Domestic Fuel

Broin Companies has hired Dr. Mark Stowers as the Vice President of Research and Development. Stowers will join Broin Companies from MBI International in Lansing, Mich., where he has served as the President and CEO since 2001. MBI International is a leading firm focused on the development, scale-up, and commercialization of products from biotechnology.

“We are extremely fortunate to have someone with Mark’s background and expertise to head our research and development division,” Jeff Broin, President and CEO of Broin Companies said. “MBI International is an industry leader in technology advancement and Mark is known around the world for his work with biorefining processes and cellulose to ethanol conversion. He will continue to maintain our position at Broin as a leader in research and development while taking us to new heights in this fast-paced changing industry.”

Chevron Corporation and the University of California, Davis have “formed a strategic research collaboration to pursue advanced technology aimed at converting cellulosic biomass into transportation fuels.”

According to a press release, the joint research effort will coordinate with the California Biomass Collaborative to focus on renewable feedstocks available in California, including agricultural waste such as rice straw.

The objective of the Chevron-UC Davis research is to develop commercially viable processes for the production of transportation fuels from renewable resources such as new energy crops, forest and agricultural residues, and municipal solid waste. The collaboration calls for research in biochemical and thermochemical conversion, as well as a demonstration facility to test the commercial readiness of these technologies.

MO Ethanol is on the way.

The grand opening for Missouri Ethanol will be Monday, Sept. 25 on the plant site near Laddonia, Mo.

The event will include public tours of the facility and a fly-over from the Vanguard Squadron, the world’s only 100 percent ethanol-powered aerobatic fleet.

Several dignitaries will be on hand to celebrate the event, including U.S. Senators Kit Bond and Jim Talent, U.S. Congressman Kenny Hulshof, Missouri State Senator John Cauthorn, Missouri House Speaker Rod Jetton, Missouri Corn Growers and Merchandising Council CEO Gary Marshall and Broin Companies CEO and President Jeff Broin.

Built through a partnership between Broin Companies, East Central Ag Products and North East Missouri Grain, LLC in Macon, Mo., Missouri Ethanol will consume approximately 17 million bushels of locally-grown corn to produce 45 million gallons of ethanol and 134,000 tons of premium Dakota Gold Enhanced Nutrition Distillers

How about a nice juicy slice of – ethanol?

The National Watermelon Association is preparing for some research with USDA, the University of Georgia and an ethanol plant in Florida to use the estimated 700 million pounds of watermelons that are wasted each year for ethanol production.

“We’re really excited about this,” says Watermelon Association Executive Director Bob Morrissey. “This could be a brand new market for watermelon growers.”

Listen to this report from one of my favorite people, USDA Radio reporter Gary Crawford. Melon Ethanol (1 min MP3)

Also, here is a link to a really good story about this potential ethanol feedstock from the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association publication Harvester.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (911.8KB)

Hawkeye Holdings, the holding company that owns Hawkeye Renewables of Iowa Falls, IA has announced that it has “temporarily delayed the initial public offering of shares of its common stock.”

According to a press release, Bruce Rastetter, CEO of Hawkeye, said, “We have decided to temporarily delay our IPO in light of current conditions in the equity markets, and the recent pullback in the energy segment in particular, which are not conducive at this time to achieving appropriate valuation. Hawkeye is enjoying record earnings and sales as a leading privately-held company in the renewable fuels market and will continue to make planned investments in new facilities as well as seek attractive acquisition opportunities in pursuit of our growth plan, and we remain on track to break ground next month on our new plant in Menlo, Iowa.”

This comes from the Aberdeen (SD) News and the columnist is Alan Guebert of Ag Comm in Delavan, Ill.

His conclusion on the food vs fuel issue is this: America will never run out of corn regardless of future domestic or foreign market demand. That bold prediction is not bold at all because price will ration supply.

Sure, we grumbled when gas prices topped $3 a gallon, but we still had fuel because price slowed demand to ensure supply. If it hadn’t, price would have risen until an inevitable market equilibrium was reached.

I know the food vs. fuel doomsayers are going to reply that the problem will be when the price gets too high and poor starving people can’t afford to buy corn to eat (bearing in mind that the corn we produce is generally not used for human consumption). But the whole column is a good read anyway and when it comes to economics prognosticating, it has just as much validity as anything else.

Ethanex Energy Inc., has entered into a joint venture with Star Ethanol, LLC for the construction and operation of an ethanol facility located in Franklin County, Illinois.

According to a press release, the facility will incorporate the fractionation technology developed at Ethanex’s SEMO plant (in Cape Girardeau, MO) and will produce 132 million gallons of fuel grade ethanol per year.

The joint venture company will be known as Ethanex Southern Illinois and will be 85% owned by Ethanex Energy and 15% owned by Star Ethanol.

According to a Chicago Tribune personal finance columnist, ethanol has the “cool factor” when it comes to investments.
Andrew Lackey’s September 17 column talks about some industries and companies that are currently on the “cool” list – including internet traffic services, TiVo and ethanol.
How cool is that?

Minority Agriculture Producers, an organization of Hispanic farmers and ranchers in Texas, is holding workshops this month to consider the possibility of getting together to start an ethanol production facility or two, or three.

According to this story from Texas A&M Ag News, cotton farmer Donnie Valdez envisions three large factories in the Rio Grande Valley turning crops into bio-fuels and fuel additives. One factory would use vast quantities of sugarcane to produce ethanol, another would make biodiesel from cottonseed oil and a third would produce ethanol from corn and grains.

Valdez is spearheading the workshops which will be held Sept. 20 and Sept. 25 at the Texas A&M University System Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Weslaco.

A final summit in October will involve U.S. Rep. Ruben Hinojosa (D-Mercedes) to discuss bio-fuels and other concerns of local growers.

The workshops are sponsored by Texas Cooperative Extension and Prairie View A&M University, among others.

An ethanol plant for Enid, Okla. (see previous post) will become a reality soon now that officials with Oklahoma Sustainable Energy have received initial investments in excess of $5 million.

According to this article in the Enid News, OSE officials will continue their equity drive through Sept. 26 unless the cap of 499 investors or $14 million is reached before then.

Owned by Oklahoma Ethanol LLC, a limited liability company formed as a joint venture between OSE and Chaparral Energy of Oklahoma City, Enid’s ethanol plant will convert 20 million bushels of corn and grain sorghum annually into 55 million gallons per year of fuel-grade ethanol, approximately 200,000 tons of distillers grains and approximately 154,000 tons of carbon dioxide gas.

Third Coast Biofuels, LLC is proposing a 40 to 60 million gallon ethanol plant for Wisconsin Rapids and Mayor Mary Jo Carson is “thrilled,” according to this article from the Wisconsin Technology Network.

Ron Kuehn, a Third Coast representative, explained at an informational city meeting this week that in the best-case scenario, the plant could be built by the spring of 2008.

Kansas City-based Alternative Energy Sources Inc. has announced the appointment of John A. Ward as executive vice president and director of operations.

According to a press release, Ward will be responsible for site selection, permitting, design and engineering of ethanol plants to be built in Iowa, Illinois and other locations. He will oversee the construction process for each plant and develop a management team to supervise day-to-day plant operations and ensure peak performance. In addition, he will evaluate international investment opportunities for AENS in developing alternative and renewable energy supplies.

For the past five years Ward managed all manufacturing and engineering functions of the corn-processing and the bio-products divisions at ADM, the nation’s No. 1 corn-processing and ethanol producer.

Ward joins two other former ADM execs, Mark Beemer, CEO, and Lee Blank, COO who formed the company in June.

Honda Motors and a Japanese-based research company says they have developed the world’s first practical process for producing ethanol from cellulosic biomass.

According to a news release, Honda and partner Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth, or RITE, the new method allows large volumes of ethanol to be produced from widely available waste wood, leaves and other so-called soft biomass.

Current technology allows fermentation inhibitors, collaterally formed primarily during the process of separating cellulose and hemicellulose from soft-biomass, to interfere with the function of microorganisms that convert sugar into alcohol, leading to extremely low ethanol yield.

The new process uses a microorganism developed by RITE that helps reduce such interference, enabling far more efficient ethanol production.

Three former Secretaries of Agricutlure testified before the House Agriculture Committee Thursday on what the most important priorities should be for the 2007 Farm Bill. All three mentioned energy and the role of agriculture in meeting the nation’s demand for it.

Former Secretary John Block, who served five years under the first President Bush, told the committee that “the increasing need for the use of our agricultural industry as a producer of energy is evident to everyone” and that “as much support as possible should be given to this aspect of the farm bill,” including support of renewable fuel research and development.
You can listen to Block’s renewable energy comments here: John Block (1 min MP3)

Clayton Yeutter, who also served under Bush, was passionate about the subject.
“The American public in my view is totally fed up with our dependence on crude oil imports from nations that are often unfriendly to the US, unstable, and sometimes downright hostile. And I believe the American public is prepared to pay the price to change that,” he said. He called on the committee to make a “major investment in the whole energy, renewable fuels area in American agricutlure and I believe all of America will thank you if you do that.”
You can listen to Yeutter’s renewable energy comments here: Clayton Yeutter (1 min MP3)

Finally, one of President Clinton’s agriculture secretaries, Dan Glickman of Kansas, noted that energy offers “great opportunities” for agriculture to participate in the development of energy for the transportation business. However, he did have a warning about the food versus fuel issue. “When gas tanks begin competing for corn as earnestly as the feed mills upon which our multi-billion dollar animal agriculture system depends, the equation takes on a vastly different perspective.” He said he believes the issue is “manageable, but it’s a complex issue that ought to be at the top of your agenda.”
You can listen to Glickman’s renewable energy comments here: Dan Glickman (1 min MP3)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (568.8KB)

Two more prodcers became BQ-9000 this week, according to the National Biodiesel Board.

Although new to biodiesel production in the United States, Cargill took measures while constructing its biodiesel facilities so that it could help ensure it meets the industry standard for quality. Cargill’s Iowa Falls, Iowa, location has produced biodiesel since May. The company reports 37.5 million gallons of capacity.

Griffin Industries of Kentucky, an early producer of biodiesel beginning in the late 1990s, has also achieved BQ-9000 accreditation. “Our ability to further validate the consistent quality of Griffin’s BioG-3000® premium biodiesel is a critical step to maintaining and building consumer confidence,” said Tom Griffin, Senior Vice President for Griffin Industries.

BQ-9000 is a voluntary fuel quality assurance program that includes procedures for fuel storage, handling and management aimed at ensuring biodiesel fuel quality throughout the distribution system. To date, 11 companies are BQ-9000 accredited, with another seven undergoing the process.