Domestic Fuel

Panda Ethanol has announced the successful restructuring of funding arrangements on a 115-million gallon-per-year, biomass-fueled ethanol refinery in Hereford, Texas.

The restructuring was made with the support of the project’s lenders and will allow for the completion of construction and startup of the facility.

“The successful restructuring of the Hereford project’s funding arrangements represents a vote of confidence in our ability to manage the remaining construction at the Hereford facility,” said Darol Lindloff, chief executive officer of Panda Ethanol. “We continue to believe that, once completed, the Hereford refinery will be one of the most cost-efficient ethanol production facilities in the United States.”

Panda Ethanol expects to complete construction of the Hereford refinery by January 30, 2009. The company has disclosed that it may need to obtain additional working capital for the future operation of the facility depending on future market conditions and commodity pricing.

Ethanol plants are cool in a lot of ways. They’re producing a domestic fuel solution to our energy problems and that lessens our dependency on foreign oil for example.

But they can also make a pretty picture too. I was driving south through Missouri last night and passed through Laddonia and the POET plant there.

This was a handheld snapshot from the highway (not much traffic at the time I was passing by).

POET became the largest producer of ethanol in Ohio this week with the grand opening ceremony for their second ethanol production facility in Fostoria. POET Biorefining – Fostoria is POET’s 25th ethanol plant.

Joining CEO Jeff Broin for the ribbon-cutting were Mike Wagner, Executive Director of the Buckeye Renewable Fuels Association; Robert Boggs, Director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture; Congressman Bob Latta and Ryan Hunter-Reay, driver of the #17 Ethanol IndyCar, Rahal Letterman Racing.

“It is always an exciting day when we can open another facility such as this that helps expand the ethanol industry,” said Ryan Hunter-Reay. “The industry has made great strides in the last few years and I am proud to be associated with it.”

On October 24, POET will open a third plant in Ohio, POET Biorefining – Marion. Once the Marion facility is operational, POET’s annual production capacity will be 1.54 billion gallons at 26 facilities. The company is already the world’s largest ethanol producer.

Pacific Ethanol has announced the start-up of its Stockton, California facility. The Company will hold a grand opening ceremony for its second California ethanol plant on October 10.

“The start-up of our Stockton plant marks the achievement of our goal of 220 million gallons of annual production capacity and dramatically increases the availability of renewable fuels produced in the state of California. As the largest fuel market in the United States, California will benefit from locally produced ethanol and its feed co-products,” said Neil Koehler, Pacific Ethanol’s President and CEO.

The 60 million gallon per year Stockton facility is located at the Port of Stockton, with access to water, rail and road transportation. This San Joaquin Valley area is also home to over one million dairy cows, providing a ready local market for wet distiller’s grains and other ethanol co-products produced by the plant.

Pacific Ethanol is the largest West Coast-based marketer and producer of ethanol with plants in Madera and Stockton, Calif.; Boardman, Ore.; and Burley, Idaho.

According to the American Lung Association of Iowa, September has proven to be THE month for ethanol blended fuels! The state held several successful events promoting the domestically grown fuel.

“We would like to welcome our first three blender pumps to the state of Iowa: Galva Holstein in Galva, Unity Biofuels in Olds, and Popkes in Rock Rapids,” noted Jessica Zopf of the Iowa Clean Air Choice Team. “Collectively these pumps offer E10, E15, E20, E30, and E85. A big thanks goes to the Department of Agriculture for attending and showing their support for cleaner-burning fuels! A special thanks also goes to Kum & Go for their commitment to offering renewable fuels with their 17th E85 location in Iowa.”

Following is a run down of the events the past month:

Sept. 3rd: Kum & Go Ground Breaking, Johnston, IA for E85 site
Sept. 5th: Unity Biofuels, Olds, IA pumped 600 gallons of ethanol-blended fuel
Sept. 6th: Green Fair, Urbandale, IA with Bob Brown Chevrolet
Sept. 8-9th: Biobased Industry Outlook Conference Display, Ames, IA
Sept. 10th: Kum & Go, Urbandale, IA pumped 1150 gallons of E85
Sept. 12th: Popkes, Rock Rapids, IA pumped approximately 600 gallons of ethanol-blended fuel
Sept. 15th: Farmer’s Coop, Forest City, IA pumped 1000 gallons of E85
Sept. 17th: Galva Holstein, Galva, IA pumped 1335 gallons of ethanol-blended fuel

October also looks to be a busy month in the state of Iowa.

Approximately 200 people attended a grand opening event to dedicate Iowa’s first blender pump in Galva on September 17, 2008. In addition to receiving lunch, co‐sponsored by Galva Holstein Ag and Ida County Farm Bureau, drivers who fueled up with ethanol blends saved $.30 per gallon from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Over 1,335 gallons of ethanol was sold during the promotion.

Special guests at the celebration included Karey Claghorn (Iowa Deputy Secretary of Agriculture), Maureen Wilson (Senator Harkin), Monte Shaw (Iowa Renewable Fuels Association), Dave Ehlers and Wayne Brinks (Congressman Steve King), Jessica Zopf (American Lung Association), Kristin Nowak (Clean Air Choice Team), Westmor Industries, CENEX, representatives from Ida County and Buena Vista County Farm Bureau, organizations and business partners, as well as many other distinguished guests.

“We are delighted to be the first company in Iowa to offer E30 and E85 to FFV drivers”, said Gary Brosamle, energy department manager at Galva Holstein Ag. “Galva Holstein Ag is an avid supporter of renewable fuels, and we encourage all Iowan’s to use ethanol-blended fuels, which are made right here in our backyards.”.

The state-of-the-art blender pump is located south of Galva at 1583 Market Avenue, near the Highway 20 interchange. Galva Holstein Ag is proud to offer E85, E30, E10 and unleaded gasoline to motorists 24 hours a day at this cardtrol facility.

The United Cooperative Cenex Convenience Store at N7160 Raceway Road in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, is giving away free gift cards this Saturday with qualified purchases of E85 fuel. This is part of a statewide celebration recognizing ethanol’s contribution to the state’s economy and improved air quality.

During the Beaver Dam event, the first 85 Flex Fuel Vehicle owners who purchase 8.5 gallons or more of E85 between 10 a.m. and noon at the Cenex Store on September 20 will receive a $20 Cenex gift card. The card is courtesy of the Wisconsin Corn Growers Association. This is the latest in a series of events celebrating E85 and marking the 100th anniversary of the American Lung Association of the upper Midwest.

“E85 fuel is recognized as a Clean Air Choice by the American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest, so it is very appropriate that we celebrate our organization’s anniversary – and 100 years of better breathing – at the same time the state is marking its 100th E85 fueling station,” says Dona Wininsky, Director of Public Policy and Communications, for the Lung Association. “Using E85 can reduce ozone-forming pollutants by 20 percent and evaporative emissions by 25 percent or more. A typical flex-fuel driver can prevent as much as four tons of lifecycle CO2 and other pollutants from entering our air every year simply by fueling with E85 instead of gasoline. That helps make the air cleaner and better for everyone to breathe, which is the heart of our mission.”

Currently, there are 116 E85 fueling outlets in the state of Wisconsin.

Ethanol-powered planes flew in formation in the blue Hoosier sky Thursday to mark the opening of Indiana’s newest ethanol plant in North Manchester.

POET hosted a grand opening event for POET Biorefining – North Manchester, the company’s 24th production facility and the third in Indiana.

“With its third Indiana facility, POET is quickly becoming a household name in our small towns,” said Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels. “This new North Manchester facility means more good jobs and an important market for our Hoosier farmers.”

Jeff Broin, CEO of POET, said. “The ethanol that will be produced in this facility will displace over 60 million gallons of fossil fuels annually – decreasing our dependence on foreign oil and saving consumers money at the pump.”

POET Biorefining – North Manchester will utilize 22 million bushels of corn from the area to produce 65 million gallons of ethanol and 178,000 tons of Dakota Gold Enhanced Nutrition Distillers Products™ per year.

According to the Glenwood Springs Post Independent, the owner of the Basalt Center Fuel site at 122 Midland Ave. in Basalt, Colorado, stated that E85 sales are up from last year. Bruce Ross said that E85 sales grew with some initial publicity, settled down a bit and then grew steadily.

Ross noted that about eight percent of total sales last year after the center began selling E85 in March. E85 sales made up about 12 percent of sales last month at 6,000 gallons. Additional figures weren’t immediately available.

One of the reasons Ross purchased the fueling facility in October 2006 was to sell E85. “We thought it was a really good thing that needed to be in the valley,” he said. “I thought it was important. I thought that this valley would support it being the kind of place that we are. To the extent that people who can use it do use it, I think I was right.”

E85 is being sold for nearly a dollar less than regular unleaded gasoline at Basalt Center Fuel.

Two grand opening events will celebrate the introduction of E85 at two retail fueling facilities in the state of Colorado. The events will take place at the Eagle Travel Stop in Sterling and Western Convenience in Montrose this month.

On September 16, the Colorado Corn Growers Association, the Governor’s Biofuels Coalition, and Colorado Retail Venture Services will celebrate the Eagle Travel Stop’s introduction of E85 with a live remote, hot dogs, refreshments and a fuel promotion. The event will take place from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at 20974 US Highway 6 in Sterling.

On September 23, the Colorado Corn Growers Association, the Governor’s Biofuels Coalition, Southern Colorado Clean Cities and Western Convenience will hold their promotion from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. This event at 938 South Townsend Avenue in Montrose will feature a live remote, hot dogs, refreshments and a fuel promotion of E85 for 85 cents per gallon.

The addition of these two E85 facilities will bring the total of E85 stations in the state to 70.

VeraSun Energy has announced the start up of its 110 million gallon per year ethanol biorefinery located near Dyersville, Iowa. The Dyersville production facility marks the 14th VeraSun biorefinery in operation and the fifth in Iowa, increasing the company’s annual production capacity to more than 1.4 billion gallons.

“We are pleased to bring another large-scale, environmentally friendly ethanol production facility on-line in the state of Iowa,” VeraSun CEO Don Endres said. “The state continues to be a leader in renewable fuels production, helping our nation to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. We commend the Dyersville community, its leadership, and the local corn producers for making this day a reality.”

According to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, VeraSun Dyersville is the 32nd operating biorefinery in Iowa, increasing overall annual production capacity in the state to almost 2.5 billion gallons.

Wilcox & Flegel Oil Company, one of the largest fuel distributors in the Northwest, is committed to E85 and is offering the product in the city of Olympia, Washington. This is the sixth location the distributor is supplying.

The recently opened E85 pump located at the Shell station at 3505 Pacific Ave., is selling the product at more than 80 cents below regular unleaded gasoline. In the past week, the facility sold more than 270 gallons of the clean burning, alternative fuel.

Aaron Wilcox, special projects manager for Wilcox & Flegel said that the group is a longtime distributor of diesel and gasoline that started selling E85 fuel about a year ago. They began selling E85 because the Detroit automakers chose to build flexible fuel vehicles.

Wilcox & Flegel Oil Company plans on adding up to ten E85 sites across the state of Washington.

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association reports that grand opening celebrations will be held at four new E85 pumps across the state of Iowa in the next couple of weeks. This will bring the total of E85 fueling facilities in Iowa to over 100.

The events in the state will include some blender pumps offering E85 and midlevel blends. Below is a listing of the locations and dates of their grand openings:

Unity Biofuels – September 5th
in Olds, IA

Cenex Pump 24 – September 12th
in Forest City, IA

Popkes Car Care Center – September 12th
in Rock Rapids, IA

Galva Holstein Ag – September 17th
in Galva, IA

For additional information regarding E85 in Iowa, go to http://www.iowarfa.org/.

A company seeking to build ethanol plants in four southeastern states needs to raise over $800 million to get the job done.

East Coast Ethanol already has about $10 million in seed money, but they are looking for at least $254 million from equity investors to complete the four 110 million gallon a year plants in North and South Carolina, Florida and Georgia.

The company was formed in September of last year with the merger of Mid Atlantic Ethanol, Palmetto Agri-Fuels, Atlantic Ethanol and Florida Ethanol – all of which were separately developing ethanol plants in the four states.

According to a July 21 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said the “four facilities (if and when they become operational) can supply ethanol to the Southeast United States at a much cheaper rate than imported ethanol because of reduced transportation costs given our geographical location.”

Fagen, Inc. is expected to design and build all four of the planned ethanol production facilities.

As the Republican National Convention approaches the week of September 1, the state of Minnesota prepares for the crowd. Minnesota boasts the largest number of E85 fueling locations throughout the country, 354 to be exact, and they will flaunt it.

The American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest confirmed that when walking through the skyways in Saint Paul during next week and throughout the month of September, visitors are likely to see the ‘Addicted to Oil?’ E85 skyway signs in the US Bank Building and Town Square. Others driving to Saint Paul from Minneapolis and the western suburbs will also see a similar billboard beside I-94. In addition, E85/FFV :30 ads will be playing during coverage of the Republican National Convention on the local NBC affiliate.

Finally, a special E85 promotion will be available for flexible fuel vehicle owners in Eagan, Minnesota on Wednesday, Sept. 3. Holiday Station Stores and the MN Clean Air Choice Team will offer E85 for an extra $1.00 off the current posted price between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. at 2660 Eagan Woods Drive.