Did you know there are currently 2837 E85 stations in the United States located in 1945 cities? If you’re not sure where your nearest station is, the US Department of Energy has a website that can locate it for you.
Click here to check it out.
Permalink + Share ThisClaiming to be an effort to reign in federal subsidies, Senator Coburn (R-OK) and his fellow anti-ethanol legislators snuck in an amendment to end investment in America’s ethanol industry. A closer look at the motives of Sen. Coburn and his Senate allies reveal they are covered in oil.
Over the last years, Sen. Coburn and his colleagues have received more $4 million in political contributions from the oil and gas industry. Although large contributions from oil companies are no secret, this amendment does show that there is more behind the amendment than simply cutting federal subsidies. As Matt Hartwig from the Renewable Fuels Associates suggests:
“This effort has more to do with oil-patch politics than it does national energy security and responsible fiscal policy. If this were a true effort to reign in federal energy subsidies, than the tens of billions of dollars given to mature energy industries like petroleum would be included in this amendment.”
This amendment is a ploy to keep Americans at the mercy of foreign oil and rising prices while a select few reap the political and monetary benefits. Killing ethanol investment would also mean snuffing innovation and stifling growth that can bring prosperity to many Americans.
To read more about Sen. Coburn’s amendment, click here.
Permalink + Share ThisTwo gas stations on opposite sides of the St. Croix River will compete to sell the most E85 fuel on June 2. The Freedom Valu Center in Maplewood, Minnesota and River Hills BP in Somerset, Wisconsin will sell their E85 fuel at a $.85 cent discount between 4-6 p.m. Thursday as a way to promote the use of cleaner fuels.
The ethanol-based fuel can save drivers money as well as improve the quality of air we breathe. The beginning of summer is also the kickoff for ozone season, the main ingredient of smog. Using the ethanol based fuel E85 can combat the increase of smog during summer months and decrease the risk of adverse health effects including asthma.
The promotions are supported by the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, Wisconsin Corn Growers Association, Bob & Steve’s BP Amoco Shops, Erickson Oil, American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest and MN & WI Clean Air Choice Teams.
Permalink + Share ThisAn updated list of gas stations in Wisconsin that offer E85 is now available, using data compiled by the Wisconsin Office of Energy Independence.
There are currently 125 stations across the state that offer the fuel, with another six opening in the near future.
To download the list, and find a station near you, please click here.
Permalink + Share ThisDear Secretary Vilsack:
As the price of corn rises due to a number of environmental and societal factors, opponents of domestically produced biofuels have once again begun to engage in the unfounded “food vs. fuel” attacks that have harmed the industry over the past several years.
Indirectly contributing to the problem is the fact that the US Department of Agriculture provides the monthly “corn demand for ethanol” without specifying that some of that corn is used for ethanol production, while more than one-third is resold as dried distillers grains. In doing so, the USDA is not accurately presenting the amount of corn that is converted directly into ethanol, but rather inflating the amount by including co-products in the overall demand figures.
If the ethanol industry it to continue to fight “food vs. fuel” claims, it is imperative that we articulate the entirety of the ethanol production process, which includes not just the production of fuel, but high-quality animal feed and other co-products as well. By altering its reporting methods, the USDA would be able to provide a more accurate portrayal of corn demand for ethanol and eliminate one false route of attack for those who are anti-ethanol.
In Wisconsin, our plants combined produce more than 500 million gallons of ethanol per year, contributing billions of dollars to our state economy and employing thousands of people across the state. Throughout your time as Governor of Iowa and as Agriculture Secretary, you have been an outspoken advocate of ethanol and the biofuel industry in general, and we thank you for your continued support.
We hope that you will consider revising USDA reporting methods and helping us counter the false claims that ethanol forces us to sacrifice food for fuel, and we look forward to working with you in the coming years to continue growing our industry across the country.
Sincerely,
Western Wisconsin Energy
Didion Ethanol
Ace Ethanol
Badger State Ethanol
Marquis Energy
At the Renewable Fuels Association’s National Ethanol Conference this week, ethanol leaders from around the country meet to discuss the future of the industry.
Bob Dinneen, RFA CEO, will give the State of the Industry Address. Dinneen’s column this month, ‘Speaking with One Voice,’ calls for unity and focus.
“It is critically important that, as Congress and the country debate and decide energy policy, the ethanol industry will be speaking with one voice. That’s why the recent announcement that companies developing the next generation of advanced ethanol technologies are working together with the ethanol industry’s trade organization, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), through the formation of the Advanced Ethanol Council (AEC) is so significant.”
Read more of Dinneen’s column: Speaking with One Voice: RFA chief calls for biofuels unity
Permalink + Share ThisA USDA report has good news about ethanol’s net energy gain: it has increased substantially – 10 percent — in the last 20 years. Higher yields mean less corn is needed to produce ethanol. Corn yields have increased 39 percent. What this means for ethanol is that it now produces more energy than is used to make it.
The report, “2008 Energy Balance for the Corn-Ethanol industry,” states “A dry grind ethanol plant that produces and sells dry distiller’s grains and uses conventional fossil fuel power for thermal energy and electricity produces nearly two times more energy in the form of ethanol delivered to customers than it uses for corn, processing, and transportation. The ratio is about 2.3 BTU of ethanol for 1 BTU of energy in inputs, when a more generous means of removing byproduct energy is employed. ”
The USDA also has good news for dry mills using up to 50 percent biomass power: “The energy output for these plants is near 2.8 times energy inputs, even using the conservative byproduct allowance.”
The report concludes that ethanol has made a substantial net energy gain, and “there are still prospects for improvement.”
Read more at the USDA Blog: USDA Report Shows Improving Corn-Ethanol Energy Efficiency
Permalink + Share ThisWBIA President Bob Sather recently wrote the follwoing letter to the editor to the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram in response to a recent editorial they ran calling for the end of ethanol subsidies.
To the Editor:
In its editorial page on National View “End costly ethanol subsidies,” the article failed to provide its readers any context, mislead them about the nature of U.S. ethanol production and offered no alternative to replace America’s addiction to oil. The amount of ethanol produced nationally last year was about equal to the amount of oil this country imported from Saudi Arabia. A study by Merrill Lynch cites that gasoline would be about $35 cents more without ethanol as a product in the motor fuel supply.
First, calling for an end to tax credits for ethanol while ignoring the billions of PERMANENT tax subsidies for Big Oil (the World Bank cites $500 billion last year) is as inequitable as it is shortsighted. Despite all members of Congress wanting more renewable energy technologies, they come before Congress with hat in hand for high risk investment. The oil industry, by comparison, only lobbies when the permanent subsidies it enjoys are threatened.
Second, American ethanol is a success story. Only lamenting the value of the tax credit for ethanol without discussing the economic benefits ethanol is misleading. For example, federal tax revenue generated by the production of ethanol and use of ethanol totaled more than $8 billion in 2009, $3 billion more than the value of the tax credit. Jobs and economic opportunity delivered to hundreds of rural communities further add to the value of investment in domestic ethanol production.
Third, the article suggests there are better technologies available without providing any evidence. There is no gasoline alternative technology that can match ethanol’s availability, production volume, or oil displacement benefits. Moreover, continued investment in ethanol is required to ensure promising next generation biofuel technologies, such as cellulosic ethanol for commercialization. Ending investment in ethanol will result in more oil consumption and severely curtail investment in new renewable fuel technologies.
Accordingly, this is a question of priorities. If the goal of assumption of the article is a level energy playing field, then it should call for the elimination of all tax provisions benefitting every energy industry – oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear, wind, solar, etc. Finally, if the real priority is ending our addiction to oil, then eliminating the permanent tax breaks for Big Oil and investing those dollars in renewable fuel technologies should be our goal.
Bob Sather
Wisconsin Bio Industry Alliance
11010 161st Street
Chippewa Falls, WI 54729
The world’s largest ethanol bus fleet is getting even bigger. Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (SL), the Stockholm regional transport company is adding 85 new ethanol powered buses to their fleet.
It’s part of an ambitious goal by SL’s owner, the Stockholm County Council, to use renewable fuels in at least 50 percent of all passenger transport by 2012. They’re already well on their way to hitting their target, having reached nearly 30 percent already.
Stockholm is setting an excellent example for the rest of the world. They are aiming big, and following through. Their efforts show the rest of us that it can be done.
As the EPA stalls to increase the ethanol blend rate, other countries are advancing green technologies and reducing their carbon footprint. It’s time the U.S. pushes forward with the same dedication that has been shown in Stockholm.
Permalink + Share This
