世界乙醇植物需求强劲
The telephones at the headquarters for Fagen Inc. in Granite Falls ring with calls from all over the country and increasingly, from overseas.
Ron Fagen, president and founder of one of America’s leading construction and design companies for ethanol plants, said he is receiving an increasing number of inquiries from overseas countries interested in building ethanol plants of their own.
Australia, England, Denmark, Switzerland, China and Russia are among the countries where the calls have come.
Fagen said his company is too busy meeting the demand for ethanol plants in the U.S. to take on the foreign projects.
At this time next year, his company will have no fewer than 34 ethanol plants under construction simultaneously in the country, he said.
The 34th of those plants is planned for Iowa, and its completion will represent a major milestone. Iowa will become a net exporter of energy when the plant goes on line, he said.
The local entrepreneur hosted Sen. Norm Coleman on his visit to Granite Falls on Tuesday. He praised the senator’s support for ethanol and said that the corn-based fuel is increasingly finding a supportive audience in Washington thanks to those efforts.
Fagen is confident that the economics created by today’s oil prices already assure continued growth for the ethanol industry in the U.S. and around the world. However, he said E-85 needs to keep its costs at 50 cents per gallon below gasoline if it wants to continue on its growth track.
Fagen said that he also believes federal support is critical to building “momentum” for the ethanol industry and making it a “real” industry.
Ethanol’s growth has occurred largely in the country’s Midwestern corn belt. Iowa, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio are among the states where his company is finding the greatest interest.
Fagen said that interest is starting to grow coast-to-coast. His company is working on the development of an ethanol plant in Texas, and there is also interest in a California plant. He pointed out that ethanol is already being produced at a plant his company built in Kentucky, where corn for fuel is being raised where tobacco once grew.
Looking ahead, he said he believes that ethanol can provide more than 10 percent of America’s fuel needs. He believes that corn will continue to be the ingredient of choice until demand by the ethanol industry raises its price beyond what its market as food supports.
He doesn’t believe that we will reach that point as quickly as some predict. Continued improvements in corn genetics- resulting in higher yields and corn better suited for conversion to ethanol-keeps boosting the supply of corn, he explained.
But inevitably, Fagen said that he anticipates that producers will also turn to other sources such as barley, wheat, and perhaps switch grass to make ethanol as well.
If we develop biomass as a fuel source for ethanol, Fagen said the fuel could someday become our primary source of energy for transportation and end our reliance on foreign oil.
Veridium的乙醇生产效率提高合同
Veridium Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: VRDM) today announced its receipt of an order from a Wisconsin based ethanol producer for the second stage of Veridium's patent-pending Corn Oil Extraction Systems(TM).
Veridium's proprietary new Corn Oil Extraction Systems(TM) extract high grade corn oil from an ethanol by-product called distillers dried grain ("DDG").
One Kernel, Two Fuels
Currently, the majority of ethanol production is based on a dry milling technique that utilizes more than 1 billion bushels of corn to produce 3 billion gallons per year of ethanol. The dry mill process converts the starch from the kernel of corn into sugar and then the sugar into ethanol. The balance of the corn (non-starch components) then goes through a dewatering and dehydration process where the byproduct is sold as a commercial feed ingredient called DDG. DDG contains the majority of the corn oil that was present in the kernel. Today, the 1 billion bushels of corn currently used in the dry mill ethanol process contain roughly 300 million gallons of corn oil that is currently sold for about $0.03 per pound as commercial feed. The new Veridium technology presents another option - cost effective conversion of the oil in the ethanol by-product into biodiesel.
Veridium's technology has the capability of removing up to 75% of the corn oil from within the DDG in two stages. The first stage extracts 1.2 to 1.5 million gallons per year and corresponds to about 30% of the corn oil in the DDG for a 50 million gallon per year facility. Each of Veridium's previously announced orders for its Corn Oil Extraction Systems(TM) are for deployments of the first stage.
The second stage of the Veridium technology recovers another 30% to 45% of the corn oil in the DDG, corresponding to another 1.2 to 2.2 million gallons of corn oil per year out of a 50 million gallon per year ethanol facility. The Wisconsin facility has ordered both stages and is expected to produce about 2.4 to 3.7 million gallons of corn oil per year when both stages are deployed later this year.
David Winsness, chief executive officer of Veridium's industrial design division, stated that "3 million gallons per year of high grade corn oil converts to 3 million gallons per year of biodiesel. This equates to a 6% increase in fuel production out of a 50 million gallon per year ethanol facility, and a significant increase in plant productivity out of the plant's existing infrastructure."
Veridium provides turn-key Corn Oil Extraction Systems(TM) for no up-front cost in return for long-term corn oil purchase agreements based on a fixed discount to prevailing market prices.
Increased Demand for Ethanol
Kevin Kreisler, chairman and chief executive officer of GreenShift Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: GSHF), Veridium's majority shareholder, said that "the Veridium technology is very timely. We expect that demand for ethanol is going to increase markedly in the immediate future as the fuel additive MTBE is phased out and replaced with ethanol. Our belief is that this is going to result in increased demand for technologies that enhance ethanol production efficiencies and Veridium holds the rights to a number of technologies that we believe achieve this."
MTBE, or methyl tertiary butyl ether, is blended with gasoline to enhance its oxygen content and it accounts for about 10 percent of the volume of every gallon of gasoline with which it is blended. This is equal to about 1.4 percent of the nationwide supply. Many gasoline marketers are planning to eliminate their use of MTBE once the oxygenate requirement lapses on May 5 due to the fact that the Energy Policy Act of 2005 didn't protect MTBE producers from past or future groundwater contamination lawsuits. Additionally, the new Renewable Fuel Standard holds refiners to a baseline use of renewable fuels such as ethanol of 4 billion gallons in 2006 and increasing to 7.5 billion gallons by 2012. The Energy Department estimates that 130,000 barrels per day of extra ethanol will be needed beginning May 5, an amount equal to almost 50 percent of current output.
Winsness concluded: "According to the Renewable Fuels Association, the ethanol industry has been planning for this transition for some time and producers have taken the necessary steps to respond to the increased demand. We are excited and grateful for the opportunity to provide our ethanol clients with additional options to meet the increased demand in cost-effective and rapid ways."
About Veridium's Corn Oil Extraction System(TM)
Veridium's Corn Oil Extraction System(TM) offers the following compelling benefits for ethanol producers:
-- Low Operating Costs - the system requires less than $0.05 per gallon of corn oil produced;
-- High Recovery Rates - the technology is capable of recovering up to 75% of the corn oil within the DDG;
-- Increased Revenue - the corn oil extracted with Veridium's technology is readily amenable to refining into biodiesel fuel which creates a new revenue stream for participating ethanol facilities;
-- Reduces Current Operating Costs and Emissions - Veridium's technology improves the drying efficiency of the DDG which in turn reduces overall plant operating costs and emissions; and,
-- Low Capital Cost - Veridium's oil extraction methods have a capital cost of less than 15% of traditional corn oil extraction methods.
Pictures and video of the new Veridium technology are available online at www.meangreenbiofuels.com - this system is the first stage of the technology and it is in use today recovering corn oil from concentrated thin stillage.
About Veridium Corporation
Veridium Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: VRDM) is a publicly traded industrial waste recycling company and holds the rights to more than a dozen proprietary universal processing, water purification, emissions control and waste recycling technologies.
Veridium's business model is based on the engineering and marketing of green innovations and processes that enhance manufacturing efficiencies, improve resource utilization and minimize waste. Veridium's mission is to deliver consumer oriented Natural Solutions(TM) based on an array of green technologies and applied engineering expertise that reduce waste at the source and make it easier for people and businesses to recycle and reuse resources. Veridium plans to focus on the continued acquisition, development and marketing of benchmark green technologies and products that accomplish the following key goals:
-- Reduce the volume of waste generated by residential and commercial consumers;
-- Increase the convenience and decrease the cost of recycling by residential and commercial consumers; and,
-- Increase the cost-efficiency of processing certain types of industrial wastes.
Veridium is 70% owned by GreenShift Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: GSHF), a publicly traded business development company (BDC) whose mission is to develop and support companies and technologies that facilitate the efficient use of natural resources and catalyze transformational environmental gains.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains statements, which may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Those statements include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of Veridium Corporation, and members of their management as well as the assumptions on which such statements are based. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. Important factors currently known to management that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-statements include fluctuation of operating results, the ability to compete successfully and the ability to complete before-mentioned transactions. The company undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future operating results.
澳大利亚种植乙醇小麦
Western Australian wheat growers will soon be sending their produce to the country's first wheat-based ethanol plant.
BP Australia and Primary Energy have announced plans to build a plant next to BP's Kwinana Refinery.
It is expected to produce 80 million litres of biofuel each year, using 200,000 tonnes of wheat.
The plant could be helping to fuel cars in Western Australia by 2008.
BP has not decided if the ethanol will be used to supply local motorists with a separate biofuel, or if the product will be integrated into all regular unleaded petrol.
Farmers Federation state president Trevor de Langrafft says the plant is a win for wheat farmers.
"It's great to hear such an initiative being developed in Western Australia," he said.
"It's 200,000 tonnes of wheat that will be used and that's a significant market for a Western Australian plant."
Mr de Langrafft says the plant will ensure the future of smaller wheat growers.
"This means that, not only would we have a plant in Kwinana, I believe that the smaller producers who are already looking for sites in regional areas will then be able to start up with confidence, knowing that the market is established," he said.
美国能源(U.S. BioEnergy)计划获得普拉特河谷燃料乙醇LLC(Platte Valley Fuel Ethanol)
U.S. BioEnergy, a Brookings, S.D.-based ethanol marketing and production firm, has made public its plans to acquire 100 percent ownership of Platte Valley Fuel Ethanol LLC near Central City, Neb. Platte Valley Fuel Ethanol is a privately owned ethanol plant that processes approximately 15 million bushels of corn a year into more than 40 MMgy of renewable fuel.
“Bottom line—basically as it stands— there is an offer on the table, something has been presented, and it has to be decided upon,” said Doug Anderson, president of Platte Valley Fuel Ethanol. The offer was made in the midst of a current expansion project underway at the Central City plant. “We are basically doubling the size of the plant, and the expected completion is January 2007,” Anderson said.
Ron Fagen is the majority owner of Platte Valley Fuel Ethanol, and Fagen Inc. also has an interest in U.S. BioEnergy so this transaction may be seen as a consolidation maneuver. While the deal has not been finalized, “we fully anticipate that transaction to close by March 31,” said Kristi Lee, media relations coordinator for U.S. BioEnergy.
The expansion project at Platte Valley Fuel Ethanol was not begun in anticipation of the offer from one of the major ethanol marketing and production firms in the nation. “The plan to expand was in place long before this offer was made,” Anderson said. “U.S. Bio’s philosophy is basically to become a large entity within the industry.”
Currently U.S. BioEnergy has two plants under construction—U.S. Bio Albert City, a 100 MMgy plant near Albert City, Iowa, scheduled to begin production in October; and U.S. Bio Woodbury, a 45 MMgy plant near Lake Odessa, Mich., scheduled to come on line in September. U.S. BioEnergy looks to acquire 100 percent ownership of Platte Valley Fuel Ethanol and also has negotiated a large share in Val-E Ethanol in Ord, Neb. This project has just started construction and is also a Fagen-designed plant. The current expansion projects underway for U.S. BioEnergy “will take us up to just over 250 million gallons by the end of 2006,” Lee said.
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