IFB Ethanol Blog

Ethanol Training Course

A new on-line training course for ethanol provides information regarding ethanol fuel and how it affects engine performance and the environment. The Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) developed the Ethanol Fuel Performance Training module for anyone who wants to get to know the technical side of the fuel.

“It’s intended for auto service technicians and other people interested in ethanol as it performs in engines,” said Reece Nanfito, senior director of marketing. “It is an interactive course that goes through the benefits of ethanol and then goes through in great detail how ethanol performs in engines.”

Training course

Feeding the Ethanol Boom

Ag economist Chad E. Hart recently published an article on the CARD / ISU Iowa Ag Review website, "Feeding the Ethanol Boom: Where Will the Corn Come From?

http://www.card.iastate.edu/iowa_ag_review/fall_06/article2.aspx

Summary points of the article:

• Keith Collins of USDA outlines a scenario for the year 2010 in which 90 million acres of corn are needed to fulfill ethanol, livestock, and export demands.
• Following USDA’s aggressive re-enrollment and extension program for CRP, now only 7.7 million acres are scheduled to be released from CRP during the 2007 to 2009 period. Most of this acreage is in the western Great Plains and is more likely suited for wheat than for corn.
• In 2006, U.S. producers planted nearly 80 million acres of corn, 10 million acres shy of the projected demand for 2010.
• 2007 corn acreage will comes at the expense of soybeans. FAPRI projects 71.3 million acres of soybeans in 2007; Informa gives 71.8 million acres; and both of these projections are down from the 2006 crop year total of 74.9 million acres.
• Planting corn two years in a row usually results in a 10 to 20 percent yield decline in the second year. This well-known yield effect drives many producers to a "standard" corn-soybean rotation.
• The option is to move to a three-year rotation--two years of corn followed by one year of soybeans. The potential is there for the United States to reach a 90-million-acre corn crop in the near future and that most of the "new" corn acres most likely are in corn production now.

Ethanol Plant Gets Boost

by Kevin Hunsperger, WSIL-TV

PULASKI CO., IL-- Pulaski county is one step closer to having an ethanol plant.

Tuesday morning, congressman Jerry Costello presented the Southern Illinois Stimulus Corporation and the village of Pulaski a mock check for more than $2.7 million. The money comes from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The funds will be used for the infrastructure of the plant near Ullin.

Once complete, the facility will be capable of producing about 121 million gallons of ethanol each year. Construction is expected to take two to three years.

Thoughts from Recent Conferences

IFB's Senior Economist Mike Doherty recently attended renewable fuels conferences in Des Moines, IA, and at St. Louis.  He has written up summaries of information he gathered from the two events.  Take a few moments and check them out.

Download afbf_biofuels_conf_des_moines_sept2006_blog.doc

Download Renewable_Fuel_Conf_StL.doc

UL Decertifies E-85 Pumps

The laboratory that hands out the famous UL safety listing, Underwriters Laboratories, has yanked its certification for ethanol fuel pumps, saying there is a corrosion issue.

The decertification affects pumps selling blends of more than 15 percent ethanol. The most common blend is 85/15, or 85 percent gasoline to 15 percent ethanol, and it is not clear whether the UL's move will mean these pumps will eventually have to be taken out of service.

Existing pumps had been operating under provisional approval from UL. The laboratory issued a statement saying the decertification is linked to worries about corrosion.

Update:  We have a memo from the Illinois State Fire Marshal's Office concerning the UL decertification's effect on service stations statewide.

Download osfm_e85.pdf

Full Story:

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=117220

Ethanol Plant Planned for Greenville

Kansas City-based Alternative Energy Sources Inc. today announced plans to build a 110-million-gallon ethanol plant in Greenville, Ill., 45 miles east of St. Louis. This follows announcements in August that the company plans to build ethanol plants in Central Iowa and Northern Illinois.

The Greenville plant will be adjacent to the CSX and BNSF main railroad lines and served by the Illinois Western Railroad. Access to two mainline railroads offers competitive advantages, including maximum flexibility in shipping products and leveraging of freight arbitrage opportunities. The plant location is within five minutes of Interstate 70 and 30 minutes from Interstate 55 and 64, providing truck transport to Midwestern markets. "With both rail and truck shipping capabilities readily available, we will be able to serve national markets as well as neighboring communities in Central and Southern Illinois and Eastern Missouri," stated Mark Beemer, AENS president and CEO.

AENS has optioned 100 acres at the John W. Kelsey Business & Technology Park. "The amount of land optioned allows for the large footprint needed for flexibility in plant design and to apply our business model," said Lee Blank, AENS executive vice president and chief operating officer. Blank and Beemer are both former executives of Archer Daniels Midland Co., the nation's No. 1 ethanol producer.

Construction is planned to begin within the next year, with the plant scheduled to be in operation by late 2008.

Ethanol: Blessing or Bane?

The Chicago Tribune published an article in today's edition raising questions about the current boom in ethanol plant construction in the Midwest.  Here's a link to the full story:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-0610230203oct23,0,4410169.story?coll=chi-business-hed

Ethanol Plants in IL

This Illinois map highlights current, planned, and under construction ethanol facilities across the state.  (Source: IL Corn Growers Association)

(click to enlarge picture)

IFB Ethanol Ads

Illinois Farm Bureau has developed two ethanol commercials that have been running on Illinois TV recently.  Check them out via YouTube.

Kids talking about ethanol and renewable fuels :30 commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UypKQblrSKw

Ethanol Superhero, Captain Cornelius, helps a family out at the gas station

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ochGM7GA20

Vinod Khosla Speech

Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures, is very interested in bio-refineries and the future role of ethanol.  He spoke at the recent renewable energy conference in St. Louis.  Earlier this year, he spoke on the issue of renewable fuels and the video from that speech was posted online.  Here is a link to view the speech.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-570288889128950913