News Releases for April 2002
April 25, 2002
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Hoeven: North Dakota To Host Ethanol Workshop For Rural America
BISMARCK, N.D. - Governor John Hoeven today announced that he will host a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) ethanol conference in North Dakota this summer. Ethanol Workshops for Rural America, a one-day event sponsored through the Regional Biomass Energy Program, will be held at the Radisson Hotel in Bismarck on September 4, 2002.
DOE has contracted with Ethanol Producers And Consumers (EPAC) to arrange and conduct the workshop. EPAC is the national ethanol advocacy group with members in 26 states and three countries.
“We’re pleased and proud to host this workshop in North Dakota,” Hoeven said. “It dovetails nicely with our value-added initiatives and brings agriculture and energy together in a way that will help North Dakota grow both sectors.”
This is the second year that DOE-sponsored ethanol workshops will focus on the agricultural community. The agency initiated the sessions to provide farmers, farm-related agencies and businesses with information on the potential for ethanol production as a way to stimulate rural economic development.
The purpose of the North Dakota workshop is to:
- Create awareness of ethanol production opportunities for farmers and communities
- Create a positive image of ethanol
- Facilitate the establishment of ethanol production plants, and
- Increase the use of ethanol fuels, especially ethanol from cellulosic feedstock
A state steering committee made up of state farm-organization leaders is helping to organize the event. Representatives from the Farm Bureau, Farmers Union, Women Involved in Farm Economics, Rural Electric Cooperatives, North Dakota Corn Growers Association and the Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association form the steering committee.
Representatives from the North Dakota State University Extension Service; American Coalition for Ethanol; the North Dakota Division of Community Services and the Grand Forks Energy & Environmental Research Center will also participate.
“Assembling such a broadly based group in North Dakota demonstrates Governor Hoeven’s commitment to promote ethanol use,” said Lt. Governor Jack Dalrymple, chairman of the state’s Value-Added Agriculture Promotion Board. “We hope to come out of the conference with fresh ideas and new alliances between our agriculture and energy industries.”
EPAC, a non-profit organization based in Nashua, Mont., was organized in 1991 and is actively involved in educating the general public about ethanol fuel. EPAC has a flexible fueled vehicle that can run on a fuel blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline that will be on display at the workshop. A similar workshop will be held in Billings, Mont. on October 15. For more information please call EPAC at (406) 785-3722, or log on to www.ethanolmt.org
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