GoodFuels

Ethanol Celebrates Silver

Considering that ethanol was a virtual unknown as little as five years ago, most people would be amazed to know that some people have been working to make this fuel part of the nation’s energy portfolio for more than 25 years.

This week in Denver, thousands of ethanol industry representatives are gathered for the 25th annual Fuel Ethanol Workshop, the largest and oldest conference dedicated to ethanol in the world. BBI International owns and organizes the event and CEO Mike Bryan opened the conference Tuesday morning with his reflections on the difficult time the industry is experiencing. “Ethanol is the only domestic liquid fuel that we have,” said Bryan. “The image that ethanol has is the root of our problems.” He called on people in the industry to work harder to improving ethanol’s image, especially on the local level. “It’s time we take back control of this industry. It’s time we take back control of our message. It’s time we take back control of our image,” Bryan said.

Listen to Bryan’s speech here:

In a highly emotional moment during the opening session, Mike’s wife Kathy was honored with the FEW High Octane award for a lifetime of commitment to the ethanol industry and son Tom accepted the award in her place. This is the second year in a row that her battle with cancer has prevented Kathy from attending the conference she originally started 25 years ago, but she did record a message that was played for those in attendance at the general session. “I’m usually here behind the podium giving this award, so it’s a little awkward to be receiving it this year,” Kathy said. “I can only tell you that I am truly honored and very proud to be part of the huge team of ethanol pioneers.”

Listen to Kathy’s message here:

The first FEW held 25 years ago started with just a couple dozen dreamers like Kathy who saw the potential for our nation to grow and produce a renewable source of liquid fuel. Many are still in the industry today and in Denver this week working to keep that dream alive.