Press Releases
Janesville, Sept 27 - Eleven students from Minnesota State University, Mankato visited Guardian Energy yesterday to learn more about renewable energy production.
During the visit, the students toured the various parts of the plant’s ethanol production process including incoming grain grading and handling, fermentation, grain storage, ethanol storage and shipment and dried distillers grains with solubles production and storage.
The students were from Minnesota State Mankato’s biotechnology and food science technology course.
“We’re always pleased to welcome students from Minnesota State University, Mankato’s biotechnology and food science programs. With these tours, we’re not only able to showcase our production process and valuable co-products, such as dried distillers grains and corn oil, but we also have an opportunity to underscore the vital role our industry plays in strengthening rural economies, reducing greenhouse gases and prices at the pump, as well as in moving us closer to energy independence,” said Jeanne McCaherty, CEO of Guardian Energy.
The tour was organized by the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association (MN Bio-Fuels). Guardian Energy is a member of MN Bio-Fuels.
Gregg Marg, professor of biological sciences at Minnesota State Mankato, accompanied his students during their tour of Guardian Energy.
“Students in the Biotechnology Program and Food Science Technology program have great preparation from their classroom and laboratory experiences. One of our goals is to have students understand and be able to apply their education to real world situations. Our tour of the ethanol plant exposed the students to the much larger scale of an industrial facility. It helped them understand the difference between a laboratory experience and the operation of a real world production facility,” he said.
Marshall, Oct 9 - Twenty-three students from Marshall High School toured the Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) carbohydrate plant here yesterday.
The students that participated in the tour were 11th and 12th graders from the school’s automotive class.
“It's always a pleasure to welcome students from Marshall High School's Automotive class. These tours give us an opportunity to showcase the ways we're able to transform a kernel of local corn into clean energy, animal feed and for use in numerous bio-industrial products.”
“Moreover, we have an opportunity to highlight to this next generation of consumers the ways our industry benefits Minnesotans by providing cleaner air, fortifying our rural economies, lowering prices at the pump and reducing our reliance on foreign oil,” said Greg Webb, vice president for state government relations at ADM.
Mike Braithwaite, agriculture teacher at Marshall High School, accompanied his students during the tour.
“Our tour of ADM provided students with a behind the scenes view of what happens at their facility. It also provided valuable insights into the agricultural supply chain, food safety, and sustainable practices, while exposing them to advanced processing technologies in our community,” Braithwaite said.
Yesterday’s tour was the second time a group of students from Marshall High School’s automotive class has visited ADM this year. A group of 17 students from the school toured ADM in April.
Benson, Oct 10 - Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company (CVEC) hosted 11 students from Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa High School today for a brief tour of the plant’s operations.
During their visit, the students toured various stages of the ethanol production process such as incoming grain grading, grain handling, fermentation, grain storage, dried distillers grain production and storage and shipment.
“We appreciate the students from Belgrade-Brooten-Elrose taking time to come learn about ethanol production at CVEC. We take pride in our production process, various co-products and many ways in which our industry strengthens rural economies.”
“In addition to highlighting career paths, it’s also important for us to share with students the vital role our industry plays in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, prices at the pump and our reliance on foreign oil,” said Chad Friese, CEO of CVEC.
The students that visited CVEC were from the school’s small gas engines class. All the students were from grades 10 to 12.
The tour was organized by the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association (MN Bio-Fuels). CVEC is a member of MN Bio-Fuels.
“My hope is that our rural ag students gained an appreciation for the many uses of corn they raise on their home farms and learned more about the many percentages of ethanol available at local gas stations around the state,” said Gary Rodgers, agriculture teacher at Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa High School.
Burnsville, Oct 16 - The Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association (MN Bio-Fuels) held an Unleaded 88 promotion at a Holiday station in Vadnais Heights today.
During the promotion, which ran from 12 pm to 1 pm, drivers who chose Unleaded 88 were rewarded with prizes such as $20 in cash, Target gift cards, Dairy Queen gift cards and Minnesota Gopher Athletics merchandise.
MN Bio-Fuels staff educated drivers on the various benefits of using Unleaded 88 during the promotion such as savings at the pump, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, boosting Minnesota’s rural economy and making America more energy independent.
A total of 21 drivers fueled up with Unleaded 88 during the promotion.
The Holiday in Vadnais Heights is located on 1035 County Road E East.
Today’s promotion was the latest in a series of Unleaded 88 promotions by MN Bio-Fuels at gas stations in the Twin Cities metro.
Since April, MN Bio-Fuels has promoted Unleaded 88 at stations in Burnsville, Coon Rapids, Fridley, Golden Valley, Hopkins, New Hope, Plymouth, Richfield, Roseville, St Paul and White Bear Lake.
NEW YORK, Oct. 21, 2024 – IFF, an industry leader in food, beverage, health, biosciences, and scent, today announced the launch of its OPTIMASH® F200 and OPTIMASH® AX enzyme solutions in combination to maximize corn oil recovery at fuel ethanol plants. New IFF in-plant data shows that this combination can deliver up to 15 percent additional corn oil recovery, helping to meet the growing demand in the biodiesel, renewable diesel, and animal feed industries. Additionally, IFF has developed a proprietary oil mapping calculator to help ethanol producers optimize dosing for maximum recovery. These solutions also enable ethanol producers to sell ethanol into low-carbon intensity (low-CI) markets.
“Every ethanol plant has unique requirements for maximizing value,” said Dawn Overby, North America marketing director, Grain Processing, IFF. “By working side-by-side with ethanol producers to offer an optimized combination of OPTIMASH® F200 and OPTIMASH® AX, it can make all the difference to their bottom line. Our expert team is on-hand every step of the way to help them get the most out of their plants — both from a corn oil recovery and low-CI ethanol point of view.”
Increasing distillers corn oil (DCO) yield is crucial for extracting the highest value from corn. In the U.S., the average recovery rate is only 50-60 percent of the theoretical yield due to the extremely complex interactions between starch, fiber and protein in corn cell walls, preventing oil release. Without disrupting these interactions, a significant fraction of oil remains unrecovered and lost to the wet cake.
Improving corn oil and low-CI ethanol yields
New in-plant data shows that using OPTIMASH® AX alongside OPTIMASH® F200 directs more oil into thin stillage, increasing the potential for more oil recovery. The combination of both enzyme solutions has been found to boost corn oil yield by 15.7 percent, from 0.89 lb/bu to 1.03 lb/bu.
This enzyme duo also allows ethanol producers to enter low-CI markets by breaking down corn kernel fiber into glucose, which yeast then converts to ethanol. This process results in a lower CI score compared to ethanol from starch, generating increased revenue as a D3 RIN renewable biofuel and
iff.com
potentially qualifying for substantial tax credits. This ethanol is also more valuable for state programs such as the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
Optimizing plant efficiencies with technical support
IFF offers comprehensive technical support to ethanol producers from trial stage and beyond. This service includes baseline and trial oil mapping, as well as data analyses to guide custom dosing recommendations for OPTIMASH® F200 and OPTIMASH® AX, increasing oil recovery without affecting downstream processability. IFF experts also collaborate with individual plants to help reduce energy consumption through fiber dewatering enabled by these enzyme solutions.
OPTIMASH® F200 and OPTIMASH® AX are now available across the U.S. For more information, visit here.
Janesville, Oct 25 - For the second time in two months, Guardian Energy provided a group of students from Minnesota State University, Mankato a closer look at how renewable fuel is produced. Yesterday, Guardian Energy welcomed seven students from Minnesota State Mankato’s Agroecology class. In September, a group of 11 students from the university’s biotechnology class toured the plant.
“We were happy to welcome students from Minnesota State University, Mankato’s Agroecology class. In addition to giving them a first-hand look at our production process, we’re able to inform students about the various ways our industry benefits MN – by strengthening rural economies, reducing harmful carbon emissions, providing options and lower prices at the pump and supporting energy independence,” said Jeanne McCaherty, CEO of Guardian Energy.
During the tour, the students toured the various parts of the plant’s ethanol production process including incoming grain grading and handling, fermentation, grain storage, ethanol storage and shipment and dried distillers grains with solubles production and storage.
The tour was organized by the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association (MN Bio-Fuels). Guardian Energy is a member of MN Bio-Fuels.
Chris Ruhland, a professor at the department of biological sciences at Minnesota State Mankato, accompanied his students for the tour.
“In my Agroecology course, we talk quite a bit about how plants convert solar energy into chemical energy that can be stored within the plant (or seeds). Learning how this energy can be extracted and converted into ethanol is incredibly important to understand for students studying industrial uses for plants, especially in light of global energy production,” he said.
Claremont, Oct 29 - Fifteen students from Triton High School’s agriculture economics class toured Al-Corn Clean Fuel today.
During the tour, the students learned how ethanol and its co-products are produced as well as a briefing on Minnesota’s ethanol industry.
“The Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association is always happy to welcome students to our member plants. In addition to providing a venue for students to learn more about how our member plants like Al-Corn transform local corn into renewable ethanol and various co-products, these tours give us an opportunity to share with them the various ways our industry benefits Minnesotans - by reducing carbon emissions, lowering pump prices, strengthening rural economies and supporting energy independence,” said Brian Werner, executive director of the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association (MN Bio-Fuels).
The tour was organized by MN Bio-Fuels. Al-Corn is a member of MN Bio-Fuels.
The students that participated in the tour were from grades 11 and 12. Robert Ickler, agriscience instructor at Triton High School, accompanied his students for the tour.
“I want students to learn about the value-add impact ethanol has on the commodities market,” he said.
Today’s tour is the second time a group of students from Triton High School have visited Al-Corn this year. In April, 34 students from the school’s Integrated Science class toured Al-Corn.
Burnsville, Oct 29 - Environmental solutions provider, LJP Waste Solutions, has joined the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association (MN Bio-Fuels) as a vendor member.
“We are happy to welcome LJP Waste Solutions as the newest vendor member of the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association. We look forward to working with them on innovative energy technologies and plant production efficiencies that will help our members reduce their carbon intensity and remain competitive well into the future,” said Brian Werner, executive director of MN Bio-Fuels.
Based in Mankato, LJP Waste Solutions provides a wide range of waste collection. The company’s waste handling technology and innovative approach recycles and upcycles millions of pounds of waste into new and valuable products as well as waste-to-energy and zero landfill solutions.
Additionally, the company’s LJP ReFuel is a biogenically carbon-rich alternative fuel that powers industrial boilers and thus reducing reliance on natural gas and coal while dramatically lowering carbon emissions.
“LJP ReFuel meets the US EPA criteria for designation as a non-hazardous secondary material and is exempt from solid waste regulations. Using alternative fuels like LJP ReFuel, made from high BTU pre and post-consumer materials can reduce carbon emissions per ton of production by more than 100 percent,” said Kent Harrell, president of LJP Waste Solutions.
He said the company has generally worked with the cement industry but is now seeking to provide its services to the ethanol industry.
“We joined MN Bio-Fuels to connect with all Minnesota ethanol producers and assist in reducing their carbon intensity score by using our fuel and also to evaluate the ethanol manufacturing facilities waste materials for use as a feedstock in our fuel,” Harrell said.
Learn more about LJP Waste Solutions here.
