In the News

Renewable Fuels Association

Jun 10, 2021

A recent poll found that voter support for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) has hit its highest levels in at least five years.  Meanwhile, the tracking poll shows support for the use of biofuels like low-carbon ethanol has remained consistently high, with a bipartisan majority of voters expressing a favorable opinion.   The benchmark poll  was conducted at the end of May by Morning Consult, a Washington polling and news site, on behalf of the Renewable Fuel Association.

The poll found that 64 percent of respondents support the Renewable Fuel Standard, with 29 percent expressing “strong support.” This is the highest level of “strong support” for the RFS recorded since RFA began the tracking poll in 2016. It also marks the second-highest level of total support for the RFS, trailing only the two most recent polls (May 2020 and February 2021) that both found 66 percent support for the program.

“Even in times of political division and polarization, the need for cleaner, greener American-made fuels is a uniting issue,” said RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper. “A bipartisan majority of voters support the RFS specifically and ethanol generally, and it is apparent that they want their elected officials to protect the integrity and longevity of the RFS program. Renewable fuels clearly are an area where we can find common ground and bridge broad divides.”

Among registered voters, 72 percent of Democrats, 63 percent of Republicans and 57 percent of Independents hold a favorable opinion of ethanol.  Similarly, the poll found that 76 percent of Democrats and 57 percent of Republicans supported the RFS, along with 57 percent of Independents.

The poll saw an uptick in respondents who reported a very favorable opinion of ethanol since last year, suggesting that more voters view themselves as champions and advocates for renewable fuels. Of those polled, 23 percent reported a very favorable opinion, compared to 13 percent in May 2020.

The desire for energy security is a key driver of support for biofuels. Among voters who have a favorable opinion of ethanol, being made in America was the attribute that contributed most to their favorable opinion of the fuel, of the options tested. Ethanol’s lower carbon footprint and affordability were the second and third most important attributes, respectively, according to the poll.

The poll was conducted from May 27 to 31, 2021, among a sample of 1,988 registered voters.

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Ethanol Producer Magazine

Jun 8, 2021

The U.S. Energy Information Administration maintained its forecasts for 2021 and 2022 ethanol production in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, released June 8. The outlook for 2021 and 2022 ethanol blending, however, was increased.

The EIA currently predicts U.S. fuel ethanol production will average 960,000 barrels per day in 2021, increasing to 990,000 barrels per day in 2022. Both forecasts were maintained from the  May STEO. Ethanol production averaged 910,000 barrels per day last year.

On a quarterly basis, ethanol production is expected to average 980,000 barrels per day during the second quarter of this year, increasing to 990,000 barrels per day in the third quarter, and falling slightly to 980,00 barrels per day in the fourth quarter. In 2022, ethanol production is expected to average 970,000 barrels per day in the first quarter, increase to 990,000 barrels per day in the second quarter, and reach 1 million barrels per day in the third and fourth quarters.

Ethanol blending is currently expected to average 900,000 barrels per day in 2021, and 920,000 barrels per day in 2022. Both forecasts were increased from the May STEO, which predicted ethanol blending to be at 890,000 barrels per day this year and 910,000 barrels per day next year. Ethanol blending was at 820,000 barrels per day in 2020.

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Ethanol Producer Magazine

Jun 7, 2021

Greenfield Global Inc., a leading producer of renewable energy solutions and a global leader in the production of high-purity specialty alcohols and solvents, announced on June 2 that it has reached an agreement with Central Farm Service for the supply of corn to its newly acquired ethanol plant in Winnebago, Minnesota.
 
Greenfield acquired the Winnebago plant end of last year and will be ready to start the production renewable ethanol of as early as the fall of this year. The Winnebago plant has a capacity of 48 million gallons of ethanol per year which is mainly produced for the purpose of low-carbon fuels.
 
Central Farm Service has 17 grain locations in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa. The CFS grain team includes 10 experienced grain marketing advisors along with the tools and information to help farmers formulate effective grain marketing plans. CFS offers daily market commentary, a variety of grain marketing contracts, online grain marketing, and online account information. 
 
The partnership also includes a takeoff agreement of the dried distillers grain products (DDGS) by CFS.  DDGS, a co-product of the ethanol production process, are an excellent source of energy and a highly nutritious animal feed.
 
CFS will begin buying corn immediately for harvest and beyond for delivery to the Greenfield Global plant in Winnebago. For more information, please contact your local CFS Grain Marketing Advisor or call us at (507) 525-1576 or visit  www.cfscoop.com.

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International Flavors & Fragrances Inc

Jun 2, 2021

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA – IFF’s Health & Biosciences division, a world leader in sustainable biotechnology solutions, announced today that they have entered into an agreement to offer advanced yeasts for first generation ethanol production developed by DSM Bio-based Products & Services. Under the terms of this agreement, DSM’s eBoost® product line will immediately become part of IFF’s XCELIS® Ethanol Solutions platform and will be offered and supported by IFF’s experienced global commercial team. In addition, IFF’s R&D team will collaborate with DSM scientists to accelerate IFF’s on-going development of high-performance yeast products. By combining the strengths of the companies’ patented and proprietary technologies, IFF’s XCELIS® Ethanol Solutions platform will deliver new yeasts with unparalleled yield, robustness and enzyme expression.

DSM newest yeast, eBoost® GTX, is currently undergoing US plant trials. It delivers low glycerol, high ethanol yield and up to 70% glucoamylase replacement.  IFF will launch eBoost® GTX along with other new yeast products during 2021 including SYNERXIA® RUBY and SYNERXIA® SAPPHIRE.

Atul Thakrar, President of DSM Bio-based Products & Services stated, “We are excited by the potential of this agreement with IFF. By adding our eBoost® product line to IFF’s platform, IFF will deliver even more value to ethanol producers thanks to an enhanced yeast technology and portfolio, complementary enzymes, advanced data tools, global supply and regulatory infrastructure and an extensive technical and commercial global field organization. This collaboration is the optimal way to deliver the benefits of our yeast technologies to the broadest group of ethanol producers globally.”

Cindy McCracken, Vice President Grain Processing Business, Health & Biosciences division, IFF stated, “We are ready to serve the needs of new and current customers of both IFF and DSM. As we approach this July’s International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo, the team looks forward to supporting the industry with the broadest portfolio of yeast and enzyme products and the technology to drive superior operational and financial performance.”

High yield yeasts and other advancements in the ethanol industry have enabled US producers to increase ethanol yields by 6.5%, reduce energy inputs by 24% while delivering ever-greater quantities of low carbon biofuels and animal feed*. By increasing yields, speeding up fermentation, reducing energy and chemical consumption, IFF’s XCELIS® Ethanol Solutions platform is helping ethanol producers meet the challenges of today’s renewable energy market. 

Dr. Casper Vroemen, Vice President Global Research and Development, Health & Biosciences division, ?IFF stated, “Continued development of the best commercial embodiments of our yeast technology has been a key focus of our Grain Processing technology platform. We are delighted to add DSM’s technology to our platform to deliver improvements in fermentation yield with reduced byproduct formation.” 

* Retrospective analysis of the U.S. corn ethanol industry for 2005–2019: implications for greenhouse gas emission reductions https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bbb.2225?af=R

About DSM Bio-based Products & Services

DSM Bio-based Products & Services is part of Royal DSM, a global, purpose-led, science-based company active in Nutrition, Health and Sustainable Living. DSM’s purpose is to create brighter lives for all. DSM addresses with its products and solutions some of the world’s biggest challenges while simultaneously creating economic, environmental and societal value for all its stakeholders – customers, employees, shareholders, and society at large. DSM delivers innovative solutions for human nutrition, animal nutrition, personal care and aroma, medical devices, green products and applications, and new mobility and connectivity. DSM and its associated companies deliver annual net sales of about €10 billion with approximately 23,000 employees. The company was founded in 1902 and is listed on Euronext Amsterdam. More information can be found at www.dsm.com.

About IFF Health & Biosciences 

Inspired by nature and distinguished by its world-class bioscience and microbiome capabilities, IFF’s Health & Bioscience (H&B) platform is a leading innovation partner for customers across a broad range of consumer product, industrial and agricultural sectors. H&B works closely with our customers to enhance products – and their processes – to deliver safer, healthier and more sustainable solutions.

About IFF

At IFF (NYSE: IFF), an industry leader in food, beverage, health, biosciences and sensorial experiences, science and creativity meet to create essential solutions for a better world – from global icons to unexpected innovations and experiences. With the beauty of art and the precision of science, we are an international collective of thinkers who partners with customers to bring scents, tastes, experiences, ingredients and solutions for products the world craves. Together, we will do more good for people and planet. Learn more at  iff.com,  Twitter,  Facebook,  Instagram, and  LinkedIn.

© 2021 by International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. IFF is a Registered Trademark. All Rights Reserved.

Ethanol Producer Magazine

Jun 2, 2021

President Biden on May 28 released his proposed budget for fiscal year (FY) 2022. The budget includes proposed support for biofuels; biorefinery, renewable chemical and biobased product manufacturing; renewable energy; and sustainable aviation fuel.

For biofuels, the budget would allocate $1 billion in support over the 2022-’26 period, including $500 million in 2022, $250 million in 2023 and $250 million in 2024.

The budget also includes $15.4 billion in support to increase biorefinery, renewable chemical and biobased product manufacturing. Those funds include $4.93 billion in support for FY 2022, $4.06 billion for FY 2023, $3.19 billion for FY 2024, $1.74 billion for FY 2025, and $580 million for FY 2026.

In addition, the budget includes $6.636 billion in tax incentives for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) over the next decade, including $363 million in FY 2022, $503 million in FY 2023, $633 million in FY 2024, $693 million in FY 2025, $1.313 billion in FY 2026, $1.696 billion in FY 2027, $743 million in FY 2028, $376 million in FY 2029; $199 million in FY 2030, and $117 million in FY 2031.

The budget also includes provisions to extend and enhance renewable and alternative energy incentives, and to extend and modify the renewable energy production tax credit.

The Renewable Fuels Association issued a statement June 1 on Biden’s proposed budget. “We are pleased to see funding for renewable fuels like low-carbon ethanol included in the President’s budget proposal and we look forward to learning more about the intended use of this proposed funding,” said Geoff Cooper, president and CEO of the RFA. “Ethanol and other renewable fuels can immediately jumpstart our nation’s efforts to transition away from fossil fuels to a net-zero carbon future. According to scientists from the Department of Energy, Harvard University, MIT, and other institutions and agencies, today’s ethanol is already reducing greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 50 percent compared to petroleum; and innovation and continuous efficiency gains are already putting corn ethanol on the road to net-zero emissions. An investment in renewable fuel production and distribution infrastructure is an investment in a cleaner and brighter future for our nation.”

A full copy of the proposed budget can be downloaded from the White House  website

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Renewable Fuels Association

Jun 2, 2021

A pair of recent studies examining purported cropland expansion in the Midwest are based on a flawed methodology that “suffers from accuracy and certainty issues,” according to a new review of the studies  by researchers at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. In reviewing studies by Zhang et al.  and Lark et al.,  the SIUE authors found that the inherent defects in their methodology “severely hinder its use for estimating land use change over time.”

In their paper, Joshua Pritsolas and Randall Pearson of SIUE’s GeoSpatial Mapping, Applications, and Research Center pointed out that both studies relied on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cropland Data Layer (CDL) tool to estimate the conversion of grassland to cropland, a use for which the tool was not intended and is poorly suited. As the USDA itself has noted, “Unfortunately, the pasture and grass-related land cover categories have traditionally had very low classification accuracy in the CDL,” meaning grassland is often confused with cropland in the CDL dataset.

The reliance of Zhang et al. and Lark et al. on USDA’s CDL tool renders the results of both studies highly questionable.  “Given these issues, policy makers should exercise caution in referencing studies that have performed or integrated land cover/use change analysis that relies on the CDL,” according to Pritsolas and Pearson.

According to the SIUE analysis, it is likely that Zhang et al. and Lark et al. grossly overstated the amount of cropland expansion between 2008 and 2016 because the CDL tool frequently misclassified cropland as grassland in the early part of this time period. “The cropland expansion claimed by Lark et al. (2020) and adopted by Zhang et al. (2021) has a high potential of being false change due to poor classification certainty in the earlier CDL,” the authors found.

Meanwhile, researchers from Purdue University, the University of Illinois—Chicago, and the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory earlier this month responded to unfounded criticism  from a British consulting group about the land use change modeling framework developed by Purdue and the DOE. In a point-by-point rebuttal, the Purdue, UIC, and DOE authors corrected the record regarding their methodology for estimating land use change emissions. “The existing literature has reached the conclusion that early research in this area significantly overstated the land use implications of biofuels,” they wrote. “As the conversation continues, it is important for the community to remain focused on the big picture regarding agriculture’s role as a very effective GHG mitigation tool that can shape the new policies to govern production and consumption of biofuels.”

Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper commented on the importance of the new reports from both SIUE and Purdue, UIC, and DOE.

“As part of the process to propose Renewable Fuel Standard volumes for 2023 and beyond, the Environmental Protection Agency is currently analyzing the environmental impacts of the RFS to date,” Cooper said. “At the same time, the National Academy of Sciences is examining  the state of the science regarding lifecycle analysis of low-carbon transportation fuels like ethanol. Therefore, it is crucial that the scientific and regulatory communities have access to current, reliable data and robust methodologies for assessing the climate impacts of a broad array of transportation fuel options. Important decisions regarding the future of the RFS should be based on sound science—not political science. We applaud the experts at SIUE, Purdue, UIC, and DOE for defending their good work and scrutinizing questionable studies that misrepresent the lifecycle impacts of biofuels.”

RFA Chief Economist Scott Richman testified at a NAS hearing  Monday and stressed the fact that historical predictions about land use/cover change have turned out to be greatly exaggerated. “There has not been a significant increase in U.S. cropland since the Renewable Fuel Standard was expanded in 2007,” Richman said. “Given the clarity of statistics on this fact, opponents have turned to contorting satellite-based imagery to try to find land cover and land use change.”

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Ethanol Producer Magazine

May 27, 2021

The USDA recently released its Grain Crushings and Co-Products Production report for May, reporting that corn use for fuel ethanol in March was up when compared to both the previous month and March 2020.

Total corn consumed for alcohol and other uses was 473 million bushels in March, up 25 percent from February and up 1 percent from March 2020. Usage included 91.1 percent for alcohol and 8.9 percent for other uses.

Corn consumed for fuel alcohol reached 420 million bushels, up 26 percent when compared to the previous month, and up 2 percent when compared to the same month of last year. Corn consumed for dry milling fuel production and wet milling fuel production was at 91.5 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively.

The report shows no sorghum was consumed for fuel ethanol production in March. Data for the prior month was withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual operations. In March 2020, 4.64 million hundredweight (cwt) (259,840 tons) of sorghum went to fuel ethanol production.

At dry mills, condensed distillers solubles production fell to 90,530 tons, down from 92,525 tons in February and 99,381 tons in March 2020. Corn oil production increased to 156,903 tons, up from 117,903 tons the previous month and 149,066 tons during the same month of last year. Distillers dried grains production increased to 368,075 tons, up from 262,261 tons in February and 317,411 tons in March 2020. Distillers dried grains with solubles production increased to 1.8 million tons, up from 1.41 million tons in February and 1.67 million tons in March 2020. Distillers wet grains production was at 1.11 million tons, up from 885,932 tons the previous month, but down from 1.27 million tons in March of last year. Modified distillers wet grains production was at 391,913 tons, up from 377,688 tons in February, but down from 478,416 tons in March 2020.

At wet mills, corn germ meal production was at 50,088 tons, up from 44,416 tons in February, but down from 69,960 tons in March 2020. Corn gluten feed production was at 266,308 tons, up from 217,605 tons the previous month, but down from 291,861 tons during the same month of last year. Corn gluten meal production increased to 113,365 tons, up from 97,680 tons in February and 92,269 tons in March 2020. Wet corn gluten feed production was at 206,831 tons, up from 169,005 tons in February, but down from 220,423 tons in March 2020.

At dry and wet mills, carbon dioxide captured increased to 237,819 tons, up from both 182,552 tons in February and 218,593 tons in March 2020.

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Senator Tammy Duckworth

May 25, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) in introducing the bipartisanRFS Integrity Act of 2021. This legislation would provide more certainty for rural America by bringing transparency and predictability to the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) small refinery exemption process. The bill would require small refineries to petition for Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) hardship exemptions by June 1st of each year. This change would ensure that the EPA properly accounts for exempted gallons in the annual Renewable Volume Obligations (RVO) it sets each November.

“Farmers across Illinois and throughout the Midwest are hurting and ethanol plants are idling as a result of years of misuse of the small refinery exemption program that undermined the intent of the bipartisan Renewable Fuel Standard,”said Senator Duckworth.“I am proud to work with Senator Fischer to introduce this bipartisan legislation to bring much-needed transparency to the waiver process and prevent it from being misused to benefit billion dollar oil companies at the expense of hardworking Americans again.”

“The EPA’s very opaque small refinery exemption process is unfair to hardworking farmers and ethanol producers across rural America. By ensuring the EPA accounts for exempted gallons in the annual RVO process, my bipartisan bill will uphold the integrity of the RFS and bring much needed transparency to this exemption process,”said Senator Fischer.

This legislation fixes the unnecessarily complex “rolling deadline” by setting a deadline for refineries to apply for an SRE by June 1 in the year before the RVO is in effect, giving the EPA sufficient time to ensure exemptions are accounted for in the annual RVO process. It further requires the EPA to publish the name of the refinery and how many gallons are exempted on their dashboard at the same time the refiner is notified that they received an exemption.

The bill is supported by the American Soybean Association, Growth Energy, National Biodiesel Board, National Corn Growers Association, American Farm Bureau Federation and the Renewable Fuels Association.

Senator Duckworth has been a longtime supporter of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) policy. In February, after weeks of  leading an effort  calling on the Biden administration to take such action,  she applauded the Administration’s  decision to support farmers and rural communities by restoring RFS policy, which supports a $5 billion biofuel industry in Illinois that employs more than 4,000 people. Last Congress, Duckworth introduced the  RFS Integrity Act of 2019  to make applications for small refinery exemptions (SRE) public and create more certainty for rural America.

Read the original press release here