Friday, June 11, 2010

ICM Building Missouri Ethanol Plant

Getting approval from the Department of Energy, ICM will soon begin construction on a $25 million cellulosic ethanol plant, which will be built in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Along with the plant will be a demonstration facility.

An existing plant which was formally used to make ethanol from grain will be switched to making ethanol from switchgrass, energy sorghum and corn fiber.

Construction on the project, which ICM will contribute $6 million to, will start in August.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Pacific Ethanol (Nasdaq:PEIX) May Reopen Two Idle Plants

Pacific Ethanol (Nasdaq:PEIX) announced recently it is reorganizing the company in order to bring its four production subsidiaries out of bankruptcy.

They opened up the Magic Valley plant located in Idaho earlier in the year, and have plans to open up two more idled ethanol plants soon.

Lenders have already approved of the reorganization plan, and the two idled plants, which are both located in California, may resume production by the end of June.

Pacific Ethanol will be allowed to acquire up to 25 percent of the overall ownership in the new holding company, which has the subsidiaries transferred to it. The cost will be up to $30 million in cash.

Two plants wholly owned by Pacific are now operational - one in Boardman, Oregon, and the other in Burley, Idaho.

Combined they can produce up to 100 million of ethanol annually.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

ADM (NYSE:ADM) Pressing for 12 Percent Ethanol Mandate

Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM) is pressuring the Environmental Protection Agency to approve an increase in the blend of ethanol and gasoline to 12 percent, as they attempt to take advantage of the forced increase to generate revenue and profits for the company.

Supposedly the introduction of a 12 percent ethanol blend would help make the alternative fuel more available, although there really isn't a big demand for it, and probably wouldn't exist if it wasn't for government subsidies, which need to be dropped.

The ethanol ADM makes is from corn, which is extremely hard on the environment and opposed by people and groups of all persuasions.

This is an attempt by Archer Daniels Midland to use the current oil spill to push the use of alternative fuels, more for the purpose of generate strong earnings because of the fall of corn prices than anything else.

Friday, May 28, 2010

The Evil of Forced Ethanol

It's unbelievable what America and the radical environmentalists are getting away with. Ethanol is the latest attempt to force Americans to adhere to what can only be called a religion, with their god being the earth and the environment.

To even resist the monster is to be called a name, and that name is now a derisionary "gas purist."

Here's one example:

"Eric “Ric” Foster, the owner of a Gardner gasoline station, doesn’t like ethanol. No, that’s not quite right. He despises the stuff.

"A sign in front of the station alerts motorists that his gas contains no ethanol, and in case you miss it, an electronic sign in the window boasts of the station’s ethanol-free fuel."

The misguided regulations that force ethanol upon Americans is evil People have a right to the type of gas they want to buy, and the government has no place in telling them any different.

There are a growing number of people resisting this forced ethanol policy, and even by the standards of honest researchers, developing the ethanol industry on the back of corn is far worse for the environment than not doing it.

Once the monster that government is becoming puts something into law, only the bold and wise will be able to get a hearing on it, let alone make some real changes.

With so many things happening around us, it's hard to keep up with all this grab for power by the government, but we need to keep up the good fight, and this is really an issue of freedom.

People should be able to put into their cars what they deem the best fuel, and in a number of cars ethanol can damage them. And the damage done to power equipment is well documented.

The government blending the lines between them and industry is called fascism. This is the road we are increasingly traveling on in America, and we need to battle it every step of the way.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Meat Producers Ask for End to Ethanol Subsidies

Meat producers in America are rightly calling for an end to the subsidies given them by the government in order to misguidedly create ethanol industry.

The American Meat Institute, the National Cattlemen's Beef Assn., the National Chicken Council and the National Turkey Federation call for a level playing field in competition for corn, and they are of course correct.

If the ethanol industry can't survive competitively, it doesn't deserve to survive, and if people reject it as an alternative fuel, than there's no reason for it to be not only forced on people, but also to increase the price of meat as well for consumers.

The ethanol industry is coddled through tariffs on foreign ethanol, as well as receiving the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit.

Government interference in any industry should be forbidden, as it eliminates market forces and creates a pseudo industry that can't survive on its own because consumers wouldn't buy it otherwise.

So when the meat industry has to acquire corn feed, they compete against a government entity in the ethanol industry, which acquires it at subsidized prices.

The beef and pork industries have been devastated because of this ignorant initiative that should never have been allowed in the first place, but now that it has, needs to be ended as quickly as possible.

With the economy down and production prices up for the meat industry, they had to take the losses because of the ethanol subsidies because people wouldn't buy meat when it is too expensive for them in tough economic times.

The meat industry estimates it has lost over $13 bilion as a result of higher corn and soybean prices.

Corn prices are over 4 times higher from 2005 to 2009 as the terrible ethanol policies devastated the industry.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Ethanol Plant Closing in Minnesota

Low ethanol prices continue to take a toll on the so-called industry, as an ethanol plant was closed in Buffalo Lake by Minnesota Energy.

This is completely based on price and margins,according to chairman of the board of the company, Randy Byro.

Byro said prices need to increase by at least 50 cents to 75 cents a gallon to even think of reopening the plant.

While not a huge plant, it does underscore the ethanol fiasco which was marketed as a savior to small communities across America, but has dashed hopes as the market for it remains small, and if not for taxpayer subsidies, would be a complete joke.

Let the free market determine whether ethanol is viable or not. If people want it they'll be willing to pay for it. Obviously people don't want it, and the program needs to be droppped along with the waste of taxpayers' dollars.