Award of Excellence goes to Gunter Brodl
Gunter Brodl, president of Vogelbusch USA, received the 2010 FEW Award of Excellence for Trailblazer Leadership and Engineering Distinction in the Global Ethanol Industry.
Gunter Brodll has been involved in the ethanol industry for 45 years and came to live in the U.S. when the ethanol industry was in its infancy. He was instrumental in getting some of the first fuel ethanol plants operational nearly 30 years ago and helped introduce the Vogelbusch “Multicont” continuous fermentation process as a state-of-the-art technology for ethanol fermentations. Since then, he has played a major role in developing and improving grain-to-ethanol technologies and continues to be an innovator for energy-efficient, environmentally-friendly designs that provide the most value for the investment and avoid shortcuts which, inevitably, affect long-term profitability.
Gunter established Vogelbusch USA over 20 years ago and, under his dedicated leadership, grew the company into one of the premier suppliers of process engineering packages for the fuel ethanol industry. Today, Vogelbusch-designed facilities in North America produce 1.5 billion gallons of ethanol annually.
“The ethanol industry got its start with the goal of replacing oil. Today, people are being asked to wear boots on the beach because there is too much oil,” said Gunter. In the time that he has been a part of the industry, he has seen ethanol face many accusations, many of them uncalled for and untrue. “It’s so important,” he said, “that the industry educates the public that ethanol is a good thing for the U.S. and for the environment. We’ve got to do more to change public perception.”
Gunter joins a list of previous winners that goes back to 2000. Given by BBI International and Ethanol Producer Magazine, the award honors individuals whose work and efforts in the industry deserve notice and celebration.
June 2010 |
