Provided everything goes as planned - which includes no more hurricanes in the region - Kinder Morgan Energy Partners will provide an update of its ethanol pipeline project November 1, according to a Podcast by Biofuels Journal. Click here to listen.
In the Podcast, Jim Lelio, director of business development for Kinder Morgan, discusses a 105-mile, 16-inch pipeline between Tampa and Orlando, Florida. The pipeline currently handles gasoline but is being configured to ship ethanol batched between gasoline.
Lelio said the company has replaced incompatible parts and is currently cleaning the line. The first test will be conducted in the next week or two.
He also noted that the test is "is customer driven. The customers have asked that we look for ways to ship ethanol via pipeline." He added that if the pipeline is a success, "we’ll look to take those lessons and apply it to other markets."
There has been talk of an ethanol pipeline in Nebraska - moving ethanol to a regional terminal. And another that would move ethanol from Iowa to the Northeast. If this test is successful, maybe interest will grow in this possibility. Shipping via pipeline could conceivably reduce distribution costs and more quickly move ethanol from the Midwest to population centers, where it could be blended with regular gasoline.
It would be cool if this works. It could change things dramatically in the future - how ethanol moves across the country. Trick would be finding the money to make it possible.
ReplyDelete