Domestic Fuel

American Le Mans Series (ALMS) is known globally for its environmental initiatives, and today is taking another green step with its partnership with American Forests to support its “dollar-a-tree” Global ReLeaf program. Nonprofit American Forests, has a goal of planting 100 million trees by 2020. ALMS has pledged to plant at least 5,000 trees during the 2010 race season with the focus on areas that have been damaged by natural disasters such as fires and floods and areas that have been overdeveloped.

“Since its inception, the ALMS has been at the forefront of developing green initiatives and solutions in motorsports,” said American Le Man Series President and CEO Scott Atherton.”We are very proud of our efforts with the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy as they relate to our on-track efforts. Our involvement with American Forests enables us to contribute to similar solutions away from the race track and is another way the American Le Mans Series can advocate for a greener tomorrow.”

With the implementation of the Green ReLeaf campaign, the Series will begin every race weekend by displaying a Survivor tree in the paddock. The Survivor Elm – donated by the Series and its teams through American Forests’ Historic Tree program – will encourage fans to do their part for the planet. For every three trees planted, roughly one ton of carbon will be sequestered, allowing for over 1,666 tons of CO2 to be taken out of the atmosphere overall, and every acre of trees planted (approx. 340-490 trees) by the Series will offset about the amount of CO2 produced by driving a car 26,000 miles, or about twice the amount the average driver drives per year.

This initiative is part of the Series’ Michelin Green X Challenge, a season-long green competition.

The “FUEL“ caravan, which includes the Big Green Energy Bus and the Algaeus, is arriving in Chicago tomorrow for the launch of the award winning film. The October 10th event, taking place at Loews Pipers Alley 4 beginning at 4:00 pm, will be kicked off with a motorcycle ride-in. Director Josh Tickell and Producer Rebecca Harrell will ride a Harley Davidson with a diesel engine that tops 100 mph and boasts nearly 80 miles per gallon at legal highway speeds. Movie patrons will also be able to check out the Zero S, the first fully electric high-performance motorcycle.

The Veggie Van Organization has been touring the country in support of the documentary, “FUEL“. The film opened in theaters nationwide on September 18th in New York. As part of the showing, Tickell and Harrell will be available for a question and answer session on Saturday. Click here for more information about the film and ticket information.

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and the Renewable Fuels Foundation (RFF) are partnering with teachers and the National FFA Organization to provide tens of thousands of high school students information about the opportunities available to them in the field of renewable fuels.

“America’s energy future rests squarely in its high school classrooms today,” said Mike Jerke, chairman of the RFF and General Manager of Quad County Corn Processors in Galva, Iowa. “It is these future scientists, engineers and dreamers that will supply both the manpower as well as the brain power necessary to break our addiction to fossil fuels. We are proud to be partnering with the National FFA to make these students aware of the vast opportunities offered by a robust renewable fuels industry.”

The curriculum was designed to provide FFA members with details about the nature of the renewable fuels industry today and focuses on the ethanol production process, the benefits of ethanol production, the interplay between renewable fuels and agriculture, and wide range of other issues. The lessons are available through the Team Ag Ed Learning Center, a website designed to provide agriculture teachers with new and exciting instructional materials, tools and resources.

“Agricultural education and FFA must grow to meet the changing needs of agriculture in an energy-driven economy,” said Will Waidelich, director of the National FFA Educational Programs Division. “These lesson plans and on-line student modules will provide FFA members and agricultural educators tools to help meet this need.”

The RFF is also offering 10 scholarships to cover the cost of the registration fee for the National Ethanol Conference. More information is available here.

Lights, camera, action! It’s time to produce a cinematic masterpiece that will be seen by millions. The topic: driving smarter. Contestants have the opportunity to submit a two-minute video to the Drive Smarter Challenge video contest, that demonstrates one or more of the Driver Smarter Challenge campaign’s gas-and money-saving tips. The winner will receive $5,000.

Second/Third Prize is a choice between a VIP NASCAR Race package or one VIP Indy Racing League Package and fourth prize is a Transportation Efficiency Package. In addition the first 80 entrants whose videos meet the contest criteria will receive a $25 ExxonMobil Gift Card and a Car Care Council Car Care Guide. The contest runs from August 17 through September 20, 2009.

“Even though gasoline costs are down from their high levels of last summer, there is no need for consumers to spend more than necessary to fuel their vehicles in today’s tough economy,” said Alliance President Kateri Callahan.  “So we urge drivers to use the fuel-efficiency tips provided by the Drive Smarter Challenge campaign to ‘drive down’ those expenses.”

All eligible videos will be posted on the Drive Smarter Challenge website. Once the contest judges select the finalists, the public will vote for the winners of these prizes. For more information about the contest rules and to enter, visit www.drivesmarterchallenge.org.

Drivers now can take a popular tool on the road thanks to the staff at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The Mobile Alternative Fueling Station Locator (MAFSL) helps on-the-go drivers find the five closest biodiesel, electricity, E85 (ethanol), hydrogen, natural gas, and propane fueling sites using any mobile device with Internet access.

Before launching the device, NREL said that their Alternative Fueling Station Locator was among the top five applications used on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center (AFDC) website. The station locator was developed by NREL which manages AFDC.

The mobile station locator works through well-known, easy to use applications such as Google Maps, which generates maps to fueling sites. In addition to the location, the locator will also give the user the contact information, including phone number and business hours for the station.

NREL says that it is taking some changes into consideration due to consumer feedback. In the past, private fueling stations were not included but they have been added. In addition, they are considering adding automatic location detetection using GPS installed in the device, a special applicaton for the iPhone and creating a similar application for truck stop electrification sites. In addition, the database will be updated continously.

Bike riders at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally are seriously appreciating their ethanol koozies. Here’s market development staff members from the Renewable Fuels Association posing by one of their banners at the Buffalo Chip Campground. Throughout the event they’ll be handing out all kinds of materials to participants. Sounds like rough work but that’s what’s needed to get the ethanol message out directly to the people who will use it.

Robert White, pictured on the left, is uploading photos from the event. Check out his online photo album to see more.

Growth Energy is building a team from the grassroots to speak up for the ethanol industry.

CEO Tom Buis says they created the eTeam to be “an army of thousands of ethanol consumers and supporters who are willing to take action to spread the message that ethanol is a clean, green renewable fuel available today.”

Buis says they already have 1200 eTeam members signed up who are armed with factual ethanol information to comment on blog posts, write letters to the editor, speak to local organizations, participate in community events, and contact their state and national lawmakers about policy issues.

“I’ve found that there are so many advocates out there that if they would get energized and participate, we would be winning all these debates in the media and in the halls of Congress and in the statehouses,” said Buis. “Now’s the time we have to stand up in a proactive manner and go out and tell that good story. Tell people that we’re a low carbon fuel, we emit less greenhouse gases than gasoline, tell them we create jobs and we are helping our nation address a problem that has existed for the past 35 years, that literally our economy and our nation are held over a barrel – an oil barrel.”

Growth Energy is reaching out to people in rural communities where ethanol has created jobs, to farmers, and to consumers who believe in the benefits of ethanol for the economy, the environment and energy security. Buis urges people to sign up for the eTeam by going to GrowthEnergy.org and clicking on the Get Involved button.

Sign up for the eTeam here.

Listen to or download an interview with Tom Buis about the eTeam here:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (2.2MB)

An interactive seminar focused on increasing
ethanol plant process efficiency and profitability.


Domestic Fuel is sponsoring a special seminar being held by Phibro Ethanol Performance Group, Fremont Industries, Fermentis and Novozymes.

With today’s challenging ethanol market, there is nothing more important than maximizing every dollar spent in your operation. The decisions made in your lab on process aids and systems like Enzymes, Yeast, Antimicrobials and Water Treatment are vital to your plant’s short and long term success. A strong bottom line starts with decisions made over very small increments. Employees simply can not receive too much training or exposure to available technology and methods that can strengthen your bottom line. To assist in this effort, four of the industries most trusted suppliers have designed a course focused on maximizing many of the inputs and process techniques you are currently using. Technical staffs from Fremont, Fermentis, Novozymes and Phibro Ethanol Performance Group are offering a limited training course July 29 – 30, 2009 in Minneapolis, MN. Please direct your questions to processoptimization@hotmail.com.

Course Registration Fee
Early Registration $150.00 through June 30, 2009
Registrations July 1 or later, based on availability $200.00
Registration includes all sessions, meals and entertainment! Sample testing and analysis included.

Download registration form (Word doc).
Download Seminar Schedule ((pdf).

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