Ethanol

Eight firefighters are seen dousing a couple of rail cars, as bright flames and a plume of dark smoke engulf parts of the freight train in a still image stamped with the message: Ready for ethanol in Chelsea? The deliberately shocking image is being used in fliers distributed by Chelsea Green Space, the environmental justice component of the nonprofit Chelsea Collaborative, to sway public opinion against a proposal by Global Partners LP to ship ethanol to its petroleum storage terminal in Revere by way of a commuter rail line used by the MBTA.

Archer Daniels Midland Co. said Tuesday that its fiscal third-quarter profit dropped 31 percent, pulled down by one-time charges and lower profits at its ethanol and oilseeds businesses. But its adjusted earnings beat Wall Street expectations, and its shares rose more than 5 percent in morning trading. For the quarter ended March 31, the Decatur, Ill.-based agribusiness conglomerate reported net income of $399 million, or 60 cents per share, down from $578 million, or 86 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.

THANKS TO John E. Sununu for pointing out at least one politician — Tim Pawlenty — who has the courage to speak the truth about our delusional wishful thinking about ethanol (“Big white lies amid the corn fields,’’ Op-ed, June 6). If we must pay subsidies for ethanol in the belief that it will help cut our dependence on foreign oil, let’s use ethanol to power all the farm equipment used to plant and harvest the corn. Use ethanol to pump the irrigation water and to power the fertilizer plants.

Eight firefighters are seen dousing a couple of rail cars, as bright flames and a plume of dark smoke engulf parts of the freight train in a still image stamped with the message: Ready for ethanol in Chelsea? The deliberately shocking image is being used in fliers distributed by Chelsea Green Space, the environmental justice component of the nonprofit Chelsea Collaborative, to sway public opinion against a proposal by Global Partners LP to ship ethanol to its petroleum storage terminal in Revere by way of a commuter rail line used by the MBTA.

NEW BRIGHTON, Pa. -- Federal investigators arrived yesterday at the smoldering scene where two dozen ethanol tanker cars derailed and several exploded on a southwestern Pennsylvania bridge. As tanker cars continued to burn, National Transportation Safety Board officials said they would gather maintenance records and interview witnesses, including crew members of the Norfolk Southern train. No one was injured late Friday when 24 cars from the train's midsection derailed and nine caught fire on the half-mile long rail bridge over the Beaver River in New Brighton, about 25 miles...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The nation's drive toward alternative fuels carries a danger many communities have been to slow to recognize: Ethanol fires are harder to put out than gasoline ones and require a special type of firefighting foam. Many fire departments around the country do not have the foam, do not have enough of it, or are not well trained in how to apply it, firefighting specialists say. It is also more expensive than conventional foam. "It is not unusual to find a fire department that is still just prepared to deal with traditional flammable liquids," said Ed...

A plan by Global Partners to begin shipping ethanol by rail to its Revere terminal is drawing concern in the city, where it is the focus of a nonbinding ballot question. According to Fire Chief Gene Doherty, the Waltham-based oil distributor is planning to transport ethanol from Albany, N.Y., to its Revere facility on Lee Burbank Highway (Route 1A). Between Devens and Revere, he said, the trains would travel by night, in at least some places using commuter rail tracks that are used by the MBTA during the day. The shipments would be made every three to five days with...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- City officials in Champaign and Urbana took notice when they heard that an ethanol plant proposed nearby would use about 2 million gallons of water per day, most probably from the aquifer that also supplies both cities. The proposal for a 100-million-gallon-per-year ethanol plant is just one of many made in the past several months across Illinois, which has seven operating plants and is the nation's number two ethanol producer, after Iowa. High oil prices and support from Washington have inspired such interest in the corn-based gasoline...

A Cambridge company developing technology to make ethanol more efficiently said it has been granted two key US patents. Joule Unlimited Technologies has made significant progress toward its goal of finding a way to produce 25,000 gallons of ethanol per acre, spokeswoman Felicia Spagnoli said yesterday. The alternative energy fuel is made from various sources, including corn. The company uses microorganisms that capture carbon dioxide from industrial sources, such as factories, and manipulates them to create ethanol as a product of photosynthesis.

New Hampshire-based biofuels company Mascoma Corp. has entered into an agreement with energy giant Valero to build a plant that produces ethanol in Michigan's Upper Peninsula using Mascoma's proprietary technology. Mascoma, of Lebanon, agreed to the deal with Texas-based Valero to build the $233 million plant in Kinross, Mich. It would produce millions of gallons of "second generation" ethanol. Valley News of Lebanon ( http://bit.ly/tGpBoy) says the plant would be Mascoma's first commercial-scale facility.

New Hampshire-based biofuels company Mascoma Corp. has entered into an agreement with energy giant Valero to build a plant that produces ethanol in Michigan's Upper Peninsula using Mascoma's proprietary technology. Mascoma, of Lebanon, agreed to the deal with Texas-based Valero to build the $233 million plant in Kinross, Mich. It would produce millions of gallons of "second generation" ethanol. Valley News of Lebanon ( http://bit.ly/tGpBoy) says the plant would be Mascoma's first commercial-scale facility.

A plan by Global Partners to begin shipping ethanol by rail to its Revere terminal is drawing concern in the city, where it is the focus of a nonbinding ballot question. According to Fire Chief Gene Doherty, the Waltham-based oil distributor is planning to transport ethanol from Albany, N.Y., to its Revere facility on Lee Burbank Highway (Route 1A). Between Devens and Revere, he said, the trains would travel by night, in at least some places using commuter rail tracks that are used by the MBTA during the day. The shipments would be made every three to five days with 60-car trains, according to...

A Cambridge company developing technology to make ethanol more efficiently said it has been granted two key US patents. Joule Unlimited Technologies has made significant progress toward its goal of finding a way to produce 25,000 gallons of ethanol per acre, spokeswoman Felicia Spagnoli said yesterday. The alternative energy fuel is made from various sources, including corn. The company uses microorganisms that capture carbon dioxide from industrial sources, such as factories, and manipulates them to create ethanol as a product of photosynthesis.

NASCAR has long been a marketing powerhouse, tapping the loyalty of stock car racing fans to boost sales of whatever brands adorned drivers' vehicles - be it soda, laundry detergent, or cars - and earning the unofficial slogan: Win on Sunday, sell on Monday. Now, US ethanol makers are hoping that NASCAR's promotional muscle can do for the alternative - and, in some quarters, controversial - fuel what it has done to make household names of companies such as Office Depot, Sprint, and Coors.

WASHINGTON - Two senators from ethanol-producing states proposed yesterday to immediately end a tax credit for the corn-based fuel, agreeing to support shifting some of that money to debt reduction. Senators Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, and John Thune, Republican of South Dakota, along with ethanol opponent Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, have proposed diverting $1.3 billion of the money remaining for the tax break this year to pay for debt reduction.

The Senate refused to kill a $5 billion annual subsidy for ethanol on Tuesday, backing continued government aid for a Farm Belt-based industry over deficit reduction in an era of record red ink. The 40-59 vote, far short of the 60 needed to advance the measure, reflected regional as well as partisan differences, a split among Republicans — and anything but the final word on the issue. “We continue to spend money that we don’t have on things that we don’t need,’’ said Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., a prominent deficit hawk who led the effort to eliminate the...

ROCKFORD, Ill. - Railroad tank cars holding thousands of gallons of highly flammable ethanol derailed and exploded in flames, killing a 41-year-old woman as she tried to run to safety from a car stopped at a crossing. Three other people from the same car escaped with severe burns. Hundreds of people were evacuated from homes near the explosion. Eighteen tank cars, all filled with ethanol, or ethyl alcohol, derailed Friday on the edge of Rockford, about 80 miles northwest of Chicago.

Archer Daniels Midland Co. said Tuesday that its fiscal third-quarter profit dropped 31 percent, pulled down by one-time charges and lower profits at its ethanol and oilseeds businesses. But its adjusted earnings beat Wall Street expectations, and its shares rose more than 5 percent in morning trading. For the quarter ended March 31, the Decatur, Ill.-based agribusiness conglomerate reported net income of $399 million, or 60 cents per share, down from $578 million, or 86 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.

THANKS TO John E. Sununu for pointing out at least one politician — Tim Pawlenty — who has the courage to speak the truth about our delusional wishful thinking about ethanol (“Big white lies amid the corn fields,’’ Op-ed, June 6). If we must pay subsidies for ethanol in the belief that it will help cut our dependence on foreign oil, let’s use ethanol to power all the farm equipment used to plant and harvest the corn. Use ethanol to pump the irrigation water and to power the fertilizer plants.

BRASILIA — Seeking to link his Latin American tour to job growth back home, President Obama said yesterday that the United States was eager to sell its goods and services to economically booming Brazil’s growing middle class. After an early-morning arrival in Brazil’s capital, Obama held meetings with newly elected President Dilma Rousseff, then addressed a joint meeting of US and Brazilian business leaders. He praised Brazil’s economic ascent and said American workers stood to benefit from increased ties with the world’s seventh-largest economy “As the...