level measurement

Are you stimulated?

Greetings,

I am sure that many of us are experiencing a slow-down in business regardless of what type of industry we are involved with.  The daily "doom and gloom" broadcast concerning the economy bombards us every time we turn on a TV, radio, or sign on to the Internet.

President Obama recently signed the $787 billion dollar stimulus package, I have not read the 1000 page plus document so I do not know many of the details! 

My question is simple, what do you think the stimulus will do for you and your company?

Please let me know your thoughts!

Thanks,

Scott Bonine

Director of Sales

Technorati Tags: level sensor level measurement bin level indicator solids level indicator

Ethanol production is good for level measurement and good for the world.....

Ethanol production require a vast amount and variety of process measurement instrumentation as part of the overll automation and control of the plant processes.  For level measurement there are applications throughout the process from monitoring inventories of raw corn to helping to control dryers, to the monitoring of storage vessels containing the finished product.  But recently we have begun to hear in the media a number of comments talking about how bad Ethanol production is and has been.  It has increased the demand for corn and driven food prices up.  Well perhaps in the short term that is true but living out here in the corn belt of Illinois I can tell you that this country has more corn than you can imagine.  And, corn is not the only raw ingredient that Ethanol can be produced from, it is just the most common right now.

The point I want to make is in regards to the impact Ethanol production has on the world supply and cost of fuel.  I point to a study and report recently issued by LECG.  First, LECG (I have no idea what LECG stands for) is a "global expert services" firm.  They do studies and render expert opinions on a number of subjects.  Well, the Renewable Fuels Association had them do an impact study of Ethanol on the cost of crude oil.  That's right.  They answered the question "what would the impact be on crude oil prices today if Ethanol production did not exist?".  Well before I tell you what they found out let me tell you that they reported that the amount of Ethanol produced in the world in 2007 was 17 billion gallons.  The majority of this was produced in the USA and Brazil.  In 2008 it is projected that this production will increase by 20% to 20.4 billion gallons.

There appear to be complexities in calculating the impact of Ethanol on crude oil prices and I don't have the time, nor the patience, to dig into it and report it here for you, but the report by the LECG indicates that crude oil would cost another $35.70 per barrel if it weren't for the production of Ethanol.  Think about the effect of that on the price per gallon of gasoline next time you fill up and next time you drive by a corn field, or next time you hear someone talk down the Ethanol industry.

A complete editorial about the LECG report can be found written by editor Myke Feinman of Bieofuels Journal magazine.  The editorial appears on page 110 of the May/June 2008 issue.

Want to know more about the level measurement and monitoring applications in an Ethanol production operation?  Download this file.  It's a white paper on that subject. Download WhitePaper_EthanolSolutions.pdf   

Joe Lewis

Technorati Tags: Ethanol level sensor level measurement bin level indicator level control solids level indicator guided wave radar

Election connection ..........

I am sure that many of you have grown weary of the election already, this one seems like it has been going on forever. 

The 24-hour media outlets do a good job of saturating us with constant updates concerning the front-runners and don't forget the latest celebrity endorsements.  Thanks to Oprah and Chuck Norris ...... if I cannot make up my own mind, a celebrity will be happy to do it for me. The worst is yet to come as we get closer to November!  For some help in seeing differences between the candidates, click here.

But this isn't really anything new.  The reason I wanted to post about the election is because of the effect that such things have on our economy.  A recent report from a market study company indicates that business investment plans dropped by 40% in January from December.  Many are brewing up a recession in their minds and all the talk doesn't help.  However, recently I have seen articles in trade publications like Concrete Producer February issue indicate and prognosticate that the recession fears are not going to come to fruiting. 
My question to you here is do you think that business will be influenced by the fact that this is an election year?  Are you expecting things in your business to pick up or slow down?

Please let me know your thoughts,

Scott Bonine
National Sales Manager
Monitor Technologies