GoodFuels
Fair Reporting
by Cindy Zimmerman on Jun 27, 2008Testifying to the Truth
When Jesus Christ told Pontius Pilate that he had come to “testify to the truth,” Pilate asked him “What is truth?”
Indeed, the general public is faced with conflicting “truths” on a daily basis, but a group called the 2020 Project is sponsoring a campaign called FoodPriceTruth.org in an attempt to break through the clutter and be heard on the food versus fuel issue that is being distorted by the media, Big Food and Big Oil.
Food Price Truth is supported by donations from several biofuels stakeholders,including advanced biofuels companies. Their mission is to “provide a clearinghouse of information designed to set the record straight on the domestic and worldwide food crisis.”
Hopefully they will be heard.
Quick Shot
by Jackie Helling on Jun 27, 2008Fact vs. Fiction
Bob Dinneen of the RFA has done an interview with Mark Haines of CNBC about ethanol’s true role in rising food prices.
Dinneen urges CNBC’s audience to focus on the real issues at hand, namely weather, speculation, and most importantly, high oil prices.
Clean Energy
by Robin Speer on Jun 27, 2008Next-generation ethanol and RFS arrive in Canada
As oil hit yet another all-time high yesterday at $140 per barrel, some outstanding news came in a major announcement out west in Edmonton, Alberta, where GreenField Ethanol and Enerkem announced they are going to be building the world’s first industrial scale municipal waste-to-ethanol facility in the city of Edmonton, Alberta. The $70-million next-generation renewable fuels plant will initially produce 36 million litres of ethanol from inedible non-recyclable waste products every year.
Later in the afternoon in Canada’s capital of Ottawa, the federal renewable fuel standard (RFS) became law, which will require 5% renewable content in gasoline by 2010, and 2% renewable content in diesel by no later than 2012. The federal RFS and commercial cellulosic ethanol plant bring great news for the environment, farmers, drivers, and all Canadians.
Balanced Research
by Chuck Zimmerman on Jun 25, 2008Finding Co-Products in Cellulosic Ethanol Production
The Farm Foundation just concluded a conference in their series titled, “Transition To A Bio Economy.” This one was on risk, infrastructure and industry evolution and all the presentations were on biofuels. I conducted a series of interviews with the presenters which you can find with this link.
There were a lot of interesting topics like this one on co-products with cellulosic ethanol production. We hear more about co-products with corn ethanol but apparently there are some promising new options with cellulosic. Danielle Julie Carrier, Arkansas State University is doing work on that subject.
She’s working with switchgrass and they’ve found that if you wash the feedstock prior to the pre-treatment for ethanol production that you get a water mix with flavonoids which help reduce bad cholesterol. Co-products like this have potential and may help make the production of cellulosic ethanol more attractive.
You can listen to my interview with Julie here:
Relying on Imported Fuel
by Cindy Zimmerman on Jun 25, 2008Flex Fuel Fighting
Author Robert Zubrin has a simple idea for winning the war on terror. Make every car sold in the country flex-fuel.
During his address at the 2008 Fuel Ethanol Workshop, Zubrin made his point by using the analogy of a card game where there is a trump suit that defeats all others and the strategy is for your side to hold most the cards in that trump suit. “It’s the same way in energy,” Zubrin said. “There’s four suits, there’s oil, coal, natural gas and biomass. And right now oil is the trump suit.”
That’s because right now there is mainly one way to power vehicles and that is petroleum products. Zubrin says the key is to change that trump suit and biomass is the best alternative - and the best way to change the suit is by mandating flex-fuel vehicles to give consumers a real choice at the pump. This is essentially the way that Brazil has gone about its transition to an ethanol-fueled economy.
Zubrin’s idea, which is outlined in his book “Energy Victory,” has been gaining some traction and is certainly getting lots of publicity. He is in high demand as a speaker and was selling books by the carton at the FEW. This Saturday, June 28, he will be featured on CSPAN-2’s Book TV.
If you have never heard this guy talk, take 45 minutes and listen to his talk from FEW. It makes so much sense, it’s scary.
The only problem with this idea is that it may be too simple. But, if Congress does ultimately embrace it, I’m sure they will find a way to complicate it.
Ethanol News- Oil prices, weak dollar caused food price rally: study | Reuters.com
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- Perry's airfare paid for by Poultry leader | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
- Unleashing the power of corncobs - BostonHerald.com
- The Canadian Press: Harper says biofuels likely a small factor in rising cost of food
- Alabama Economist: Corn Is Not the Primary Cause Of Food Price Spikes
- Perry requested ethanol waiver after $100,000 gift to GOP group | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle