The 13th annual National Ethanol Conference is just around the corner now - coming up February 25-27 in Orlando.
In this “Ethanol Report” podcast, RFA President and CEO Bob Dinneen talks about what the conference is all about and why those involved in the renewable fuels industry should attend.
You can subscribe to “The Ethanol Report” by following this link.
Or you can listen to it on-line here: 
Ethanol Report 6 (6:30 MP3 file)
All the important conference details and registration information can be found on-line here.
The Department of Energy today announced the investment of more than $84 million in three small-scale cellulosic ethanol projects designed to be the proving grounds for full-scale, commercial production of ethanol from cellulose. The four projects each will produce around 2.5 million gallons of ethanol from cellulosic material annually.
“This kind of partnership between the government and private industry is critical to accelerating the commercialization of cellulosic ethanol technology and ensuring the promise of the recently passed energy bill is realized,†said Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dinneen. “Without ethanol production from a host of feedstocks including grain and cellulose, our nation cannot meet the energy and environmental challenges it faces. The work that will be done at these facilities will yield commercially-produced ethanol from cellulosic material much sooner than naysayers and conventional wisdom suggest.â€
According to a DOE release, the three ethanol projects receiving funding are:
ICM Incorporated of Colwich, Kansas DOE will provide up to $30 million for a proposed plant that will be located in St. Joseph, Missouri, and will utilize diverse and relevant feedstocks including agricultural residues, such as corn fiber, corn stover, switchgrass and sorghum. ICM, Inc. will integrate biochemical and thermochemical processing and demonstrate energy recycling within the same facility.
Lignol Innovations Inc., of Berwyn, Pennsylvania DOE will provide up to $30 million for a proposed plant, co-located with a petroleum refinery, which will be located in Commerce City, Colorado, and using biochem-organisolve, will convert hard and soft wood residues into ethanol and commercial products, co-located with a petroleum refinery.
Pacific Ethanol Inc., of Sacramento, California DOE will provide up to $24.3 million for a proposed plant to be located in Boardman, Oregon, and will convert agricultural and forest product residues to ethanol using BioGasol’s proprietary conversion process.
The Ethanol Promotion and Information Council and KL Process Design Group teamed up today to announce the first use of cellulosic ethanol in the 2008 American Le Mans Series. Corvette Racing, sponsored by EPIC, will be the first team to use the cellulosic-based E85 in competition.
“We could really find no greater stage to have the first use of cellulosic ethanol than the American Le Mans Series,†said Reece Nanfito, senior director of marketing for EPIC. “Obviously this is going to be a great demonstration that this fuel is available here and now, it is not a fuel that is five years or ten years down the road. The next generation of ethanol has really arrived today with this announcement.â€
Tom Slunecka, Vice President of Business Development for KL Process Design Group, says providing cellulosic ethanol for the Le Mans Series brings it one step closer to consumer use.
“The reason that we brought the very first, very valuable gallons of this fuel to the American Le Mans Series was to demonstrate the power that this fuel has at home with every consumer,†Slunecka said. “Because the American Le Mans Series cars are the closest to production-style cars in the world of racing the relevancy of performance here is immediate and direct to that of consumers.â€
Listen to Reece and Tom make the announcement in a press conference today from Sebring, Florida.
Cellulosic Le Mans Announcment (9:30 min mp3)
Renewable fuels had a place in the final State of the Union address by President George W. Bush.
To build a future of energy security, we must trust in the creative genius of American researchers and entrepreneurs and empower them to pioneer a new generation of clean energy technology. Our security, our prosperity, and our environment all require reducing our dependence on oil. Last year, I asked you to pass legislation to reduce oil consumption over the next decade, and you responded. Together we should take the next steps: Let us fund new technologies that can generate coal power while capturing carbon emissions. Let us increase the use of renewable power and emissions-free nuclear power. Let us continue investing in advanced battery technology and renewable fuels to power the cars and trucks of the future. Let us create a new international clean technology fund, which will help developing nations like India and China make greater use of clean energy sources. And let us complete an international agreement that has the potential to slow, stop, and eventually reverse the growth of greenhouse gases.
The speech also focused on ways to stimulate economic growth in the nation, but RFA president Bob Dinneen notes that ethanol is already helping with both the economy and the environment.
“The emerging ethanol industry in the country is turning environmental stewardship into economic opportunity at a time when our economy desperately needs a shot in the arm. By investing our resources in developing domestic, renewable alternatives to foreign oil, we can begin reducing this nation’s global warming footprint and create jobs and economic activity at home rather than transferring our nation’s wealth to oil-rich countries around the globe. Renewable fuels like ethanol are demonstrating that when it comes to the environment and the economy, it is possible to have it both ways.â€
In an overall environment of slowing economic growth the U.S. ethanol industry stands out in sharp contrast. According to a report set to be released in late February from economist John Urbanchuk of LECG, LLC, the American ethanol industry is a job creating engine. The increase in economic activity resulting from ongoing production and construction of new ethanol capacity supported the creation of 238,541 jobs in all sectors of the economy during 2007. These include more than 46,000 additional jobs in America’s manufacturing sector — American jobs making ethanol from grain produced by American farmers.
Here’s something that will get your iPod fired up:
RFA has started an audio podcast on issues important to the ethanol industry called “The Ethanol Report Podcast.†The report is produced twice monthly will be posted right here (we’ve already posted several episodes).
Podcasts already produced include such topics as the Renewable Fuels Now coalition and consumer survey, the Informa study of the relationship between corn prices and the overall Consumer Price Index for food, signing of the Energy Bill, and a look at what 2008 may hold for the ethanol industry.
The report can be accessed by a direct click to listen link here on the website and the mp3 audio file is also included in an RSS feed so it can be automatically downloaded for listening on a portable audio player.
“The Ethanol Report Podcast†is available by RSS feed subscription through any standard podcast subscription software or service such as iTunes or the Zune Marketplace. Use this link to see more instructions on how to subscribe to our blog as well as the podcast.
The news service RedOrbit.com picked up on an editorial Bob Dinneen wrote that was published in the January edition of “The Officer,” the official publication of the Reserve Officers Association (ROA).
The subject is the importance of domestic fuel sources like ethanol to our nation’s homeland security and it is really a must read for anyone in the business to be able to talk about why displacing even a small fraction of foreign oil makes a difference.
Dinneen writes: In 2006, U.S. ethanol producers churned out nearly five billion gallons of ethanol. This volume displaced the need to import 206 million barrels of oil. For perspective, that is more oil than we will import from Iraq in 2007 and nearly half of the oil we will get from Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. Additionally, displacing that much oil saved more than $11 billion that would have gone overseas to fund radicals bent on our destruction.
Much more in the article - definitely a good source for defending US ethanol production on the basis of national security alone.
According to a Reuters poll done this week at the American Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting, U.S. farmers overwhelmingly said they have benefited from the demand for corn to produce ethanol, with 71 percent of those surveyed saying the renewable fuel has helped boost their bottom line.
The poll also showed that 90 percent of those farmers said they would not reduce their corn plantings this year because of an increased supply of ethanol in the Midwest.
In addition, 54 percent of farmers were interested in growing a biomass crop. They were willing to embrace the crop because it required less management than traditional crops while allowing them to diversify their plantings.
The survey included 686 farmers who responded voluntarily from about 5,000 in attendance at the Farm Bureau meeting in New Orleans.
RFA President Bob Dinneen attended the Minnesota Corn Growers Association’s MN Ag Expo last week and praised them for their help in getting the ethanol industry started - what he called the “Minnesota Miracle.”
“Every gallon of gasoline sold in the state of California contains your product (corn ethanol). Every gallon of gasoline sold in New York City contains your product. Even in Houston, the heart of oil country-and it must really rankle those oil executives up there in their offices in the high rise buildings-every gallon of gasoline sold contains ethanol,” said Dinneen.
Minnesota began the model for farmer-owned, locally produced energy in 1997, when its ten percent ethanol requirement was enforced for nearly all gasoline sold in the state.
Dinneen said, “In Minnesota, you may have started the ethanol industry to solve economic problems, or to get cleaner air, but the world has recognized what you started as a pathway to energy independence.”
Read the whole story from the MN Corn Growers here.
RFA President Bob Dinneen has been reappointed to the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee for a term of three years.
Acting Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Conner and Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman today announced the appointment of six new members and the reappointment of seven members to serve on the committee.
Newly appointed members are:
Gil Gutknecht, Co-Chair, Consultant, Rochester, Minn.; Richard Hamilton, CEO, Ceres, Inc.; Jay Levenstein, Deputy Commissioner, Florida Department of Agriculture; Shirley J. Neff, Association of Oil Pipe Lines; Tom Simpson, Railway Supply Institute; Richard Timmons, American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association.
Other reappointed members include:
Douglas Hawkins, Rohm and Haas Company; Charles Kinoshita, University of Hawaii at Manoa; Eric Larson, Princeton University; James Martin, Omni Tech International; Scott Mason, Director, ConocoPhillips Petroleum Company; Edwin White, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
General Motors has announced a partnership with Illinois-based Coskata Inc. to use the company’s new technology for making ethanol from nearly any renewable source, including garbage, old tires and plant waste.
“Coskata’s announcement is a perfect example of the evolutionary state of the ethanol industry,” said Bob Dinneen, president of the Renewable Fuels Association, the national trade association for the U.S. ethanol industry. “Building on the solid foundation grain-based ethanol production has provided, and partnering with companies like General Motors that have demonstrated a commitment to renewable fuels, Coskata demonstrates what is possible when financial and intellectual capital are applied to solving the growing energy crisis in the United States.”
The Coskata process can produce ethanol almost anywhere in the world, using a wide range of feedstock, for less than US $1.00 per gallon. This technology makes the widespread use and availability of ethanol much more achievable.
The announcement was made Sunday during GM’s opening press conference at the North American International Auto Show.
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