The first blender pump in Kansas offering ethanol blended fuels of E20, E30 and E85 held a celebratory opening. Zarco 66 Earth Friendly Fuels Station at 2005 W. 9th Street (corner of 9th and Iowa streets) has been designed and built with a number of environmentally-friendly aspects.

“Blender pumps allow gas stations, like Zarco 66, to sell more blends of ethanol-enriched fuel to consumers driving flex-fuel vehicles giving them a choice for cleaner air,” said Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) Deputy Director, Robert White. “We are excited to partner with Zarco 66 to help with the opening of the state’s first blender pump, and I encourage other gas stations to research blender pump installation in their local markets.”

The ethanol dispensing unit was provided by DresserWayne. “‘We are pleased to be working with innovative retailers like Scott with Zarco who are truly pioneers for bringing renewable fuels to the marketplace. His use of our leading forecourt technology to not only improve his customers experience at the pump but to educate them about renewable fuels is a model for others to follow,” said Director, North America Product Management for Dresser Wayne, Scott Negley.

Including Zarco 66, there are 39 E85 fueling stations throughout the state of Kansas.

A recent announcement was made by Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm and Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth Director Keith W. Cooley that will allow funding for E85 infrastructure at fourteen retail facilities throughout Michigan. This endeavor is part of an initiative that will bring more renewable fuels to the state.

“Investing in alternative energy infrastructure and promoting the use of ethanol is an important element of our effort to diversity Michigan’s economy,” Granholm said. “This program will help deliver the 267 million gallons of ethanol per year Michigan already produces and will deliver advanced cellulosic ethanol as it comes online.”

Stations will receive up to $70,000 to install their E85 infrastrucure. All have agreed to begin selling the alternative fuel by November 15 of this year. The awardees and cities they will be selling the fuel are:

Corrigan Oil Corp., (Brighton)
Coyne Oil Corp., (Mount Pleasant)
Downtown Wixom Development, (Wixom)
Haggerty Joy Mobil, (Canton)
Jawad Marathon, (Southfield)
Ten & Greenfield Sunoco, (Oak Park)
274 Gratiot Corp., (New Haven)
Speedway SuperAmerica LLC, (Cheboygan)
Speedway SuperAmerica LLC, (Davison)
Speedway SuperAmerica LLC, (Jackson)
Speedway SuperAmerica LLC, (Lansing)
Speedway SuperAmerica LLC, (Lansing)
Speedway SuperAmerica LLC, (Livonia)
Speedway SuperAmerica LLC, (Ypsilanti)

Stations can also use the Federal income tax credit that will allow 30 percent of the cost of their project up to $30,000.

There are currently 70 E85 fueling facilties across the state of Michigan.

One of the newest board members of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council is a man of many hats. Ray Defenbaugh is the CEO of Big River Resources, a company that’s based in Southeast Iowa. The company already operates a one 100 million gallon ethanol plant and another is under construction.

But, Ray doesn’t just know ethanol production. He’s also quite the fiscally savvy farmer. Ray serves as chairman of the board for a $330 million bank.

That’s still not all. He serves as a director for the Renewable Fuels Association as well.

When asked about this latest “hat” though, Ray says ethanol possesses a “wide area of influence and effect.” He says the fuel is an excellent representation of value added agriculture, “bringing value right back into our Midwestern community right where it belongs.”

Chuck spoke with Ray at EPIC’s first annual meeting. You can listen to Chuck’s interview here:

The issue of investment and financing for ethanol plants and bio refineries in general was addressed today by Chris Groobey, Baker & McKenzie, LLP. He works on project financing with investors and lenders and mostly in renewable fuels. He painted a pretty bleak picture.

In fact, he says the New York investment community is not interested in biofuels right now. He says they’re tapped out and that ethanol and biodiesel are not of interest to them at all. So with that being said, what’s next? He says there needs to be a combination of making more money from existing plants by co-locating other facilities or finding other sources of income from the same plant. He also thinks there needs to be more and bigger business structures.

He says this means we’re returning to more traditional models of rural development that take a longer term view. He recommends growing local agriculturally skilled management teams with people who understand farm risk.

You can listen to my interview with Chris here:

You can also download the interview using this link (mp3).

Transition To A Bio Economy Photo Album

Zarco 66 Earth Friendly Fuels plans to celebrate the opening of their eco-friendly fueling facility on Monday, June 30. The station is being designed under a public-private partnership as a demonstration project to showcase various energy technologies and feature sustainability elements on site.

Blends of ethanol, including E85, and biodiesel will be available at 900 Iowa St., in Lawrence, Kansas. Kicking off the celebration will be a press event that includes speakers: Sam Brownback, U.S. Senator, Kansas (invited); Pat Roberts, U.S. Senator, Kansas (invited); John Askew, Regional Administrator, EPA Region 7; and Adrian Polansky, Secretary, Kansas Dept. of Agriculture.

Ethanol fuel blend promotions will be held during the day from 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. E10 will sell at a 20 cent discount, E20 will sell for a 40 cent discount, E30 will sell for a 60 cent discount and E85 will sell for $1.85 per gallon.

Partners in this alternative fueling facility include: EPA Region 7, Ethanol Promotion and Information Council, University of Kansas, Kansas Dept. of Health and Environment, Kansas Dept. of Agriculture, Kansas Dept. of Revenue, Kansas Dept. of Commerce, Kansas Soybean Commission, Kansas Corn Growers, U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in Kansas, Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association of Kansas, and Zarco 66 Earth Friendly Fuels.

Two key words in a presentation at the Transition To A Bio Economy Conference were flexibility and diversification. These are important to managing risk, especially in R&D for renewable fuels.

Our presenter was Gordon Rausser, University of California, Berkeley, who was here with his assistant Maya Papineau. I interviewed them both together after the presentation. Gordon says that we should be looking at R&D risk as a portfolio of opportunities. He says we should be managing the overall risk by recognizing the inter-relationships among the technologies and their ultimate commercialization. He also says that stand alone analysis will miss much of the opportunities that will arise.

When it comes to flexibility he suggests giving yourself options so that you can take advantage of new opportunities as they arise. He says that current ethanol plants are vulnerable going forward since they don’t have the flexibility to move to different feedstocks.

Maya talked about probably breakthroughs in renewable energy technology. She says that it’s important for how you use public and private R&D resources to maximize the investment.

You can listen to my interview with Gordon and Maya here:

You can also download the interview using this link (mp3).

Transition To A Bio Economy Photo Album

E85 will sell for 85 cents per gallon for 85 minutes celebrating the opening of the first publicly accessed E85 fueling location in the state of Massachusetts. Dennis K. Burke, Inc. plans to hold a grand opening celebration on Thursday, June 26 at their new biofuels center at 410 Beacham St. in Chelsea.

“We’re very excited about the grand opening on Thursday. We are currently competively pricing the product at $2.85 per gallon,” said Dennis K. Burke, Inc.’s Chairman of the Board, Ed Burke. “Thanks to Irving Oil, Chelsea Fire, State Fire Marshal and Gov. Patrick’s administration, E85 is now available in Massachusetts.”

Thursday’s ribbon cutting will begin at 10:30 a.m. and will be hosted by Ed Burke and the company President, Ted Burke. Chelsea City Manager Jay Ash will emcee the event. Several state and local officials, as well as “green” industry friends are expected to attend. The E85 promotion, sponsored by General Motors, will begin following the ribbon cutting.

Burke is one of New England’s largest suppliers of diesel fuel, gasoline and motor oil products. The family-owned business has over 45 years of reliable service. They will also offer biodiesel at the Chelsea fueling facility, the first in the state.

Improving the efficiency of ethanol plants is critical for a number of reasons, but especially in light of high corn prices that are cutting into margins for producers.

POET has been working on improving the efficiency of their plants for years now according to President and CEO Jeff Broin (pictured here on the left with Nathan Schock, director of public relations for POET).

“We’ve been developing technology for many years that lower water usage, lower energy usage, increase through-put,” Broin said at the 2008 Fuel Ethanol Workshop. “As we’ve developed these technologies they’ve allowed us to be a little more efficient than the average guy. As with any industry, the low-cost producer is going to survive long term.”

POET’s plant in Ashton, Iowa received an Energy Star Combined Heat & Power Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at the FEW this year. “The Ashton plant actually takes the steam not just to power the plant but then uses that same steam to run the turbine,” said Broin. “So that co-generation is a double use of that same steam which is highly efficient.”

POET currently has 23 plants in operation producing about 1.3 billion gallons of ethanol and they have three more plants under construction in Ohio and Indiana.

Listen to an interview with Jeff Broin from the 2008 FEW here:

2008 Fuel Ethanol Workshop Photo Album

Two ethanol plants were honored by the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday with the Energy Star Combined Heat & Power Award. POET Biorefining in Ashton, Iowa, and East Kansas Agri-Energy, LLC in Garnett, Kan., were recognized with the award for reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

In April 2004, POET began full production at an ethanol plant in Ashton. Electricity is generated by a natural gas-fired turbine, which requires approximately 16 percent less fuel than typical on-site thermal generation and purchased electricity. Based on this comparison, the system reduces carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 18,900 tons per year, which is equivalent to removing the annual emissions from 3,100 cars or planting 3,900 acres of forest.

The East Kansas Agri-Energy dry mill ethanol plant in Garnett, Kan., began production in 2005. The steam turbine system generates approximately one-third of the facility’s electrical demands. It requires approximately 23 percent less fuel than typical on-site thermal generation and purchased electricity. Based on this comparison, the plant reduces carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 14,500 tons per year, which is equivalent to removing the annual emissions from 2,400 cars or planting 3,000 acres of forest.

The ENERGY STAR award recognizes projects that reduce emissions and use at least five percent less fuel than state-of-the-art comparable separate heat and power generation.

2008 Fuel Ethanol Workshop Photo Album

In celebration of the Iowa Corn Indy 250, E85 will be sold at a discount at 25 location on Thursday, June 19. This promotion will take place at 15 Kum & Go stations and 10 additional stations throughout the state.

Kum & Go will discount E85 at the following locations from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

2801 13th Ave., Ames
1910 SW White Birch Circle, Ankeny
2905 4th Ave., S Clear Lake
1950 Princeton Dr., Grimes
715 Long Creek Ave, Grinnel
6130 NW 86th Street, Johnston
2091 E Main St, Lamoni
1920 South Federal Avenue, Mason City
29356 298th, Neola
2991 Sunset Drive, Norwalk
2508 North Court St, Ottumwa
5970 Morning Star Court, Pleasant Hill
141 S. Jordan Creek Parkway, West Des Moines
822 1st Avenue, Coralville
1206 Guthrie Street, De Soto

E85 will be sold at a $1.85 discount at the following stores from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Eastern Iowa Propane & Petro, 4540 Lincolnway Street, Clinton
Lakeside Ampride, 4040 S. Expressway, Council Bluffs
Madison Avenue Ampride, 1836 Madison Avenue, Council Bluffs
Big 10 Mart, 2100 JFK Road, Dubuque
Riverside Sinclair, 102 Central Ave., Estherville
218 Fuel Express, 68 Monroe St, Floyd
New Century FS, 1017 Ogan Avenue, Grinnell
County Line Mart, 609 East Broadway, Keota
Casey’s General Store, Hwy 141, Mapleton
Prairie Gas, 4300 South 22nd East, Newton

The state of Iowa currently houses 90 E85 fueling stations.