Farmer Cooperatives Marketing E85

Chuck Zimmerman

MFA/MME Ribbon CuttingA big announcement from MFA Oil and Mid Missouri Energy was made this morning. Pictured are members of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce, along with Phil Lampert (NEVC), Ryland Utlaut (Mid-Missouri Energy) and Jerry Taylor (MFA Oil) in a ribbon-cutting ceremony signifying the launch of the partnership. Basically the two farmer-owned cooperatives are working together to bring more E85 fuel to consumers.

Thanks to the folks at the Missouri Corn Growers Association we’ve got some audio for you. Tyne Morgan interviewed MME President, Ryland Utlaut. He talks about what the company is doing to increase the availability and accessability of E85 fuel around the state of Missouri. You can listen to that interview here: Listen To MP3 Ryland Utlaut Interview (9 min MP3)

Representatives from two farmer-owner cooperatives have announced a partnership created to make E85 fuel more readily available and affordable to Missourians by offering it at 20 percent less than regular unleaded gasoline. E85 is a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline and is used in flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs).Read More

Audio, Cooperatives, Ethanol

Pit Stop Competition

Chuck Zimmerman

Pit Stop CompetitionI’ll leave you today with a short video clip of one of the highlight events here on Carb Day at Indy. It’s the Checkers/Rally’s Pit Stop Competition.

Rahal-Letterman driver Buddy Rice was doing fine until he came up against Helio Castroneves, who won the competition.

I shot a short video clip of one of the final competition matches. You can watch it here: Watch WMV Pit Stop Competition (23 sec wmv)

Ethanol, Video

Carb Day Practicing

Chuck Zimmerman

Ethanol CarIt’s Miller Lite Carb Day at the track. For an hour this morning all the cars in the race Sunday got to put in some laps.

Here’s the Ethanol Car coming back into the pits after a few laps. This is a view of it from the 4th floor of the media “pagoda” building.

Ear plugs are a must because it gets loud. I think one of the biggest thrills is the sound these engines make. Just to rev you up I recorded a minute of the Carb day practice session.

You can listent to the the rpm’s here: Listen To MP3 Full Throttle On An Ethanol Blend (1 min MP3)

Audio, Ethanol, Indy Racing

Indy Track Gas Pump

Chuck Zimmerman

Fueling An Indy CarHave you ever wondered how you fill up a race car in Indianapolis? Just like you do. Well, not during the race.

These pumps are going to have to be re-done by next year since they still have methanol printed on them. However, someone made sure a temporary sticker was applied to show that this year it’s being blended with ethanol.

Ethanol In This PumpI believe the ethanol for the race this weekend is coming from the New Energy ethanol plant near South Bend, IN.

I spoke to the guys working at this track fueling station. They said the fuel gets blended prior to being delivered here.

Ethanol, Indy Racing

Bobby Likes Ethanol

Chuck Zimmerman

Bobby RahalThe co-owner of Rahal-Letterman Racing is Bobby Rahal. After today’s press conference I got to interview him about what ethanol means to his team and the IRL.

He believes it’s a fuel that’s finally getting the recognition it deserves. He says it’s a hot button issue right now.

You can listent to my interview with Bobby here: Listen To MP3 Bobby Rahal Interview (2 min MP3)

Audio, Ethanol, Indy Racing

Danica Patrick Drives ‘Em Crazy

Chuck Zimmerman

Danica PatrickIn response to multiple request from AgWired fans, I had to make sure we featured Danica. I think there’s a kind of Danica fever going around these days. She’s featured in USA Today’s Speed Weekend and also on the Friday cover. She’s hoping to improve on her 4th place finish here last year.

At yesterday’s Ethanol Summit, Danica made a few remarks. She mentioned its environmental benefits

You can listent to her remarks here: Listen To MP3 Danica Patrick Remarks (1 min MP3)

Audio, Ethanol, Indy Racing

100+ MPH In The Pace Truck

Chuck Zimmerman

Pace TruckThis will be all for a little while until I get back to my hotel. It looked like it was going to rain here but now the sun is back out and cars are on the track running practice laps. I think I’ll head on out to see who’s running before leaving for the day.

After the Ethanol Summit program was over, it was time for a ride around the track. USDA Under Secretary Tom Dorr is inside the truck you see here on his second lap.

I got to ride in the truck afterward. They allowed 3 of us to ride along with the driver. I interviewed them all as we were making our laps today in the Chevrolet Ethanol Pace Truck.

Inside Pace TruckThe guys in the truck with me were Dan Edwards, Indy Track Racking Operations Director (driver), National Corn Growers Association Chairman, Leon Corzine and Waitt Farm Network Director, Emery Kleven. Emery took the picture of me in the back seat with Leon. You can listen to the interview here: Listen To MP3 Indy Pace Truck Interview (3 min MP3)

Just to make it interesting I also shot video clips. The first one here is a Pace Truck drive-by with the USDA Sec. inside. The second one is my ride inside the truck while doing the interview you can hear above.

Watch WMV Pace Car Drive-By (1 min wmv)

Watch WMV Pace Car Laps (3 min wmv)

Audio, Ethanol, Indy Racing, Video

Ethanol Indy Car Update

Chuck Zimmerman

Jeff Simmons and MeJeff Simmons, driver of the Rahal-Letterman Ethanol Car was on hand today to talk about how things are going. I interviewed him just after the Ethanol Summit concluded.

Jeff describes how his backup car is performing. He had to move to it after a little wall incident with the other car last week.

Jeff also says that the attention ethanol is getting from the people here at the Ethanol Summit, like USDA Under Sec. Tom Dorr, is overdue.

You can listen my interview with Jeff here: Listen To MP3 Jeff Simmons Interview (2 min MP3)

Audio, Ethanol, Indy Racing

USDA Sec Dorr Interview

Chuck Zimmerman

Len Corzine & Tom DorrOkay, I’m here and in action in Indianapolis. I’ve got a couple posts for you and you can find more on Domestic Fuel.

The keynote speaker today at the Ethanol Summit here at the Indianapolis Speedway was USDA Under Secretary Tom Dorr (pictured to the right of NCGA Chairman, Leon Corzine).

I interviewed the Secretary and asked him what his department is doing to assist in the development of alternative fuels. He says that the main ways they help are by providing small grants to companies that are starting up and developing alternative fuel alternatives like ethanol and then some initial financing in the form of low interest loans.

You can listen to my interview with Secretary Dorr here: Listen To MP3 Secretary Dorr Interview (4 min MP3)

Audio, Ethanol, Indy Racing

Off To See The Race

Chuck Zimmerman

So much to post so little time. But there’s lots more coming from Indiana this week. Time to head on over to the Brickyards. I’ve got an interesting stop on the way I may be able to tell you about sometime. One of those brainstorming a cool new idea in the delivery of information to farmers things.

Until later . . .

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