Domestic Fuel

One of the EPIC member companies and Team Ethanol supporters is Endress+Hauser. They brought a lot of their staff out to Carb Day and I had a chance to visit with general manager Todd Lucey. He’s pictured here to the right of these EPIC staffers.

Todd says that EPIC has really helped create awareness and better understanding in the public about ethanol. He says that’s good for his business. Just a few years ago the amount of business they did related to ethanol was minor. That has changed dramatically and now represents a significant part of their business. In my interview with Todd he talks about what the company does which is basically making measurement and automation equipment for manufacturing applications. Additionally, he had the opportunity to present the fastest practice lap award to Tony Kanaan, which he was very excited about.

You can listen to my interview with Todd Lucey here: indy-07-lucey.mp3

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All the IndyCar drivers make themselves available for interviews prior to race day here in Indianapolis. One of them that I’ve wanted to interview is Ed Carpenter, seen here doing a media interview.

After that interview it was my turn. I asked him what he thinks about using ethanol as a fuel. He believes that although changing fuels is a big challenge and that many people expected a drop in performance the exact opposite is the case. He says it’s just another example of the IRL showcasing new technology and innovation. By the way, Ed is the stepson of IRL founder Tony George.

You can listen to my interview with Ed Carpenter here: indy-07-carpenter.mp3

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The Freedom 100 Indy Pro Series race kicked off the weekend’s events at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I stopped in at the Tower suite where the Ethanol Promotional and Information Council hosted members with Endress+Hauser, a company that specializes in fuel flow control. Members enjoyed a sky high view of the Freedom 100, where a record 25 teams entered the race for a cash prize of $30,000. Alex Lloyd of England cruised ahead at the first turn of the race and kept the lead throughout the 40 laps to secure 1st place. During the race, IndyCar Driver Jeff Simmons, who’ll be competing in the Indy 500 Sunday, stopped by the suite. He greeted the large Endress+Hauser group and the members were eager to get Jeff’s autograph. The day rounded out with a free Kid Rock concert just below the Tower suite. Most members wandered down to catch the spectacle.

Just after the Freedom 100 Pro Series race, the top 10 qualifying IndyCar Drivers competed for $50,000 in the Carb Day Pit Stop Challenge. EPIC teammate Scott Sharp’s crew whizzed through the first few rounds of the challenge. But, Scott’s car got hung up in the semifinal and the crew missed it’s chance to advance. The Penske pit crew for IndyCar Driver Helio Castroneves edged out Sam Hornish Jr.’s team in the final for it’s second straight win, with a time of 8.335 seconds.

As some Domestic Fuel fans know I conducted the last interview that Paul Dana granted prior to his tragic death last year just prior to the opening IRL race in Homestead, FL. Paul is the man who worked so hard to bring the ethanol and racing industries together. He was the driver of the #17 Ethanol Car prior to Jeff Simmons. This year’s running of the Indy 500 with all the cars fueled with ethanol is the fulfillment of his dream.

Visiting the track yesterday was Paul’s wife Tonya, pictured here outside the Rahal-Letterman Racing hospitality suite. Although I’ve met Tonya before I never had a chance to interview her. She was gracious enough to allow me a few minutes though.

I was impressed with how strong she seems to be. It has to take courage to come out here in light of what happened to Paul. Tonya says that the support she’s received from friends in the ethanol industry and the IRL has been tremendous. She does see this year’s race as the fulfillment of Paul’s dream and she says she’s ready to help the ethanol industry in any way she can.

You can listen to my interview with Tonya Dana here: indy-07-tonya.mp3

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One of the ways that the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council is promoting ethanol here at the Brickyard today is with this banner being pulled around by a small plane.

It’s going to be circling the area all weekend.

The banner is part of the Gas America promotion that started out with the pump promotion earlier this week.

The agenda for the Ethanol Summit changed at the last minute and just 24 hours before the event, the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Andy Karsner, announced he would attend. Andy said ethanol is a key part of the solution to combating global warming. He said ethanol isn’t the silver bullet, but rather part of the silver buck shot. For Andy, it’ll take a number of committed strategies to establish a more green America. It wasn’t all business for the Assistant Secretary though. Andy strapped on an official Ethanol flame-repellent suit and hopped into the hot seat of a replica Ethanol car.

There’s been some talk around for a while about turning algae into biodiesel (remember Oilgae.com?).

The latest story comes from the Green Options blog:

Researchers at Utah State University say that farming algae, with reported oil yields of 10,000 gallons per acre, could become an economically feasible biodiesel feedstock by the end of the decade.

This is the Holy Grail of biodiesel: an oil source that could make a serious dent in our fossil fuel consumption. Our most productive feedstock today, the oil palm, doesn’t even come close with yields of 635 gallons/acre, and is followed distantly by the U.S. standard, soy, at 48 gallons of oil/acre.

And officials point out that algae can be grown just about anywhere… in extremely hot weather or even salty sea water.

Utah State researchers are producing their algae in a grid of indoor bioreactors. The light is captured by parabolic dishes on the roof and fed inside using fiber-optic cables. They’re stringing together several thousand to make an algae farm. And they received $6 million in a grant from the Utah Science and Technology Research Initiative,. The first commercial plant in Utah is in the works, and researchers say algae-biodiesel could become economically feasible by 2009.

Updating a story I first reported on March 22nd, Decker Truck Lines of Fort Dodge, Iowa has hit the 750,000-mile mark in a two-year, two-million-mile study of how well B20, 20% biodiesel, works in long-haul semi trucks. This story in Farm News-Iowa.com says the study is the first of its kind in this country and is getting some help from the federal government:

Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded a $74,990 grant to help fund the study which is being largely performed at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge. Don Heck, biofuels program coordinator at Iowa Central, said the grant dollars will be used for a variety of purposes in the study including additional expenses incurred by the test vehicles owned by Decker Truck Line Inc. of Fort Dodge.

Heck said the study was first launched in October 2006 with studies being performed on a fleet of 20 tractor-trailers. One-half of the trucks burn petroleum diesel with the other 10 trucks burning a B20 blend. Decker and Iowa Central are collaborating with the Iowa Soybean Association, Caterpillar, Inc., USDA and the National Biodiesel Board as sponsors of the study.

The article goes on to say a big part of the work has been perfecting the proper blend of biodiesel and then extracting the information such as gas mileage and wear and tear on the engine. The constant needed to be the blend of biodiesel, but Dale Decker, an industry and governmental relations director for Decker, said that was next to impossible.

‘‘Diesel fuel varies wildly when it comes in on the pipeline,’’ Decker said. ‘‘We know though that the biodiesel that we get from Doolittles (Oil Co. Inc. in Fort Dodge) comes from biodiesel plants owned by REG (Renewable Energy Group) and they meet industry standards (BQ9000).’’

Decker says after they got the supply problem solved, the study has been going very well.

Clean Diesel Technologies, Inc., has found a way to make diesel fuel burn cleaner. That means biodiesel, which already burns pretty clean, will be an even greener fuel.

Dr. Walter Copan, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Clean Diesel, says his company has developed a range of retrofit emissions control technologies, called Purifier. This new technology will help meet the requirements of new European LOw Emissions Zones (LEZs). One of these zones is about to take effect in London, England.

“The mayor of London, Ken Livingston, has spearheaded an initiative to bring cleaning technologies for new vehicles, as well as to retrofit the older, dirtier engines that are operating in the city,” says Copan. That’s where his company comes in.

“Clean Diesel’s Purifier technologies deliver robust emission control performance controlling particulate matter, the black smoke, that you see out of older diesels and those that do not have filters on them.”

So what about biodiesel that already has low particulate emissions?

“(Our technology is) a catalyst that helps the fuel itself burn more completely and more cleanly, and so the Purifier system working with biodiesel will have dramatically improved performance even in relation to current Number 2 diesel or ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel,” says Copan. “The Purifier technology has been demonstrated to be fully compatible with the biofuels in the market today.”

Listen to my full interview with Copan below:
CopanLEZinterview.mp3

Check out Clean Diesel Technologies on the web at www.cdti.com.

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Fortunately, the longest presentation at the Ethanol Summit was one of the most interesting. Will Steger narrated a slide show of his various expeditions across frozen ice lands in Antarctica, the North Pole and the Greenland ice cap. He spoke of temperatures 30 degrees below freezing with 30 mile an hour winds. But, amidst all that freezing cold Will said he witnessed evidence that suggests the reality of global warming. Will said significant climate changes are causing large remnants of ice from the last ice age to break up and begin to melt. He said one ice shelf took him 21 days to cross and in 2002 the entire shelf disintegrated in just a matter of four weeks, and another ice shelf was completely gone a night after he crossed it. Will said these are real affects of global warming – a global warming he says the human population is contributing to and altering. For Will, the diminishing summer sea ice suggests the earth is experiencing what he calls “unnatural climate changes.” I stopped Will just after the summit for a personal interview and asked him why, exactly, these examples are evidence of something more than a cyclical climate change:

steger-1.mp3

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The “Ethanol Summit” included an impressive list of speakers and both local and national press arrived to cover it. The Ethanol Information and Promotional Council, IndyCar Series, Indianopolis Motor Speedway and Rahal Letterman Racing sponsored the event. EPIC officials said the summit was meant to commemorate what the company calls “monumental use” of 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol in the IndyCar® Series as well as ethanol’s first Indy 500 win.

President of the IndyCar Series Terry Angstadt stepped up to the podium first to talk about the IndyCar® Series as a leader in the “Greening of Racing” trend and elaborated on the performance benefits that ethanol provides. EPIC Executive Director Tom Slunecka stressed the importance of consumers in the push for the growth of ethanol fuel. Slunecka said consumers and consumer education are key in raising awareness about ethanol. Jim Gentry, Fuel Manager for GasAmerica, added that retailers need to recognize their responsibility in the future of America’s energy. Gentry called the leaders in the fuel retail industry to support E85 initiatives. Dave Vander Griend with ICM and Andy Karsner, the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy echoed Gentry’s claim that ethanol is set to be a key energy resource for the future. Director of the SmartWay Program Mitch Greenburg spoke on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency. Greenburg commended the Indy Racing Leauge for being one of the first organizations to make a complete transition to a biofuel. He says that “impressive” move highlights the importance of home-grown renewable fuels.
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Today’s Ethanol Summit is over and Laura McNamara is working up her coverage for you. She’ll have pictures and audio interviews posted soon.

Here’s a picture of Indy Racing League president, Terry Angstadt at the podium. He started off a great group of people speaking about ethanol and racing.

In the meantime it sounds like the Indy cars are running some practice laps here at the track. I’m going to go out and see if I can find some photo opportunities or other stories.

Winning a two year lease on a Flex-Fuel Chevy Silverado would be pretty cool and apparently a lot of people thought so. HANK FM, along with Gas America and EPIC ran the Green Flag Sweepstakes with the winner being picked yesterday afternoon after the pump promotion. HANK was doing a live remote throughout the event. Here’s how it worked.

Participants had to listen to the station or visit a Gas America station for keywords. Then they had to text the word to the station and if they were a winner they got a bounce back text message saying so. The winners all had to show up to press a buzzer and if it played “Dixie” you won a 2-year lease on a Flex-Fuel Chevy Silverado!

Well the winner is Kathleen from Franklin, IN. She was very excited as you can tell. Kathleen is pictured in the center between HANK on-air personalities and representatives from EPIC and Gas America. I interviewed her to see how she felt and what she thinks of ethanol. indy-07-kathleen.mp3

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Only in Washington, DC would you find the genesis of a headline like that. But this story in The Hill.com says a brouhaha is breaking out in the nation’s capitol over the $1-a-gallon renewable diesel tax credit.

Lobbyists for ConocoPhillips, Tyson, and the Soap and Detergent Association have jumped into the fight over whether oil companies should be able to use the credit. The IRS ruled last month that they should be able to. That prompted Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) to introduce a bill to repeal the ruling and narrow the tax break’s scope to what Congress had originally intended.

Tyson got involved because it’s going to provide animal fats to Conoco to produce as much as 175 million gallons of biodiesel… grabbing its share from the credit.

Soap makers are concerned that the cost of animal fat – that they use in making soap – will go up:

In this economic food chain, the soap industry could soon be extinct, according to Dennis Griesing, vice president of government affairs for the Soap and Detergent Association.

“If they start buying up animal fats, it can suck it all up, and we’re dead,” Griesing said.
“We’ve been here forever, and we’re dead.”

Several other livestock producer groups including the National Pork Producers and the National Chicken Council want the more liberal ruling by the IRS.

Interesting how some of the same livestock producers – farmers who have hogs and soybeans – could find themselves on both sides of the issue… making themselves as their own strange political bedfellow.