The World According To Ethanol
By Mr Ethanol | May 16, 2008
Prospects for ethanol trade over the coming three to five years are probably good. As to the specifics—it’s anybody’s guess.
Ethanol Producer Magazine:
It’s an exotic mix: mounting demand in spite of sky-high feedstock costs, oil prices off the charts, a weak dollar, fierce political pressures for and against trade barriers, equally fierce agitation for sustainability - all in the vortex of economic downturn.
Forecasting the prospects for international ethanol trade isn’t simple at the moment. Let’s just say more production, more demand and more trade overtopping trade barriers - all are likely.
Whatever happens, expect interesting times. Darin Newsom, senior analyst with DTN, the Omaha, Neb., commodities-information service, is among those waiting for good old supply-and-demand economics to settle in. But first, he thinks, ethanol is going to have to get through its wild youth. “The corn markets are rallying on projected ethanol demand,” Newsom notes, “but at the same time ethanol demand could start to shut down because that demand is helping to push the market too high. We’re still feeling our way around with prices - what’s too high, what’s too low, how high is too high.”
Topics: Ethanol, Market, News | Comments
Ethanol - Where Hype Meets Reality
By Mr Ethanol | May 16, 2008
13WHAM-TV:
We’re burning food to fuel our cars. Think about that for a second. A growing number of folks are saying that’s crazy, yet the production of corn ethanol in this country continues. Now, as production ramps up locally at Orleans County’s Shelby Ethanol Plant, the critics are lining up to take their shots.
The Great Ethanol Debate begins with the fact that it was once billed as a solution to our energy crisis. Now it’s being blamed for much more, beginning with higher food prices and ending with our struggling economy as a whole.
From Orleans County to Your Gas Tank
In December production of corn ethanol at this Orleans County plant began. By this December nearly 60 million gallons of fuel will be produced. The Sawyer Family’s ethanol plant is the first and only one in operation in the Northeast United States; but it’s far from unique in this country.
“Right now ethanol production in the United States represents 6% of the 140 billion gallons of gasoline that we use every year,” Mike Sawyer of Western New York Energy explained.
That’s gasoline being used at stations like the 12 Corners Mobil in Brighton. That station’s owner, Mike Davis, made the conscious decision to retro-fit his service station for ethanol fuel last year.
Topics: Ethanol, Gas, Industry | Comments
Ethanol: Getting There Is None Of The Fun
By Mr Ethanol | May 16, 2008
Forbes:
Of all the factors that drive our energy economy, supply is the most important. In the early days of the oil industry, a New England snowstorm or a washed-out Texas rail bed could lead to a spike in prices or even shortages for entire regions of the country. The market was so wild and unpredictable that producers routinely lost everything.
Massive capital investments by oil companies and entrepreneurs solved much of the problem. In time they buried some 380,000 miles of pipelines throughout the United States, which now handle 63 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 20 million barrels of crude a day, removing a crucial variable from the supply chain and stabilizing markets.
Now it’s the aspiring ethanol industry’s turn. The vast majority of ethanol is produced in five states - Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, Minnesota and South Dakota - all roughly 1,500 miles away from the approximately 80% of the population who live on the coasts. Ethanol will live or die with its ability to bridge that gap.
One big problem. Unlike petroleum, ethanol is corrosive and cannot be transported through pipelines. This leaves three options for moving it from producers in the heartland to consumers on either side of the country - trains, barges and, most likely of all, trucks. If we can find the drivers. Read full article.
Topics: Energy, Ethanol, News | Comments
State Offers Grants To Expand Sale Of Ethanol Fuel
By Mr Ethanol | May 14, 2008
Bizjournals.com:
The state of Wisconsin is making grants of up to $5,000 available to gas station owners who install pumps that dispense fuel that’s 85% ethanol, or E85.
The grants from the Wisconsin Office of Energy Independence are available to any state-licensed gas station in Wisconsin, and provide 50% of the costs of E85 equipment installation, up to $5,000. Retailers may apply for up to three sites.
“E85 is a cheaper, cleaner alternative to gasoline, and these grants will go a long way towards helping increase the availability of this renewable fuel in the state,” said Joshua Morby, executive director of the Wisconsin Bio Industry Alliance.
There are now more than 100 stations across Wisconsin that offer E85 at the pump with an average price of $2.90 per gallon - approximately 85 cents less than the average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline in the state.
E85, a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline, can be used in any flex-fuel vehicle capable of burning the fuel. The Bio Industry Alliance estimates that there are about 140,000 flex-fuel vehicles on Wisconsin roads today.
Topics: Biofuel, Ethanol, Money, News | Comments
In Defense Of Ethanol
By Mr Ethanol | May 14, 2008
Newsweek:
In the 12 years that I have speaking to him, Robert Zubrin has never disappointed. Whether he was devising a bargain-basement way to mount a manned mission to Mars (rather than taking along the fuel you need for the return trip, produce it from compounds in the Martian atmosphere once you get there, founding Pioneer Astronautics or serving as president of the Mars Society, Zubrin has never let conventional wisdom get in his way.
Amid the avalanche of new books on energy, Zubrin’s—Energy Victor: Winning the War on Terror by Breaking Free of Oil also goes its own way. Rather than focusing on energy sources that will reduce the world’s emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases, he has one goal, and one goal only: breaking the stranglehold that despots from the Middle East to South America to Africa have on the world’s oil supply.
Zubrin was understandably not happy, therefore, when I disparaged the use of corn ethanol for fuel, pointing out that its greenhouse benefit is somewhere between small and nonexistent. Zubrin is an ethanol booster for one basic reason: it has the potential to wean the U.S. off imported oil. And he doesn’t buy the claim that diverting a large fraction of the corn harvest to ethanol plants is causing world grain prices - and U.S. food prices - to skyrocket. His arguments… read on.
Topics: Biofuel, Ethanol, Oil | Comments
Sweet Source For Ethanol
By Mr Ethanol | May 14, 2008
Domestic Fuel:
A sweet source for ethanol could be a smart choice for food and fuel that can grow almost anywhere.
According to the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), sweet sorghum may be the perfect crop for ethanol production. It grows in dry conditions, tolerates heat, salt and waterlogging, and provides steady income for poor farmers.
ICRISAT Director General Dr. William Dar says, “We consider sweet sorghum an ideal ‘smart crop’ because it produces food as well as fuel.”
Unlike sugarcane, sweet sorghum can be grown in many different areas. It is the world’s fifth largest grain crop - behind rice, corn, wheat and barley - grown on more than 107 million acres in 99 countries with United States, Nigeria, India, China, Mexico, Sudan and Argentina being the leading producers.
Topics: Ethanol, Science | Comments
Ethanol Alternatives Stuck In Slow Lane
By Mr Ethanol | May 12, 2008
Arizona Republic:
Despite a public-relations backlash of epic proportions and frenzied research on other technology such as algae biodiesel, it likely will be years before other alternative fuels are as widely used as corn ethanol.
Ethanol is now a staple in gasoline, used as an additive that reduces the amount of crude oil and cuts back on vehicle emissions.
The 134 ethanol refineries in the country are expected to produce about 9 billion gallons of the fuel this year. Even with some cancellations, dozens of plants are expanding or being built, according to the Renewable Fuels Association. Many have direct ties to corn, with farmers owning 49 plants.
Even if lawmakers succeed in repealing or reducing ethanol-production subsidies, it is required as an additive in some places, including metro areas in Arizona. A 10 percent ethanol blend is added to gas in the Phoenix area in the winter to fight pollution, with a similar requirement in Tucson. It’s allowed but not required to make up to 10 percent of fuel blends year-round in the rest of the state.
The Arizona Department of Weights and Measures estimates statewide demand of 100 million gallons a year as an additive, and some stations sell an 85 percent blend that can be used in many American-made vehicles. Read on.
Topics: Biofuel, Energy, Ethanol | Comments
Eco Friendly Vehicles: A Case Of Misplaced Emphasis?
By Mr Ethanol | May 12, 2008
Desicritics.org:
In this year’s budget, the Government reduced the excise duty on electric cars from 8 per cent to nil. Recently the Government repeated the same with 2 and 3 wheel electric vehicles. (Full article here) Why? Well, if one were to believe the advertisements, this is because the Government wants to promote these “eco friendly”, “zero pollution” vehicles. Just open any electric vehicle manufacturer’s website and you will see these words laced all over the site.
Well, that might be true if one were to compare electric vehicles with carbon dioxide emitting vehicles. However, I seem to have been bitten by the recent bug of measuring everything by its carbon footprint. Considering that most of the power produced in India is from hydro carbon fuels I fail to see how these vehicles are eco friendly. Just because you choose to be blind to the technology that brings the electricity right to your doorstep it does not cease to exist. Add to that the fact that we are an energy deficient nation, I fail to see the rationale in promoting electric vehicles. Read more.
Topics: Cars, Industry, Technology, Trends | Comments
Supporting Agriculture’s Investments And Opportunities
By Mr Ethanol | May 12, 2008
Kansas City infoZine:
Much debate and media space has been dedicated to ethanol and food prices here in Missouri. Many consumers have become confused on what is right and what is wrong within the debate.
However, recent attempts to eliminate the 10% ethanol standard in Missouri will have limited impact on the price of corn and could have long-term unintended consequences. Corn prices are determined by the global market, not a fuel standard for the state of Missouri.
As a consumer and a mother, I understand the burdens of high gasoline prices and rising food costs. However, ethanol adds renewable and domestically produced volume to our gasoline supply, while having a minimal impact on food prices and availability. In fact, the cost of energy to transport, process and package our foods affects food prices 2 to 3 times more than the price of corn.
Topics: Ethanol Prices, Gas | Comments
Making Ethanol As Easily As Doing Laundry
By Mr Ethanol | May 9, 2008
The MicroFueler - A Washing Machine That Makes DIY Ethanol
Wired News:
People were making ethanol at home long before there were cars. They called it moonshine. With gas prices going through the roof and everyone worried about global warming, a California company is betting people will jump at the chance to use the same technology to turn sugar into fuel for less than a buck a gallon.
E-Fuel Corporation has unveiled its EFuel 100 MicroFueler, a device about the size of a stacking washer-dryer that uses sugar, yeast and water to make 100 percent ethanol at the push of a button.
“You just open it like a washing machine and dump in your sugar, close the door and push one button,” company founder Tom Quinn told us. “A few days later, you’ve got ethanol.”
Is it really that easy?
According to Quinn, it is. The MicroFueler weighs about 200 pounds and hooks up to a water and 110 or 220 volt power supply and wastewater drain just like a washing machine. It uses raw sugar (not the refined white stuff) and a proprietary time-release yeast mixture as feedstock. You can also use left-over booze if you’ve got any lying around. Toss it all into the fermenting tank, turn on the machine and in seven days you’ve got 35 gallons of ethanol. The MicroFueler has its own pump and hose - just like the pump at your corner gas station - so you can easily fill up your car.
“It’s so simple, anyone can make their own fuel,” Quinn says. Depending upon the cost of electricity and water, he says, the MicroFueler can produce ethanol for less than $1 a gallon. Quinn likens the MicroFueler to the personal computer and says it will cause the same sort of “paradigm shift.”
“Just as the PC brought desktop computing to the home, E-Fuel will bring the filling station to the home,” he says. Read more.
Topics: Ethanol, Invention, News | 3 Comments
New Report On Ethanol Impact
By Mr Ethanol | May 9, 2008
Dakota Farmer:
Ethanol has reduced the price of gasoline from 17 to 39.5 cents per gallons, according to a new study by the Iowa State University Center for Agricultural and Rural Development.
The largest impact of ethanol on gasoline from 1995 t0 2007 was found in the Midwest region where gasoline prices were reduced by 39.5¢ per gallon.
The Gulf Coast region experienced a 24.6¢ reduction in the retail gasoline price, while for the West Coast and East Coast, the average price drop is about 23.3¢.
The smallest impact, a 17.1¢ reduction, is found in the Rocky Mountain region, mainly because of its comparatively low gasoline consumption.
Read the report here.
Topics: Ethanol, News, Research | Comments
Ethanol: Weapon Against Oil Companies?
By Mr Ethanol | May 9, 2008
Automotive Blogs:
Are you getting resentful at the oil companies because of their enormous profits? Do you want them to be knocked down a peg? Well, ethanol may be the key.
It seems that ethanol output in the U.S. will be 33 percent higher over last year and could help to lower oil profits.
Ethanol usage is expected to grow to 11.3 billion gallons a year — 33 percent higher than 2007, but 20 percent below analysts’ forecasts. Regardless, the growth is enough to worry the oil execs who are raking in major profits at the moment.
Our take? Let’s get real here. The report’s a sham. Do you really think the oil companies are worried about ethanol? Not only is the biofuel in big trouble with, ironically, environmentalists, but all the oil companies would have to do is increase the oil supplies briefly to lower gas prices to get consumers and, more importantly, the government off their backs.
Oil companies greatest fear would be if the U.S. government decided to open the tap to the vast oil reserves currently in storage. Faced with such an act would immediately have them scrambling to lower prices to gouge as much profit as possible before such huge supplies force them to lower prices.
And what are the chances of the government doing such a thing? Probably as great a chance as there being a female president this term.
Topics: Ethanol, Oil | 1 Comment
Undoing America’s Ethanol Mistake
By Mr Ethanol | May 7, 2008
Global Warming Hoax:
The Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman once said, “One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.”
When Congress passed legislation to greatly expand America’s commitment to biofuels, it intended to create energy independence and protect the environment.
But the results have been quite different. America remains equally dependent on foreign sources of energy, and new evidence suggests that ethanol is causing great harm to the environment.
In recent weeks, the correlation between government biofuel mandates and rapidly rising food prices has become undeniable. At a time when the U.S. economy is facing recession, Congress needs to reform its “food-to-fuel” policies and look at alternatives to strengthen energy security.
On Dec. 19, 2007, President Bush signed into law the Energy Independence and Security Act. This legislation had several positive features, including higher fuel standards for cars and greater investment in renewable energies such as solar power.
However, the bill required a huge spike in the biofuel production requirement, from 7.5 billion gallons in 2012 to 36 billion in 2022.
This was a well-intentioned measure, but it was also impractical. Nearly all our domestic corn and grain supply is needed to meet this mandate, robbing the world of one of its most important sources of food.
Furthermore, the trend of farmers supplanting other grains with corn is decreasing the supply of numerous agricultural products. When the supply of those products goes down, the price inevitably goes up.
Topics: Biofuel, Ethanol, News | Comments
Ethanol Producers Come Under Fire In Congress
By Mr Ethanol | May 7, 2008
Minnesota Public Radio:
The growing backlash against ethanol arrived today at the U.S. House. Ethanol consumes about one-fifth of the U.S. corn harvest. And some groups blame ethanol for pushing up food prices.
One proposal before Congress would roll back a federal law requiring additional ethanol production. Opponents of that idea say it would hurt the nation’s renewable fuels industry, and it could actually increase gasoline prices.
St. Paul, Minn. – The ethanol’s industry heavy use of corn is a major reason why corn prices have risen sharply, to nearly $6 a bushel. Those higher prices are one factor in boosting food costs, up nearly 5% in the last year.
Last December Congress mandated that the U.S. produce 15 billion gallons of ethanol by 2015, roughly double current production. At a House Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee hearing, big oil blasted the nation’s ethanol policies.
Charles Drevna, National Petrochemical and Refiners Association President, said a major portion of the the ethanol mandate has landed on the dinner tables of ordinary Americans.
“Not even five months after the enactment of the new biofuels mandate, the chickens are coming home to roost. And we literally can’t afford to feed them,” said Drevna. “The price of corn, the source of 97 percent of ethanol in the United States, and also the main ingredient in chicken feed, has tripled over the past two years.”
Photo: Mark Steil / MPR.
Topics: Agriculture, Ethanol, Industry, Legislative, News | Comments
Politicians Rethink Food-Based Ethanol
By Mr Ethanol | May 7, 2008
Christian Science Monitor:
Not too long ago, corn ethanol was being touted as the energy wave of the future for fighting global warming. It was said to be much better than coal and oil, those carbon-based sources of greenhouse-gas emissions.
But lately the drawbacks to this form of energy production have become more obvious, its critics more vocal, its supporters on the defensive.
For one thing, there’s evidence that the rush to produce ethanol made from corn is contributing to the recent rise in domestic food prices.
Late last week, two dozen Republican senators said they wanted to ease the congressionally mandated requirement that more ethanol be blended into the gasoline supply. Among those GOP lawmakers is presumptive presidential nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who’s been critical of ethanol subsidies. A Wall Street Journal article noted that:
The move by the Republican Senate group is the latest sign that Washington’s support for turning corn into motor fuel is wavering in the face of soaring food prices, despite the popularity of ethanol subsidies in farm states critical to the November election…. There are also signs of anti-ethanol backlash at the state level. The governors of Texas and Connecticut have requested that the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] issue waivers from the mandate, arguing that the ethanol impact on food prices is too onerous.”
Such concern has become global. The World Bank has estimated that corn prices rose by more than 60 percent from 2005 to 2007, largely because of the US ethanol program, combined with market forces. The United States is the world’s biggest biofuel producer, overall.
Looking at the food situation more broadly, several top international food scientists have recommended that the use of food-based biofuels, including ethanol, be halted. Read full article.
Topics: Ethanol, Legislative, News | Comments
E-CORN-OMICS: Food And Fuel Markets Begin To Merge In Ethanol Boom
By Mr Ethanol | May 5, 2008
Daily Herald:
Erwin Johnson picks up a clump of the dark, rich soil that he has farmed for 35 years, like his father and grandfather before him. In a few months, this flat expanse of northern Iowa will be crowded with corn ready to be trucked to market.
A year ago, that market got a little closer — and a lot better. Instead of sending his corn to a barge company to be shipped down the Mississippi River for export, Johnson now loads it into an open truck and sends it just two miles up the gravel road to a hulking new ethanol distillery that he can see from his field. The ethanol plant is paying him $5.50 or more a bushel, more than twice as much as Johnson could get just a couple of years ago.
“This is a fantastic time to be farming,” Johnson says. “I’m 65, but I can’t quit now.”
Across the country, ethanol plants are swallowing more and more of the nation’s corn crop. This year, about a quarter of U.S. corn will go to feeding ethanol plants instead of poultry or livestock. That has helped farmers like Johnson, but it has boosted demand — and prices — for corn at the same time global grain demand is growing.
And it has linked food and fuel prices just as oil is rising to new records, pulling up the price of anything that can be poured into a gasoline tank. “The price of grain is now directly tied to the price of oil,” says Lester Brown, president of Earth Policy Institute, a Washington research group. “We used to have a grain economy and a fuel economy. But now they’re beginning to fuse.”
Not everyone thinks it’s fantastic. People who use corn to feed cattle, hogs and chickens are being squeezed by high corn prices. On Monday, Tyson Foods reported its first loss in six quarters and said that its corn and soybean costs would increase by $600 million this year.
Those who are able, such as egg producers, are passing those high corn costs along to consumers. The wholesale price of eggs in the first quarter soared 40 percent from a year earlier, according to the Agriculture Department. Meanwhile, retail prices of countless food items, from cereal to sodas to salad dressing, are being nudged upward by more expensive ingredients such as corn syrup and cornstarch.
Rising food prices have given Congress and the White House a sudden case of legislative indigestion. In 2005, the Republican-led Congress and President Bush backed a bill that required widespread ethanol use in motor fuels.
Just four months ago… read on.
Topics: Agriculture, Biofuel, Energy, Ethanol, Prices, Trends | 1 Comment
Africa’s Biggest Oil Producer Goes Green
By Mr Ethanol | May 5, 2008
AFP:
In his office in Lagos, Alain Salleras, a Frenchman of about 50 for whom biofuels are something of a crusade, is working away at his pet project — producing ethanol from sweet sorghum in Nigeria.
Salleras, executive director of Global Biofuels Ltd, which has partnered with India’s Praj Industries and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for its project, is at pains to pre-empt any questions on the growing controversy over the alleged impact of biofuels on agriculture.
“Contrary to manioc, sorghum, of which Nigeria is the world’s leading producer, has no impact on food supply,” Salleras emphasised.
Indeed, if he is to be believed, sweet sorghum has only advantages over sugar cane, another crop often grown for biofuels.
He says sorghum requires one quarter of the water that sugar cane needs, it produces two or three harvests a year, you get far more ethanol per hectare under cultivation — nearly four times as much in fact — and there is no wastage.
“To make the ethanol we only take the stalks, which are rich in sugar. The grains go for food and the rest for animal fodder,” he says.
Even the fibrous residue from the crushed stalks, known as “bagasse,” is recycled. This biomass is boiled to produce steam to make electricity. Continue reading.
Topics: Green Business, News, Oil, Trends | Comments
Ethanol Tax Breaks Benefit Bill Sponsors
By Mr Ethanol | May 5, 2008
News-Leader.com:
Some of the legislators who sponsored the 1999 law authorizing tax credits for farmers who invest in agricultural cooperatives were among the first to receive the tax breaks once the program kicked in.
The lead sponsor of the legislation was Rep. Sam Leake, D-Center, who also was among the investors in Missouri’s first ethanol plant.
According to records from the Department of Agriculture, Leake received $3,651 in February 2000 for investing in Northeast Missouri Grain Processors, which began producing ethanol at a plant near Macon three months later.
Leake, the House Agriculture Committee chairman, resigned from the House in May 2000 after being confirmed to an appointment on the State Tax Commission. He received additional tax credits for the plant in 2002. Full article.
Topics: Ethanol, Positives, Tax | Comments
There Are Alternatives That Produce Ethanol
By Mr Ethanol | May 2, 2008
The News Journal:
Why are we using an important food source of humans and animals to produce ethanol? It appears we ignore history or are not aware that Brazil, the world’s largest producer of ethanol, ferments sugar cane to produce this fuel.
Was Midwestern corn chosen because of politics? Corn does not represent a sustainable source to dilute the nation’s oil appetite.
The United States has two states which grow sugar cane, Florida and Louisiana, as well as Puerto Rico. Many Caribbean nations grow sugar cane.
Caribbean ethanol shipped in tankers represent a short distance and lower cost than oil from Mideast sources.
Topics: Ethanol, News, Science, Trends | Comments
Fiat Likely To Invest E10 Million On Ethanol Engines
By Mr Ethanol | May 2, 2008
RedOrbit:
Fiat Powertrain Technologies is planning to invest about E10 million in developing an ethanol-powered engine to be used in trucks and agricultural machinery in Brazil, Reuters has reported quoting Franco Ciranni, the company’s regional manager.
The company expects to launch the engine by 2010. Experts say that the engine will not face any danger from mixing fuels as a small amount of diesel will be mixed with ethanol only after injecting them into the combustion chamber from separate tanks.
The news agency has quoted Mr Ciranni as saying: “With ethanol, safety is required. We want a totally secure project.”
Fiat will test the engine in the factory vehicles and machinery developed by its partners.
Topics: Agriculture, Brazil, Ethanol, Industry, Investing, News, Technology, Trends | Comments