In the News

Little Canada, Sept 18 - Minnoco announced today an expansion program that will bring more of the locally owned fuel retail outlets to the Twin Cities area. After successful introduction of four retail outlets during the fall of 2013, the retail group has identified another 18 locations planning to convert to the new brand, bringing the total to 24 outlets when completed.

“Our owners believe we have a competitive advantage by offering more fuel choices like E15 to consumers,” stated Lance Klatt, executive director for Minnoco. “Our new brand not only draws in consumers for more affordable fuels but is also a great business model for retailers.”

Leveraging existing convenience store and automotive repair locations in many cases, retail owners are moving away from a branded oil contract into the independent brand of Minnoco. “With Minnoco, I’m able to offer E15 as a more competitive fuel to my customers at a much lower price vs. regular,” explained Rick Bohnen, president of Minnoco and owner of Penn Minnoco. “This is a better business model for me because it significantly reduces my operational costs vs. branded fuels and I’m able to pass the savings on to consumers.”

In addition, Minnoco retailers have more freedom to offer biofuels that are grown and produced in Minnesota. Though the product offering will vary slightly by retail location, Minnoco will be offering E15, E30, E85 and diesel along with regular grades of gasoline.

“All of our regular 87 gas already contains 10% ethanol,” explained Jerry Charmoli, Minnoco owner and a mechanic for more than 30 years. “E15 is approved for vehicles 2001 and newer and we’ve had zero problems, in fact my customers love the cost savings and extra performance.”

“We also want to thank the Minnesota Corn Growers Association and Minnesota Corn Research & Promotion Council, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Growth Energy, Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association and the American Lung Association in Minnesota for helping us to make more biofuel choices available to our customers,” added Klatt.

MINNOCO (Minnesota Independent Oil Company) is a brand of gasoline developed for the members of the MSSA (Minnesota Service Station & Convenience Store Association) by the members of the MSSA. Allowing members of the Association the opportunity to own and control their own brand of fuel while offering alternative renewable fuels such as E85, E30, and E15, as well as diesel, 87, 89 and 91 octane fuels. For more information visit www.Minnoco.com.

The Des Moines Register

Sept 16, 2014

By Christopher Doering

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Tuesday offered support Tuesday to ethanol producers facing challenges, saying that the White House is committed to boosting use of the fuel in the country's gasoline supply.

Speaking before a friendly audience of biofuel producers in Washington, the former Iowa governor said he was confident the administration would restore at least some of the proposed cuts to a mandate that would lower the amount of ethanol required to be blended into the country's fuel supply in 2014.

The proposed reduction rattled producers in Iowa, the country's biggest producer of the renewable fuel, and others in the ethanol industry. They feared the change would thwart investment in the technology, hurting agriculture and rural communities that depend on the fuel for jobs and income.

"I'm very positive about this industry despite the challenges, despite the issues," Vilsack said at a conference sponsored by Growth Energy, an ethanol trade group. "I want you to know that I'm committed, that the administration is committed. You cannot let one decision ... slow the process down."

Vilsack said the White House has pledged to boost U.S. ethanol production to 15 billion gallons at some point. "We just have to figure out the best, most appropriate way to get there," he said. "I continue to be bullish on this industry."

The Environmental Protection Agency, which oversees the biofuels program, has proposed slashing ethanol produced from corn to 13 billion gallons, compared with the 14.4 billion-gallon figure set by Congress for this year. The EPA hinted it would increase the blending level above 13 billion later this fall but has not said by how much. Vilsack stopped short of disclosing the increase Tuesday.

Vilsack's appearance was part of a three-day energy conference in Washington, where ethanol supporters met with congressional lawmakers and White House officials to urge them to stay committed to the ethanol mandate known as the Renewable Fuel Standard. The law requires refiners to buy alternative fuels made from corn, soybeans and other products.

Matt Merritt, a spokesman with Sioux Falls-based ethanol producer Poet, said any wavering by Congress or the White House on the commitment to the Renewable Fuel Standard would thwart efforts by his company to expand development of cellulosic ethanol fuel — made from crop residue, grasses and wood chips — by chilling new investments.

Poet, which celebrated the opening of its $275 million cellulosic facility in Emmetsburg this month — along with its Dutch-based partner DSM — is looking to license its technology to make the next generation of renewable fuel. If the atmosphere is not conducive for growth in the United States, the ethanol giant may focus more attention on growing cellulosic ethanol overseas in Brazil, India and China.

"We're going to operate in the market that makes the most sense," Merritt said. "We're hopeful we'll be able to expand here in the U.S., but if the market doesn't allow it, we might have to look overseas for that (growth)."

The oil industry, an outspoken opponent of a law requiring ethanol to be blended into the gasoline supply, said the EPA should ignore pressure to increase the level in 2014. The American Petroleum Institute, which represents more than 550 oil and natural gas companies, has said there is not enough demand to justify increasing the amount of ethanol that must be blended this year.

Read the original story here : Vilsack Sees Some Proposed Ethanol Cuts Being Restored

The Des Moines Register

Sept 14, 2014

By Delayne Johnson

This month, our company, Quad County Corn Processors, will debut an innovative new technology that promises to make one of Iowa's signature agricultural products — corn — go even further.

Over a four-year period, Quad County Corn Processors' research and development team developed a patented process for converting corn kernel fiber into cellulosic ethanol. The new "bolt on" bio-refinery at our plant in Galva, Ia., is one of the first facilities in the United States to begin commercialized cellulosic ethanol production.

The new addition will produce two million gallons of cellulosic ethanol from the same kernel used to create conventional ethanol, corn oil and livestock feed. We will add four additional workers to the 36 already staffing our facility 24/7 and increase our ethanol yields — already 35 million gallons annually — by 6 percent.

Our yearly corn oil production, now 750,000 gallons, will multiply three times, and we will be able to offer livestock feed that is much higher in protein and lower in fiber than what we've been able to generate with previous technology.

The bottom line is that this breakthrough technology will create more value out of the more than 12 million bushels of corn that our cooperative's 350 shareholder farmers bring to us each year and help Quad County Corn Processors remain a leader in America's burgeoning ethanol industry.

That industry has grown by leaps and bounds in large part because Congress created the Renewable Fuel Standard requiring motor vehicle fuel to include renewable elements such as ethanol. The Renewable Fuel Standard developed the infrastructure and industrial process to generate conventional ethanol, which gave us a base on which to build our new cellulosic ethanol technology.

For the owners of America's tens of millions of cars and trucks, ethanol has numerous benefits, such as reducing exhaust emissions, stretching our oil supplies to make us less dependent on foreign petroleum and lowering the price of gasoline at the pump. Energy economist Philip Verleger concluded that the Renewable Fuel Standard saves U.S. consumers an average of $1 on each gallon of gasoline.

A typical U.S. ethanol plant supports nearly 3,000 jobs — not just at the production point itself, but also in transportation, equipment production and maintenance, and other sectors. All in all, the Renewable Fuel Standard supports nearly 400,000 jobs.

But special interests, including the petroleum industry, are pressuring Congress to jettison the Renewable Fuel Standard. Ethanol's opponents have fashioned all manner of misleading arguments against ethanol and the fuel standard. So far, Congress has resisted the pressure. But in today's Washington, even a great, proven idea like ethanol is never safe from political maneuvering and twisted messages.

Now is the time to intensify our commitment to domestic renewable fuels, ensuring that Americans can continue to enjoy their freedom to hit the road, while paying a reasonable price for fuel. Ethanol has proven its value as an integral part of national energy policy. It's also an important part of Iowa's economy now, and must remain so for years to come.

Delayne Johnson is the CEO of Quad County Corn Processors, based in Galva.

Read the original story here : Renewable Fuels Standard Spurred Ethanol Breathroughs

Ethanol Producer Magazine

Sept 10, 2014

By Susanne Retka Schill

Buffalo Lake Advanced Biofuels restarted Sept. 8, expecting to bring all systems up during the next several days and begin continuous operation once again. The plant was idled in 2009, purchased and run briefly in 2012, then purchased out of bankruptcy and renamed. The plant has run intermittently since June as repairs and upgrades were installed and tested, explained plant manager Kyle Peik. “We are up and running now, we started grinding this morning.”  About 35 people are working at the newly restarted plant, which includes a small staff in New Jersey at the offices of current owners, West Ventures LLC.

The legacy Katzen-designed plant in Buffalo Lake, Minnesota, first came online in 1997 as the 9 MMgy Minnesota Energy Cooperative, expanding to 18 MMgy before shutting down in 2009 during the industry downturn. It was restarted in June 2012 by Purified Renewable Energy LLC, with a purchase announced a few months later. Purified filed for bankruptcy in March 2013 and ultimately, the plant was purchased by one of its creditors, West Ventures. 

The investment group brought in Colorado-based IR1 Group to evaluate the plant and offer recommendations. IR1 has helped with repairs and upgrades in preparation for restart, along with the installation and shakedown of a new technology. Buffalo Lake Advanced Biofuels will be using new solids separation technology developed by Yield & Capacity Group LLC to process thin and whole stillage through an innovative system that eliminates the need for evaporators and centrifuges. The system will be the focus of a feature article in the upcoming November issue of Ethanol Producer Magazine.

Read the original story here : Legacy 18 MMgy Minnesota Plant Restarts Ethanol Production

Reuters

Sept 9, 2014

By Ayesha Rascoe

The nascent U.S. cellulosic ethanol industry has urged the White House to change course on targets for biofuel use, warning in a letter to President Barack Obama on Tuesday that current policy risks losing investments to China and Brazil.

Federally set mandates for the use of fuels such as corn ethanol and cellulosic ethanol, made from plant waste like grasses and wood, must be based on the industry's ability to produce the fuel, not on infrastructure restraints, executives of several biofuel companies wrote.

The Environmental Protection Agency rocked the biofuels industry last year with a draft plan slashing requirements for blending renewable fuels into U.S. gasoline and diesel in 2014.

Companies including POET LLC, Abengoa Bioenergy and Dupont told Obama that investments in innovative fuel technology could be lost if EPA does not reconsider.

"If the proposed methodology is not fixed in the final rule ... the 2014 rule will have inadvertently done more than your worst critics have to harm a low carbon industry you have always championed," the executives said.

Following a backlash to the initial proposal, the companies said they expect the administration to raise the targets from the proposed rule to the final rule, sent to the White House for review in August.

But an increase in targets will not be enough to support new investment, the companies said, as long as the agency continues to limit targets based on the number of fueling pumps available to dispense higher blends of ethanol in gasoline - a variable mostly controlled by big oil companies.

The Renewable Fuel Standard requires increasing amounts of ethanol and biodiesel to be mixed into U.S. fuel supplies each year until 2022.

The EPA said it lowered the targets for 2014 because the nation had reached a point where the law would require ethanol to be blended into gasoline at levels higher than the 10 percent per-gallon mixture that dominates retail fuel stations.

But capping ethanol at 10 percent of the fuel supply will not give oil companies any incentive to invest in new fueling equipment, and the biofuel program will "cease to be effective," the companies said.

After years of falling far short of the targets set by Congress, makers of cellulosic biofuels are starting to gain some momentum.

While 2014 production will come nowhere near the 1.75 billion gallon target originally set by Congress, POET and Dutch food and chemicals group DSM last week jointly opened a plant in Iowa with an initial production target of 20 million gallons a year using corn cobs, stalks and other crop waste as its feedstock.

Quad County Corn Processors opened a plant this week that should produce 2 million gallons cellulosic ethanol a year.

It is unclear how much cellulosic ethanol will be produced in 2014. EPA's draft proposal set the target at 17 million gallons.

Read the original story here : U.S. Cellulosic Fuel Makers Press Obama To Alter Biofuel Plan

 

Renewable Fuels Association

Sept 8, 2014

Today, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) released a report that further debunks the fictional food vs. fuel argument. The report shows that while corn prices have dropped dramatically over the past two years, retail food prices of dairy, pork, poultry, eggs, and beef  have remained steady or continue to increase. The report concluded, “… fluctuations in corn prices do not significantly affect consumer food prices.”

Bob Dinneen, president and CEO of the RFA, commented, “The food vs. fuel folks screamed to high heaven when the price of corn rose during the drought and immediately blamed high corn prices and ethanol for food price increases. However, these same critics remain suspiciously quiet now that corn prices have dropped, but retail food prices aren’t dropping along with them.”

He continued, “The food vs. fuel argument is just another misguided attack on biofuels and the Renewable Fuel Standard, which is reducing foreign oil dependence, lowering gas prices for consumers, and revitalizing rural America.”

The report examined a number of factors that contribute to food prices including the cost of food production, pointing to Citibank’s Sterling Smith who stated, “Corn prices may have come down 50% (from their highs), but that doesn’t mean a box of corn flakes will fall 50% in price. Much of the price of food comes from the processing and movement of food...” Additionally, the report also highlighted the role of crude oil in retail food prices, finding that “…every step in the food supply chain is significantly affected by energy costs—especially crude oil.”  

The report compared corn prices to the price of dairy products, pork products, beef products, and poultry and egg products from January 2007 – July 2014, finding:

Retail prices for key dairy items like milk and cheese have been largely unresponsive to changes in corn prices. In fact, since January 2011, milk and cheese prices have been negatively correlated to corn prices, meaning retail milk and cheese prices have tended to move in the opposite direction of movements in corn prices.

…retail prices for other items (like chicken legs, frozen whole turkey, fresh whole chicken) have risen steadily and smoothly since 2007. Wide swings in corn prices did not interrupt or affect the gradual trend toward higher prices for these items.

Retail prices for pork products have not shown any meaningful relationship to corn prices over the past seven years. It is well documented that the recent acceleration in pork and bacon prices has been driven by piglet casualties resulting from Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDv). These retail price increases have occurred at a time when corn prices have been plunging.

Retail ground beef prices have steadily and smoothly trended higher over the past seven years, showing no obvious response to wide swings in corn prices.

Read the original story here : Food vs Fuel Debunked (Again) - Corn Prices Fall, Retail Food Prices Remain Steady

Read the full report here

Today, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) released a report that further debunks the fictional food vs. fuel argument. The report shows that while corn prices have dropped dramatically over the past two years, retail food prices of dairy, pork, poultry, eggs, and beef  have remained steady or continue to increase. The report concluded, “… fluctuations in corn prices do not significantly affect consumer food prices.”

Bob Dinneen, president and CEO of the RFA, commented, “The food vs. fuel folks screamed to high heaven when the price of corn rose during the drought and immediately blamed high corn prices and ethanol for food price increases. However, these same critics remain suspiciously quiet now that corn prices have dropped, but retail food prices aren’t dropping along with them.”

He continued, “The food vs. fuel argument is just another misguided attack on biofuels and the Renewable Fuel Standard, which is reducing foreign oil dependence, lowering gas prices for consumers, and revitalizing rural America.”

The report examined a number of factors that contribute to food prices including the cost of food production, pointing to Citibank’s Sterling Smith who stated, “Corn prices may have come down 50% (from their highs), but that doesn’t mean a box of corn flakes will fall 50% in price. Much of the price of food comes from the processing and movement of food...” Additionally, the report also highlighted the role of crude oil in retail food prices, finding that “…every step in the food supply chain is significantly affected by energy costs—especially crude oil.”  

The report compared corn prices to the price of dairy products, pork products, beef products, and poultry and egg products from January 2007 – July 2014, finding:

  • Retail prices for key dairy items like milk and cheese have been largely unresponsive to changes in corn prices. In fact, since January 2011, milk and cheese prices have been negatively correlated to corn prices, meaning retail milk and cheese prices have tended to move in the opposite direction of movements in corn prices.
  • …retail prices for other items (like chicken legs, frozen whole turkey, fresh whole chicken) have risen steadily and smoothly since 2007. Wide swings in corn prices did not interrupt or affect the gradual trend toward higher prices for these items.
  • Retail prices for pork products have not shown any meaningful relationship to corn prices over the past seven years. It is well documented that the recent acceleration in pork and bacon prices has been driven by piglet casualties resulting from Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDv). These retail price increases have occurred at a time when corn prices have been plunging.
  • Retail ground beef prices have steadily and smoothly trended higher over the past seven years, showing no obvious response to wide swings in corn prices.
- See more at: http://www.ethanolrfa.org/news/entry/food-vs.-fuel-debunked-again-corn-prices-fall-retail-food-prices-remain-ste/#sthash.TdJWAzoY.dpuf

The Des Moines Register

Sept 9, 2014

By Donnelle Eller

Quad County Corn Processors celebrates its $9 million cellulosic ethanol project today near Galva, technology that was "bolted on" the existing corn ethanol facility.

It's the second major Iowa facility to mark adding cellulosic ethanol this month, a more environmentally friendly fuel. Last week, Poet-DSM celebrated beginning operation of its $275 million facility in Emmetsburg.

Quad County Corn Processors uses the corn kernel fiber to make cellulosic ethanol. The 35-million gallon ethanol facility will produce an additional 2 million gallons per year of cellulosic ethanol.

That's different technology from Poet and the DuPont Danisco, a $225 million cellulosic ethanol plant under construction in Nevada. Those facilities use crop residue -- corn cobs, husks and other materials -- to make cellulosic ethanol.

Among the speakers at today's event include Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey and Bob Dinneen, CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association.

Read the original story here : Second Iowa Plant Adds New Ethanol Technology

Ethanol Producer Magazine

Sept 3, 2014

By Holly Jessen

The grand opening of Poet-DSM Advanced Biofuels LLC’s Project Liberty is the start of what Jeff Broin, founder of Poet and executive chairman, believes will be a complete transformation of the energy supply. “This is just the very tip of the iceberg,” he said at the Sept. 3 event, adding that while it might not happen in this lifetime, he is certain that it will happen, because at some point, there will be an end to the fossil fuel supply.  “The world needs a solution and the solution is right here,” he said.

A large group gathered at the plant in Emmetsberg, Iowa, where Poet-DSM will convert 285,000 tons of biomass annually into 20 MMgy, and later, 25 MMgy, of cellulosic ethanol. The capital cost of the project, which is co-located with one of Poet’s corn-ethanol plants, was $275 million.

Rob van Leen, chief innovation officer at Royal DSM, spoke briefly about the company’s next step, to build a facility to produce enzymes onsite. In addition, a next-generation yeast is expected to be in use at the plant during the second half of the year and a third generation yeast will be introduced next year. Poet-DSM is ready, he said, to license out the cellulosic ethanol technology that made Project Liberty possible.

Iowa native, Michael Knotek, U.S. DOE deputy undersecretary for science and energy, said on his drive from Minneapolis to Emmetsberg, he saw biomass all around and the wind blowing through it. “It’s all there, all we have to do is take it,” he said, adding that biofuels addresses the three major concerns of energy security, job creation and climate change. In order to reduce fuel prices due to volatility in the global market, 1,000 biofuel facilities like Project Liberty are needed.  “When I return to Washington, I want to make a big deal out of this,” he said. “The wind is at our back, let’s make biofuels.”

Read the original story here : POET-DSM Project Liberty Goes From Fantasy To Reality