In the News
February 5, 2018
Press Release
Novozymes today revealed its new yeast platform for starch-based ethanol, while also introducing the first product, Innova Drive. A completely new yeast strain, the product can reduce fermentation time by up to two hours compared to current yeasts.
The new yeast is also tougher, continuing to ferment in adverse conditions such as higher organic acids and temperatures. This stress resistance increases ethanol output and reduces operational costs.
“The first product from our yeast platform, Innova Drive is a completely new ride for the ethanol industry. It puts plant operators in the driver’s seat to run fermentations the way they need to,” says Brian Brazeau, Novozymes’ Vice President for Biofuels Commercial. “Yeast is a major bottleneck that requires constant care and attention. Innova Drive is a response to the needs of the ethanol industry, and resets expectations for how tough a yeast can be.”
Recent surveys show that more than half of all ethanol plants face operational upsets, many related to yeast. High heat, infections, organic acids, and throughput limitations are stressors that plague current yeasts, requiring plant personnel to increase antibiotics, reduce inputs such as corn solids, and add more yeast – all contributing to process complexity. This leads to a double-impact of increased costs and lost revenue.
Leveraging unique synergies
Novozymes has used its expertise in enzymes to develop a perfectly matched yeast that delivers higher ethanol yields and reliable performance. The result is a game-changing solution for the industry that sets a new standard for fermentation performance.
During fermentation, Innova Drive produces a novel, higher-performing glucoamylase enzyme. The enzyme is twice as effective as glucoamylases produced by other yeast products in converting sugar into ethanol. And, when ethanol producers pair a specially designed, complementary Novozymes fermentation enzyme with Drive, the combined performance allows producers to maximize ethanol conversion and starch conversion efficiency.
“We are leveraging the synergies of our best-in-class enzymes and new yeast. The enzymes expressed by the yeast, in combination with carefully tailored companion enzyme products, give you a cocktail of enzyme activities that will feed the yeast in an optimal manner throughout fermentation,” says Brazeau. “For an ethanol producer, this means increased efficiency in starch conversion, greater starch conversion, lower residual starch – and, at the end of the day, more ethanol.”
Innova yeast platform
Yeast strains used in the starch-based ethanol industry have remained largely unchanged for decades. The Innova platform uses a completely new yeast strain not seen before in the ethanol industry and brings novel characteristics, which ethanol producers are asking for. Novozymes can further build upon and tailor these characteristics to meet the specific needs of an ethanol producer.
Innova Drive is Novozymes’ first yeast product, with more to come. The company continues to focus on developing integrated solutions to help ethanol producers improve plant performance with dedicated support and technical service.
Why is yeast vital for ethanol production?
Yeast converts raw materials into ethanol. Corn goes into the plant and is broken down by enzymes to prepare it for fermentation. During fermentation, yeast is added. The yeast consumes the raw materials and releases ethanol and carbon dioxide. Ethanol producers spend a lot of time and energy ensuring that the right conditions exist for yeast to thrive. The stronger and more efficient the yeast, the better able it is to tolerate production stresses and generate ethanol – improving productivity and profitability.
Innova Drive: Key numbers
Innova Drive allows ethanol producers to operate their plants at higher temperatures year-round, to achieve higher production levels. Using a yeast bred to power through heat excursions up to 98°F/~37°C, operators can diminish plant downtime, increase efficiency and output in any season, and potentially decrease cooling costs.
Innova Drive is tolerant to high organic acids, and fermentations will finish even when acid levels rise as high as 0.6 percent. This significantly reduces the risk of process upsets and ethanol loss due to lost fermenters – enabling operators to power through infection events.
Innova Drive excels with high dry solids – up to 37 percent – with proven resistance to high ethanol levels and during periods of temperature stress.
Ultimately, Innova Drive’s improved stress tolerance leads to more consistent fermentations and more ethanol being produced.
Read the original release: Novozymes Adds Yeast to Bioenergy Business
January 30, 2018
By Tim Albrecht
Cargill recently announced plans to expand its portfolio at its starches and sweeteners plant in Krefeld, Germany, with advanced biofuels, vegetable wheat protein and industrial wheat starches. The expansion to a wheat processing facility allows Cargill to help customers address changing consumer needs involving nutrition, packaging and sustainable fuel.
The transformation, expected to be completed by 2020, is a part of Cargill’s long-term strategy to broaden its product portfolio and address evolving consumer needs. “Diversifying Krefeld's product portfolio will allow Cargill to address changing market trends like the increasing demand for vegetable proteins driven by a growing world population and the rising need for industrial starches used in packaging paper,” says Alain Dufait, Cargill Starches & Sweeteners Europe Managing Director. “This will enable us as well to explore the opportunity to manufacture advanced ethanol, produced from low-value streams.
“In order to diversify the portfolio, we will need to transform our Krefeld site from a corn processing facility to a wheat processing facility. We believe such a transformation will help to improve Cargill Starches & Sweeteners Europe's competitiveness, position the business for future growth and allow it to sustain its market leadership.”
European institutions are defining the future legislative framework post-2020 of the renewable energy market across the country. Cargill is looking to stay ahead of the trend and provide ethanol for Europe’s evolving market, says Dufait. “In particular, regarding the decarbonization of the transport sector, there is an overall support of the deployment of advanced biofuels, waste-based fuels and renewable electricity. In this context, Cargill is exploring the opportunity to manufacture and offer our customers advanced biofuels produced from low-value streams.”
Cargill Starches & Sweeteners Europe processes corn and wheat to manufacture a comprehensive collection of value-added products dedicated to the food and beverage, papermaking, corrugating, BioIndustrial, pharmaceutical, personal care and animal nutrition industries.
Read the original story: Cargill to Produce Ethanol at Germany Plant
January 24, 2018
By U.S. Grains Council
Considerable concern surrounded the export potential for U.S. distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) following an adverse trade policy decision by Vietnam, a historic top buyer, in December 2016. Instead, other countries in the region increased DDGS purchasing, the Vietnamese market re-opened and the region set a new record at 2.3 million metric tons in DDGS imports in 2016/2017.
“Offsetting the decline in sales to Vietnam, the market for U.S. DDGS in Southeast Asia diversified significantly,” said Manuel Sanchez, U.S. Grains Council regional director for Southeast Asia. “We lost the largest DDGS market in the region for eight months and still reached a record import volume overall.”
Following the detection of quarantine pests, the Vietnamese Plant Protection Department issued a decision in October 2016 to temporarily suspend DDGS importation. As a result, Vietnam purchased 50 percent less U.S. DDGS in 2016/2017 at nearly 495,000 tons, compared to almost 986,000 tons the year prior.
The Vietnamese government lifted its suspension of U.S. DDGS imports in September 2017, following an intense effort by the council, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Thus far in the 2017/2018 marketing year (September-November 2017), Vietnam has purchased more than 213,000 tons of U.S. DDGS, a steady uptick in the market.
Elsewhere in the region, the council continued to expand DDGS sales by providing technical expertise and support as well as connecting grain buyers and end-users with U.S. suppliers. Programs in Vietnam are targeting aquaculture and swine programs whereas activities in Indonesia and Malaysia focus on boiler and layer sectors. In the Philippines, the council is providing information on storing and handling.
This work throughout the region is helping end-users determine how best to incorporate U.S. DDGS into their rations. Combined with one of the lowest per unit of protein cost compared to other feed ingredients in the market, the council saw notable increases in demand for U.S. DDGS from buyers in Southeast Asia in 2016/2017.
“We saw notable year-over-year growth in both Thailand and Indonesia,” said Sanchez. “New buyers like New Zealand, Cambodia and Myanmar also made a big splash this past marketing year.”
Thailand was the fourth largest buyer of U.S. DDGS in 2016/2017, purchasing 791,000 tons. Already in the new marketing year, Thailand has purchased more than 206,000 tons, bolstered by the council’s trade servicing and technical assistance to the country’s feed manufacturers for swine, broilers and layers sectors, among the largest in the world.
“Thailand’s growth can be directly attributed to the council’s programs in country,” Sanchez said. Indonesia has also steadily increased imports of U.S. DDGS over the three marketing years, importing about 512,000 tons in 2016/2017. Indonesia has already purchased more than 251,000 tons of U.S. DDGS in 2017/2018.
Smaller buyers are also substantially increasing their purchases of U.S. DDGS. New Zealand more than quadrupled purchases of U.S. DDGS with 151,000 tons in 2016/2017, compared to 32,600 tons the previous marketing year. New Zealand has already purchased 50,000 tons of U.S. DDGS in 2017/2018.
“Market potential for DDGS exports to the region remains optimistic in 2017/2018,” Sanchez said. “We expect demand for U.S. DDGS strengthen as industries in these countries continue to grow and incorporate more co-products into their rations.”
Learn more about the Council’s work in Southeast Asia here.
Read the original article: USGC: DDGS Exports Set New Record to Southeast Asia
January 29, 2018
By Bob Dineen
Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) filed for bankruptcy last week, pointing fingers and laying blame squarely on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), a federal program that requires refiners to blend increasing amounts of ethanol and other biofuels. That may make for a provocative headline, but the public and PES’ 1,100 employees deserve to know the truth: PES has no one else to blame but itself.
PES operates one of the nation’s oldest refineries, which is handicapped by hopelessly antiquated technology. This is not the first time the refinery has found itself in a precarious financial position.
In 2012, the Carlyle Group and Sunoco rescued the refinery from bankruptcy, thanks to a taxpayer-funded rescue package. The following year, PES invested in new infrastructure to allow the importation of cheap oil from North Dakota. While PES was able to capitalize on that investment in 2014 and 2015, the collapse in oil prices and the end of the U.S. crude export ban in late 2015 hit the refiner hard and left it hostage to the higher-priced Brent crude index. Since that time, PES has been dealing with a substantial debt burden.
The RFS, which helps to provide consumer choice at the pump, assures refiners flexibility by offering credits, called Renewable Identification Numbers (RIN), to aid in compliance with the program. Wall Street analysts, academic researchers, EPA officials, and even some other oil refiners have said repeatedly that RINs don’t negatively affect refining margins. Like other refiners, PES could have eliminated its RINs-related costs by making investments in blending more renewable fuels. Instead, PES is blaming RINS for its financial woes. Last week, PES CEO Greg Gatta told Bloomberg, “Absent RINs, we’re competitive with anyone in the world.” If that were true, why is PES seeking unilateral amnesty from an obligation that impacts every refiner equally?
PES is really seeking a unique and unnecessary subsidy. The company says it will ignore its RFS obligation, while at the same time acknowledging it will sell the RIN credits it has accumulated. PES wants their cake and to sell it too!
The RFS, which began in 2005, is helping to break the oil industry’s near-monopoly at the pump, while cleaning the air, providing greater energy independence, boosting local economies and lowering consumer prices at the pump. PES’ actions are an insult to those in the industry that have complied with this very successful and important policy, as well as to consumers across the country who are demanding greater access to U.S.-produced, cleaner, cheaper renewable fuels. PES needs to stop obfuscating and take responsibility for the unfortunate mess it finds itself in today.
Read the original article: Philadelphia Energy Solutions Wrong to Blame Renewable Fuel Standard for Bankruptcy
January 23, 2018
By U.S. Grains Council
The government of Algeria has lifted a value-added tax (VAT) on U.S. distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and corn gluten feed (CGF) for 2018, affording new opportunities this marketing year.
"The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) has been demonstrating the clear advantages of using DDGS and CGF in feed rations through activities in Algeria,” said Ramy Hadj Taieb, USGC regional director for the Middle East and North Africa. “This success was made possible thanks to efforts deployed by the council and our various partners in Algeria.”
Algeria is the second largest corn market in North Africa, second only to Egypt. The poultry and dairy sectors are growing industries where U.S. coproducts fit well into rations. However, a complex environment and government influence on the economy complicates market development efforts.
For the last two years, the Algerian government has imposed regulations and made decisions to restrict imports in order to offset the persistent drop in international oil and gas prices. That included a 17 percent VAT on both U.S. DDGS and CGF. Combined with existing import duties of 30 percent, imports of these products were simply uncompetitive with other feed ingredients.
However, thanks to work by the council and partners in country to push for a reduction in tariffs, the Algerian government released a list of feed ingredients benefiting from an exoneration of a value-added tax until Dec. 31, 2018. The list notably includes corn, barley, DDGS and CGF, a particular success in this economical context.
“The difference of cumulated import and value-added tax tariffs has considerably narrowed, especially when compared to competing feed ingredients,” Taieb said. “This situation offers new and interesting import perspectives for U.S. co-products in Algeria as the council continues to promote the value of U.S. DDGS and CGF in improving feed conversion rates.”
While the exemption from the value-added tax is a success, U.S. DDGS and CGF are still subject to import duties of 30 percent, compared to 5 percent for both corn and soybean meal. As a result, the council will continue efforts to bring these import duties in line with other feed ingredients as well as to demonstrate the value of utilizing U.S. DDGS and CGF in poultry and dairy feed rations to Algerian producers.
Learn more about the council’s work in North Africa here.
Read the original article: Algeria Removes Value-Added Tax on US DDGS, Corn Gluten Feed
January 19, 2018
By Bliss Baker
In the years since the international community began taking the human contribution to global climate change seriously, the ethanol industry has experienced several ups and downs. National mandates created markets that enabled the development of domestic biofuel industries in a number of countries, but these government commitments wavered when oil prices dropped to historic lows after the 2008 economic collapse.
Encouragingly, despite an extended period of uncertainty and less-than-ideal market circumstances, free trade has enabled global biofuel production to continue its incremental growth year after year. This resilience has been supported by real-world data becoming available to replace unreliable projections, illustrating the lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) benefits of ethanol use compared to conventional fossil fuels in transport.
There are clear signs that a growing number of countries are recognizing biofuels not just for their GHG emission and economic benefits, but also for their contribution to improved air quality in high-density urban centers and their ability to reduce reliance on crude imports.
Most significant for the global biofuels industry are the recent signals from the governments of India and China—two of the world’s largest economies and auto markets—of their intention to significantly scale up the use of biofuels in their countries’ transport sectors. These signals are particularly noteworthy because they focused on the economic opportunities biofuels production presents for farmers, as well as ethanol’s ability to reduce harmful particulate matter emissions from transportation fuels.
At the 2015 U.N. Climate Conference (COP21) where the historic Paris Agreement was signed, dozens of countries highlighted policies promoting or mandating the use of biofuels for domestic transport in their Nationally Determined Contribution plans.
It has been encouraging to see an increasing number of countries introducing or enhancing biofuel mandates for transport fuels in their revised plans submitted at COP23 in November.
At that conference, parties to the 2015 Paris Agreement established terms for full implementation of the agreement, including their NDCs. This sets the stage for the development of clear policy commitments in the next year, specifically designed to achieve national emission-reduction targets in the short and near term.
These efforts will have to consider the additional challenges presented by the fact that in the time since the 2015 commitments were made, multiple nongovernmental organizations have reported that governments will have to increase the ambitiousness of the NDC plans submitted in 2015 if the global community is to achieve the targets laid out in the Paris Agreement.
This was recognized by 19 countries at COP23, including Brazil, China and India, who complemented their overall NDC plans by committing to development of biofuels targets and an action plan to achieve them.
This agreement is significant for the countries participating and the potential for trade, but also because the decisions included in the declaration were informed by modeling from the International Energy Agency and the International Renewable Energy Agency, which concluded that the temperature goals adopted in the Paris Agreement cannot be reached without a major increase in the production and use of sustainable biofuels.
Because structural economic and infrastructure reforms require a significant amount of planning and budgeting, governments have a limited number of policy pathways to choose from if they are to achieve short-term emission reductions.
Ethanol’s value as a cost-competitive and immediately dispatchable alternative to fossil fuels, using existing transport fuel infrastructure and auto fleets, represents a unique policy solution to the challenges faced by governments.
Establishing domestic biofuel industries takes time, but a focus on free trade will enable countries to satisfy their demand for biofuels as they develop their capacity.
The Global Renewable Fuels Alliance looks forward to working with countries as they increasingly turn to biofuels to support their efforts to cut GHG emissions, and to facilitate longer-term transitions to a low carbon future.
Read the original article: More Countries Adopting Ethanol Policies
January 22, 2018
By Erin Voegele
The U.S. EPA has released renewable identification number (RIN) data for December, reporting that nearly 1.68 billion RINs were generated during the month, including more than 27.08 million cellulosic RINs. For the full year 2017, a net total of 19.29 billion RINs were generated.
Approximately 26.76 million D3 cellulosic biofuel RINs were generated in December, bringing the net total for 2017 to 227.38 million. Approximately 10.05 million D3 RINs were generated for ethanol, with 141.24 million generated for renewable compressed natural gas and 76.14 million generated for renewable liquefied natural gas. More than 139.78 million D3 RINs were generated domestically, with 33.65 million generated by importers.
According to the EPA, 327,467 D7 cellulosic diesel RINs were generated in December, bringing the net total for 2017 to nearly 1.67 million. Approximately 1.74 million D7 RINs were generated for cellulosic heating oil, with 459 generated for cellulosic diesel. According to the EPA, 459 RINs were generated domestically, with 1.74 million generated by importers.
Nearly 6.85 million D5 advanced biofuel RINs were generated in December, bringing the net total for last year to 143.35 million. More than 99.34 million D5 RINs were generated for ethanol, with 31.53 million generated for naptha, 1.96 million generated for heating oil, 8.75 million generated for nonester renewable diesel, and 1.87 million generated for renewable compressed natural gas. Nearly 69.56 million D5 RINs were generated domestically, with 73.89 million generated by importers.
Nearly 1.28 billion D6 renewable fuel RINs were generated in December, bringing the net total for 2017 to nearly 15.09 billion. Most, 14.86 billion, were generated for ethanol, with 244.98 million generated for nonester renewable diesel. Nearly 14.85 billion D6 RINs were generated domestically, with 11.32 million generated by importers and 244.98 million generated by foreign entities.
More than 363.58 million D4 biomass-based diesel RINs were generated in December, bringing the net total for last year to 3.83 billion. The majority, 3.07 billion, were generated for biodiesel, with 770.39 million generated for nonester renewable diesel and 2.74 million generated for renewable jet fuel. More than 2.81 billion D4 RINs were generated domestically, with 694.13 million generated by importers and 39.18 million generated by foreign entities.
As of the close of 2017, the EPA estimates a total of 19.55 billion RINs were generated last year, with 716.61 million retired, 594.1 million locked and available and 18.24 billion unlocked and available.
Read the original article: EPA: Nearly 230 Million Cellulosic RINs Generated in 2017
January 16, 2018
A new multi-institution report provides practical agronomic data for five cellulosic feedstocks, which could improve adoption and increase production across the country.
According to a recent ruling by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, 288 million gallons of cellulosic biofuel must be blended into the U.S. gasoline supply in 2018. Although this figure is down slightly from last year, the industry is still growing at a modest pace. However, until now, producers have had to rely on incomplete information and unrealistic, small-scale studies in guiding their decisions about which feedstocks to grow, and where. A new multi-institution report provides practical agronomic data for five cellulosic feedstocks, which could improve adoption and increase production across the country.
“Early yield estimates were based on data from small research plots, but they weren’t realistic. Our main goal with this project was to determine whether these species could be viable crops when grown on the farm scale,” says D.K. Lee, associate professor in the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois and leader of the prairie mixture portion of the study.
The project, backed by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Sun Grant Initiative, began in 2008 and includes researchers from 26 institutions. Together, they evaluated the bioenergy potential of switchgrass, Miscanthus, sorghum, energycane, and prairie mixtures in long-term trials spanning a wide geographical area. Due to shortages in plant materials, Miscanthus and energycane were grown on smaller plots than the other crops, but researchers say the new results are still valuable for producers.
“Although making real-world decisions and recommendations based on performance data from small plots is less desirable than from field-scale plots, we feel comfortable with the Miscanthus results since they were based on 33 data sets collected from five sites over seven years,” says Tom Voigt, professor in the crop sciences department at U of I and leader of the Miscanthus portion of the study.
Crops were grown for five to seven years in multiple locations and with varying levels of nitrogen fertilizer. Although most of the crops are known to tolerate poor soil quality, the researchers found that they all benefitted from at least some nitrogen. For example, Miscanthus did best with an application of 53.5 pounds per acre.
“When we didn’t fertilize with any nitrogen, yields dropped over time. But if we used too much, 107 pounds per acre, we were increasing nitrous oxide emissions and nitrate leaching,” says Voigt. “There is some need for fertilization, but it should be tailored to specific locations.”
Prairie mixtures, which were grown on land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), also benefitted from added nitrogen. Yield kept increasing with the addition of up to 100 pounds per acre, but Lee says producers would have to weigh the yield benefit against the cost of the fertilizer.
“Even though it increased yield, it is economically not profitable to use more than 50 pounds of nitrogen per acre.”
And although most of the crops are somewhat drought-tolerant, precipitation made a difference.
“Miscanthus production was directly related to precipitation,” Voigt says. “In areas where precipitation was down, yields generally dropped. However, it did depend on timing. If there was a good amount of water in the winter, plants could get going pretty well in the spring. But if we had little rainfall after that, that hurt yields.”
Lee says prairie mixtures, which are normally made up of hardy grasses, suffered from the severe droughts in 2012 and 2013 in some locations. “In one year in our Oklahoma location, they didn’t even try to harvest. Yield was too low.”
No one feedstock “won” across the board. “It depends so much on location, nitrogen application rate, and year variability,” Voigt says. Instead of highlighting specific yields obtained in good years or locations, a group of statisticians within the research team used field-based yield and environmental data to create maps of yield potential for the five crops across the U.S. Dark green swaths on the maps represent areas of highest yield potential, between 8 and 10 tons per acre per year.
According to the new results, the greatest yield potentials for lowland switchgrass varieties are in the lower Mississippi valley and the Gulf coast states, whereas Miscanthus and prairie mixture yields are likely to be greatest in the upper Midwest.
Lee says the prairie mixtures, which are typically grown on CRP land to conserve soil, didn’t live up to their potential in the study. “We know that there are higher-yielding switchgrass varieties today than were included in the CRP mixtures in the study. If we really want to use CRP for biomass production, we need to plant highly productive species. That will bump yield up a lot higher.
“One of the biggest concerns now is that CRP enrollment is shrinking. When we started, we had 36 million acres nationwide. Now we’re down to 26 million. Farmers feel they could make more money by using that land for row crops. We need to find some solution if we want to save the soil. Biomass could provide revenue for farmers, if they were allowed to harvest it,” Lee says.
Energycane could reach very high yields, but in a relatively limited portion of the country. However, the crop that shows the highest potential yields in the greatest number of locations is sorghum. The annual crop is highly adaptable to various conditions and might be easier for farmers to work with.
“It fits well in the traditional annual row-crop system; better than perennial crops. It may not be environmentally as desirable as perennial crops, but people could borrow money in winter to buy seed and supplies, then plant, and sell in the fall to pay back their loans. It’s the annual cycle that corn and beans are in,” Voigt says.
Lee adds, “In terms of management, sorghum is almost the same as corn. It germinates and grows so quickly, weed control is not a big issue. If you plant by early June, it will be 15-20 feet tall by September. It also has good drought tolerance.”
Downsides to the biomass champ? It’s wet at harvest and can’t be stored. It also requires nitrogen and can lodge, or collapse, prior to harvest in wet or windy conditions. “Still, it’s a really spectacular plant,” Voigt says.
The researchers made all the raw data from the study available online for anyone to access. Lee says it can be useful for everyone: scientists, policymakers, and producers. “It should be helpful for number of different stakeholders,” he says.
The article, “Biomass production of herbaceous energy crops in the United States: Field trial results and yield potential maps from the multiyear regional feedstock partnership,” is published in a special issue of GCB Bioenergy. The project was funded through the U.S. Department of Energy [award number DE-FC36-05GO85041] and the North Central Regional Sun Grant Center at South Dakota State University.
Read the original article: New Study Shows Producers Where and How to Grow Cellulosic Biofuel Crops
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Jan 11, 2018
The Bolivian government announced its intention to establish an ethanol blend mandate during a December seminar conducted by the U.S. Grains Council (USGC).
Bolivian Vice President Garcia Linera made the announcement during closing remarks at the event, reporting the government’s decision to implement an ethanol blend mandate starting at 10 percent in 2018 with goals of mid-level blends in coming years.
Bolivia did not previously have an ethanol blending mandate, though the country has seven sugarcane milling facilities already producing ethanol domestically. Linera emphasized the mandate would help increase domestic gross domestic product (GDP) in Bolivia by supporting local industry, while maintaining a role for trade to help consistently meet the E10 blend level.
“The Bolivian announcement is an exciting development for ethanol policy in the Americas,” said Mike Dwyer, USGC chief economist. “This success of the Council’s work to promote biofuels policies with a role for trade is directly attributable to the efforts to increase knowledge sharing and collaboration like at the Ethanol Summit of the Americas last fall.”
Linera’s comments followed a seminar organized by the Council to provide information on the economic and environmental benefits of biofuels. In addition to Dwyer, speakers from Mexico, Paraguay and Argentina provided information on the movement towards using ethanol and discussed the main constraints to developing biofuels policies in their respective countries.
“The seminar helped start the discussion between the public and the private sector in Bolivia for establishing an ethanol mandate,” Dwyer said. “Additionally, we offered knowledge and expertise from the U.S. perspective in growing an ethanol industry to help make it happen.”
During the same mission, the Council traveled to Ecuador to continue a similar dialogue on biofuels. Ecuador does have an E5 mandate in place, but a reliance on sugarcane to produce ethanol results in difficulty guaranteeing the blend rate during heavy rainy seasons that disrupt local production.
In contrast, an ethanol mandate with a role for trade would support the Ecuadorian domestic industry while ensuring the blending rate is met throughout the year, no matter the local weather disruptions. The blend mandate also contributes to Ecuador’s commitments under the Paris climate agreement to implement effective strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“The Council expects this open dialogue between the private sector and government officials to result in future cooperative efforts to increase ethanol consumption,” Dwyer said. “The Council helped this effort by providing firsthand information about ethanol’s environmental benefits and market opportunities for the local industry in Ecuador.”
The Council arranged the meetings in Ecuador and Bolivia as a direct follow-up to the Ethanol Summit of the Americas in October 2017, after which representatives from both countries expressed additional interest in developing ethanol policies and requested further discussions. The Council plans to continue this dialogue and encourage the generation of biofuels policies throughout the world.
“U.S. ethanol has a competitive advantage in Latin America driven by cost of production, efficiencies and reduced transportation costs,” Dwyer said. “We aim to expand the use of ethanol in the region - including in Bolivia and Ecuador - through continuing to facilitate discussions on establishing pathways for its use.”
Learn more about the Council’s work to promote biofuels policies with a role for trade here.
January 16, 2018
By Jake Spring, Mateus Maia
Brazil is studying the removal of a 20-percent tariff on ethanol imports from the United States, Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi said on Wednesday, in a decision that could depend on Washington lifting a ban on fresh beef exports from Brazil.
Last year, Brazil imposed a 20-percent tax on ethanol imported from the U.S. that exceeds a 600 million liter annual quota to protect local producers as imports spiked.
Also in 2017, the U.S. banned shipments of fresh beef from Brazil following on a food safety scandal involving bribes paid to inspectors that led to heightened inspections by the U.S. and in turn uncovered potential health risks.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Maggi implied that a decision on removing the ethanol import tariff could depend on resolving the dispute on beef exports.
“There is on the part of the United States a big demand to withdraw this (ethanol tariff) and we also have this problem with beef,” Maggi said. “Obviously one thing influences and contaminates the other.”
The ban on fresh beef exports could be lifted by April, Maggi said, when he is expected to step down in order to meet a deadline to run for elected office in October.
Brazil has already submitted all of the material requested by the United States to address concerns over beef exports and is awaiting for the United States to decide whether the issue is resolved, he said.
Read the original article: Brazil Considers Lifting Tariff on U.S. Ethanol
Environmental and Energy Study Institute
January 12, 2018
By Jessie Stolark
EPA administrator Scott Pruitt opened up the year by announcing his three regulatory priorities for 2018; rewrite the Clean Power Plan, rewrite the Waters of the United States and overhaul the Renewable Fuel Standard. Within the RFS, one can only take his comments to mean specifically – overhaul the RINs marketplace. Renewable identification numbers (RINs) are the tradable credits attached to every gallon of renewable fuel and used as a compliance mechanism for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). They have been the oil refining industry’s favorite punching bag for quite some time.
The argument is roughly – increased biofuels mandates lead RINs to spike in cost, translating to billions in compliance costs, particularly for small refiners. While somewhat logical, as higher RINs costs have to be absorbed somewhere, this logic has not borne out. According to multiple economic studies, refiners recoup the higher RIN cost through what refiners call the ‘crack spread’ or the difference in price between the unrefined petroleum and the refinery products, such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and heating oil. When the RIN price increases, the crack spread increases, and when they fall, the crack spread decreases.
While President Trump has been largely unwavering in his support for the domestic biofuels industry, the administration often finds itself at odds with two industries it purports to support -- oil and biofuels. The issue reached a fever pitch early in the Trump administration, with former White House special advisor Carl Icahn supporting changes to who was required to comply with the RFS. Icahn is a major shareholder in the merchant refinery CVR Energy and is currently under federal investigation for his unusual role in the administration.
More recently, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has led efforts to seek ‘regulatory relief’ for refiners from RINs. Cruz has been the latest standard bearer for the argument that the credits are costing refiners millions of dollars and put the sector at risk of major jobs cuts.
After putting a hold on the confirmation of Bill Northey, the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, for the position of Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation at USDA, Cruz was able to garner several meetings at the White House to broker a supposed deal with corn-state leaders late last year. Last month, Cruz also floated a proposal to cap RIN prices at 10 cents, a non-starter with the biofuels industry.
Agricultural economists with FarmDoc, at the University of Illinois, independently assessed the 10 cent cap to RINs proposal, concluding that it would be a defacto 10 percent blending cap and “would reverse the technology-forcing intent of the statutory mandate.” They also questioned the legality of such a change, without further Congressional intervention to change the statute.
Indeed, RIN prices drop when more biofuels are blended into the fuel supply, making producing and blending renewable fuels more attractive. In this sense, RINs have worked exactly as designed.
Over the past several years, it’s practically become conventional wisdom that the RINs market is “broken” and causing significant hardship to the refining industry, particularly small merchant refiners that don’t have the capacity to blend biofuels without investing in blending technology.
However, at least one merchant refiner has publicly admitted that there is no evidence of economic harm from RINs, with merchant refiner Tesoro stating, “RIN costs are passed through at the bulk finished product sales points and provide refiners with coverage of their exposure to them.”
Even labor unions have begun to question the logic, with Ryan O’Callaghan of the United Steelworkers Local 10-1, representing workers at the PES Refinery in Philadelphia, PA stating, “We have information that the RINs might not be impacting [the refiner] as stated.”
Instead, the blame for sometimes low refining margins and cyclical petroleum markets is more complex, according to groups such as the Renewable Fuels Associate. In the Northeast, for example, expensive crude oil from Western Africa and the Northern Sea regions, falling Bakken supplies, and old infrastructure are all issues at play, not RINs.
As to the compromise that lawmakers want to see from the biofuels and refining industry, RFA CEO Bob Dineen recently noted that there is little consensus among the oil industry, stating, “So, what problem are we really trying to solve? Whose problems are we trying to solve? And how many bites of the apple are they going to get?”
Read the original article: RFS Roundup: Economists Largely Agree RINs Not Wreaking Havoc on Refining Industry
January 12, 2018
By Erin Voegele
The USDA has released its World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report for January, reporting larger corn production, increased food, seed and industrial use, lower estimates for feed and residual use, and reporting greater stocks.
Corn production is currently estimated at 14.604 billion bushels, up 26 million bushels when compared to the December WASDE. The increase is attributed to an increase in yield, which reached a record 176.6 bushels per acre. The increase was was partially offset by a 400,000 acre reduction in harvested area. Among the major producing states, yields are estimated to be record high in Illinois, Minnesota and Ohio.
The estimate for food, seed and industrial use is raised 10 million bushels, reflecting an estimated amount of corn used for glucose and dextrose during September-November that was above expectations. For ethanol and byproducts, projected corn use is unchanged at 5.525 billion bushels. Feed and residual use is down 25 million bushels, falling to 5.55 billion based on indicated disappearance during September-November as reflected by the Dec. 1 stocks.
Corn stocks are up 40 million bushels when compared to December. The season-average corn price received by producers is projected at $3.25 per bushel, up 5 cents at the midpoint based on observed prices to date.
Foreign corn production is forecast lower, with reductions for Russia, Vietnam and the Philippines more than offsetting an increase for Pakistan. Russia’s corn production is down based on harvest results to date. Vietnam corn production is reduced as the impact of heavy rain during the growing season in the northern production areas was worse than previously expected.
Lower 2017-’18 corn exports are expected for Russia, partially offset by an increase for Thailand. Brazil’s 2016-’17 corn exports are reduced based on observed shipments to date for the local marketing year, which started in March. Imports for 2017-18 are lowered for Iran, but increased for Vietnam and Philippines. Foreign corn ending stocks are higher than last month, mostly reflecting increases for Brazil and Pakistan. Global corn stocks are at 206.6 million, up 2.5 million from last month.
Read the original article: USDA Raises Estimate for Corn Production in January WASDE
January 12, 2018
By Iowa Ag Connection
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey announced that Kwik Trip, Inc. the Iowa 80 Truckstop in Walcott are the 2018 winners of the Secretary's Ethanol and Biodiesel Marketing Awards. The awards were created by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship to recognize fuel marketers that have gone above and beyond in their efforts to promote and sell renewable fuels.
"Kwik Trip and the Iowa 80 Truckstop have both made marketing renewable fuels a central part of the business and it is great to recognize the commitment and investment they have made to do it successfully," Northey said.
The Secretary's Ethanol and Biodiesel Marketing Awards were designed to recognize businesses that market the renewable fuels they have available through creative efforts including, but not limited to: hosting special events highlighting their renewable fuels, development of creative signage, initiation of new advertisements or marketing efforts, and dramatically increase renewable fuel availability.
The winners were announced and recognized during the Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Stores of Iowa Annual Meeting in Des Moines. The Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Stores of Iowa (PMCI) is a non-profit state trade association serving the needs of independent petroleum marketers and convenience store owners throughout the state of Iowa.
"Fuel marketers allow customers to access ethanol and biodiesel blends produced right here in Iowa. Our state is a national leader in renewable fuels production, and we are very fortunate that many retailers are making significant investments to provide their customers with renewable fuels," Northey said.
Kwik Trip is winner of the 2018 Secretary's Ethanol Marketing Award. Kwik Trip, Inc. is headquartered in Lacrosse, Wisconsin and operates 86 stores in the state of Iowa, 69 of those locations sell fuel. Kwik Trip, Inc. currently has 25 locations in the state of Iowa selling E15 and 25 locations selling E85.
Kwik Trip began its commitment to marketing high ethanol blends in 2003 when they began marketing E85. In February of 2017, Kwik Trip, Inc. began marketing E15 at 4 of their locations. Since February of 2017, Kwik Trip has rapidly expanded its investment into E15, offering E15 at over 300 locations.
In less than one-year, Kwik Trip, Inc. has become the nation's leading offeror for E15.
Kwik Trip believes E15 is a standard fuel and needs a consistent name, so customers will repeatedly associate the name with the fuel. Kwik Trip, Inc. markets E15 under the grade name Unleaded 88. This new marketing has brought the highest adoption rate for sales of their Unleaded 88 product in Iowa surpassing the sales of similar offerings in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Along with their own successful marketing of E15, Kwik Trip believes that the state of Iowa's leadership on ethanol paired with educational outreach directed at consumers has contributed greatly to the success of E15 sales in the state of Iowa.
Kwik Trip's commitment to offer renewable fuels to Iowans is not limited to ethanol. In 2016, Kwik Trip began selling biodiesel in all their diesel gallons marketed in the state. Kwik Trip has also committed to future investments in renewable fuels. This spring Kwik Trip plans to open a blending facility in Waterloo, Iowa that will create all blends of ethanol and biodiesel, ultimately to be marketed at its Iowa locations.
Kwik Trip was nominated for the award by the Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Stores of Iowa.
Iowa 80 Truckstop in Walcott is the winner of the 2018 Secretary's Biodiesel Marketing Award.
Iowa 80 Truckstop has offered biodiesel since 2002, which makes this the 15th anniversary of their program. The company received an Iowa Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program grant to install the necessary equipment to offer biodiesel, and the truck stop now offers between B11 and B20 blends throughout the year.
The company has long been a supporter of renewable fuels and the Renewable Fuel Standard. Most recently, company owner Delia Moon Meier published an op-ed in the Des Moines Register supporting biodiesel and the RFS. She said, "The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is important to Iowa. This program enables fuel retailers, including my truck stop on Interstate 80, to incorporate cleaner burning fuels such as biodiesel and ethanol into our fuel supply, and lowers prices at the pump and helps create jobs here in Iowa."
Located on Interstate 80 about 10 miles west of Davenport, Iowa 80 Truckstop bills itself as "The World's Largest Truckstop," and is a prominent fueling location. Making biodiesel available at a prominent, well-known location boosts biodiesel's exposure and credibility, particularly with truckers, an important market where acceptance is needed as biodiesel grows.
Iowa 80 Truckstop was nominated for the award by the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association and the Iowa Biodiesel Board.
Iowa leads the nation in the production of ethanol and biodiesel. According to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, Iowa has 43 ethanol refineries capable of producing more than 4 billion gallons annually, including nearly 55 million gallons of annual cellulosic ethanol production capacity. In addition, Iowa has 12 biodiesel facilities with the capacity to produce nearly 350 million gallons annually.
The Iowa Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program offers cost-share grants for the installation of E85 dispensers, blender pumps, biodiesel dispensers, and biodiesel storage facilities. The grant program is managed by Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and more information can be found on the Department's website at www.IowaAgriculture.gov
Read the original article: Renewable Fuels Marketing Awards to Kwik Trip, Iowa 80
January 11, 2018
Press Release
Big Ten Network viewers, meet Mike. Mike is the animated star of a new advertising campaign initiated by the Nebraska Corn Board. He’s a smart guy who cares about his car and its engine performance. In these 15-second and 30-second television commercials, a narrator describes why Mike chooses clean-burning, high-performing E15, which is a fuel choice blended with 15 percent American Ethanol.
In order to maximize the frequency and reach of the commercials on the Big Ten Network, the Nebraska Corn Board partnered with the corn checkoff boards from Iowa, Illinois, Ohio and Kansas to amplify overall exposure. The collaboration also helps establish consistent ethanol messaging between major corn producing states.
“We’ve been working for a number of years to develop and implement a campaign on the Big Ten Network,” said Dave Merrell, farmer from St. Edward and chairman of the Nebraska Corn Board. “BTN has a loyal following across the nation. With this widespread coverage, we’re able to reach parts of the country that may have the infrastructure for higher ethanol blends, but don’t necessarily have the advertising budgets to educate consumers.”
“Consumers are seeing more choices at the pump, which is great, but it can also be confusing,” said Paul Jeschke, farmer from Mazon, Illinois, and chairman of the Illinois Corn Marketing Board. “With this campaign, we chose to focus on E15, which can be used to fuel most cars on the road today and can be found at more than 1,300 fuel stations across the country.”
A website was also created to complement the television spots. On this website, motorists can provide their location to identify E15 fueling stations near them. The website is available by visiting http://www.getbiofuel.com/BTN.
“As corn states, we all have the similar goal to enhance demand for our farmers,” said Duane Aistrope, farmer from Randolph, Iowa, and president of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board. “Ethanol has been a huge driver of corn demand, and there is still so much potential for more growth. There are also so many benefits for consumers to fill up with more homegrown fuel that’s safe for their engines and better for our environment. We hope this campaign will encourage consumers to fuel up with higher blends of ethanol.”
The E15 television commercials began airing in January 2018 during the men’s basketball season and will continue to air through the next seasons of football and volleyball. In addition to the airings on the college sports network, the spots will be added to local network and cable channels.
To view the 30-second commercial, click here.
Read the original release: Corn States Partner Together for E15 Television Campaign on Big Ten Network
January 10, 2018
By Erin Voegele
The U.S. Energy Information Administration has released the January edition of its Short-Term Energy Outlook, predicting that ethanol production in 2018 and 2019 will be maintained at the 2017 level.
Ethanol production averaged 1.03 million barrels per day in 2017. The EIA currently predicts that production level will remain steady at 1.03 million barrels per day this year and next year. In its December STEO, the EIA predicted that ethanol production would increase to 1.04 million barrels per day in 2018.
Ethanol consumption, however, is expected to increase, from 940,000 barrels per day last year to 960,000 barrels per day in 2018 and 970,000 barrels per day in 2019. The EIA said this level of consumption results in the ethanol share of the total gasoline pool increasing from an average of 10.2 percent in 2017 to an average of 10.3 percent in 2018 and 2019. According to the EIA, the increase assumes that recent marginal growth in higher-level ethanol blends continue during the forecast period.
Biodiesel production averaged approximately 105,000 barrels per day last year and is expected to increase to 117,000 barrels per day this year and 128,000 barrels per day next year. The EIA attributes the forecast increase to recent duties imposed on foreign biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia, which is expected to reduce net imports of biodiesel from an estimated 41,000 barrels per day in 2017 to 32,000 barrels per day in 2018 and 35,000 barrels per day in 2019.
The January STEO notes that U.S. regular gasoline retail prices averaged $2.48 per gallon in December, down almost 9 cents per gallon from the November average, but up 22 cents per gallon when compared to the prices during the same period of 2016. U.S. regular gasoline prices averaged $2.41 per gallon last year and are currently expected to increase to $2.57 per gallon this year and $2.58 per gallon next year.
The EIA’s most recent weekly ethanol production data shows production averaged 1.032 million barrels per day the week ending Dec. 29, down from 1.09 million barrels per day the previous week. The most recent monthly import data shows the U.S. imported 69,000 barrels of ethanol in October, all from Canada. During the same month, the U.S. exported 2.231 million barrels of ethanol, primarily to Canada, Spain and India.
Read the original article: EIA Predicts Increased Ethanol Consumption in 2018, 2019
January 09, 2017
By Erin Voegele
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has opened a public comment period on proposed changes to its ethanol policy that would allow for the import of U.S. corn ethanol for use in the production of bio-ETBE. A document filed with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service’s Global Agricultural Information Network specifies that the comments can be submitted in Japanese on government’s website. The public comment period is open through Jan. 18.
The proposed changes to Japan’s ethanol policy set a default greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions value for U.S. corn ethanol at 43.15 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per megajoule (gCO2eq/MJ). The proposed changes also increase the default GHG emission value of Brazilian sugarcane-based ethanol from 32.7 gCO2eq/MJ to 33.61 gCO2eq/MJ. In addition, the changes would revise the default GHG emission value for gasoline from 81.7 gCO2eq/MJ to 84.11 gCO2eq/MJ.
According to the document filed with the USDA FAS GAIN, the new policy would also raise the reduction target for gasoline GHG emissions to 55 percent, up from the current 50 percent.
Under the proposed policy, U.S. corn-based ethanol will be allowed for use in bio-ETBE production when combined with Brazilian sugarcane ethanol, starting in April. Based on the revised GHG emission values for gasoline, Brazilian ethanol and U.S. ethanol, the maximum share of U.S. ethanol by volume allowed in the Japanese market would be 53.73 percent.
Additional information is available on the USDA FAS GAIN website.
Read the original article: Japan Opens Comment Period on Proposal to Allow US Corn Ethanol