South Dakota: Thunder Road Family Fun Park in Sioux Falls hosted “Ethanol Day” to showcase its use of 85 percent ethanol fuel (E85) in all of their go-karts. The event was held Aug. 24 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Ethanol Day specials included 85-cent go-kart rides. Attendees registered for a chance to win $520 in ethanol-blended fuel that night. Thunder Road has three locations in South Dakota - Aberdeen, Sioux Falls and Watertown. Two years ago, the Watertown facility became the first go-kart track in the nation to switch to E85 fuel and now all Thunder Road go-karts in South Dakota run on E85.

Colorado: Panda Energy, a division of The Panda Group, announced today that it will build a 100-million-gallon ethanol plant in Yuma, Colo. The $120 million facility will refine corn into a clean-burning fuel. The ethanol produced at the Colorado plant will be blended with gasoline and replace the equivalent of 2.4 million barrels of imported gasoline each year. The Yuma project is the second of five 100-million-gallon ethanol plants Panda will announce this year. In May, Panda announced it would build a 100-million-gallon plant in Hereford, Texas. To produce steam, both the Yuma and Hereford facilities will utilize a renewable fuel technology that converts one billion pounds of cattle manure each year into bio-gas fuel.

Michigan: Great Lakes Ethanol, LLC broke ground on their ethanol plant on August 25. The plant will be located in Riga Township, near Blissfield, Mich. The groundbreaking ceremony took place at the future site of the $85 million dollar ethanol plant, which will produce 57 million gallons of ethanol annually. The Great Lakes Ethanol, LLC groundbreaking was a much anticipated event for the plant's 300 member investors, primarily made up of farmers who began organizing in 2004. The main goal of their business venture was to provide a value-added agricultural opportunity for farmers in Michigan. This past June, Great Lakes Ethanol reached an investment agreement with one of Iowa’s first farmer-owned ethanol plants, Midwest Grain Processors, LLC, which concluded fundraising efforts for the plant.

Missouri: U.S. Senator Jim Talent (R-Mo.) received the 2005 Appreciation Award from the Missouri Corn Growers Association (MCGA) last Thursday in recognition of his efforts in passing the 7.5 billion gallon Renewable Fuels Standard that was included in the recently-signed energy bill. This is the first time that this prestigious award has been granted to a non-farmer. “We commend Sen. Talent for the relentless dedication of time, energy and support that he poured into this historic piece of ethanol legislation,” said B.J. Bailey, MCGA president and a grower from Oregon , Mo. “His vision has been second to none, and corn growers are grateful to Senator Talent for his willingness to be a pioneer for this rapidly developing industry.” The Appreciation Award, given to agriculture leaders advocating on behalf of Missouri ’s corn farmers, was presented yesterday by Bailey at the association’s booth located in Agriculture Building at the Missouri State Fair.