Domestic Fuel

The Wall Street Journal reports on the rising price of corn due to ethanol production.

The price for corn — the nation’s No. 1 crop and one of the most ubiquitous ingredients in the American food supply — has jumped nearly 55% since mid-September, when U.S. corn farmers began harvesting their third-biggest crop ever. Grain prices usually slump to their lowest levels of the year during the harvest season. Yet the price of corn in recent weeks has shot through the rarely breached $3-a-bushel mark and appears headed higher.

“The consequences of ethanol are the biggest thing going on in agriculture today,” says Keith Collins, chief economist of the U.S. Agriculture Department. “We are talking about a higher new benchmark for corn.”

Biofuels are helping to create more jobs in rural areas, according to a Des Moines Register report. The story features some of the people working for Lincolnway Energy near Nevada, Iowa and notes that “the industry promises job growth in a wide array of fields, including crop genetics, engineering, life sciences and construction.”

A shorter version of the article was picked up by the Associated Press.

More Iowans are finding themselves in a field they never knew existed when they were in school.

The expanding ethanol industry is attracting people from a variety of professions — and more are expected as another 10 ethanol plants are planned for Iowa.

The candidate for Lieutenant Governor in Minnesota got a quick lesson in ethanol politics this week when she failed what she called a “college quiz bowl” question about E85.

When a reporter asked Democratic candidate Judi Dutcher a question about the fuel blend, she answered, “It’s like you’ve asked me the college quiz bowl question. What is E-85?”

Minnesota is one of the nation’s largest ethanol producing states and has over 300 E-85 pumps, more than any other state in the country. So, Dutcher’s lack of knowledge about the fuel has become a big issue in the Minnesota governor’s race between GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Democrat Mike Hatch.

Read the AP report here.

Texas-based White Energy Holding Company, LLC has acquired a 100-million-gallon-per-year ethanol plant, located in Plainview, Texas.

According to a company release, the plant will be a “near twin” of White Energy’s other ethanol facility under construction in Hereford, Texas. The Plainview facility is fully permitted and construction is underway, with completion targeted for early 2008. White Energy also owns an operating 45-MGPY plant in Russell, Kansas, which, when combined with output of the two Texas plants, will bring White Energy’s total production capacity to 245 MGPY.

VeraSun Energy Corporation, the nation’s second-largest ethanol producer, plans to produce biodiesel from an oil by-product of the corn ethanol production process.

The company plans to make biodiesel, normally produced from soybeans, with oil extracted from distillers grains, a co-product of the ethanol production process. VeraSun would be the first company to develop a large-scale, commercial facility for biodiesel production from a co-product of the ethanol production process, creating two biofuels from the same feedstock.

VeraSun is currently evaluating locations for a 30-million-gallon-per-year biodiesel production facility, with plans to commence construction in 2007 and begin production in 2008.

Read more here.

Mid-Missouri Energy, a farmer-owned ethanol plant, is the topic of a New York Times article on local plant investors resisting the lure of big money.

According to the story, the farmer-investors in the small town of Malta Bend, Mo are being courted by “offers — some as high as $275 million” to buy the plant which opened in 2005.

So far, however, the plant owners have said no. To them — and to many other farmers who have invested in ethanol around the country — the ethanol plants represent more than a winning lottery ticket. Instead, they signify an emotional investment in the future of their farms and communities, a chance for greater independence and a sense of pride that they are helping make America less dependent on foreign oil.

The article talks about one potential investor who visited the plant claiming to “represent a pool of $11 billion aimed at ethanol investments, and outlined a bid of about $275 million.”

“He didn’t really know what ethanol was,” said Ryland Utlaut, a veteran of 40 years of corn farming who is the president of Mid-Missouri’s board. “That bothers me. We built this plant.”

The full story from the NY Times requires registration to view but it is an interesting look at what this investment in America’s domestic fuel future really means to the farmers who are making it happen.

The IndyCar Series’ switch to ethanol will be featured at the annual “PopSci Best of What’s New” event at Grand Central Station in New York, November 7-9. The theme this year is “The Future Now.”

Sponsored by Popular Science magazine, the show features impressive new technologies developed during the previous year and one of them is Honda’s new engine, designed to run on 100 percent fuel grade ethanol in IndyCars.

“We are honored to be playing such an integral role in Popular Science’s ‘Best of What’s New’ show,” said Brian Barnhart, president and COO of the Indy Racing League, the sanctioning body of the IndyCar Series. “The anticipation and momentum building towards ethanol’s 100 percent fuel-grade debut in 2007 exemplifies the regard held that the IndyCar Series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway are innovators in motorsports safety and technology.”

The Team Ethanol simulator will be on display at Grand Central Station and ethanol experts will be there to answer consumers’ questions. In addition, #17 Team Ethanol driver Jeff Simmons will be on hand to sign autographs and conduct media interviews covering the IndyCar Series’ fuel switch and ethanol’s performance and environmental benefits.

Read more from Motorsport.com.

The Propane Education & Research Council recently joined the University of California-Davis, Onsite Power Systems, and industry partners at the official start-up of the anaerobic biodigester system for UC Davis’ Biogas Energy project. The project will demonstrate an innovative waste-to-energy technology with possible environmental and economic advantages, including potential as a renewable energy source.

Anaerobic biodigesters use bacteria to break down animal waste, plant material referred to as green waste, and food waste and convert it to biogas, a form of methane. The UC Davis / Onsite Power biodigester also produces raw hydrogen in its two-step process. The hydrogen can be marketed as a fuel source for use in fuel cells or motor vehicles and sold as an industrial product. The biodigester can produce an estimated 22 therms of high-quality biohydrogen and biogas from one ton of food waste or green waste.

The Biogas Energy project’s biodigester uses the propane-fueled boilers donated by PERC to sustain internal heat at the required temperature to promote optimal bacteria growth to produce the most efficient natural breakdown of wastes. Propane also can serve as a reliable backup energy source for the types of biodigesters that run off of their own energy production.

Read more.

A business conditions report for midwestern states indicates that economic growth has slowed overall, but ethanol is helping to fuel growth in at least one of the states.

In a monthly survey of supply managers in nine states, Creighton University’s Economic Forecasting Group found that Nebraska’s leading economic indicator, the Business Conditions Index, increased slightly for October. According to Creighton University Economics Professor Ernie Goss, “Aided by the construction of ethanol plants and ethanol production, non-urban areas of Nebraska continue to grow. Growth will be healthy into the first quarter of 2007 as high agricultural commodity prices assist rural communities that received adequate rainfall. In the urban areas, the transportation sector was a driver of October growth.”

States included in the survey are Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

Read more here.

Kubota Tractor Corporation has approved the use of five percent biodiesel fuels in specified Kubota diesel-powered products.

According to a company release, the approved blends of biodiesel fuel for use in Kubota diesel-powered products range up to a “B5” blend that consists of 5% biodiesel and 95% petroleum diesel.

“Kubota is committed to environmentally sound practices and the support of renewable, agriculturally based products used in fuels — as we continually work at increasing energy efficiencies within our industry,” says Tetsuji “Mike” Tomita, President, Kubota Tractor Corporation. “Kubota believes strongly in the efficiency and high performance of the diesel engine and approves the use of B5 biodiesel fuels.

Consumers can find out the latest prices for E85 all over the country with the click of a mouse at E85prices.com.

According to the website, the price of E85 fell significantly last month and the spread between unleaded and E85 has now widened to about 40 cents per gallon in many areas.

The price of E85 is below $2.00 a gallon in 7 States – Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Missouri, Illinois and Nebraska.

The lowest price for E85 in the nation was reported in Perryville, Missouri at $1.61 a gallon.

Texas-based Panda Energy has announced plans to build another 100 million gallon-per-year ethanol plant powered by manure.

According to the company, the latest plant will be located near the city of Muleshoe in Bailey County, Texas.

The Muleshoe facility will generate the steam used in the ethanol manufacturing process by gasifying more than 1 billion pounds of cattle manure a year. Once complete, it will be one of the most fuel efficient ethanol refineries in the nation and equal in size to Panda’s Hereford facility, currently under construction, which will be the largest biomass-fueled ethanol plant in the United States.

The Muleshoe facility is the sixth 100 million gallon ethanol project announced by Panda, and the fourth to be powered by cattle manure.

Last week, Panda announced that it intends to build a 100 million gallon-per-year ethanol plant in Lincoln County, Nebraska which will be fueled with the more traditional natural gas instead of biomass.

The U.S. Department of Energy has provided a major grant to build 15 public E85 stations in California.

According to a news release, the effort will include the collaboration of some major environmental and corporate partners, including CALSTART, General Motors, Pacific Ethanol, and CleanFUEL USA.

Currently, there is currently only one public station that sells E85 ethanol in California, despite the fact the state has more than 300,000 flex-fuel cars capable of running on the fuel.

CALSTART is a non-profit corporation that works with its 130 participating organizations to accelerate the commercialization of clean and energy efficient transportation technologies.

Illinois Central Ethanol, or ICE, has announced plans for the development of an ethanol production facility in Nokomis, Illinois. The Montgomery County plant is projected to produce 50 million gallons of ethanol annually.

The dry mill plant will use an estimated 18 million bushels of corn annually, according to Don Frank, ICE board president, “which will provide a good local market for corn farmers in the surrounding areas.

Learn more about how auto technicians and anyone else can benefit from taking the free on-line “Ethanol Fuel Performance Training” course from the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.

This simple, user-friendly computer course provides an understanding of ethanol fuel and how it affects engine performance and the environment. Different lesson levels provide information from the very basic to the very technical. The course can be found on the EPIC website, www.drivingethanol.org.

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