Media
Jan 21, 2014
By Josh Moniz
JANESVILLE — U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota voiced heavy opposition Monday to the Environmental Protection Agency's new proposal to temporarily reduce the total amount of ethanol blended into U.S. gasoline in 2014 under the federal Renewable Fuel Standard.
"They need to hear from all of you guys. They need to hear these are real jobs, and that this standard is wrong for America. It's wrong for our state. And mostly, it's wrong for our energy future," Klobuchar said.
She called for a unified front of corn producers, ethanol producers and lawmakers during a meeting at the Guardian Energy ethanol plant in Janesville. Minnesota Department of Agriculture Commissioner Dave Fredrickson and state Sen. Vicki Jensen of Owatonna attended the meeting.
The EPA recently proposed to reduce the total amount of ethanol that the RFS program will require to be mixed into U.S. motor fuel in 2014. The EPA argues that a drop in U.S. gasoline consumption will cause current RFS targets to exceed market needs. The EPA suggests only requiring 13.01 billion gallons in 2014, which is less than last year and below the 14.4 billion gallons originally targeted for this year.
Critics of the EPA's proposal are afraid that a reduction will become permanent and that it would hobble the emerging ethanol market. Critics are also concerned that it will pave the way for eventually reducing the percentage of ethanol that must be blended into gasoline at the pump.
The proposal will be the first reduction of the RFS in the program's history.
Klobuchar said she joined 16 senators in voicing their concerns about the RFS proposal with EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy.
"We had (lawmakers) from all over the country tell her that this went too far," said Klobuchar. "She listened and seemed very open to making some changes."
She said she also joined Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., in briefly discussing their concerns about the RFS with President Obama during a separate meeting.
Klobuchar said the emergence of the ethanol market has created serious gains. She said ethanol was one of the major contributors to the U.S. cutting dependence on foreign oil from 60 percent to 40 percent of the total fuel supply over the last five years. She said the RFS proposal would be low enough to stop development in cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels.
She said the EPA proposal is a setback for the ethanol industry, but she is cautiously optimistic the EPA proposal can be stopped. She encouraged people to publicly voice their concerns about the RFS to bring attention to the issue.
Minnesota lawmakers vows to fight
Minnesota Democratic lawmakers Rep. Collin Peterson, Rep. Tim Walz and Franken have joined Klobuchar in opposing the EPA's proposal over the recent weeks.
Walz also recently met with EPA administrator about the RFS proposal. He said he opposes the reduction because the emerging ethanol market was one of the few new ways to generate wealth in rural communities.
"Nobody said this industry is perfect and nobody said corn-based (fuel) was the final solution," Walz said. "We're just asking for a chance to compete. We need to start here to make progress."
He said he was also cautiously optimistic because of the EPA administrator's willingness to hear concerns about the proposal.
Franken also voiced his opposition to the proposal on Saturday in Spring Valley. He said the proposal will raise the cost of gas and would damage rural communities.
The EPA is accepting public comment on its proposal for the RFS through Jan. 28.
Read the original story here: Klobuchar Opposes Move To Reduce Ethanol Targets
Jan 22, 2014
By Kirsti Marohn
When John Mages started selling corn grown on his farm near Belgrade to an ethanol plant in Atwater instead of shipping it out of state, one of the first things he noticed was the price got better.
Mages is concerned about what will happen to that price and the state’s ethanol industry in light of a proposal by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reduce the amount of ethanol and other biofuels that must be blended into the U.S. gasoline supply.
“That’s drastically going to affect the whole rural area,” Mages said.
In November, the EPA proposed lowering the corn ethanol blending target this year from 14.4 billion to 13 billion gallons.
The changes would have a serious impact on Minnesota’s ethanol industry, which has ramped up production significantly over the past two decades. The state has 21 plants that produce more than a billion gallons of ethanol a year.
The state Department of Agriculture estimates that the revised standards would cost the state $610 million in economic activity and more than 1,500 jobs.
“This is a game changer, because it sets everything backwards,” said Tim Rudnicki, executive director of the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association.
Changing industry
The Renewable Fuel Standard was first adopted in 2005 and expanded two years later as a way to boost the domestic renewable fuel industry and reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil.
Proponents of ethanol say it’s helped cut greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks and also helped boost the rural economy.
“We locally grow and locally manufacture our own fuel, and there’s no more efficient model in the world than that,” said Jake Bauerly, a Benton County commissioner and farmer who was one of the founding investors in the Central Minnesota Ethanol Co-op plant near Little Falls.
Most of the nation’s fuel supply is a mixture containing 10 percent ethanol. There’s also been a push by the ethanol industry to expand the market for higher-ethanol blends, including E15 and E85.
However, there have been large-scale changes in the energy industry and U.S. consumers’ driving habits since the standards were adopted.
Americans have decreased their gasoline consumption by cutting back on the number of miles they drive and buying more fuel-efficient cars, said Doug Tiffany, extension educator with the University of Minnesota, who has researched the economics of ethanol production.
“Some would say the ethanol industry is overbuilt for the size of our appetite for fuel,” Tiffany said.
Tiffany said reducing the ethanol mandate could lead to a drop in corn prices and possibly the closure of some ethanol plants.
“There would be some pain felt across the Corn Belt,” he said.
Environmental concerns
The growth of ethanol has been controversial. Critics say too much of the nation’s food supply is being turned into fuel at a substantial cost, as corn production swallows up land, increases the amount of polluted runoff entering waterways and results in higher food prices and livestock feed.
In testimony before a U.S. Senate panel late last year, Scott Faber with the Environmental Working Group argued that the Renewable Fuel Standard is not providing a powerful-enough incentive for the development of advanced biofuels made from corn stalks, wood chips or other renewable material.
“There’s enormous opportunities for ethanol refiners to retrofit their facilities to produce second-generation biofuels,” Faber said by phone. “But those opportunities aren’t being realized, because corn ethanol is saturating the marketplace for ethanol fuel.”
One plant already making the transition away from ethanol is the Central Minnesota Ethanol Co-op, one of the first ethanol plants built in the state in 1999 but now one of the smallest. It buys 7.5 million bushels of corn annually and produces 21 million gallons of ethanol a year.
In December, the co-op’s board announced the plant is being sold to Green Biologics and will switch to making butanol, which can be used in paints, plastics, pharmaceuticals, food additives and personal care products.
The plant is expected to continue producing ethanol for at least another year, said Dana Persson, the plant’s CEO and general manager.
Taking action
Ethanol proponents argue there’s no real reason higher-ethanol fuel blends can’t be used safely. They say the additional ethanol capacity could be used up by increasing the availability of E15 and higher blends.
“The whole point is to get beyond this fictional limit of 10 percent of biofuels comprising our fuel mix,” Rudnicki said.
But Faber said automakers testified before Congress about the limited number of vehicles warrantied to use higher ethanol blends.
Faber wants to see Congress act to reduce the ethanol mandate.
“Relying on the EPA to use its discretion won’t send the right signals to the investment community to accelerate the development of truly sustainable biofuels,” he said.
Proponents of ethanol are also hoping Congress takes action. Groups like the Minnesota Corn Growers Association and the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association have urged members to send letters to their senators and representatives asking them to leave the Renewable Fuel Standard as it is.
The EPA is accepting public comments on the proposal until Jan. 28.
Several thousand messages have already been sent to Washington, Rudnicki said.
“We’re cautiously optimistic that if enough people contact members of Congress and the EPA to ask them to reconsider their proposal, we might be able to turn this around,” he said.
Read the original story here: Shift In Ethanol Blend Mandate Fuels Fears
Feb 3, 2014
By Kristy Moore
There has been a lot of discussion recently on vehicle warranties, which can be a complicated question for new fuels like E15 (15 percent ethanol, 85 percent gasoline).
To start with, E15 is approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for vehicles 2001 and newer. But, this higher level fuel blend wasn’t approved by EPA when many of the vehicle owners manuals were written. There has been significant growth in the inclusion of E15 in new vehicle owners manuals since EPA’s approval in 2011; especially for brand new cars and trucks sold from 2012 to 2014. In fact, more than 70 percent of the top selling cars are approved by the automaker for E15 usage in their 2014 vehicles, including certain makes and models of Ford, GM, Volkswagen, Honda, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar and Land Rover.
New owners manuals may provide guidance on the use of E15, but that leaves car owners questioning older vehicle models use of E15 and the effect, if any, it will have on the validity of the remaining warranty coverage. Just like aftermarket fuel additives, like stabilizers and octane boosters, or the economy grade 85 octane gasoline that is offered in mountain areas, specific fuels or additives are not always called out by name in a vehicle owner’s manual. Use of these non-mentioned fuels and fuel additives does not necessarily void a vehicle warranty. In fact, vehicle manufacturers may not deny a warranty claim based on use of a different fuel if that fuel did not contribute to the problem for which the warranty claim is made.
But the truth of the matter is that E15 is the most tested fuel additive in EPA history. It has been on the market for 19 months and driven more than 60 million miles with no known cases of engine damage or liability claims against fuel retailers, blenders, refiners, automakers, or ethanol producers for E15 issues.
Read the original story here : The Truth Behind E15 and Vehicle Warranties
Feb 7, 2014
By Russell Hubbard
Green Plains Renewable Energy, the fourth-largest U.S. ethanol producer, told investors and analysts Thursday that gasolines with higher ethanol content, such as the 15 percent version known as E15, soon will begin to make their way into the nation’s fuel supply on a widespread basis.
At current prices for ethanol and gasoline, there is profit to be gained from E15, Chief Executive Todd Becker said on a conference call after the release of fourth-quarter earnings by the Omaha-based operator of 12 ethanol plants in the Midwest and other states.
Ethanol this week was selling at about a 72-cent-per-gallon discount to gasoline, making it profitable to mix the cheaper, grain-based product with the more expensive gasoline to create a blended fuel.
“We are going to start to see over time, as retailers start to put E15 in stations, competitors across the street will have to react,” said Becker. “Economics will drive the behavior.”
It is not without controversy. Ethanol-blended gasoline, with the 10 percent variety known as E10 ubiquitous at U.S. filling stations, has plenty of critics who say it is inferior and damaging to some motors. The ethanol industry dispute such claims, saying high ethanol blends are safely used worldwide in the equipment and vehicles identical to those sold in the United States.
There are also matters of law at stake. Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed rules requiring refiners to blend 15.2 billion gallons of ethanol into gasoline in 2014, down from 16.5 billion gallons in 2013, and below the 18.2 billion gallons envisioned in 2007 federal renewable-fuels legislation.
The EPA proposal, still being debated and subject to a public comment period, acknowledged that it will be tough to expand ethanol use in motor fuels minus higher blend-percentages such as E15.
Read the original story here : Green Plains CEO : E15 Availability To Grow
Feb 9, 2014
By Robert C. Brown and Tristan Brown
In the face of criticism about ethanol, delays in the commercialization of advanced biofuels and the recent development of domestic supplies of fracked gas and petroleum, some people are asking, “Why are we producing biofuels?”
The answer, quite simply, is that we have few other options for achieving a sustainable energy future. Besides quality and cost, future fuels will have to meet additional metrics including environmental, social and political sustainability.
Biofuels are transportation fuels produced from biomass, which is the generic term for any kind of plant material used as an energy source. Corn ethanol and soy biodiesel were the first to emerge. The first decade of the 21st century witnessed an unprecedented boom in the U.S. biofuels industry with fuel ethanol production increasing by a factor of 10.
This was only the beginning of a national effort to substitute domestically produced biofuels for petroleum-based fuels. Recognizing that even the entire U.S. corn crop converted to ethanol would replace only about 20 to 25 percent of national gasoline consumption, agronomists have been developing alternative crops for biofuels. These include trees and tall prairie grasses, residues from traditional crop production, municipal wastes and even microalgae.
Encouraged by federal mandates for the production of advanced biofuels, venture capitalists, corporations and governments have invested billions of dollars in startup companies with business models built around cellulosic ethanol and drop-in biofuels. These investments are starting to bear fruit, with several advanced biofuels companies currently building commercial-scale plants.
WHAT ALTERNATIVES?
Conversion of biomass into biofuels is the best option for reducing use of petroleum and other fossil fuels. Why? Except for biofuels, none of the other fossil-fuel alternatives — coal, natural gas, tar sands, oil shale — has prospects for long-term sustainability as evaluated in terms of production costs, greenhouse gas emissions, water demand, impact on local communities or infrastructure investment.
Although other kinds of renewable energy can be converted into fuels, most are more costly and less infrastructure-compatible than biofuels.
Some critics of biofuels are calling for an overthrow of the legislation that made possible the successful introduction of alternative fuels into the U.S. energy infrastructure. Instead, we should be charting a path to sustainable energy that incorporates lessons learned in commercializing first-generation biofuels.
What did we learn?
We demonstrated that it is possible to produce renewable fuels at commercial scale — 14 billion gallons of ethanol per year is, after all, a lot of fuel. We discovered that increasing domestic fuel production, even though displacing only 10 percent of gasoline supply, could shake up the energy industry, with gasoline refining in the United States now facing a long decline and oil-producing nations realizing they are not the only players in fuel markets.
We recognize that the first generation of biofuels is not the last. This in no way denigrates the existing ethanol and biodiesel industries, whose leaders understand that innovation is critical to the future success of their technology-driven enterprises. Biofuels need to be improved in terms of infrastructure compatibility; optimal use of land to supply both food and fuel security; increasing the energy efficiency of biomass agriculture and biofuels production and utilization in vehicles; and achieving prices that are competitive with other fuels.
SOLAR ENERGY
Besides recognizing our profligacy in energy consumption, we need to acknowledge the grand challenge that lies ahead for future societies: harnessing solar energy. Nature already has it figured out, turning sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into energy-rich carbohydrates, lipids and proteins, which were universally used by humans for both food and energy before the coming of the Petroleum Age.
The U.S. Department of Energy has aspirations of not only emulating photosynthesis, but doing it more efficiently. In the meantime, nature goes about capturing solar energy in the form of biomass at a rate six times faster than modern societies consume all forms of energy.
Those who argue that solar energy is not sufficiently efficient or economic should remember one thing: Fossil energy that we exploit today is solar energy captured by photosynthesis eons ago. Undoubtedly, we would declare fossil energy to be inefficient and uneconomic if nature had not done the hard work for us.
Robert C. Brown is director of the Bioeconomy Institute and the Anson Marston Distinguished Professor of Engineering at Iowa State University
Tristan Brown is research associate the Bioeconomy Institute at Iowa State University
Read the original story here : Why Are We Producing Biofuels?
Feb 12, 2014
By Gary Truit
The National Corn Growers Association's Ethanol Committee met last week in Detroit, Michigan to discuss everything from the latest research on ethanol use in small engines to growing opportunities for distiller's grains. While there, the group also met with representatives of Ford, Chrysler, General Motors and the Environmental Protection Agency. "Meeting in Detroit provided us with a great opportunity to talk with the Big Three auto manufacturers," said NCGA Ethanol Committee Chair Jeff Sandborn. "They confirmed ethanol has a lot to offer because it provides non-toxic, economical octane, but we face significant challenges particularly the policy arena."
Sandborn, a grower from Portland, Mich., noted ethanol provides the performance characteristics auto-makers want and does so more economically than any other source. However, they are also looking direction from the Environmental Protection Agency on specific future standards so they know what engines to design and what ethanol blends might work best.
"We also met with EPA officials while in Detroit. It is clear that NCGA can and probably should step up communications and education with EPA and other governmental agencies to assure they have the best technical information available related to ethanol's potential," Sandborn said.
Read the original story here : Ethanol Fuel's High Octane and Clean Characteristics Key to Future Use
Feb 19, 2014
ORLANDO, Fla - The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) unveiled a new study today by ABF Economics entitled “Contribution of the Ethanol Industry to the Economy of the United States” at the National Ethanol Conference in Orlando, Fla.
The study examines the nationwide impact of the ethanol industry in 2013 on job creation, the economy, household income, and foreign oil displacement.
Bob Dinneen, president and CEO of the RFA, commented on the new study, noting, “Last year we fought, and we continue to fight, against naysayers determined to end the Renewable Fuel Standard. These numbers should silence the opposition as the ethanol industry is clearly helping individuals, families, communities, and our country by creating jobs, displacing oil imports, and contributing to America’s economy.”
The new ABF Economics study found that the 13.3 billion gallons of ethanol produced created 86,503 jobs and sustained an additional 300,277 indirect and induced jobs.
At the national level the ethanol industry contributed $44 billion to America’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while adding $30.7 billion to household incomes.
Additionally, the 13.3 billion gallons of ethanol displaced 476 million barrels of imported oil, saving Americans $48.2 billion in oil imports. That equals roughly 13 percent of last year’s expected crude oil and petroleum imports.
“The ethanol industry continues to make a significant contribution to the economy in terms of job creation, generation of tax revenue, and displacement of imported crude oil. The $40 billion ethanol producers spent on raw materials, other inputs, and goods and services during 2013 contributed more than $44 billion to the nation’s GDP and supported a significant number of jobs in all sectors of the economy.
"The use of ethanol also continues to enhance the nation’s energy independence. The dollars spent on domestically produced ethanol instead of imported crude oil and petroleum products is money that is spent and reinvested in the American economy,” said John Urbanchuk, managing partner of ABF Economics.
The study conducted by ABF Economics, and commissioned by the RFA, can be found here.
Read the RFA's original press release here : New Study Shows Powerful Impact of Ethanol Industry on Jobs & Energy Independence
American Ethanol Enhances Partnership With Richard Childress Racing and Driver Austin Dillon in 2014
Feb 20, 2014
Welcome, NC - American Ethanol is enhancing its partnership with Richard Childress Racing and driver Austin Dillon for the 2014 NASCAR season. Beginning with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway on March 2, Dillon will race the No. 3 American Ethanol Chevrolet SS in select races during the 2014 season.
"American Ethanol is extremely pleased to once again partner with Austin Dillon, Richard Childress and the entire RCR team to help promote a sustainable homegrown American fuel that is better for our environment, reduces our dependence on foreign oil and creates jobs right here in the U.S., while revitalizing rural economies across America and saving consumers at the pump," said Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy.
American Ethanol, launched by Growth Energy and the National Corn Growers Association along with the support of other partners, is a breakthrough brand that seeks to expand consumer awareness of the benefits of ethanol and E15. Since the program launch for the 2011 season, NASCAR drivers have run more than 5 million miles on renewable Sunoco Green E15.
“We want to show the people coast-to-coast there is a great alternative to imported oil and our association with NASCAR and RCR is doing that extremely well," said Jon Holzfaster, a Paxton, NE farmer and chairman of the National Corn Growers Association's NASCAR Advisory Committee. "Ethanol is also responsible for bringing a rural renaissance from Main Street to the family farm.”
American Ethanol will also serve as a major associate sponsor for Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet for the full 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season joining Dow, Cheerios, Realtree Outdoors, Bass Pro Shops and the University of Northwestern Ohio.
“Homegrown biofuels like American Ethanol have stepped up to help our nation’s economy,” said Dillon. “NASCAR drivers have run more than 5 million competitive miles on Sunoco Green E15 and I know we will reach even more milestones together. I am proud to wear the American Ethanol colors in NASCAR and I hope I can bring them to Victory Lane in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2014.”
Dillon is an official spokesperson for American Ethanol, the most commercially-viable alternative that America currently has to offset the economic impact of foreign petroleum. Corn ethanol reduces emissions by 59 percent. And by strengthening America’s energy independence, ethanol helps create American jobs – studies have shown that for every $1 sent overseas for oil, $1.55 leaves the U.S. economy.
Read the original story here : American Ethanol Enhances Partnership With Richard Childress Racing and Driver Austin Dillon in 2014
More...
Feb 24, 2014
By Mikkel Pates
FARGO, N.D. — The North Dakota Cornvention 2014 focused heavily on the benefits of corn ethanol, an industry facing a hit with a proposed reduction to the Renewable Fuels Standard.
The North Dakota Corn Growers Association and North Dakota Corn Council put on the event, which featured speaker Kent Satrang, CEO of PetroServe USA. The company owns a chain of 21 convenience stores in Minnesota and North Dakota, leading the nation with 65 bioblender pumps. It operates all six private-label E15 stations in North Dakota.
Satrang said that after Gov. Jack Dalrymple helped kick off an E15 (15 percent ethanol blend) campaign in Bismarck last fall, sales have “taken off.”
Dean Drake, president of the Defour Group LLC of Fenton, Mich., and researcher for the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, said ethanol’s most valuable use is an oxygenate, even as new oil fields such as the Bakken crank out lower-octane oil. He suggests establishing a new category of “mid-level” ethanol.
If E10 is used in older cars and a new class is established as a new regular, Drake sees a healthy, gradual increase in ethanol consumption.
He said that since the federal Ethanol Tax Credit and Tariff expired in late 2011, the price of ethanol dropped and is getting close to the “energy price parity” level, where a dollar of energy in ethanol is the same as a dollar’s worth of E10 regular.
“At that point, consumers will save money on ethanol, period,” he said. “Gasoline, for the first time since the beginning of the automotive age, is going to have a serious competitor.”
Pam Keck, director of biofuel programs and business development for the National Corn Growers Association, told farmers in the crowd to use and become ambassadors for ethanol.
Keck said about 30 percent of the nation’s corn crop goes into ethanol production, but the public doesn’t realize most is still used for feed. Corn as feed accounts for 39.5 percent of the U.S. crop. Two other categories — 9.2 percent goes into distiller’s grains and 8.4 percent into exports — are both feed. Another 2 percent goes into seed, food and industrial use.
An RFS cut
Farmers are growing more corn per acre now than ever. Corn has become more efficient since 1980, cutting its per-bushel land use by 30 percent, soil loss by 67 percent, irrigation water by 53 percent, energy by 43 percent, and greenhouse gas emissions by 36 percent. Ethanol had a goal of being 20 percent better than petroleum for greenhouse gas emissions by 2022, but now is closing in on being 50 percent better, Keck said.
The original RFS 2 would have required 18.15 billion gallons, or 14.4 billion gallons if advanced biofuels are subtracted.
The EPA proposed a decrease to 15.21 billion gallons of ethanol, including 13.01 billion gallons of corn ethanol.
“If they dropped it by this amount, that represents about a half a billion bushels of corn,” Keck said, adding that it will confound agricultural planting and marketing, threaten the viability of corn growers and ethanol producers, and undermine business plans for future biofuel optimization and expansion, among other things.
She encouraged farmers to buy flex-fuel vehicles and put ethanol in them.
Feb 24, 2014
By Cindy Zimmerman
We’ve heard a lot about how higher ethanol blends might affect the producers of the green fuel and the impacts to consumers on the other end. But what about the viewpoint of those who have to build the vehicles on which these higher blends would run? Representatives from General Motors and Mercedes-Benz were among the experts on a panel at the National Ethanol Conference discussing “Driving Through the Blend Wall” from the automotive perspective.
Renewable Fuels Association vice president for technical services Kristy Moore moderated the panel which included Bill Woebkenberg, U.S. Fuels Technical and Regulatory Affairs, Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America; Coleman Jones, Biofuels Manager, General Motors; and Robert McCormick, Fuels Performance Platform Leader, National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Woebkenberg pointed out that flex fuels are already here and should be attractive to consumers, considering the high-performance, high-octane features.
“It’s not a filler fuel; it’s a race fuel,” and he believes overcoming consumers’ misperceptions of poor performance is key. But he and his colleague from GM, said carmakers are worried less about the rhetoric that might be swirling around flex fuels and more about what the final rules coming out of Washington might say.
“Automakers are a regulated industry, and we pay a lot more attention to the regulations than we pay attention to the words, because these regulations are the deeds by which we have to live with our business and have to be distinguished from the words we hear,” said Jones.
McCormick offered some insight to their review of 43 studies about ethanol, which should give the rulemakers more information by which those automakers have to live. He said overall they found no failures of E15 in performance.
“The use of E15, in our opinion, is likely to have little impact on 2001 and newer model year vehicles,” he told the audience gathered.
McCormick concluded the panel saying there are paths forward with the higher ethanol blends in the market, for carmakers and consumers alike.
Read the original story here : Driving Through The Blend Wall
Jan 13, 2014
By Sen. Amy Kobuchar
From opening our first E15 station, to blending higher amounts of biodiesel, to developing processes to make renewable fuel out of new feed stocks, Minnesota is leading the way and driving the next generation of renewable fuels.
We are using our resources and developing new energy technologies that are creating jobs, increasing domestic energy production and decreasing our dependence on foreign oil.
Unfortunately, a recent proposal from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to lower the biofuel targets for 2014 threatens the progress we have made.
The EPA’s proposed Renewable Fuel Standard rule would, for the first time, allow oil companies to blend incrementally less renewable fuel into the gasoline and diesel supply. It would create a disincentive for fuel retailers to install the blender pumps that are needed to continue to increase our use of biofuels.
Without that infrastructure in place, we never will be able to develop the next generation of biofuels.
This comes at the same time when the industry already has been challenged by the uneven playing field created by the fact that oil companies continue to get billions of dollars in subsidies while the ethanol subsidy has been eliminated.
In Minnesota, the damages would be felt in communities across our state. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture estimates the proposed rule would lead to 1,500 lost jobs and cost the state $600 million in lost economic activity.
The rule change would create uncertainty around a program that has proven to be successful. Because six years into a 15-year policy, the RFS is working. It’s the equivalent of a football coach benching the quarterback midway through a winning season.
With so much progress, now is not the time for drastic changes.
Our economy is in a better place as a result of the RFS. Nationally, the biofuels industry supports more than 350,000 jobs. These are jobs that have been grown in communities across Minnesota.
With 10 percent of our fuel supply now coming from biofuels, this policy also has played a major role in reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Since 2005, our dependence on foreign fuels has fallen from 60 to 40 percent as we continue to move toward homegrown energy sources.
Last but not least, consumers are benefiting from competition at the pump. In Minnesota, sales of E85 have doubled since the beginning of the year because the RFS was helping consumers save at the pump when they were filling up with renewable fuels.
It’s also worth noting that at the same time we are seeing an expansion in biofuels, gas prices — while not as low as we would like — are down, and corn prices have gone down by 45 percent.
All these benefits are why I recently organized a bipartisan meeting in my office with 15 other senators and the EPA administrator to highlight just how important a strong RFS is to rural economies and to urge changes to the proposed rule. It was a constructive conversation, with Democratic and Republican senators from states as diverse as Hawaii, North Dakota and Michigan making the argument for a strong RFS.
I believe that legislative policy works best when it is stable, predictable and provides businesses the ability to make long-term investments. We need to provide the certainty farmers and biofuel producers need to make plans and investments, and that is why I will continue to fight to get a long-term farm bill done, and why we must work together to fix the proposed rule and preserve the integrity of the RFS.
Read original story here Biofuel Standards Help Small-Town Minn
West Central Tribune
Jan 14, 2014
By Tom Cherveny
Neither icy nor wind-blown roads have stopped Dave Frederickson, Minnesota’s Commissioner of Agriculture from doing what he wants the Post Office to do. He wants to see no fewer than 100,000 letters delivered to Gina McCarthy, director of the Environmental Protection Agency urging her to drop the proposal to reduce the renewable fuels standard.
“Wrongheaded and wrong directed,’’ said Frederickson of the proposal Tuesday at the Granite Falls Energy plant.
Frederickson and staff are visiting ethanol plants across Minnesota rallying support for the letter campaign.
McCarthy has proposed reducing the RFS by 10 percent. The reduction would represent a $610 million loss in economic activity in Minnesota.
The state could lose more than 1,500 bio-fuel related jobs, according to Charlie Poster, assistant commissioner of agriculture.
Clean air, rural jobs, and value-added income for agriculture are all at stake, according to those who braved the wind-whipped roads Tuesday morning.
There’s the threat of more harm down the road, according to Ron Fagen, founder of Fagen Engineering in Granite Falls, one of the country’s leaders in the biofuels industry.
Second generation ethanol plants “will be dead in their tracks if the RFS is shut down,’’ Fagen told those who gathered.
Three cellulosic ethanol plants are opening using new technology that holds promise of success, he said.
Fagen also emphasized the importance of ethanol to agriculture in the region. When he began equity campaigns for the state’s first ethanol plants, the 10-year average price for corn was $1.85 a bushel.
McCarthy has indicated that her proposal to reduce the RFS is only a draft at this point. The proposal came after 169 in Congress signed a letter urging a reduction. With declines in U.S. gasoline consumption, they argue that we could exceed the 10 percent blend wall if the RFS is not reduced.
The EPA proposal would represent a 1.4 billion gallon reduction in the current RFS for the U.S. It represents a 110 million gallon reduction for ethanol in Minnesota.
Many in Congress continue to support the current RFS. Staff for U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson and Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken told the board of governors at Granite Falls Energy that there is strong bipartisan support to maintain the RFS.
“Now is not the time to pull the rug out from under the (biofuels) industry.’’ That was the message that a recent, bipartisan delegation presented to McCarthy in a face-to-face meeting, according to Andy Martin, aide to Klobuchar.
“We have to show them how important it is to rural Minnesota and rural America,’’ said Steve Christensen, CEO and general manager of Granite Falls Energy. He pointed out that the local plant purchased 20 million bushels of corn in the past year while it directly provides 38 good-paying jobs for the local economy.
Frederickson said he believes that the message and letter campaign is having an impact in Washington. He said he’s hearing more from farm and rural groups about the RFS than the farm bill right now. “I think we’re cranking it up pretty good,’’ he said of the campaign.
He made visits to Morris, Fergus Falls and Benson to start this week’s campaign Monday.
He expects to wind up his visits to the state’s ethanol plants in the coming week. He will attend a rural summit being hosted by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad Jan. 23 in Des Moines, Iowa, to address the RFS issue.
Frederickson and Poster said letters need to reach the EPA director by a Jan. 28 deadline.
“Unless we flood the EPA with letters, the proposed rule is a 10 percent cut,’’ said Poster.
Read the original story here Ethanol Producers Campaign Against Proposed Cut To Renewable Fuel Standard
(The Journal, Jan 10) - Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MSGA) officials and other corn ethanol and biofuel advocates urged public comment on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposal to reduce corn ethanol under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Thursday at the Minnesota Ag EXPO at the Verizon Wireless Center.
The EPA proposed a 1.4 billion gallon reduction in how much corn ethanol will be required under the RFS, the federal law that helps get domestic, renewable, cleaner-burning corn ethanol blended into the nation's fuel supply. The reduction would impact already low corn prices and negatively affect 2014 planting decisions, according to the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA).
The NGGA maintained that according to Louisiana State University research, cutting ethanol use by 1.4 billion gallons would increase gasoline prices by 5.7 cents a gallon and lead to a $10.3 billion windfall for big oil companies.
Read the rest of the story here: Corn Growers Urge EPA Comments To Keep Ethanol Quotas
Jan 24, 2014
By Philip K. Verleger, Jr
Consumers paid $ 3.25 to 3.30 per gallon for gasoline over the holidays. This was a large savings compared to the $ 4.11 they paid in June 2008 when oil prices peaked. Those days are distant and becoming forgettable to everyone. However, but for action taken in 2007, consumers could easily have paid $4.25 or even $5/gallon for gasoline this Christmas. To be blunt, we got lucky. For once, the U.S. government did something that paid very large dividends.
I realize most Americans doubt that Washington policymakers can accomplish anything. Well, in this case they did. In 2007, Democrats and Republicans worked together to pass the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA). This law requires U.S. oil refiners to blend increasing amounts of renewable fuels into gasoline and diesel. In 2013, the oil industry had to mix almost one million barrels per day of renewables into America’s motor fuels. This volume saved American and world consumers from yet another oil shock.
Now this is not the story one hears today from politicians, oil industry lobbyists, or even some economists. Most commentators today believe the renewable fuels program has raised gasoline prices. The American Petroleum Institute, the trade organization for Big Oil, has been particularly aggressive in financing studies that make this assertion. Other organizations such as the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers have followed suit. Unfortunately, the Obama administration and many in Congress cannot see through the smoke and mirrors. Thus in November, the administration issued draft regulations to reduce the renewable fuels blending requirement for oil refiners, thus allowing the industry to push more oil onto consumers.
In its successful misinformation campaign, the oil industry maintain that consumers paid as much as ten or even twenty cents more per gallon for gasoline in 2013 than they might have had refiners been free of the renewables mandate. What the industry omits is that consumers actually saved $1 per gallon or more in 2013 because the greater renewable supplies replaced crude oil volumes that countries such as Libya, Iraq, Nigeria, Iran, Sudan, and several others failed to produce. Although no one notices, 2013 saw in aggregate the largest disruption of global oil production since at least 1990, according to a US Energy Information Administration report. The amount of lost output reached more than three million barrels per day at one point, which translates to three percent of global capacity.
Much of the “missing” oil was made up by increased output from Saudi Arabia. But most experts agree that the Saudis produced at or very close to capacity in 2013. The country managed to substitute probably two-thirds or maybe three-quarters of the lost oil. It could not, however, replace all of it.
Some in the oil industry likely wish the volume Saudi Arabia could not match had remained lost. Oil company officials and leaders of oil-exporting nations would have cheered if crude prices averaged $150 per barrel rather than $108 in 2013. Make no mistake, prices would have hit such levels had none of the three million barrels per day of lost output been replaced.
Fortunately, that did not happen. The lost oil was supplanted by ethanol and other renewable fuels. EISA did just what its title proclaimed: it assured consumers of energy security (and lower-priced gasoline). The act protected consumers by introducing one million barrels per day of renewables into the nation’s energy picture. The extra biofuel arrived just in time to make up for the diminished production from Libya, Nigeria, and Sudan. This marks a very rare triumph for US energy policy. As one who has followed this issue closely for forty-two years, I am hard pressed to find many such successes, certainly none of this magnitude.
This achievement has gone unnoticed. As noted, the EPA has issued rules that, if enacted, will roll back the renewable fuels program. The agency apparently has failed to notice that consumers are enjoying gasoline prices possibly one-third lower than they would be absent the renewables program. Even worse, the EPA issued these proposed rules under the bogus assertion that refiners could not comply with the standards mandated by Congress. The bureaucrats, who seem to think the renewables program has raised gasoline prices, believe their actions will lower them and thus give consumers a break.
Again, the truth is just the opposite. The EPA’s new regulations will likely boost global crude prices and gasoline prices, unless of course political stability somehow returns to the key oil-producing countries where production fell in 2013. In other words, the EPA strategy will work if Libya’s situation stabilizes so the country can increase output, if Iraq can assuage Al-Qaeda and restore a working government in Fallujah, if the war between Sudan and South Sudan can be resolved, and if the West and Iran can come to some agreement regarding the Iranians’ desire to build nuclear weapons.
Frankly, the Obama administration is foolish to think these international problems can be solved. It should return to the path ordered by Congress in 2007 and ignore the bellyaching of oil refiners. The renewable fuels program saved consumers billions in 2013. If allowed to operate as written, it will save them far more in 2014.
Read the original story here : RFS Kept Gas Prices Down
By Tom Cherveny
March 18, 2014
ATWATER — Bushmills Ethanol is helping lower the bar, and in this case that’s a very good thing.
The Atwater plant has joined the growing number of ethanol producers in the country reducing the water they use, and shrinking their environmental footprint by doing so.
Bushmills Ethanol on Feb. 28 began operating a newly installed zero liquid discharge system built by U.S. Waters Services of St. Michael, Minn.
It’s the fifth such system the company has installed at ethanol plants in Minnesota, according to Christian Hess, area manager with the water services company.
The $3.8 million inves.tment is expected to reduce the Bushmills Ethanol plant’s overall use of water by one-third.
It works like this: Water that was previously discharged into Judicial Ditch 17, part of the Middle Fork of the Crow River watershed, is now returned and re-conditioned. That in turn reduces the amount of water the plant must draw from its wells, and ends the plant’s liquid discharges entirely.
Bushmills Ethanol General Manager Erik Osmon cautions that it’s too early to know for certain, but he said the new system should reduce the amount of water used per gallon of ethanol produced from about 2.9 gallons to 2 gallons.
Hess noted that when the industry was first launched, the ratio of water to ethanol produced was as much as 11 gallons to 1. The industry has steadily made gains in efficiency: The standard today is believed to be somewhere between 3 to 4 gallons of water per gallon of ethanol produced.
Osmon said it is part of a good neighbor approach by the farmer cooperative.
“We are in Minnesota,’’ said Osmon. “The Pollution Control Agency has made water very much a priority both in quality and the amount used, and we’ve reacted accordingly. They didn’t tell us to do this.’’
Bushmills is in compliance with its discharge permit, but in 2012 it paid civil penalties for previous violations.
The new system allows the plant to recycle the water coming mainly from the cooling system.
The U.S. Water Services system uses a cold lime treatment and softening process, not unlike that used by some municipalities to supply drinking water. At Bushmills, the water drawn from the aquifer and the recycled water are mixed and treated in a multi-step process. All of the elements that are naturally found in the local groundwater — magnesium, iron, strontium, and ferrium among them — are greatly reduced in the softening process.
Their removal benefits operations at the plant, as these minerals otherwise concentrate and adversely affect the plant’s boiler and water cooling systems. The new, largely gravity-fed treatment system also reduces overall energy usage.
An important part of the treatment process involves adjusting the pH of the water with the use of carbon dioxide. Bushmills will be using the carbon dioxide that results from its ethanol production in the water treatment system, furthering reducing its carbon footprint, noted Hess.
The lime used in the treatment process is captured at the end of the cycle, pressed dry and formed into cakes for easy transport. At this point the lime will be placed in an approved landfill. The company is working out an arrangement so that in the future the lime can be spread on farm fields to the east, where it will help reduce soil acidity.
Work on the project began last November, and this winter’s severity made it a challenge for the construction workers, said Hess. Osmon said the project was completed right on schedule and the start-up went very well.
U.S. Water Services has installed similar zero liquid discharge in Minnesota ethanol plants including: Highwater Ethanol, Lamberton; Granite Falls Energy, Granite Falls; Biofuel Energy, Fairmont; and Guardian Energy, Janesville.
Read the original story here : With New Discharge System, Bushmills Ethanol Expects To Shrink Its Water Usage
March 19, 2014
Washington -Today, the White House, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are hosting an event on the topic of climate change. Various technology companies, scientists, and other climate experts will meet to discuss the possible impacts of climate change and announce data-driven technologies to build products and services to better prepare our Nation for those impacts.
Commenting on this event, which will include John Podesta, Counselor to the President, among others, Bob Dinneen, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, highlights the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) as a vital piece of any plan to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and curb future climate change:
“Today’s meeting is about finding successful ways to address climate change, including the use of data to help limit future impacts. That makes sense and the effort should be applauded. But it should be noted that the single most effective program this Nation has for reducing GHG emissions is the RFS. Last year alone, the use of biofuels like ethanol and the RFS reduced CO2-equivalent GHG emissions from transportation by 37.9 million metric tons. That’s akin to removing 7.9 million cars from the road for an entire year.”
Dinneen continued, “A recent Life Cycle Associates study found that corn ethanol reduces GHG emissions by 32% compared to petroleum in 2012, including hypothetical land use change emissions. The same study found that corn ethanol reduces GHG emissions by 37-40% compared to tight oil from fracking and tar sands.
“Why then, is the Administration contemplating a reduction in the RFS? Why would the Administration scale back its most successful carbon program? Rolling back the RFS as proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency would INCREASE carbon emissions by some 3.7 million metric tons of CO2-equivalent GHG. That’s like adding 725,000 cars to the road overnight! Talking about climate change is one thing.
"But the Administration has the opportunity to do something about it by restoring the RFS to its statutorily mandated levels for carbon-reducing biofuels.”
Read the original story here : RFS Is Single Most Effective Policy on Greenhouse Gas Reductions