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Company expands ethanol plant ownership outside Iowa

November 30, 2011 By

A Kansas-based company that owns four Iowa ethanol plants is buying a biodiesel plant in southeast Nebraska. Flint Hills Resources is purchasing the plant in Beatrice for $5-million. It cost $52-million to build the plant in 2007 but Beatrice Biodiesel filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and the plant never opened. Beatrice city attorney Tobias Tempelmeyer says he’s encouraged by the sale.

“The bankruptcy court will now have to approve the purchase by Flint Hills Resources,” Tempelmeyer says. “I think they have pre-approval from the bankruptcy trustee and bankruptcy judge already for the sale so I don’t expect it to take long for a final blessing from the court.”

The initial plan was to use soybean oil to create diesel fuel and a byproduct, glycerine. Reports say the new company will make use of another product to make biodiesel. Tempelmeyer says, “We’re happy to see the plant get sold and finally be put into some hands we hope will make it productive, open it up and begin operation.”

Flint Hills, based in Wichita, Kansas, also runs four Iowa ethanol plants in: Menlo, Shell Rock, Fairbank and Iowa Falls.

By Doug Kennedy, KWBE, Beatrice

Filed Under: Business, News Tagged With:

Branstad touts wind energy tax credit; Perry wants all energy subsidies to end

November 16, 2011 By

Governor Terry Branstad warns Iowa’s wind energy industry will be “severely damaged” if the federal tax credit for wind energy is allowed to expire at the end of 2012 — while a fellow Republican governor who’s seeking the presidency proposes an end to all tax breaks for energy-related companies.

GOP presidential hopeful Rick Perry has called for an end to all federal energy subsidies, including tax breaks for wind energy.

“For states to compete like that, I don’t have a problem in the world. I think that’s how our founding fathers saw the states, as laboratories of innovation. Let states, you know, compete however they think it’s best whether it’s with tax policy or regulatory structure or a legal system or whether it’s putting incentives in place for certain types of energy,” Perry said during an interview with Radio Iowa. “But the federal government should not be in the business of picking winners and losers, period.”

Texas is the number one state for wind energy production. Iowa is number two. Branstad said in a letter to leaders of the U.S. House and Senate that wind-related manufacturing is starting to slow in Iowa because there’s uncertainty about the federal tax break for the industry. Branstad’s calling on congress to act now to extend the wind energy tax break. Perry, meanwhile, said he has no “hard” deadline in mind for the repeal of energy subsidies. 

“I would remove all of those tax cuts and subsidies from the energy industry and let the marketplace choose those winners,” Perry said.

Tax breaks for ethanol and solar power are set to expire soon; ending many of the tax breaks for oil and gas would require congressional action. Oil and gas subsidies should be “phased out” according to Perry, but he’s not offering a timeline. Perry said he has no “hard date” in mind for the end of the ethanol subsidy either, but it should be “phased out over a reasonable period of time.”

“I feel very comfortable that Iowa farmers are going to be able to compete with anybody in the world,” Perry told Radio Iowa this week.

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association has criticized Perry’s call for ending the federal requirement that a certain amount of ethanol be produced each year. The group charges that Perry’s energy plan is focused exclusively on oil and gas and would put “America’s domestic, renewable fuels at a severe disadvantage.”

Filed Under: News, Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

Rail cars loaded with ethanol derail in Dubuque

September 7, 2011 By

Part of a Canadian National Railway train left the tracks in Dubuque this morning near the Mississippi River. Dubuque city spokesperson, Randy Gehl, says no one was injured in the accident.

He says there were nine cars involved and several of the cars that carried ethanol turned on their side. Gehl says they were lucky that the cars stayed intact after derailing. “There was no ethanol that leaked out, obviously that was a concern, it is a combustible liquid obviously,” Gehl says, “also with this location, these rail tracks are down near our riverfront very close to the ice harbor, so any time an accident like this occurs along the river, contamination is a concern as well.”

Gehl says work is already underway to clean up the derailment. He says crews arrived around 8:30 this morning to put the cars back on the track and he believes they will not have to be emptied before they can be put back up on the track. Gehl says the derailment did create some traffic backups this morning.

Gehl says highways 151, 61 and 52 are all in the area and the northbound lane has been closed and is expected to be closed most of the day in what he says is a very busy area of the downtown. Gehl is not sure what caused the derailment.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters Tagged With:

E-85 sales set record in second quarter

August 31, 2011 By

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says Iowans used more gas blended with 85% corn-based ethanol in the second quarter of this year than ever before. Association executive director, Monte Shaw, says the sales from April to June were encouraging.

Shaw says Iowans pumped nearly 3.7-million gallons of E-85 into their gas tanks, which was an all-time high for the state. Shaw says the price of the highest blend of ethanol available is the reason for the increase.

Shaw says there were large spreads between the price of E-85 and gas with less or no ethanol and people saw a way to save some money. He says the price spread between the fuels has narrowed, but he says it is still a good bargain, it helps Iowan farmers and cuts our dependence on foreign oil.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Agriculture, Business Tagged With: ,

Perry wants a “level playing field” & an end to ethanol mandate (audio)

August 27, 2011 By

Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry says it’s time for the federal government to quit picking winners and losers, and that includes federal efforts to boost the ethanol industry.

Perry, the governor of oil-rich Texas, opposes the federal “renewable fuels standard” which requires a certain amount of corn-based ethanol be produced in the U.S. each year.

“I’d like to see a level playing field for all of the energy producers in this country,” Perry told reporters in Iowa tonight.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Agriculture, Business, Politics & Government Tagged With: , , ,

Federal program will give funding to new biofuel plants

August 16, 2011 By

The U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Energy and Navy announced today they will invest up to $510-million during the next three years in partnership with the private sector to produce advanced aviation and marine biofuels to power military and commercial transportation. The plan will require a one-to-one match cost share from private industry.

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, joined his counterparts for the announcement. Vilsack says this is unique because it combines the resources of three departments to address all of the risks associated with getting the industry to a point where it can deliver the product on a reliable, sustainable basis.

Vilsack says the plan creates economic opportunities in rural areas of the country that have historically had high poverty and high unemployment. Navy Secretary, Ray Maybus, says the proposal uses the Defense Production Act.

He says the act says if industries are not existent in the U-S, but are vital to national security, then the government can help those industries get off the ground. Maybus says the biofuels would reduce the Navy’s reliance on foreign oil. Vilsack, the former Iowa governor, says the plan could be used by companies in Iowa and across the country.

Vilsack says they hope to see quite a bit of interest, as they are providing resources for the construction of the commercial size plants, help with the feedstocks and a “ready made” customer in the U.S. Navy. The new fuels would use everything from wood chips, to grasses and wheat stock to make the biofuels, with the goal of creating a renewable source of fuel.

 The announcement was made in a conference call as part of the president’s economic development tour.

Filed Under: Agriculture, Business, Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

Group hopes to show off ethanol to reporters covering Straw Poll

August 11, 2011 By

With hundreds of political reporters from across the globe in Iowa to cover Saturday’s Republican Party Straw Poll, ethanol advocates are offering journalists tours of farms and fuel factories to get their message out. Iowa Renewable Fuels Association executive director, Monte Shaw, says he wants to give reporters who aren’t familiar with biofuels the chance to learn how the industry benefits Iowa and America.

Shaw says, “We thought, hey, we’ve got 700 reporters coming to Iowa to cover these events around the Iowa Straw Poll this Saturday, let’s provide them with some opportunities to see first-hand what modern agriculture and modern renewable fuels production is all about.”

Reporters are invited to visit a multi-generational farm to learn how ethanol affects the bottom line. There’s also a tour of an ethanol plant and a state-of-the-art cattle operation near Nevada where livestock are fed ethanol byproducts. Shaw says he’s not getting many takers, so far.

“I’m a little disappointed,” Shaw says. “There has not been as much interest as we would have hoped. We know they have lots of responsibilities and we didn’t expect the vast majority of the people to be interested, but we thought if we could pick off ten or 20 folks that decided to take an hour out of their day to actually learn about what they’re covering, that would be good.”

Another perk of taking the tour, reporters will have an opportunity to drive a vehicle powered by 85% ethanol.

By Dan Skelton, KICD, Spencer

Filed Under: Business, Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,
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