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If you are in the ethanol business as a supplier, producer, researcher, government agency, etc….the 2006 Fuel Ethanol Industry Directory wants to list you for free. The directory is being compiled by Ethanol Producer Magazine (a BBI Biofuels publication) and is distributed throughout the fuel ethanol industry at workshops, conferences and trade shows. The publication offers one free listing per organization and charges 40 bucks for each additional listing. Other pricing is available for display ads and logos. Deadline for listing is March 13.

Brazil is considering a pipeline for ethanol, according to an Associated Press report out today. The $226 million pipeline “would run from the central state of Goias to a refinery in Paulinia, near Sao Paulo, through Brazil’s main producing centers of sugar cane and ethanol,” and would be built by the government’s Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras. Brazil is the world’s largest producer of ethanol and the country is getting heavily into the export market. The article quotes Petrobras Chief Executive Sergio Gabrielli saying Petrobras would be pioneering a new area of alternative fuel transportation. “We are the only country in the world that has the technology to build an ethanol pipeline,” Gabrielli said. “To make the ethanol market grow is strategic for the world, not only for Brazil.” While exports have been limited as the country has been concentrating on its domestic market, they are exporting to or in talks with exporting to Venezuela, Nigeria, China, South Korea, India and the United States. There is currently a 54-cent-a-gallon duty on imports of ethanol to the United States, which is intended to offset the federal tax subsidy for the U.S. industry. There are concerns that Brazil might challenge that tariff under the World Trade Organization. There was a good article on that subject recently in the Des Moines Register.

There is a big feature story on ethanol in USA Today that, unfortunately, highlights more of the drawbacks to ethanol than the advantages. It focuses heavily on the fact that production and distibution of E85 are limited and that most fueling stations are located in the midwest – which is true. What it does not discuss at all is the potential for cellulosic ethanol to increase production in other regions of the country – which is what President Bush was talking about when he called it “this new kind of ethanol.” I have seen almost no coverage about this aspect of Bush’s comments.
USA Today also focuses on the current lack of flex-fuel vehicles available – that the five million we have now is only about two percent of the vehicles on the road. True. But it does note the strong commitment on the part of U.S. auto makers to making more available in the future.
It also notes that ethanol is less fuel efficient than gasoline, but points out that engines could be designed that would improve that.
It’s important to realize that the ethanol industry needs to grow tremendously on all levels before it can get to a point where it is replacing a significant amount of foreign oil. It will not happen overnight. Which is why the president’s goal for 2025 is actually pretty realistic. We are talking about CHANGE here and that always comes slowly. The best line in the article is “the potential of alcohol-based fuel is tantalizing.” The POTENTIAL is there – we need to overcome the challenges and make it happen.

All this ethanol talk was good for business on Wednesday. Shares for farm equipment companies like John Deere and Agco posted gains in trading today on ideas that increased ethanol production will mean more tractors and combines will be needed. According to MarketWatch, Morgan Stanley reiterated its overweight rating on Deere Wednesday and called ethanol the “key energy theme in 2006.” Pent-up demand for equipment replacement on farms and higher corn production should drive machine purchases, according to the analysts. “Ethanol is a rare win-win for nearly all involved,” wrote analyst Stephen Volkmann. “Farmers get higher crop prices, consumers get away from imported energy, environmentalists get renewable and cleaner burning fuel and government gets to send less direct aid to farmers.”