethanol, and he worked hard to get the message out to everyone,” said Ethanol Promotion and Information Council EPIC. Executive Director Tom Slunecka. “We look forward to Jeff promoting the benefits of ethanol just as proudly as Paul did.”
Dana was a tireless promoter of ethanol and the architect of the agreement that switched all IndyCar Series cars to a 10 percent ethanol, 90 percent methanol blend this year. In 2007, the IRL will make the switch to 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol in all IndyCar Series cars. E10 (10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline) is the fuel blend used by drivers all across the country in everything from minivans to lawnmowers. Increasingly, E85 (85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline) is also available in many areas throughout the country.
Simmons, a native of East Granby, Conn., is the winningest driver in IRL Indy Pro Series (IPS) history with seven victories. He has garnered extensive experience in the IPS, having run four seasons and twice finishing as the championship runner-up – in 2003 and 2005.
“I am honored to have the opportunity to promote the message and need for the clean-burning, renewable fuel ethanol and to become a member of Rahal Letterman Racing,” said Simmons, 29. “It is one of the most professional teams I could ever hope to be associated with, and I truly appreciate the faith that Bobby (Rahal) and the Team Ethanol sponsors have placed in me. The fact that I have this opportunity as a result of Paul’s passing is not lost on me, and I want to express my deepest sympathies to his family and friends.”
Listen to Jeff Simmons here: 
Jeff Simmons Announcement (Courtesy of Gary Truit, Brownfield Network)
Team Ethanol is comprised of the Broin Companies, Fagen Inc., ICM and 25 other companies who have joined together in a voluntary industry-wide coalition that represents over half of the industry. Ethanol is a high-octane, high-performance fuel that is clean burning, renewable and made in America. As a growing component of the U.S. gasoline supply, ethanol delivers improved vehicle performance for all passenger cars and trucks while reducing harmful emissions and improving air quality.
Midwest Grain Sale Going Down (Under)
By a 2 to 1 margin, the shareholders of Midwest Grain Processors last week approved a deal to sell majority ownership in their cooperative to Australian company Global Ethanol. Over 1,000 of the 1,300 members of the co-op in Lakota, IA turned out for the vote on Thursday. Dave Nelson, Midwest Grain Processors’ board chairman, told Agriculture Online “The turnout for the vote was unbelievable. It was better than a Presidential election turnout.” Not to mention more decisive. With 717 votes in favor and only 348 opposed, we probably won’t be hearing calls for a recount. However, those who were opposed to the deal remain opposed to the concept of foreign ownership in domestic fuel production. According to the Des Moines Register, “There wasn’t enough time to digest the information or investigate it thoroughly,” said Lennon Brandt, a farmer from Swea City. “I thought the vote might be close, but when people aren’t informed, they tend to trust the board.”
It’s the first time a foreign company has bought control of an ethanol co-op, but those in the industry believe the growth potential means it’s probably just the beginning.
Team Ethanol Will Go On
The pain is still too fresh for Paul Dana’s friends in the ethanol industry to even start talking about it, but the questions are being asked, and the Wichita Business Journal got some answers from Team Ethanol sponsors ICM and EPIC. 
“Absolutely we’ll be back,” ICM President and CEO Dave Vander Griend says. “It’s a tragic, tragic loss, a very tough one for me personally. But the best thing we can do for Paul’s legacy is to continue on, and we’ll do that.”
Plans for the ethanol racing team are on hold this week out of respect for Dana’s memory, says Tom Slunecka, EPIC executive director.
But keeping Dana’s drive alive to promote ethanol awareness will take center stage later, he says.
“I think we owe it to him to prove his legacy true,” Slunecka says. “We owe it to him to march on in behalf of him, in behalf of the fervor he had for both ethanol and racing. Ethanol was far more than a sponsor to Paul.”
Wait and See
USDA’s Prospective Plantings report out Friday says that farmers will plant five percent less corn acreage this year and seven percent more soybeans than a year ago – mainly because of higher fuel and fertilizer costs. So, what does that mean for ethanol production? Don Roose, an analyst with U.S. Commodities says “This puts the end users on notice like ethanol plants,” according to this article in AgricultureOnline. The Des Moines Register reports that Al Larson, who manages NEW Cooperative’s seed warehouse in Knierim, is skeptical about the report’s findings. “Our yields here the last three years have been just phenomenal,” he said. “I think it might go the other way. Ethanol demand, I think, is going to drive a lot of it. It’s everywhere you look.”
USDA’s estimate was well below what the trade was expecting – almost two million acres less than the low end estimate – so skepticism may be in order. And, as always, yields will largely depend on the weather, which is not predicable in any year. So, we just have to wait and see what really happens this year.
BP Ethanol from Wheat and Fat
Two articles out of Australia talk about BP’s new ethanol plans announced this week – making it from wheat and animal fat. The Weekend Australian story, which actually was published tomorrow on the other side of the world, says BP “would be producing 200 million litres of biofuels within two years. More than half will be derived from tallow – the fat of cattle and sheep – which will be processed to extract ethanol. The ethanol will be mixed with normal petrol, allowing BP to market a blended fuel known as E10 throughout the country by 2008.” They will also be making it from wheat, according to this ABC news story, about 200,000 tonnes a year. Farmers Federation state president Trevor de Langrafft says the plant is a win for wheat farmers. “It’s great to hear such an initiative being developed in Western Australia,” he said.
Washington State Adopts Biodiesel Requirement
This week, Washington became the second state “to commit to making biodiesel an everyday part of the diesel fuel market.” According to a release from the National Biodiesel Board, Washington passed a bill that “sets a requirement that at least 2 percent of diesel sales by volume will be comprised of biodiesel, with 2 percent ethanol in the gasoline market.” The requirement is similar to a law that took effect in Minnesota in 2005.
The requirement goes into effect November 1, 2008 or when in-state production can meet the 2 percent requirement, whichever comes first. The law is expected to create demand for 20 million gallons of biodiesel annually in the first year. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that the state of Washington consumed one billion gallons of diesel in 2004.
NBB will be providing help with the implementation process.
Hunting Ethanol
Check out the MPH Blog to follow Dave on his hunt for ethanol around Chicago in a Tahoe. Dave wanted to find out more about the “magical blend of corn and gasoline called E85 (which) is either the answer to America’s dependence on foreign fuel or one big scam by farmers, depending on the blogs you read.” So, he got a new Flex Fuel Chevy Tahoe for a week of testing. He writes that he took a “Google Earth view of most of the surrounding E85 stations according to www.e85fuel.com. Note that only two are actually in the City of Chicago. So I’ll be checking out the wilds of the suburbs to see the commutability, price and mileage provided by E85 in the real world. The hunt is on.”
Ethanol Advocate Remembered
The article I like best about Thursday’s memorial for Indy Car driver Paul Dana is from Indystar.com.
Lauded for being more than just a race car driver, Paul Dana was honored Thursday as a leader in the renewable fuel industry.
Dana brought together three of the nation’s leading corn-based fuel manufacturers — previously fierce rivals — to sponsor an open-wheel car in 2003.
Ethanol not only had its decals on Dana’s Indy car when he died Sunday of injuries suffered in an accident at Homestead-Miami Speedway, its product was in every Indy Racing League car.
The IRL is using a 10-percent mixture of ethanol this season and will switch totally in 2007.
“He was taking (ethanol’s) message to the world, not just a state or a country,” IRL chaplain Bob Hills said in a celebration of Dana’s life at a theatre along the course he was to have raced this weekend.
“Ethanol wasn’t just a sponsor to him,” Hills said of Dana. “At times he was tough to shut up about it. Ethanol and the IRL were brought together because of him.”
Amen.
Gates Deal Slow to Close
Pacific Ethanol is running behind with its annual report and its deal to sell stock to Bill Gates. According to a Reuters stock market report Friday, the company said its annual report will be late due to delays completing its audit. It expects to file the report by April 17. The company also said it will not close on Friday on the sale of $84 million in preferred stock to Gates’s investment vehicle Cascade Investment LLC, as had been planned. That deal was announced last December. The Cascade deal is supposed to close about the same time the annual report is due out.