RFA Ethanol Podcast

Farm Foundation Conference Wrap

Chuck Zimmerman

Here’s my wrap up post from the Farm Foundation Transition To A Bio Economy conference. I learned a lot from the presentations here and hope the interviews have helped you too. I spoke with board member, Cornelius Gallagher, who helped summarize the event. He says the conference brought together world class leaders who were able to listen to some fantastic …

Ag Groups, Audio, Farm Foundation

Biofuel Investment By Oil Company

Chuck Zimmerman

We heard from Chevron here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference since according to Paul Bryan, the company has made a major commitment to biofuels. He says they created a biofuels business unit about 2 years ago. Their focus is on 2nd generation biofuels that use non-food crops. His talk focused on the integration in the biopetroleum business. …

Ag Groups, Audio, Farm Foundation

Investor Interest in Ethanol Drops

Chuck Zimmerman

The issue of investment and financing for ethanol plants and bio refineries in general was addressed today by Chris Groobey, Baker & McKenzie, LLP. He works on project financing with investors and lenders and mostly in renewable fuels. He painted a pretty bleak picture. In fact, he says the New York investment community is not interested in biofuels right now. …

Ag Groups, Audio, Ethanol, Farm Foundation

Ethanol Trucking

Chuck Zimmerman

When it comes to infrastructure needs for a bio economy our rural road system is a key component. To speak about it here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference we heard from Frank Dooley, Purdue University. He sees a big increase in grain production, primarily in the midwest. With that comes a growing demand for transportation. He thinks …

Ag Groups, Audio, Ethanol, Farm Foundation

Talking Rural Policy

Chuck Zimmerman

My good friend Tom Dorr, USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development, was our opening speaker for day two of Farm Foundation’s Transition To A Bio Economy conference. He was glad to see the golden ZimmComm microphone once again! We visited for a while before the session got started. He says that rural policy is more important and timely a topic …

Ag Groups, Audio, Farm Foundation, USDA

Buying Biomass

Chuck Zimmerman

Okay. This is the last one for today. But there’s more to come tomorrow. Sarah Brechbill, Purdue University, got to put her masters degree project on the stage today here at the Farm Foundation’s Transition To A Bio Economy conference. She looked at the cost to get biomass to a plant and specifically looked at switchgrass and corn stover. She …

Ag Groups, Audio, Ethanol, Farm Foundation

Cellulosic Flavonoids

Chuck Zimmerman

We hear a lot about co-products with ethanol production like the DDGS but what about in cellulosic ethanol production? Well, Danielle Julie Carrier, Arkansas State University is doing work on that subject. I was very interested to hear that there are some possibilities. She’s working with switchgrass and they’ve found that if you wash the feedstock prior to the pre-treatment …

Ag Groups, Audio, Ethanol, Farm Foundation