The business for flex-fuel conversion kits is booming, according to a company selling low-cost units worldwide.
Fuel Flex International (FFI) provides technology to allow any fuel-injected vehicle to run on ethanol or gasoline “without pushing a button or flipping a switch,” says FFI president for marketing and distribution Curtis Lacy, who was talking up his product with everyone at the recent Ethanol Conference and Trade Show in Omaha.
“Our system is very simple for the average user. It’s a simple plug and play device which you attach to your fuel injector connectors and ground to your battery and start using ethanol - anywhere from E100 to regular gasoline.” Lacy says the technology was developed in Brazil and is now being marketed in 34 countries, including most recently Thailand and the Philippines. “We currently manufacture our own unit now, so it’s an all-American made product,” he said. The units retail for between $289 and $459.
One of the most common questions from potential customers in the United States is whether installing the kit will affect their vehicle warranties, but Lacy claims they have had no problems with that. There is also the issue of EPA certification, which currently has only been granted to another company, Flex Fuel US. Lacy says they are working on getting that approval.
Lacy believes the demand for flex-fuel conversion kits will grow as higher ethanol blends become more available nationwide because even if car makers start selling only flex-fuel vehicles in the US there will continue to be a large segment of used vehicles for sale that are not flex-fuel capable.
Listen to an interview with Lacy from the ACE conference here:
It’s been a rough year for ethanol but the industry continues to move forward.
The hundreds of ethanol industry representatives at the 21st Ethanol Conference and Trade Show this week were “cautiously positive” about the future, according to American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) executive vice president Brian Jennings.
“They recognize some of the volatility we are facing, they recognize that we are a commodity that has to deal with peaks and valleys,” said Jennings. “But I think there is also a commitment that we need to continue to pull together to move this industry forward.”
Jennings displayed a couple of quotes during his address to the conference. “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but not their own facts,” attributed to Daniel Patrick Moynihan, which Jennings said was exemplified in last week’s decision by the EPA to deny a waiver of the Renewable Fuels Standard.
Another was Winston Churchill’s famous “If you’re going through hell, just keep going.” Jennings says the point there is that “nothing that is significant is easy to accomplish” and the industry just needs to keep going in the face of the negative publicity.
While attendance at the conference was down a bit this year compared to last year, Jennings is already looking forward to a better year ahead and next year’s conference, which will be in Milwaukee on August 11-13.
Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman is calling on the agriculture industry to stick together on the issue of ethanol.
As keynote speaker at the 21st Ethanol Conference and Trade Show in Omaha Wednesday, Gov. Heineman noted that Nebraska is a large livestock producing state, as well as the nation’s number two ethanol producing state. “Corn-based ethanol is going to be around for a long time,” he said. “We can’t do it without a successful livestock industry. We need to stay united.”
“Nebraska and America need a strong ethanol industry and Nebraska and America need a strong livestock industry,” Heineman stressed. “One cannot succeed without the other. America’s agriculture industry must remain united in support of a strong ethanol industry and a strong livestock industry. America must become energy independent and ethanol is one step in that process.”
After his address, Linda Kuester of Husker Ag presented the governor with the “200 Proof Ethanol Award” in honor of her husband Gary Kuester. The award is given annually to honor an individual for promotion of the ethanol industry in Nebraska.
With increased feed costs, the ethanol and livestock industries have seemed to be at odds lately. But one company exhibiting at the 2008 Ethanol Conference and Trade Show supplies the needs of both sectors with key products and services.
PhibroChem is a specialty chemicals supplier featuring key products for a variety of industries, including ethanol. One of their main products is Lactrol, which is used during the process of alcoholic fermentation to prevent or reduce the potential yield loss caused by strains of lactic acid bacteria.
“Lactrol has been in the ethanol industry globally for 30 years,” said PilbroChem president Mike Giambalvo.
PhibroChem is a division of Phibro Animal Health Corporation, which is a global company focused on the manufacturing and marketing of animal health care products, agricultural and industrial chemicals and services. Giambalvo says they are therefore very interested in the health of both the livestock and ethanol industries.
“We believe there can be harmony and we have three businesses that address the needs of the ethanol industry and the animal health and nutrition industry,” Giambalvo said. “We see the whole picture, the value of not just the ethanol, but the co-products that come out of there and end up in the animal feed and nutrition business.”
Giambalvo believes they have a great story to tell and they just hired a person who has many years of experience in the agriculture and ethanol industries to help them do that. Tom Slunecka is former executive director of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council, and prior to that worked for the National Corn Growers Association and agribusiness companies such as Monsanto. “People in the ethanol industry know our product,” Giambalvo says. “Now they need to get to know the people and the company behind it and we think Tom will help us accomplish that.”
Mike and Tom are pictured at their ACE trade show booth.
Listen to an interview with Mike Giambalvo from the ACE conference:
At the 21st annual American Coalition for Ethanol conference on Wednesday, POET CEO Jeff Broin announced that the company will complete construction on a $4 million pilot-scale cellulosic ethanol production facility by the end of this year.
The pilot plant will be adjacent to POET’s corn ethanol pilot facility and a nine million gallon per year ethanol production facility in Scotland, SD and will allow the company to build upon recent technology advances before starting construction on Project LIBERTY, their commercial cellulosic production facility, next year.
“Our expanded research effort has led to several significant strides in the development of cellulosic ethanol technology at the lab scale in recent months,” said Broin. “Construction of this pilot facility will allow our company to take the next step toward the commercialization of cellulosic ethanol.”
Broin says he is more confident about the future of cellulosic ethanol than ever before. “In the past few months, our scientists have been able to achieve significant ethanol percentages in fermentation and improve the yield of ethanol from biomass. Additionally, in our work with farmers and agricultural equipment manufacturers, we had a very successful harvest of corn cobs last fall and anticipate further advances during an expanded harvest this fall.”
During the 2007 harvest, POET worked with major agricultural equipment manufacturers to harvest 4,000 acres of corn grain and cobs from a farmer’s field in Southeastern South Dakota. Cobs from this fall’s harvest and last will serve as the feedstock for the cellulosic pilot plant, along with corn fiber extracted from the adjacent corn ethanol production facility with POET’s proprietary fractionation process, BFRAC™.
Listen to an interview with Jeff Broin from the ACE conference regarding the announcement:
The 21st Ethanol Conference & Trade Show is underway in Omaha with the theme “Fueling Revolution.” The event kicked off officially with the opening of the trade show at the Qwest Center.
The conference is expected to draw more than 1,200 attendees, with more than 200 companies represented at the trade show. Topics that will be covered during sessions over the next two days include ethanol blender pumps and mid-range blends, innovations in corn ethanol, cellulosic ethanol commercialization and feedstock logistics, and much more.
Prior to the start of the conference, the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) held its annual business meeting and voted to expand their board of directors. The ACE board now includes representatives from Fagen, ICM, Nebraska Ethanol Board and Missouri Corn Growers.
“ACE has always prided itself on being the grassroots voice of the industry, and today we’re proud to expand our board of directors to better represent the industry as a whole by adding two leading companies and two grassroots organizations,” said Brian Jennings, Executive Vice President of ACE.
The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) this week voted to expand its board of directors to add representation from key ethanol companies and grassroots organizations.
With the vote, four new members have been added to the board - Ron Fagen of Fagen, Inc; Greg Krissek of ICM; Todd Sneller with the Nebraska Ethanol Board; and Missouri Corn Growers Association CEO Gary Marshall.
The decision was made during the ACE annual business meeting which is held the day before the annual ACE Ethanol Conference & Trade Show begins. The conference starts today in Omaha.
“Fueling Revolution” is the theme for the 2008 Ethanol Conference and Trade Show being held August 12-14 at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska.
The conference officially gets underway on August 13 with morning breakout sessions on a number of important topics, including Protecting Profitability in Volatile Markets, Mid-Range Ethanol Blends & E85,
Current Issues in Distillers Grains, and Cellulosic Ethanol: Feedstock Production, Handling, and Logistics.
Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman will speak at the opening of the general session Wednesday afternoon. After remarks from the American Coalition for Ethanol leadership, a panel discussion on “Innovations in Corn Ethanol” will be held, featuring experts from the National Corn Growers Association, Chippewa Valley Ethanol Co. of Benson, Minnesota, and VeraSun Energy Corp.
Seven commodity and ethanol organizations have written a letter to President Bush in support of the secondary tariff on imported ethanol. The groups called attention to the importance of the tariff for the nation’s growing ethanol industry, as well as to the nation’s energy, economic, and environmental security.
“Removing the tariff would not lower food prices,” said RFA president Bob Dinneen. “Such an action would halt development of new ethanol technologies and take the jobs and economic opportunity being generated by the domestic ethanol industry to foreign countries. I strongly encourage President Bush to recognize that skyrocketing oil prices play a far greater role in the complex issue of food prices than does ethanol and reject the efforts to remove the secondary tariff.”
The 54 cent per gallon secondary tariff was enacted by Congress in 1980 to offset any incentive for imported ethanol to benefit from the 54 cent per gallon tax credit for ethanol blended into motor fuel. The tax credit is taken by refiners who blend ethanol into motor fuel and the purpose of the secondary tariff is to protect American taxpayers from subsidizing imports.
“All three of us have a roll to play in this industry,” Nuernberg says. “We are looking at all the initiatives under way by the different organizations, how we can work together, and make sure we’re not duplicating effort.”
EPIC’s main focus is to drive demand with consumers, while RFA’s role is to protect and promote policy in Washington DC, and ACE is the grassroots organization dedicated to expansion of ethanol production.
Because of the three different roles, Nuernberg says all three groups should be supported by the industry. “It’s all equally important and will benefit plants long-term,” she says.
EPIC has just started a major national advertising campaign, which also includes three syndicated radio programs - The Wall Street Journal, NPR Car Talk and Bill O’Reilly. Nuernberg says they are very pleased to have the support of O’Reilly in the effort.
Listen to an interview with Toni Nuernberg from the 2008 FEW here about the ethanol industry’s promotional efforts:
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Fuel Flex International (FFI) provides technology to allow any fuel-injected vehicle to run on ethanol or gasoline “without pushing a button or flipping a switch,” says FFI president for marketing and distribution Curtis Lacy, who was talking up his product with everyone at the recent Ethanol Conference and Trade Show in Omaha. 
One of the most common questions from potential customers in the United States is whether installing the kit will affect their vehicle warranties, but Lacy claims they have had no problems with that. There is also the issue of EPA certification, which currently has only been granted to another company, Flex Fuel US. Lacy says they are working on getting that approval. 
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“They recognize some of the volatility we are facing, they recognize that we are a commodity that has to deal with peaks and valleys,” said Jennings. “But I think there is also a commitment that we need to continue to pull together to move this industry forward.”
Another was Winston Churchill’s famous “If you’re going through hell, just keep going.” Jennings says the point there is that “nothing that is significant is easy to accomplish” and the industry just needs to keep going in the face of the negative publicity. 
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Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman is calling on the agriculture industry to stick together on the issue of ethanol. 
“Nebraska and America need a strong ethanol industry and Nebraska and America need a strong livestock industry,” Heineman stressed. “One cannot succeed without the other. America’s agriculture industry must remain united in support of a strong ethanol industry and a strong livestock industry. America must become energy independent and ethanol is one step in that process.”
At the 21st annual American Coalition for Ethanol conference on Wednesday, 
“Our expanded research effort has led to several significant strides in the development of cellulosic ethanol technology at the lab scale in recent months,” said Broin. “Construction of this pilot facility will allow our company to take the next step toward the commercialization of cellulosic ethanol.” 
The 21st Ethanol Conference & Trade Show is underway in Omaha with the theme “Fueling Revolution.” The event kicked off officially with the opening of the trade show at the Qwest Center. 
Prior to the start of the conference, the 
The 
“Fueling Revolution” is the theme for the 2008 Ethanol Conference and Trade Show being held August 12-14 at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska.
“Removing the tariff would not lower food prices,” said RFA president Bob Dinneen. “Such an action would halt development of new ethanol technologies and take the jobs and economic opportunity being generated by the domestic ethanol industry to foreign countries. I strongly encourage President Bush to recognize that skyrocketing oil prices play a far greater role in the complex issue of food prices than does ethanol and reject the efforts to remove the secondary tariff.”
“All three of us have a roll to play in this industry,” Nuernberg says. “We are looking at all the initiatives under way by the different organizations, how we can work together, and make sure we’re not duplicating effort.”