Domestic Fuel

Noting runs like a Deere, except maybe the wind.

John Deere Wind Energy is into lots of domestic energy projects these days and that includes investing in and providing value-added services to utility-scale wind projects that involve multiple wind turbines with a nameplate capacity of 1.25 megawatts or greater.

For example, Corn Plus Cooperative, a farmer-owned ethanol plant in Winnebago, Minn., entered into an agreement with John Deere last year to harness wind energy to help power their plant.

Two years ago, John Deere Wind Energy partnered with Missouri based developer Wind Capital Group and the Missouri Rural Electric Cooperatives to construct a 50-megawatt wind energy project in King City, a little farming community about 30 miles northeast of St. Joseph. The project was named “Blue Grass Ridge” in tribute to the farming community’s historic role in bluegrass seed harvesting.

Here’s a YouTube video that provides a look at that completed project:

Blue Grass Ridge led to a second 50-megawatt Missouri wind farm – the Cow Branch Wind Energy Project located between Rock Port and Tarkio in Atchison County, Mo.

The Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) has named Toni Nuernberg as the new executive director.

“On behalf of the EPIC board and staff we are excited to have Toni as the new executive director,” said Tom Branhan, EPIC Board President and CEO and President of Glacial Lakes Energy. “Toni is joining a very strong team and will be taking EPIC to new heights as the industry rapidly advances.”

Nuernberg comes to EPIC from ACA International where she worked for 29 years. Most recently, she was serving as chief operating officer of ACA International Holding Company Inc. and its for-profit subsidiaries, ACA International Enterprises Inc. (ACAE) and Collectors Insurance Agency Inc.

Nuernberg replaces Tom Slunecka who helped to launch the organization in 2005. He resigned in October to join the KL Process Design Group of Rapid City, South Dakota.

We are looking forward to our first interview with Toni this week to introduce her to everyone.

Read more from EPIC here.

It should be no surprise to anyone that the American ethanol industry produced a record amount of fuel ethanol in 2007.

According to year-end figures released by the Energy Information Administration, U.S. ethanol production averaged 423,000 barrels per day, totaling 6.48 billion gallons for the year. That is an increase of 108,000 barrels per day over 2006.

Ethanol demand, as calculated by the Renewable Fuels Association, continued to outpace production. For 2007, ethanol demand averaged 446,000 b/d totaling 6.84 billion gallons of demand for the year. That is an increase of more than 1.5 billion gallons over 2006 demand.

There were lots of babies at the 2008 Commodity Classic but this one really caught our attention.

Her name is Danica – after Indy race car driver Danica Patrick – and her little onesie featured the IRL logo on the front and on back it said the “Smell of Ethanol.” How cute is that! Her parents were letting her pose on top of the ethanol display in the Pioneer booth, prompting oohs and ahs from the passers-by.

The E85 sticker on her shoulder was supplied by the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition.

Attendance at this year’s Commodity Classic in Music City was record-breaking, according to the final numbers:

4,534 Total Registration (record)
145 Total Media (record)
847 Trade Show Booths (record)

Domestic Fuel coverage of the 2008 Commodity Classic
is sponsored by:

John Deere Risk Protection has introduced the industry’s first-ever Ethanol Policy by providing coverage to corn producers who have delivery contracts for the purpose of ethanol production.

The policy was officially introduced at the end of January and Deere has been talking with growers at events during the last month, including the Farm Machinery Show and last week’s Commodity Classic.

Deere held a press conference at Classic where Dennis Daggett, Director of Marketing for John Deere Risk Protection, explained the policy to the ag media.

Very simply, the policy insures yield shortfalls below contracted volumes in the event the price to replace the corn rises above the federal crop insurance coverage. The policy is being offered in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. “We offered it where the majority of the active ethanol plants are in existence today,” Daggett says.

Since they introduced the policy, Daggett says there has been a lot of buzz in the industry. “We have fairly modest expectations on the product itself because we know that there is a very specific type of farmer who would be interested in this product, a farmer who actually contracts more than 50 percent.”

Daggett says the policy is beneficial for the ethanol plants because it allows them to actually work with the farmer in case there is a shortfall on their delivery contract. “We think this is a win for the ethanol plants because it stabilizes their input of grain and stabilizes their relationship with the farmer.”

Listen to an interview with Dennis about the ethanol policy here:
cc-jd-daggett.mp3

Domestic Fuel coverage of the 2008 Commodity Classic
is sponsored by:

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John Deere sponsored one of the most popular and well attended Learning Center sessions at the 2008 Commodity Classic in Nashville this week.

"Starch and Cellulose as Ethanol Feedstocks" discussed the importance of starch as today's primary ethanol feedstock, harvesting challenges for increased corn yields as well as cellulose, and how to increase demand for biofuels.

Don Borgman, director of Agricultural Industry Relations led the discussion on issues for future production and distribution of ethanol, looking out to the year 2015. "Mostly what we are concerned about it keeping our eye on that demand ball," said Borgman.

He says there are two critical issues – making sure we increase the number of E85 pumps nationwide and increasing the number of flex-fuel vehicles on the road. "If we get those two things done, we ought to be able to keep up fairly well with the supply," he said.

Borgman says John Deere has an interest in helping the biofuels industry not just because of their customer base, but also from an energy security standpoint and an environmental standpoint. They are helping by promoting the use of biodiesel blends in their equipment and by looking towards the future for cellulosic ethanol and developing equipment to harvest the next generation of dedicated energy crops.

Listen to an interview with Borgman here:
cc-jd-borgman.mp3

Domestic Fuel coverage of the 2008 Commodity Classic
is sponsored by: