New Holland Loves Biodiesel

When it comes to biodiesel in farm machinery, New Holland is outstanding in the field.

At the National Farm Machinery Show, most of the New Holland equipment on display proudly displayed soybean biodiesel signage, and company representatives wore buttons proclaiming their support for the domestically-produced fuel. “New Holland has a strong commitment to not only be a part of biodiesel, but also to be a leader in the industry as far as future fuel usage is concerned,” New Holland regional service manager Phil Cobb said at the farm show. He says it was natural for their company to take the lead. “Mainly because our customers are in the soybean areas and grow soybeans,” said Cobb. “Not only does it support farming, we also use the fuel. It’s important for the ag industry to be on the leading edge.”

Cobb says all New Holland equipment is approved for a minimum of five percent biodiesel, with the large combines approved for 100 percent and many of the tractors approved for up to 20 percent.

Listen to my interview with Phil from NFMS here:

A Biodiesel Family

ZimmCast 249In case you can’t tell, I’m a big fan of the music of Emily Richards and Jason Brock since I first met them at a National Biodiesel Conference years ago. The photo is from one of the screens that was displaying them during their time on stage at the conference and I thought it looked cool.

Emily Richards and Jason BrockEmily announced that she and Jason have been working on a music project since last year’s conference. They’re using a service called CCMixster and have published the first of three albums. This first one is available for a free download right now. It’s already on my iPhone.

Emily says they wanted to create an album of music on biodiesel. They created a project called, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Remix” or R4. They had about 50 musical contributions from the CCMixter community. The Brown album is the first of what will now be 3 albums. You can learn more about how the R4 project worked with this link.

After the final general session concluded I interviewed Emily and Jason along with CCMixster member Bob Nunnally. Jason describes the CCMixster community and how it fits in well with the biodiesel community. This week’s program contains that interview as well as a song from the Brown album called, “Biodiesel Family.”

National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsors, Novus International, and Leica Geosytems for their support.

You can listen to this week’s ZimmCast below.

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired. Subscribe so you can listen when and where you want. Just go to our a Subscribe page.

MN Soybean Grower Addresses Biodiesel Conference

Ed HeglundToday’s National Biodiesel Conference general session featured National Biodiesel Board Chairman Ed Hegland. He’s completing his final term as Chairman.

He started his comments by reminding everyone that today is the anniversary of daylight savings time which was created to conserve on our energy supply during World War I. It was an innovative idea then and when it comes to the innovative work the industry is doing today he says, “We’re here to fuel change.”

Ed pointed out that there are members of all segments of the petroleum industry here today and they participated in a panel discussion after his comments. I’ll post that shortly. He presented some of the findings from a research study done by NBB on consumers and their awareness and perceptions of biodiesel. He says the study finds that consumers who are aware of biodiesel have a favorable opinion of it. He also talks about being a soybean farmer and the incredible technology that is allowing him to grow more with less.

You can listen to Ed’s speech below.

National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

Social Media Presentation at Biodiesel Conference

The east coast weather has sure created some problems. We felt the impact here at the National Biodiesel Conference when some of the presenters couldn’t make it here. I volunteered to fill in on an afternoon panel with a focus on new consumer messaging research and the use of social media. I was social media.

Like my session with Chicago Farmers last Saturday I found that most of the almost 100 attendees in our session are on Facebook and a number of them are on Twitter. If you’d like to see how the tweets are going for the conference then just search the #NBB10 hashtag.

That is me on the left tweeting away.

Biodiesel Industry Future Is Bright

Joe JobeThe CEO of the National Biodiesel Board, Joe Jobe, was on stage to welcome a standing room only crowd at the opening general session to the Conference. He opened up with a political theme to his remarks.

As the folks in the opening video stated very clearly, this last year has been a huge struggle for our industry. With the economic recession, volatile diesel prices, the credit crisis, the blocking of export markets, the delayed implementation of the RFS-2…., even with the tax credit in place, 2009 was really tough. I heard several NBB members say over the course of this year…. “well, the bright side is that it can’t get any worse”. I’ve learned its best not to say that. Because we’ve seen over last 39 days that it could get worse while we have had neither the RFS-2 nor the tax credit in place. The industry has shut down, businesses are going under, jobs are being lost. Its been like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Our top priority remains getting the tax credit reinstated retroactively as quickly as possible.

Joe says that implementation of the new RFS-2 is going to be very complex so three of the sessions coming up will focus on the subject. He also went on to look ahead on a positive note.

But the good news is that when we get this tax credit turned back on, we will be where we set out to be four years ago. Now is not the time to waiver, or turn back, or to run. Let’s stay together and get this done. Let’s get this industry back in business. We can do this!
Besides potentially doubling our production levels for biodiesel this calendar year, the RFS-2 does something else that is very important. It establishes very conclusively under EPA guidelines and federal law, that biodiesel is an advanced biofuel, because it meets the criteria and definition of advanced biofuel under the law. And the reality behind that is that biodiesel is currently the only advanced biofuel that is commercially available nationwide.

You can listen to Joe’s speech below.

National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

Burning Some Biodiesel

We’re having a blast here in Grapevine, TX at the National Biodiesel Conference. It was a little brisk this morning our media ride and drive event. But I got to ride in a new Chevy truck that was fueled with B20 from Classic Clean Fuels. My driver was National Biodiesel Board Vice Chairman Gary Haer, Renewable Energy Group. Also along for the ride was Senior Communications Adviser for NBB, Jenna Higgins Rose. So ride along with us and hear about what’s new from GM in the future.

National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

Grapevine Biodiesel

Hello from Grapevine, TX and the Gaylord Texan at the start opening day of the 2010 Conference. This morning members of the media (including yours truly) will partake in a ride and drive to see this year’s line-up of new 2010 and 2011 clean diesel vehicles powered by biodiesel blends. We’ll be doing that at Classic Clean Fuels, a nearby fueling station selling alternative fuels. Then we’ll be off to a tour of Direct Fuels Biodiesel Plant.

I’ll also be posting onto the National Biodiesel Conference Blog for the 5th year. That will be my main posting location as well as Domestic Fuel but I’ll be including stories for you here as well. I know. Just like I have Multiple Twitter Personality Disorder (MTPD), I also have a similar affliction called Multiple Blog Posting Disease (MBPD).

This afternoon we’ll be partying Super Bowl/Biodiesel style so go team (insert your favorite).

‘Bout Time For Biodiesel Blogging

After my presentations tomorrow at the Chicago Farmers Farmland Investment Fair I’ll be off to Dallas for the National Biodiesel Conference and I’ll be the Biodiesel Blogger for the 5th year!

I’d like to thank New Holland for their sponsorship of the National Biodiesel Conference Blog this year and their support for the biodiesel industry.

You can subscribe to the Biodiesel Conference Blog using the RSS Feed Link. We’ll also be podcasting our audio interviews again and that subscription link is here.

In addition to my posts on the NBC Blog I’ll also be posting onto our DomesticFuel.com website and even right here on AgWired.

Ag and Biofuels Industry React to Renewable Fuel Rule

epaOrganizations representing both biofuels and agriculture are pretty happy overall with EPA’s release of final rules for the implementation of the second phase of the Renewable Fuel Standard, or RFS2.

“We’re pleased the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognizes that corn ethanol provides a distinct advantage over conventional gasoline when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, with a reduction of more than 21 percent in some cases,” said National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) President Darrin Ihnen. “This means that all corn ethanol including existing grandfathered capacity and new production will qualify to meet the conventional biofuels targets in the RFS.”

American Farm Bureau Federation president Bob Stallman says that they are encouraged by the rule because it “will help keep the nation’s renewable fuel standards on a path toward greater energy independence. By raising the volume of biofuels available for our nation’s transportation fuel supply, the administration is building on the strong bipartisan efforts that began years ago to provide a home-grown solution to the energy challenges facing our nation.”

Ethanol and biodiesel organizations were also pleased with the rule, which was changed from the initial proposal to be more favorable to first generation biofuels. See all their reactions on our sister site Domestic Fuel.com including a podcast with details from administration officials and comments from major biofuels groups.

However, while overall reaction has been favorable, all organizations are expressing concern about EPA’s continued reliance on the unproven theory of indirect land use change, which penalizes domestic biofuels production on the basis that it results in more land put into production globally in areas like the Amazon rain forest. “Removing the impacts from the international indirect land use theory means that corn ethanol actually provides a 52 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, compared to gasoline,” said NCGA’s Ihnen. “The EPA is not considering similar indirect impacts of petroleum-based fuels, so why are they so stringent when it comes to green, renewable corn ethanol?”

Read the EPA announcement here.

Best Bioenergy Feedstocks Highlighted at AG CONNECT

The Bioenergy Feedstocks session was a good value during the AG CONNECT Expo last week in Orlando, Fla. There were three main topics: winter and double crops, perennial energy grasses and the types of public policy needed to ensure second generation biofuels.

BioenergyFeedstocksDr. Tom Richard, Associate Professor with Pennsylvania State University, kicked off the session discussing the agricultural value of adding winter crops or double crops to a farmer’s rotation. An example of a winter crop that would be suitable for Pennsylvania is winter rye. Once harvested, the crop could be used for cellulosic ethanol. An example of a double crop would be planning a grain such as barley in the spring followed by a summer crop such as corn or soybean. Richard noted that when most people do a biomass potential study, they don’t factor in winter crops and double crops, thus reducing the amount of biofuels that could be produced on the same amount of land currently in production.

Dr. John Erickson, Associate Professor from the University of Florida, is an expert in studying perennial grasses for their potential as energy crops. These can include sugarcane, energycane, elephant grasses, miscanthus, giant reed, switchgrass and sorghum. In early trials, energycane and elephant grasses are doing well. Erickson also noted that the grasses tend to help improve soil quality and water use (they use less) and that the Southeast is likely to be the epicenter of cellulosic development.

Of particular note during Antonio Bento’s presentation, who is an Associate Professor at Cornell University is that through his economic studies of biofuels, found that corn-ethanol is in insignificant cause of higher food prices. The true cause is the country’s dependence on foreign oil. He also found that corn-ethanol is not a good indicator of increased carbon dioxide through indirect land use. He also stressed that market price will be the utlimate indicator of the success of biofuels.

Ultimately, the session can be summed up with this key thought shared by all the speakers, “Biofuels may offer advantages but the magnitude depends on how they are grown,” said Bento.

AG CONNECT Expo Photo Album

Biodiesel Alliance and Backers Supported by New Holland

New Holland BiodieselNew Holland, one of the sponsors of our coverage of the Farm Progress Show was the first company of its kind to join The Biodiesel Alliance. To talk about it I spoke with Gene Hemphill, New Holland and Tom Verry, National Biodiesel Board. NBB was the founder of the Alliance.

The Biodiesel Alliance is a diverse coalition of organizations, agencies and businesses from across the nation who find common ground in their support for biodiesel fuel. Founded and managed by the National Biodiesel Board, the Biodiesel Alliance supports information sharing and opportunities to help advance the use of clean-burning, renewable biodiesel fuel that meets high industry standards. As a result, the Biodiesel Alliance is instrumental in helping others to recognize the benefits of biodiesel to human health, the environment, national energy security and the US economy.

Gene and New Holland have been big supporters of the biodiesel industry since the days when it was called soydiesel. The company has been innovative in warranting their tractors on blends of biodiesel fuel up to 100 percent. They’ve also encouraged their dealers to join the alliance and many, many people to join the Biodiesel Backers.

Tom says the number one issue facing the industry right now is the proposed RFS2 that EPA has put forth and for which they’re soliciting comments until later this month. The proposed regs require 1 billion gallons of biomass biodiesel by 2012. That should be accomplished mostly by biodiesel but EPA is penalizing biodiesel through its measurement of its carbon score from the controversial indirect land use issue. He says they’re failing to take into account things like increased efficiency and production of soybeans.

You can listen to my interview with Gene and Tom below:

Farm Progress Show Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2009 Farm Progress Show
is sponsored by: BASF and New Holland

Biodiesel Powered Sleds

Chuck interviews Donnie BungartWhat do you think of when you hear that there’s a sled running on biodiesel? Probably not thinking tractor pull sled are you? Unless you’re a tractor pull fan. Well those big machines that the tractors and trucks pull are also diesel powered and in Jefferson City, MO there’s a company that manufactures them and runs them on biodiesel.

The company is Bungart Motor Sports and I learned about if from Donnie Bungart. Thanks to Tom Steever, Brownfield Network, for the picture.

Bungart Biodiesel SledDonnie says they do over 160 shows a year around the country. At the Midwest Extreme Truck and Tractor Pull in Jefferson City he says they had two sleds in operation. He says they run B20 in them and have been for over 3 years very successfully. Donnie says they’ve had a lot of luck locating the fuel when they need it, especially at major truck stops.

So if you’re not a tractor pulling enthusiast you might ask, “What’s a sled?” Donnie says it’s a weight transfer machine. It starts out not weighing much but as the tractor pulls it more and more weight is transferred which ultimately stops the tractor. At least we hope! Thanks again to the United Soybean Board for inviting me out to the tractor pull.

You can listen to my interview with Donnie below:

NCGA Talking Land Use

NCGA Land Use ConferenceThe NCGA Land Use and Carbon Impacts of Corn-Based Ethanol Conference is underway here at the Renaissance hotel by the St. Louis airport. This is our first panel discussion on “Emission Factors and Land Use Change Modeling” which is being moderated by Geoff Cooper, Renewable Fuels Association. We’re talking some very involved talks on things like Lifecycle Greenhouse Gas Analysis, Measuring Indirect Land Use from Biofuels, Analysis of the RFS and more.

This conference is dealing with some issues that are vitally important to everyone in agribusiness and I will be conducting some interviews with our panelists and presenters this afternoon and will be posting them in coming days.

Although I’m shooting photos with my Nikon, I’m also making a photo album of iPhone photos which you can find here: NCGA Land Use Conference Photo Album

Rocking and Rolling With New Holland/Michael Peterson

Chuck Leavell and Joe JobeHere are two biofuels promoters. Chuck Leavell, Rolling Stones (left) and Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board. They were race contestants in the New Holland/Michael Peterson Celebrity Tractor Race.

I caught both of them in the tent for a short interview. It was very noisy. They were having a lot of fun. Of course when I interviewed them Chuck had just completed his race. Joe says we had biodiesel in the tank of the New Holland Boomer that was being used for the race. He says, “Hats off to New Holland, Michael Peterson and Chuck Leavell.” Chuck not only supports biodiesel but ethanol as well since he’s a tree farmer and very interested in cellulosic ethanol production.

Here’s Joe doing his competition run:

2009 CMA Music Festival Photo Album

You can listen to my interview with Chuck and Joe here:

Learning About Biodiesel on Satellite Radio

Truckers and others learned about biodiesel on the Dave Nemo Show yesterday when NBB CEO, Joe Jobe, got behind the microphone with him and Michael Peterson. I recorded a segment for you on video. With support from New Holland, this program has been an annual deal. Perhaps Joe and Dave can get together more often now since fuel has become such an important issue, especially with the price volatility we’ve seen in the last couple years.

Dave Nemo Goes Biodiesel

Dave Nemo with Joe Jobe and Michael PetersonFor the third year in a row I got to sit in the studio with Joe Jobe, National Biodiesel Board (left) and Michael Peterson (right) while they were guests on the Dave Nemo Show. This year the show is on both XM and Sirius.

They talked biodiesel and sang some songs during the show. I’ve got video that will be showing up later. Right now I’m heading downtown to see what’s going on at the CMA Music Festival.


[iPhone] Michael Peterson, Joe Jobe are guests on Dave Nemo Show on XM/Sirius. on 12seconds.tv

2009 CMA Music Festival Photo Album

You can listen to the first segment of the show with Michael and Joe doing a duet here:

Tractor Racing in Nashville at Fan Fair

2009 CMA Music FestAgWired goes country this week at the 2009 Country Music Association’s annual summer Music Fest, commonly known as Fan Fair. Once again we’re sponsored by New Holland to cover their activities which culminate on Sunday with the Michael Peterson/New Holland Celebrity Tractor Race. You’ll be able to watch live video of the race, announced by AgriTalk’s Mike Adams, here via AgWired Live TV starting at 10:30am this Sunday.

It looks like the competition for the race is already heating up as evidenced by this excerpt from the latest National Biodiesel Board news release:

National Biodiesel Board CEO Joe Jobe returns for his third appearance in the New Holland Celebrity Tractor Race, now in its fourth year as a popular feature of the Country Music Association’s (CMA) 2009 Music Festival, June 10-14, 2009 in Nashville, TN. The race involves “celebrities” from many professions driving a New Holland compact tractor through an obstacle course of road cones, each trying to complete the course in the least amount of seconds.

Jobe, who placed 3rd in the 2008 race, has his eyes set on moving higher in the ratings. One of his main challengers from 2008 is his friend and biodiesel supporter Chuck Leavell, environmentalist, conservationist, author, and 27-year keyboardist for the Rolling Stones. Leavell placed 5th in 2008, but only seconds on the clock separated the two friends. His eyes are also set on placing higher. Adding to the action is country music artist Michael Peterson, also a strong biodiesel supporter, who is hosting the competition for New Holland.

“New Holland is once again taking an industry-leading role in its support of biodiesel,” said Jobe. “They have already led the industry in supporting 100% biodiesel in all of the engines they manufacture, but they are not resting on those achievements. They continue to promote the biodiesel for its benefits to the nation’s energy supply, food supply, and agricultural sector.”

Cindy, Carly and I will all be on location starting this evening so you can count on lots of photos, interviews and videos this week from the home of country music.

Biofuels Discussion at World Ag Congress

World Ag ForumBiofuels from the perspective of India and East Africa, as well as Europe and the United States, were part of the discussion at the World Ag Congress in St. Louis on Tuesday.

Henk Joos with London-based D1 Oils moderated the panel focusing on an integrated approach to biofuels. He stressed that the purpose of the panel was to find solutions. “We can decide to go again in an immense debate on food versus fuel,” he said. “I would like to take a different approach. I would like with my fellow panelists to identify responsible ways to make food and fuel at the same time.”

The panelists included former Secretary of Agriculture for India Radha Singh, Lee Broughton with Enterprise, Bill Horan with 25x’25, and professor Nuhu Hatibu, CEO of Kilimo Trust, East Africa.

Flickr Photo Album for World Ag Forum

AgWired coverage of the 2009 World Agricultural Forum World Congress is sponsored by:
Novus.

Biodiesel Good Fit For Carbon Reduction

Farm Foundation Joel VelascoThe legislative guru for the National Biodiesel Board is Manning Feraci. He was on the Farm Foundation Transition To A Bio Economy Conference program.

He gave us an update on the current state of the biodiesel industry and the need for stable policies coming out of DC. He says that he sees some real opportunities now as some of the energy bill mandates are being implemented. He says it’s also a good time to get some structural reforms to the biodiesel tax incentive that will make it work better. I asked him about the carbon issue and he says that biodiesel is such an efficient fuel that it makes the product a good fit in helping obtain green house gas emissions reductions.

You can listen to my interview with Manning here:

Listen to

You can download the interview with this link (mp3).

You can find photos from the conference here:
Transition To A Bio Economy Conference: Global & Trade Issues Photo Album

Tweeting Biodiesel

National Biodiesel BoardWant an example of how one group is using Twitter in a very coordinated way? Check out the National Biodiesel Board.

Today several of us have joined Twitter, to help answer your questions and discuss anything you feel like talking about in the biodiesel world. Whether you want to know if there is a biodiesel pump in your town, or have technical questions, or want to talk about anything biodiesel at all, we want to hear from you! If we don’t find you first, you can follow these National Biodiesel Board representatives on Twitter by clicking on the user name:

Biodiesel_Voice, Jenna Higgins/Director of Communications
Biodiesel_Media, Jessica Robinson/Senior Communications Specialist
Biodiesel_DC, Michael Frohlich/Wash D.C. Dir. of Comm. (federal updates)
Biodiesel_Tech, Jordan Thaeler/Technical Projects Manager
Biodiesel_Earth, Don Scott/Director of Sustainability
Biodiesel_Info, Bev Thessen/Information Coordinator

Hey Joe Jobe. I don’t see you on the list!

If you or your company needs some help figuring this whole Twitter thing out then contact me anytime. You can follow me on Twitter too.