January 16, 2009

A Photo Journal Of ECM’s Informative Trip To The Nation’s Corn Belt

‰ In late October 2008 a small group from ECM toured an ethanol plant and attended an
investor conference at the ICM headquarters.
‰ We conducted channel checks by meeting with senior management and various
industry leaders to further strengthen our expertise in the ethanol industry.
‰ We visited ICM’s FLEX station in Colwich, Kansas and viewed the blender pump
technology first-hand.

‰ We toured the only operating Total Kernel Optimization (TKO) plant, which is located in
Saint Joseph, MO.

Introduction interruptions as possible, as we wanted the

There was plenty of corn yet to be harvested
when we visited Missouri and Kansas in late
October. Bundled in parkas and gloves, we
braved the cold, windy conditions of the Great
Plains in late autumn, and began our tour. In
this report we share our experiences from this
remarkable field trip.
First Stop, Blender Pumps
opportunity to operate the blender pumps and
fuel our cars. Luckily, some of us were driving
flex-fuel vehicles (FFV’s), which enabled us to
blend different ethanol fuel blends up to E85.
As you may have read in our Special Report
“Blending at the Pump”, blending at the pump
is a superior way for ethanol biorefineries, gas
stations and consumers to benefit
economically from the more efficient ethanol
distribution and blending.

We reiterate that selling ethanol directly to

gas stations to be blended with gasoline at the
pump significantly reduces transportation
costs by eliminating the cost of transporting
ethanol to traditional gasoline blending
facilities, which are usually at least 1000 miles
away, and then transporting the blended fuel to
gas stations. The round-trip transportation cost
through a traditional blending facility averages
an estimated $0.28-$0.30 per gallon.

We woke up early to arrive at ICM’s FLEX gas

station, before the morning rush in rural
Kansas. We desired a tour with as few
 influenced presentations. We discussed
government and environmental affairs, the
evolution of energy, ICM’s product strategies
and future pipeline, and lastly we received
more color on the current ethanol market.

East Kansas Agri-Energy

With our tanks filled with ethanol blended gas,
we journeyed 3 hours to Garnett, Kansas. The
drive was scenic, consisting mostly of rolling,
golden hills that appeared to stretch past the
Kansas borders. We arrived at our destination
and our consensus conveyed no marginal
difference in the performance or fuel efficiency
of our cars using ethanol blends up to E85.
Consumers like to be given a choice and
should expect lower prices at a blend-at-the-
pump gas station, as the station is likely to
pass on a portion of its tax credit to gain a
competitive advantage over traditional gas
stations.

The ICM Conference

About two miles away from the FLEX gas
station is ICM’s headquarters. The campus is
larger than we had envisioned with numerous
large buildings scattered along the country
roadside.
Upon our arrival at the ethanol plant, we were
greeted by Steve Gardner, CEO of East
Kansas Agri-Energy. Our tour swiftly began
and Mr. Gardner showed us around his ethanol
plant. The tour was comprehensive, from the
water house to the newest addition, a corn oil
extractor.

The conference was well attended and stocked

with ethanol and agriculture experts, ethanol
producers and investors in the ethanol and
renewable fuel sectors.

ICM had a rigorous day planned for the

conference attendees, which included 10
speakers delivering corn-derived ethanol
The inside of the ethanol plant is like a city of
pipes and gadgetry. The air has an
overpowering smell of bread baking, which in
actuality are the dried distillers grains (DDGS)
drying in huge gas-fired barrel dryers.
The plant was remarkably clean, as the shine
on the floors reflected the fluorescent light from
the soaring ceilings. Mr. Gardner takes pride
in keeping his facility clean, which he states is
important for identifying leaks.
Complex technology is utilized in a
FAGEN/ICM biorefinery. In the control room of
the East Kansas plant, the computer controls
the entire operation. Every stage of refining
corn to ethanol can be viewed, controlled and
analyzed as a result of this technology. The
software is user-friendly and more efficient
than human operation.
Last Stop, ICM’s TKO
A highlight to the trip was our last stop in Saint
Joseph, Missouri where ICM has integrated an
ethanol plant with an existing food
manufacturing facility. The machinery involved
in the TKO process is rather unique. Machines
shake and separate the powdered corn kernels
into different components.
In our Special Report on TKO, we described
TKO as incorporating a series of processes
that provide additional revenue from food,
ethanol and feed products.
Each corn kernel is separated and
processed into 5 parts:
ƒ snack meal which corn chips and other
snack foods are manufactured from,
ƒ corn flour used for baking,
ƒ distillers grains which is used to feed
livestock,
ƒ starch used to make ethanol and
ƒ bran which is used to reduce energy
costs or cellulosic ethanol.
To Sum It Up
Our hands-on field trip was a great opportunity
to be in the field, work with industry experts
and further build our network of contacts. ECM
has become a recognized leader and the most
experienced investor in the ethanol industry for
a variety of reasons: our ongoing information
exchange with key industry experts, our
extensive research in the agriculture and
energy industries, and our cumulative
proprietary knowledge of biorefinery
operations, marketing and investing has
proved to be invaluable.
This trip has strengthened our confidence in
the ethanol industry. We returned to Tucson
more certain about the future of ethanol and its
viability as the most suitable alternative in the
foreseeable future.
 Disclaimer
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ethanol biorefineries. This information and any attachments neither constitute an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy any
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