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.
In a 2005 paper entitled “Oil and the Macroeconomy“, James Hamilton of the Department of Economics at the
University of California, San Diego, drew a parallel between oil prices and economic recession.
“Nine out of ten of the U.S. recessions since World War II were preceded by a spike up in oil prices,” Hamilton begins his paper. He goes on to discuss the complicated economic theory behind why this has occurred.
That was in 2005, before oil hit $148 a barrel. Now we find ourselves in what many are calling the deepest recession in the last 70 years. The only way we can mitigate the impacts of volatile world oil prices is to use something else, like ethanol. Every gallon of domestic renewable fuel we use is one less we must obtain from the world market. 3 billion cars will soon be on the world’s roads and competition for fuel will be fierce. The time to develop renewable alternatives is now, lest we risk continuing this cycle of oil price spikes and economic collapses.
If you’re going on vacation this summer, then plan on entering the Renewable Fuels Association’s Summer Photo Contest, announced today.
Take a photo of yourself on vacation, Anywhere, doing anything. The most creative stand a chance to win a $1000 fuel gift card.
As a bonus, not only are $10 fuel cards awarded for the first 500 submissions, but the photo with the most votes will win a $100 fuel card, and four weekly random drawings will be held for $100 fuel cards.
There are so many opportunities to win some cool prizes. Get out those digital cameras and capture your craziest, most unforgettable moments. Be sure to enter before the contest closes on July 31st.
The contest is free to enter for anyone over the age of 18. Click here for more details.
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) held a telephone press conference the day before EPA’s public hearing June 9 on the proposed rulemaking for the Renewable Fuels Standard. A number of reporters, ranging from national news services to farm and environmental publications, tuned in and asked some good questions about the impact of EPA’s calculation of indirect land use changes and other aspects of the proposed rule.
In this edition of “The Ethanol Report,” RFA president Bob Dinneen and vice president for research Geoff Cooper answer questions from Martin Ross of Illinois Farm Week, Chuck Abbott of Reuters, Steven Cook with the Daily Environment Report, Ed Felker of the Washington Times and Dan Looker with Successful Farming magazine.
You can listen to “The Ethanol Report” on-line here:
Or you can subscribe to this podcast by following this link.
A new E85 station opened this morning at the Navy Exchange in Everett, Washington. The station will be open to military personnel as well as the civilian population.
“The availability of an alternative fuel supply on base clearly helps decrease NAVSTA’s “carbon footprint.” Plus, we now have an opportunity to do something for the environment every single day of the year, and not just an annual event to observe Earth Day-type programs,” said CAPT Thomas Mascolo, NAVSTA Everett Commanding Officer.
Another station opens in a state outside of the traditional “Corn Belt” - all evidence that ethanol is making itself known across the country. Hopefully that will lead to widespread use. Congrats Everett and to the Naval Station!