E85 Ethanol Fuel Information

Next Generation cars will be internal combustion

2008-01-11T09:47:00.000-06:00

The most significant green technology at the upcoming Detroit auto show will appear in next-generation gas and diesel engines, rather than hydrogen, electric or hybrid concept cars. This Audi R8 diesel concept significantly improves fuel economy and reduces emissions.

Energy Bill Advances Ethanol Fuel

2007-12-20T20:55:00.000-06:00

For Immediate Release

December 20, 2007
Contact: Phil Lampert
Phone: (573) 635-8445 x 11
Email: plampert@e85fuel.com

Energy Bill Advances E85

With the President’s signing of the new national energy bill, a landmark public policy has been adopted which will result in the use of 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels by the year 2022. This action represents a significant change in the energy strategy of the nation and, for the first time, actually drives the country to use less petroleum in our transportation sector. The reduction in petroleum consumption will result from an increase in the fuel economy of new motor vehicles and the mandatory use of renewable fuels.

During 2004, approximately 141 billion gallons of gasoline were consumed in the United States and the new Renewable Fuel Standard established in the energy bill will require 25% of that 2004 baseline amount be in the form of ethanol and biodiesel. Ethanol produced from cellulosic feedstock must comprise 58% of this total by 2022.

Just as importantly, the energy bill also addresses many of the issues E85 advocates have faced in our attempts to grow the fueling infrastructure. Key components of the bill will:

Prohibit franchise agreements from restricting the sale of renewable fuels.

For purposes of E85 and B20, no franchise agreement shall limit the conditions under which these fuels shall be sold.
Agreements entered into on or after the date of the Energy Policy Act update shall not restrict a franchisee from:
Installing a renewable fuel pump.
Converting an existing tank or pump to renewable fuel.
Advertising the sale of renewable fuels.
Purchasing renewable fuels from persons other than the franchisor.
Listing renewable fuel availability on signs, dispensers, or light poles.
Allowing the use of a credit card for payment of renewable fuel.
Congressman Joe Donnelly, D-2nd district of Indiana stated, “While there are a number of reasons why ethanol has yet to mature on the market, a significant contributing factor is that many of the big oil companies use a variety of strategies to make it difficult for their franchised gas stations to offer ethanol. For example, the standard contract issued by many big oil companies prevents franchisees from purchasing fuel from anyone other than the franchise supplier. Since many suppliers do not sell E85, the stations within the franchise cannot either.”

Donnelley went on to say, “In passing the Energy Independence and Security Act, we are taking a crucial step in expanding the availability of E85 so more Americans can take advantage of this clean fuel made from corn grown right here in Indiana.”

The legislation also includes a requirement for the head of each federal agency to install at least one renewable fuel pump at each federal fleet fueling center in the United States by January 1, 2010. The Department of Energy (DOE) is expected to establish a pilot program of no more than 10 refueling infrastructure corridors and provide no more than $20 million for this pilot program. The legislation authorizes $200 million per fiscal year from 2008 to 2014 for the infrastructure program.

The National Ethanol Vehicle wishes to extend our appreciation to both the Congress and the Administration for working together to overcome partisan issues and agree on the content of this historically important shift in the nation’s transportation fuel policy. This is a first, but significant, step in addressing a national goal of securing energy independence, while advancing environmental stewardship.

2007 Energy Bill

2007-12-02T20:39:00.000-06:00

After nearly a year of debate and horse-trading negotiations, Congress is trying to pass the 2007 Energy Bill this week. This is America's best chance in years to provide meaningful government support to renewable energy development, but incredibly, there are many in Congress who still oppose it.

Please join the action with America's grassroots solar action network, to push our legislators for passage of this vital Energy Bill. We want energy independence, healthier air and the thousands of jobs a renewable energy rich Energy Bill will create. Take Action now! Join us in e-mailing your U.S. Representative and Senators to remind them how important their vote is to the future of clean, renewable energy in America.

Biodiesel Conference & Expo 2008

2007-09-05T18:30:00.000-05:00

Join us in Orlando for the National Biodiesel Conference & Expo 2008 February 3-6, 2008 at the fabulous Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center.

With another record breaking number of leaders in the biodiesel industry at the 2007 meeting, you won’t want to miss the 2008 meeting in everybody's favorite location - Orlando, Florida! As always, we are expecting 2008 to break all past attendance and exhibitor records, thanks to the insatiable learning capacity of our industry members.

The conference will, of course, feature an exciting educational program along with an array of networking and social events in several hot Orlando locations. You won't want to miss a minute of the program, and you might want to extend your stay by bringing along the family for a fun mid-winter break.

http://www.biodieselconference.org/2008/

The 2007 Cellulosic Ethanol Summit

2007-08-19T01:02:00.000-05:00

The agricultural, biotech, biorefinery developer
and financial communities gather for the leading
industry building event

Building Bridges in the Cellulosic Value Chain

About the Summit

The Cellulosic Ethanol Summit has quickly established itself as the major place where all the communities in the cellulosic ethanol value chain come together in one location to discuss how to build a new national cellulosic ethanol industry. Again, this year, leaders from the agricultural, industrial biotech, biorefinery developer and financial communities will gather to share their communities' perspectives on what is needed to form an efficient and effective value chain to commercialize cellulosic ethanol production.

No single community will be able to create a viable cellulosic ethanol industry. Only through intense cooperative efforts will this be possible. This means that all the communities in the value chain will need to obtain a detailed understanding of the capabilities, challenges and needs of the other communities in the value chain in order for the industry to move forward.

The Summit provides an important opportunity to initiate profound conversations between the various communities in the value chain and it provides a powerful venue where these communities can fully understand how to build links within the value chain that are necessary to make the cellulosic ethanol industry a reality. The Summit provides a unique forum where each community discusses their activities in getting prepared to support a national cellulosic ethanol industry, outlines the key technical, organizational, economic and financial challenges it faces and then identifies the types of relationships with others that need to be established to truly support its role in the value chain.

The Summit also provides a rich opportunity for offline discussions, where everyone will have the chance to meet other groups from the value chain and to establish ongoing relationships, thus serving as a springboard for more profound relationship building in the future.

About the Pre-Summit Briefing

Developing a Feedstock Logistics Infrastructure to Support the Cellulosic Ethanol Industry: Status and Outlook

As a prelude to the Summit, this all day briefing will provide an excellent opportunity for attendees to obtain a report on the status of industry activities to develop a feedstock logistics infrastructure for collecting and shipping large volumes of biomass to biorefineries.

Click Here & Register Today
or Register by Phone at (818) 888-4444

Ethanol will not be enough

2007-08-18T22:14:00.000-05:00

"Twenty in 10," the catchy phrase he used in his January 2007 State of the Union address, called for America to cut its gasoline consumption by 20 percent by 2017. It's an admirable goal, one that we should all embrace; achieving that goal may be easier said than done.

So let's give the president a little credit for issuing this long-overdue energy challenge. Before we do though, we need to understand the math; the numbers are against us. America currently imports a staggering 14 million barrels of crude oil every day. According to the Energy Information Administration, that number has increased by some 3 million barrels just since Bush took office and it continues to grow.

The obvious first step in lowering our use in fossil fuels is to stop increasing consumption, but it’s not that simple. Americans have a love affair with the automobile; most everyone likes to drive. Driving requires a fuel source and the primary resource is fossil fuel. We need to develop and improve alternative fuel options and make them cost effective. You can bet that OPEC doesn’t want this to happen; some would go so far as to say that major oil companies in the US are not very anxious to have the oil demand reduced as well. Read more http://e85.whipnet.net/why.e85/e85-is-not-enough.html

Brazillian Authorities Raid Sugar Cane Plantation

2007-08-09T19:39:00.000-05:00

June 2007

Sugar Cane Cutters or Indebted Slaves?

Brazil is a well known, large user of sugar-cane based ethanol; 80% of all new cars sold in Brazil are "flex-fuel" models that run on gasoline, ethanol or any combination of the two.

Ethanol currently sells for about half the price of gasoline in Brazil; it is inexpensive and accounts for nearly 20% of the country's annual fuel consumption. Increasing international demand and billions of financial dollars is allowing Brazil to expand due to being a major exporter of ethanol.

Start using Alternative Fuels

2007-06-11T14:22:00.000-05:00

America has an unhealthy addiction to fossil fuels. We all love to drive; it doesn't matter what time or what the destination (if any) might be. To that end, Americans burn millions of gallons of gasoline every day, and most all of it produce enviromentaly toxic pollution.

We have all seen at least one of those email chain letters that promote not buying gas on a certain day will cause lower gas prices; they don't work. How could they? The refineries and the gasoline retailers all know that we have to buy our gas somewhere, sometime so, not buying it on Tuesday, just means you will have to buy it on Wednesday or Thursday. The only way that could possibly have a chance would be to have several days, weeks even of not buying any gas, anywhere, anytime. But again, we all have to get to work and for the most part, that requires fuel.

Meanwhile, OPEC, Exxon, and the other petroleum related organizations/industries continue to dominate our spending practices. America needs to be weaned from it's dependence on fossil fuel and that means we need to replace it with something else. Alternative and Renewable fuel sources are the key; this includes ethanol, biodiesel, hydrogen fuel cell technology, solar power, propane, and other environmentally friendly resources.

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Sugarcane Ethanol

2007-03-06T12:13:00.001-06:00

Maple Cos plans to build sugar cane ethanol plant in Peru, this facility is slated to completely self sufficient.

The Dallas, Texas based company will grow the sugar cane, harvest, process, and ship to the US all from the same Peruvian desert location. Sugarcane ethanol is considered to be a more viable feed stock when compared to corn-based ethanol. Ethanol from corn is expensive to produce and, requires energy such as fossil fuel in the process. This among other reasons such as a lack of suitable farmland, and the fact that corn is a main food source for many is reason enough to find other sources for ethanol.

Ethanol Feed Stocks and the related pricing

2007-02-08T21:45:00.001-06:00

Probably the most common thinking when it comes to ethanol production includes using corn to produce the alternative fuel. Increased use in corn-based ethanol production has begun to drive up prices for corn and is creating a hardship on the people of Mexico. The population of Mexico considers that corn tortillas are akin to bread in the US and the rise in demand for corn in the US has begun to make even tortillas more expensive.

Meanwhile, other resources are being utilized to produce ethanol - sugar cane is one.
Sugar cane based ethanol is an up and comer in the area of ethanol production. Brazil has been doing it for quite some time now but, there is a new interest in producing sugar cane ethanol from Peru. The peruvian desert might be the next best place to produce ethanol due to the non tariff status on agricultural products imported to the US. According to Maple Cos., (the driver behind sugar cane ethanol in Peru) Peru's growing conditions, and low labor costs will make ethanol production cost effective. That combined with the duty-free status for importing into the US under terms of the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act is expected to give Maple an edge over other suppliers, even after accounting for the cost of shipping ethanol by tanker.

As you might have read, and likely would expect, the Midwest Region in the US has been enjoying what some are calling a 'Boom' in Biofuels. While most people first think of corn, which is the current top choice for producing ethanol / e85 in North America, it does not play a role when producing Biodiesel. The next contestant for producing Biodiesel is Chicken Fat. Yes, you read correctly, Chicken Fat Biodiesel. Another feature of the Midwest, Southeast Missouri to be more specific, is the Tyson Foods Inc. Poultry Plant, Dexter, Mo. Tyson is the nations largest producer of animal fat leftover from chicken, cattle, and hogs.

Ethanol Feed Stocks Create Higher Prices

2007-02-08T21:45:00.000-06:00

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2006-12-23T00:03:00.000-06:00

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Top 10 Myths about E85

2006-09-22T14:26:00.000-05:00

How much hype have you heard about E85 / Ethanol? Even with the price of gasoline dropping since the end of the so-called summer season, E85 is still in the news.
What can you believe about the benefits and the drawbacks of using Ethanol fuel?
I found an interesting list concerning the realities of using E85 as well as other great information.

Gasahol and Beyond

2006-04-17T09:39:00.000-05:00

There is a lot of hype these days about E85 / Ethanol like it's something new... Actually, it's not new at all, ethanol itself has been around for nearly 10,000 years. A majority of that time it was in the form of a libation and for the last 100 years or so, as a an alternative fuel in the US. Henry Ford's Model T could easily be converted to run ethanol in the 1920's and it enjoyed some popularity over the next couple of decades. Ethanol failed to gain a major share, yet it arose once more in the 1970's during the oil embargo as an octane booster. The government even went so far as to create a tax break for Ethanol which is scheduled to stop in 2006.