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Toyota to Launch Yeast Strains for US Cellulosic Ethanol

Bio-Fuels International

March 21, 2019

Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled Spirits (LBDS), the renewables division of Canadian firm Lallemand, announced that it has signed an agreement with car manufacturer Toyota.

The agreement regards the production and marketing of Toyota’s XyloAce yeast strains for cellulosic ethanol production in the US.

Lallemand describes XyloAce as ‘highly efficient’ at fermenting xylose and arabinose, whilst also being highly resistant to fermentation-inhibiting substances such as acetic acid. Lallemand continues to claim that the strains have achieved some of the highest ethanol fermentation density levels in the world.

“Adding the Toyota XyloAce product line to our portfolio will allow our customers to choose from the very best cellulosic yeast strains available,” said LBDS president Angus Ballard.

“We are proud to be working with Toyota and look forward to driving increased profitability for cellulosic ethanol producers throughout North America.”

Read the original article: Toyota to Launch Yeast Strains for US Cellulosic Ethanol

Klobuchar Statement on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Newly Proposed E15 Rule

Senator Amy Klobuchar

March 13, 2019

Press Release

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) released the following statement after today’s release of a proposed rule by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to allow for the year-round sale of E15—gasoline with 15 percent ethanol.

“Allowing for the year-round sale of E15 will give us cleaner, more affordable fuel choices—it will bring down prices at the pump, strengthen our homegrown energy economy, and decrease our dependence on foreign oil. I have been fighting for years to allow for the year-round sale of E15 and this announcement is a positive step for consumers, farmers, and the environment. However, the rule also proposes changes to the trading market and credits used to track compliance with the Renewable Fuel Standard. If it is determined that these provisions will delay or restrict E15 from getting to the market, I will work with my colleagues to ensure that those policies don’t harm consumers.”

For years, Klobuchar has led a bipartisan push for the EPA to allow for the year-round sale of E15, including letters to the Administration urging them to expand waivers for the sale of E15 in the summer months. Klobuchar is an original cosponsor of the bipartisan Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act, which would amend the Clean Air Act to allow for the year-round sale of E15. She has also been a leader in the fight to strengthen the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to support American jobs and decrease dependence on foreign oil. Klobuchar and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) have led bipartisan letters calling for a strong RFS as the EPA has worked toward finalizing its rules on biofuels volume requirements. Last March, Klobuchar and Grassley led a bipartisan group of 13 senators urging the Administration to cease issuing small refinery waivers and reject changes to the RFS that would upend stability and predictability for small businesses, and rural communities.

Read the original release: Klobuchar Statement on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Newly Proposed E15 Rule

Making the Most Out of Renewable Energy

March 14, 2019

By Anna Vangsness

Farmers and local agriculture businesses in Steele County are cashing in on a winning hand: renewable energy and ag.

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, wind, solar and biomass energy can be harvested forever, providing farmers with a long-term source of income. Renewable energy can be used on the farm to replace other fuels or sold as a “cash crop.”

One organization in Steele County that has figured out the winning combination has been at the forefront of the renewable energy game since 1995. Al-Corn Clean Fuel in Claremont grinds 44 million bushels of corn and produces 130 million gallons of ethanol annually. The plant also produces 310,000 tons of high protein livestock feed and 28 million pounds of corn oil. The majority of these co-products are consumed by refiners, livestock feeders and biodiesel producers throughout Minnesota.

“When the plant was built in 1995, it was designed to be a 10 million gallon plan,” Al-Corn CEO Randall Doyal said. “Now we’re producing at 13 times bigger than it was built for.”

The reason behind such an impressive growth is that there was a very local market for corn growth in southern Minnesota that didn’t exist prior to Al-Corn.

“As farmers have gotten more efficient, they can produce more and more corn from every acre,” Doyal said. “Our industry has consumed it and given it a place to go. We’re turning into valuable products and, in turn, it’s raised their corn price.”

Ethanol is the gift that keeps on giving because now farmers don’t have to ship their product as far as they used to.

“That alone saves transportation costs, so they get more value,” Doyal said. “When farmers here decided to do this, their hope, their dream, was to get an extra 25 cents a bushel for their corn. The farmers that invested in our plant and delivers here, they got the value of processing. For 20 years, we’ve averaged 75 cents a bush of corn.”

By processing the corn in Minnesota and taking off the starch and carbohydrates, which they don’t need, Al-Corn is able to take the carbohydrates and convert it to ethanol. The rest of the corn is concentrated and made into a feed. That allows Al-Corn to reduce the cost of transportation and decrease the need for livestock feed because it’s produce right in Minnesota.

“In this case, we generate an industry and money that stays at home,” Doyal explained. “That’s what we’re seeing in local communities and states across the midwest.”

Doyal said many people don’t know it, but they, too are using corn-made ethanol every day.

“If you’re running gasoline in your car, you’re burning at least 10 percent ethanol or better,” he said. “In Minnesota, we use about 13 percent ethanol.”

While there is limit to how much ethanol can be produced, Doyal said that number isn’t going to be reached soon. What he sees for the future is ethanol being in more countries that are waking up to the benefit of the renewable energy.

“We’re starting to see blending happening around the world,” he said. “We produce it in the United States cheaper than anywhere in the world.”

Though Al-Corn doesn’t directly ship internationally, Doyal anticipates that some day they may due to the leaps in energy efficiency and productivity.

“The goal when I started was to get two and one half gallons of ethanol from every bushel of corn we ran,” he said. “Today, we’re producing three gallons of ethanol. With the way we use energy in the plant, we’ve decreased our energy consumption over one-third. We’re finding different ways to use energy more efficiently with heat exchange and just finding better ways of doing things, farmers are doing the same.

With other forms of renewable energy, Doyal said the benefit is the ability to reuse it over and over again.

Also working to reuse as much renewable energy as they can is the Steele-Waseca Co-Op Electric (SWCE) said General Manager Syd Briggs.

SWCE buys power wholesale and distributes it to homes, farms and businesses. Briggs said the cooperative encourages members to do whatever it takes to save money and use renewable energy.

“We help with rebates, help assist with distraction energy resources, if you want to put in wind, solar or turbines, we’ll work with you on that, too,” he said.

If a home, farm or business has a renewable energy form working, SWCE will even trade for it. Meaning, if they use 1,000 hours of electricity but they’ve also generated 1,000 hours of electricity, they won’t have to buy it from SWCE. As a bonus, if someone generates more than 1,000 hours of electricity, SWCE will pay them a retail rat for it.

“We have 60 people out of 11,300 doing that, but that number will go up,” he said. “Just this year we had 20 people come on.”

Briggs said in the long run, renewable energy works to cutdown harmful emissions, especially carbon dioxide. Whether producing it from solar or wind, it’s that much more renewable and carbon free.

“Overall, the benefit is that it makes it a cleaner environment and makes you more self-sufficient,” he said. “In time, the third thing it will do is be cost effective. We’re not necessarily there yet, but in time it will happen.”

Read the original article: Making the Most Out of Renewable Energy

RFA: 2018 Distillers Grains Exports Are Second-Highest on Record

Ethanol Producer Magazine

March 8, 2019

By the Renewable Fuels Association

U.S. exports of distillers grains (DG)—a high-protein co-product of dry mill ethanol production used in feed for livestock and poultry—were the second-highest on record in 2018, totaling 11.88 million metric tons (MMT), according to a summary of 2018 ethanol co-product trade data published today by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA).

An estimated 31 percent of U.S. DG production was exported in 2018, meaning nearly one out of every three tons produced was exported to 50 countries on six continents last year. Mexico remained the top destination for U.S. DG, representing 17 percent, followed by Vietnam (11 percent), South Korea (10 percent), Thailand (9 percent) and Turkey (7 percent). Compared to 2017, Vietnam and the United Kingdom saw the most growth in U.S. DG exports, increasing by 306 percent and 52 percent, respectively.

However, U.S. DG exports to China continued to see a significant drop since 2016, when the country imposed punitive anti-dumping and countervailing duties against U.S. product. “Exports to China fell further after plunging 84 percent in 2017 due to the imposition of duties; it ranked 17^th in 2018, accounting for only 2 percent of U.S. exports,” the summary noted.

“As this summary highlights, distillers grains and other co-products are a vitally important part of the global feed market and a growing number of countries and regions are relying on U.S. DG exports, including Mexico and Southeast Asia,” said RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper. “However, once again China’s protectionist actions have effectively closed off U.S. DG exports, preventing the country’s livestock and poultry feeders from accessing a low-cost, high-value source of nutrition. We will continue to work with U.S. government officials and industry partners to address this barrier and ensure free and fair trade between our two countries.”

Among other facts from the RFA report:

• U.S. DG exports had a total aggregate value of $2.47 billion in 2018, a 33 percent increase from 2017;

• The U.S. imported 317,000 MT of DG in 2017, equivalent to just 3 percent of DG exports and 1 percent of domestic DG consumption. Canada was again the top supplier of U.S. DG imports, shipping 286,000 MT to the U.S., comprising 90 percent of total imports. Brazil and China were the only other two significant DG exporters to the U.S. market in 2018;

• U.S. exports of corn gluten meal—a feed co-product made by ethanol wet mills—totaled 821,000 MT in 2018. Indonesia, Chile, and Egypt were top destinations; and

• U.S. exports of corn gluten feed—a feed co-product also from ethanol wet mills—reached 1.17 MMT in 2018, down slightly from the prior year. Ireland, Israel and the United Kingdom accounted for a combined 76 percent of total U.S. corn gluten feed exports.

This report is a companion to RFA’s 2018 ethanol trade summary, published earlier this week.

View RFA’s co-product trade summary here.

Read the original article: RFA: 2018 Distillers Grains Exports Are Second-Highest on Record

Candidates Must Engage Rural Communities

March 10, 2019

By Tom Vilsack

As presidential candidates make their way through Iowa and beyond, courting caucus goers and primary voters, it will be vital they include stops in rural communities contributing to America’s economy. It will be key they show up, listen, and find meaningful ways to engage our rural communities.

Rural industries are improving our energy stability and defining our transportation future. Value-added agriculture — manufacturing that makes the most out every granule of grain, waste, and grass — is a bedrock of stable, rural economies.

Right here in Iowa, biofuels have paved the way for rural economic development while making gains for our environment. Revitalizing rural communities with good-paying and high-tech jobs, they’re providing an additional market for our farmers and growing cleaner options at the pump across the nation.

For progressive candidates to understand all voters, they need to experience these promising innovations. Through biofuel production, rural communities are helping us achieve key progressive environmental goals to offset and neutralize carbon emissions and climate change, relieve disparate air and health conditions, and improve job security for working families.

Biofuel production is a sound investment in a greener future. During my time as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture we measured how effectively biofuels reduce greenhouse gases. The results are astounding. Corn ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by 43 percent compared to gasoline and has the potential to reduce emissions by as much as 76 percent through further efficiencies, land stewardship, and conservation practices that our farmers are constantly implementing.

Iowa biofuels are not only delivering cleaner, low carbon fuels today, they are driving investment in biomass and switch grass, which can lower GHG emissions more than 100 percent. Recent biofuel innovations from the fields of Iowa are unleashing the potential for ultralow carbon fuels from recycled waste. Each innovation leads to more jobs and economic growth in America’s struggling rural communities.

As Americans continue to choose ethanol, they’re helping to offset toxic, cancer-causing chemicals that come with petroleum-based fuels. Reducing and replacing these chemicals lowers asthma rates and urban smog. These incredible biofuel benefits are not even the tip of the iceberg.

Stability in this market comes from the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) support — that support drives investors and innovation. Candidates interested in supporting a greener solution to our transportation needs would do well to support year-round E15 — a fuel made with 15 percent biofuel — and commit to ending handouts to oil industry giants via small refinery waivers.

Iowans and rural Americans across the country know these value-added benefits open endless opportunities. The common-sense practices from the farm to the pump are employing rural Iowans, greening our environment, and saving consumers costs at the pump. Iowa’s rural communities are prime real estate for America’s clean energy future. As we continue to innovate biofuels and invest in our growing wind generation, we can show the world a greener future beyond air pollution and offshore drilling.

To truly understand the innovations taking place and the industry impact, I encourage 2020 candidates to visit rural Iowa and these innovative industries. When you meet with rural Iowans, you find people working hard to make the world a better place. What starts in the field results in cleaner air for all of us and good jobs in communities that need them.

Successful campaigns have been able to find ways to attract rural voters around kitchen table issues. In 2007 and 2008, then-Senator Barack Obama spent 89 days visiting Iowa homes and businesses, powering him through the caucus and to the White House. The best way to win is to start the conversation. Because what gets discussed around kitchen tables in Iowa ends up feeding and fueling the world.

Tom Vilsack is a former Democratic governor of Iowa and served as U.S. secretary of agriculture under President Barack Obama.

Read the original column: Candidates Must Engage Rural Communities

Swedish Government Report Concludes Airlines Should Blend Biofuels

Biofuels International

March 1, 2019

News Article

The Local has reported that an investigator appointed by the Swedish government is to propose requiring airlines to use carbon neutral biofuels, but only expects a reduction of 1 to 5% by 2025.

Former Green Party leader, Maria Wetterstrand was tasked with investigating measures in order to promote biofuels in flights. Wetterstrand states that the report will suggest that the planned biofuels mandate needs to become stricter from 2025, so that emissions cuts can reach 30% by 2030.

“Some are going to feel that our demand is too weak, but it’s because of the limited availability of biofuels and the amount of time we feel it will take to boost the volumes. We don’t want to set demands we cannot live up to,” said Wetterstrand.

According to The Local, new government proposals in Sweden often begin with the appointment of an investigator who consults with stakeholders and proposes measures. It is then up to the government to decide whether to incorporate the recommendations into a government bill that can then go before parliament.

Wetterstrand was appointed to lead the investigation last year in January. The former green leader expects that under her proposals, by 2030 the price of a long-haul journey will increase by around 250 Swedish kronor, due to the intended increase cost of biofuels.

“If planes choose to tank up on a load of extra fuel to avoid refuelling in Sweden that would increase emissions because the planes would be heavier, so that would be extremely negative from a climate standpoint,” said Wetterstrand to The Local.

Read the original article: Swedish Government Report Concludes Airlines Should Blend Biofuels

U.S. Ethanol Exports of 1.70 Billion Gallons in 2018

Renewable Fuels Association

March 6, 2019

News Release

New government data released today show that U.S. ethanol exports achieved a new record in 2018, as an astonishing 1.70 billion gallons of ethanol were shipped to more than 80 countries around the world. The 2018 export total beat the previous export record set in 2017 by 25%, and the data show that nearly 11% of total U.S. ethanol production was exported last year.

Brazil was the leading destination for U.S. ethanol exports, receiving 513.2 million gallons (mg), or 30% of the total. Canada was the second-leading market with 349.6 mg, followed by India at 156.8 mg. Together, the three countries accounted for 60% percent of total ethanol exports. The European Union, South Korea, and the Philippines were other top markets in 2018. Export volumes to nine of the top 10 destinations saw increases over 2017 volumes, with Brazil, the Netherlands, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and Colombia showing the largest gains.

The value of U.S. ethanol exports was $2.7 billion in 2018, up 14% from 2017’s value and the highest on record. Undenatured fuel ethanol accounted for 51% of total exports, while denatured fuel ethanol was 43%. Denatured and undenatured ethanol for non-fuel industrial uses made up the remaining 6% of exports.

U.S. ethanol imports remained scarce in 2018, with just 78 mg entering the country. Nearly all of the imported product entered through California ports and was used to meet the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard requirements.

Reflecting on the record year, RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper stated, “One of the greatest successes for our industry in 2018 was growth in the export market, driven in large part by the sustained international market development efforts of RFA and its partners. More than one out of every 10 gallons of ethanol produced in the United States went into the international market—providing savings at the pump and cleaner air for drivers in more than 80 countries around the globe. This accomplishment is even more impressive when you consider that U.S. ethanol faced punitive trade barriers in several key markets. RFA will continue to work with its partners to break down artificial trade barriers, expand export opportunities for U.S. producers, and educate the world’s consumers on the benefits of low-carbon renewable fuels.”

RFA will issue later today its 2018 U.S. Ethanol Exports and Imports Statistical Summary.

Read the original release: U.S. Ethanol Exports of 1.70 Billion Gallons in 2018

U.S. EPA Sends Proposed Rule for Higher Ethanol-Blend Gasoline to White House

March 4, 2019

By Humeyra Pamuk

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Monday it had sent a draft of its proposed rule allowing year-round sales of higher ethanol blends of gasoline to the White House Office of Budget for review.

The rule expanding sales of so-called E15 was promised by President Donald Trump late last year as a way to help corn farmers, but includes measures sought by the oil industry to curb biofuel credit market speculation.

“We hope to expeditiously propose and finalize the rule consistent with the President’s direction,” EPA spokesman Mike Abboud said in an email to Reuters. Following the interagency process, the proposed rule will be published and put out for public comment before being finalized. Congressional approval is not required.

The process needs to be completed before June 1 to allow for gasoline with a higher blend of ethanol, also known as E15, to be available for summer sales when driving demand picks up.

E15 gasoline contains 15 percent ethanol, versus the 10 percent found in most U.S. gasoline. The ban over the year-round sales of the fuel had been imposed over concerns that E15 contributes to smog in hot weather.

The proposed rule was at the forefront of a brief interagency disagreement last week when Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said the EPA was not going to be able to finalize the rule on time. He walked back from his comments in a few hours, after speaking with EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler.

The EPA had planned to release the draft rule in early February but was delayed by a 35 day-long partial federal government shutdown.

Trump said in October he was directing the EPA to allow year-round sales of E15, a victory for the corn industry. Combining the rule with Renewable Identification Number (RIN) market reforms was a concession to the rival oil industry.

Oil and corn industries have been in the opposite ends of a tug of war and Wheeler has been caught in the middle of pressure from lawmakers representing oil and corn states. Five Republican senators in a letter criticized his biofuels policy last month, briefly raising questions about his confirmation.

Wheeler, who had been in charge of the EPA in an acting capacity since last July, was confirmed by the Senate last week.

Under the U.S. Renewable Fuels Standard, oil refiners have to blend increasing volumes of biofuels into the nation’s gasoline and diesel each year, or purchase credits - called RINs - from those who do.

Read the original article: U.S. EPA Sends Proposed Rule for Higher Ethanol-Blend Gasoline to White House

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EIA Expects Stable US Biofuels Production, Consumption, and Trade Through 2020

March 4, 2019

By Steve Hanson, Sean Hill

In its February 2019 Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), EIA forecasts that several recent trends in US biofuels markets will continue through 2020. In the STEO, production of fuel ethanol and net imports of biomass-based diesel stay unchanged, while net exports of fuel ethanol decline modestly. Federal mandates and state programs continue to support biofuel consumption through 2020, however, biofuels remain a relatively small share of total US liquid transportation fuels supply.

The most common biofuels consumed both domestically and globally are fuel ethanol and biomass-based diesel. Fuel ethanol is primarily blended with motor gasoline blendstock in the US to produce 10% ethanol blended motor gasoline, or E10. Biomass-based diesel, which collectively refers to biodiesel and renewable diesel, is typically mixed with ultra-low sulfur distillate fuel at varying percentages.

EIA expects that US fuel ethanol production will remain near current levels, decreasing slightly in 2019 to 1.04 million b/d and increasing to 1.05 million b/d in 2020. Fuel ethanol production is largely dependent on domestic motor gasoline consumption, which has been relatively stable in recent years, as fuel economy improvements have largely offset increases in population and vehicle miles traveled.

US ethanol exports have accounted for an increasing share of production since 2013 and have contributed to market growth. EIA forecasts net ethanol exports, which reached nearly 110,000 b/d in 2018, will fall to an average of 90,000 b/d in 2019 and 2020, driven primarily by the expectation that record levels of ethanol exports to Brazil in early 2018 will not persist.

Biomass-based diesel production—excluding renewable diesel—was about 120,000 b/d in 2018 and grows to 160,000 b/d in 2020. Total biomass-based diesel consumption will increase from an estimated 134,000 b/d in 2018 to 174,000 b/d in 2020. Growth in domestic production will continue to be supported by antidumping and countervailing duties placed on biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia that went into effect in 2017. Current import restrictions on these countries will contribute to flat biomass-based diesel net imports through 2020, with US biomass-based diesel net imports about 70% lower than the 2016 peak.

Biofuels account for a relatively small share of total transportation fuels, with consumption supported over time by the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) as well as state-level biofuel programs. US consumption of motor gasoline was 9.31 million b/d in 2018, and EIA expects that it will increase by less than 1% annually to 9.36 million b/d by 2020.

Of the motor gasoline demand in 2020, domestic ethanol consumption will contribute about 950,000 b/d, corresponding to a national-level blend rate estimate of 10.2%. Limited demand and ongoing regulatory and infrastructure hurdles for ethanol blends higher than E10 (e.g., E15, E85) and lower-priced petroleum blendstocks restrict higher domestic ethanol consumption rates.

US diesel fuel consumption, which includes biomass-based diesel, is expected to increase from 3.8 million b/d to 3.9 million b/d between 2018 and 2020 in the STEO. The share of biomass-based diesel in diesel fuel increases from 3.6% in 2018 to 4.5% in 2020. Demand for renewable diesel, which includes stand-alone production facilities as well as petroleum refiners that co-process renewable feedstocks in downstream units such as hydrotreaters, is expected to grow in 2020.

Read the original article: EIA Expects Stable US Biofuels Production, Consumption, and Trade Through 2020

USDA: December Corn Use for Ethanol Up from November

Ethanol Producer Magazine

February 26, 2019

By Erin Voegele

The USDA has released its Grain Crushings and Co-Products Production report with data from December, reporting that corned consumed for fuel alcohol was up slightly from the previous month, but down year-over-year.

Total corn consumed for alcohol and other uses as 511 million bushels in December, up 2 percent from November, but down 5 percent from December 2017. December usage included 92 percent for alcohol and 8 percent for other purposes.

Corn consumed for beverage alcohol was at 2.55 million bushels in December, down 13 percent from November, but up 13 percent from the same month of the previous year.

Corn for fuel alcohol was at 461 million bushels, up 1 percent from November, but down 6 percent when compared to December 2017. Corn consumed for dry milling and wet milling fuel production as 90.5 percent and 9.5 percent, respectively.

Sorghum consumed for fuel alcohol production was at 3.045 million hundredweight (cwt) (170,520 tons), down from 5.314 million cwt in November, but up from 2.295 million cwt in December 2017.

At dry mills, condensed distillers solubles production reached 133,380 tons, up from 128,805 tons in November and 124,098 tons the previous December. Corn oil production fell to 153,439 tons, down from 154,778 tons in November and 174,078 tons in December 2017. Distillers dried grains production fell to 238,422 tons, down from 376,137 tons in November and 442,427 tons in December of the previous year. Distillers dried grains with solubles production fell to 1.927 million tons, down from 1.93 million tons in November and 1.967 tons in December 2017. Distillers wet grains production was at 1.397 million tons, up from 1.345 million tons in November, but down from 1.431 million tons in December of the previous year. Modified distillers wet grain production fell to 466,681 tons, down from 471,972 tons in November and 511,763 tons in December 2017.

At wet mills, corn germ meal production was at 60,677 tons, up from 54,967 tons in November, but down from 71,732 tons in December 2017. Corn gluten feed production was at 390,178 tons, up from 285,362 tons in November, but down from 318,694 tons in December of the previous year. Corn gluten meal production was at 88,638 tons, up from 85,510 tons in November, but down from 91,092 tons in December 2017. Wet corn gluten feed production fell to 256,146 tons, down from 257,003 tons in November and 309,765 tons in December of the previous year.

At dry and wet mills, carbon dioxide captured reached 227,931 tons, up from 222,757 tons in November and 209,638 tons in December 2017.

Read the original article: USDA: December Corn Use for Ethanol Up from November

US Aims to Lower Beijing's Tariff on Ethanol Ahead of Chinese Demand Boom

February 26, 2019

By Tom DiChristopher

U.S. trade negotiators hope to convince Beijing to lower tariffs on ethanol, putting American farmers in a position to capitalize on rising demand for the corn-based biofuel in China.

The Trump administration's trade team has made the request, but their Chinese counterparts have yet to respond, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told reporters on Tuesday.

"They are engaged in conversation, they listen and hear us, but we are at this stage unable to determine the willingness factor," Purdue said, according to a Reuters report.

China once represented a bright opportunity for American corn farmers and ethanol producers, but their prospects have faded in recent years.

In 2016, China was the third biggest market for U.S. ethanol, accounting for nearly 20 percent of U.S. exports and drumming up over $300 million in revenues, according the Renewable Fuels Association. But after two years of rising trade tensions, China took just 4 percent of U.S. ethanol exports in 2018, RFA says.

Trade first dropped off after China put a 30-percent charge on U.S. ethanol in 2017. Last year, China increased the tariff to 45 percent after the Trump administration put new duties on foreign aluminum and steel.

Under a new deal, Beijing would ideally set the import tax on ethanol below 15 percent, Perdue said on Tuesday.

That would potentially allow U.S. ethanol suppliers to take advantage of Beijing's plans to introduce E10 — a gasoline blend containing 10 percent ethanol — across the country next year.

To achieve that goal, China needs to source 15 million tons of ethanol per year, a nearly sevenfold increase from the country's current consumption, according to IHS Markit. Today, China only has enough capacity to produce about 3 million tons per year.

Clearing a path for more U.S. biofuel exports would be a boon to President Donald Trump, who has had a tense relationship with the ethanol industry and agricultural states. The Trump administration has upset Big Corn by handing out hardship waivers to small refineries, which allow them to circumvent U.S. requirements to blend ethanol into gasoline.

The Trump administration has also considered changes to U.S. biofuel policy that ethanol producers worry would shrink domestic demand for their product.

Read the original article: US Aims to Lower Beijing's Tariff on Ethanol Ahead of Chinese Demand Boom

Walz, Noem to Lead Governors’ Biofuels Coalition in 2019

Ethanol Producer Magazine

February 20, 2019

By Governors’ Biofuels Coalition

The Governors’ Biofuels Coalition announced Feb. 18 that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will serve as chair and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem will serve as vice chair of the coalition during 2019.

For over 20 years, the Governors’ Biofuels Coalition has provided regional and national leadership on biofuels policy. The bipartisan group is comprised of governors from across the nation.

“I look forward to working with Governor Noem to advance the bipartisan work of the Governors’ Biofuels Coalition. The production and use of biofuels increase family incomes in rural America, diversifies our nation’s energy portfolio, and provides consumers a choice at the fuel pump,” Walz said.

“We must adopt state and national policies that grow a biofuels industry vital to our states’ economies and the nation’s need to reduce carbon and other harmful emissions. Those policies include steps to open the market for ethanol as a source of clean octane to reduce the toxic aromatic content of gasoline and ground level precursors. We will continue to urge EPA Administrator Wheeler to honor President’s Trump commitment to make E15 fuel available this summer as well as many overdue EPA regulatory reforms.”

“Governor Noem and I will ask our governor colleagues to consider requiring the use of higher ethanol blends in all state fleet vehicles. Over a decade ago, many of the nation’s governors required the use of E10 in state fleet vehicles, which was a critical first step to consumer acceptance of higher ethanol blends,” Walz said.

“I’m honored to serve as vice chair of the Coalition and to continue working to strengthen the energy independence of our states and nation,” Noem said. “Minnesota, South Dakota and all members of the Coalition continue to play a major role in the nation’s energy policies.”

“Renewable energy benefits everyone, from energy consumers to farmers to anyone who breathes our air,” Noem concluded.

Walz and Noem both thanked Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds for not only her leadership of the Coalition last year but for her tireless national leadership on renewable energy policy.

Read the original article: Walz, Noem to Lead Governors’ Biofuels Coalition in 2019

Kansas Ethanol Signs Agreement to Use Enogen Corn From Syngenta

Ethanol Producer Magazine

February 18, 2019

Syngenta

On Feb. 13, Syngenta announced a three-year marketing agreement with Kansas Ethanol LLC to use Enogen corn enzyme technology at its 80 MMgy ethanol plant in Lyons, Kansas.

Enogen corn enzyme technology is an in-seed innovation available exclusively from Syngenta and features the first biotech corn output trait designed specifically to enhance ethanol production. Using modern biotechnology to deliver best-in-class alpha amylase enzyme directly in the grain, Enogen corn eliminates the need to add liquid alpha amylase and can help an ethanol plant significantly reduce the viscosity of its corn mash, improving plant performance. Numerous trials have shown that Enogen hybrids perform equal to or better than other high-performing corn hybrids.

Enogen corn will provide the Kansas Ethanol facility with an industry-leading enzyme for enhanced ethanol production, while also supporting local growers and the community. The Kansas Ethanol facility will be accepting its first load of Enogen grain this fall.

“This agreement will enable us to buy more corn directly from farmers and purchase alpha amylase locally, in the form of high-quality grain,” said Mike Chisam, President and CEO of Kansas Ethanol. “We believe Enogen corn will create value for our plant, our growers and our community.”

Farmers who grow Enogen corn are eligible to earn an additional premium per Enogen bushel. To date, more than $100 million in premiums have been paid to Enogen growers. According to data from Iowa State University, these premiums create an additional $63 million in economic activity for a total of $163 million in cumulative economic benefit to the region.

“We are proud to partner with Kansas Ethanol to help keep enzyme dollars local and help them invest in their local community,” said Jeff Oestmann, head, biofuels operations—Enogen at Syngenta. “Syngenta is committed to the success of the ethanol industry through helping plants operate more efficiently and providing growers the opportunity to serve as enzyme suppliers.”

Read the original article: Kansas Ethanol Signs Agreement to Use Enogen Corn From Syngenta

Ethanol Fix is Vital for Minnesota Farmers

Pine and Lakes Echo Journal

February 15, 2019

By Representative John Poston

The ethanol industry has great potential to improve agricultural communities in Minnesota, boosting the economy and helping our hardworking farmers provide for their families.

Over the past five years, farm income has fallen by 46 percent. One thing that all Americans can do to help is use a biofuel that we make and sell right here at home. E15, a 15 percent ethanol blend, is made from farm crops like corn.

Minnesota farmers rely on ethanol plants to buy their crops and convert them into ethanol. This provides farmers a valuable market for their crops and keeps prices at the pump low. Due to outdated regulations, the Environmental Protection Agency has restricted the sale of E15, making it unavailable during the summer months, the busiest season of travel for motorists.

Minnesotans have been champions of value-added agriculture long before this decision, but we are on a deadline.

The fix for E15 must be in place by June 1 to benefit Minnesota drivers and farmers. Some in the fossil fuel industry have sought to stall this needed action. We cannot afford any delays that would risk another year of sagging rural incomes and economic uncertainty in corn country.

The EPA needs to deliver on President Trump's promise to make E15 a reality. Minnesota farmers are depending on it.

Rep. John Poston,

District 9A

R-Lake Shore

Read the original letter to the editor: Ethanol Fix is Vital for Minnesota Farmers

Exclusive: EPA May Issue E15 Gasoline Plan Without Biofuel Credit Trade Limits - Sources

February 11, 2019

By Humeyra Pamuk

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering releasing its draft proposal to expand sales of higher ethanol blends of gasoline without including simultaneous measures it promised the oil industry to curb biofuel credit speculation, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

The move would help the agency lift a summertime ban on sales of so-called E15 gasoline in time for the U.S. driving season, but is likely to anger oil refiners that had been asking the Trump administration for biofuel credit market reforms to reduce their costs.

If EPA passed on introducing biofuel credit trading limits, it would leave the door open to potential speculative price surges that could cost refiners like Valero Energy Corp hundreds of millions of dollars. President Donald Trump announced in October he was directing the EPA to allow year-round sales of E15, in a win for the powerful corn industry which supplies ethanol. E15 gasoline contains 15 percent ethanol, versus the 10 percent found in most U.S. gasoline.

The ban had been imposed over concerns that E15 contributes to smog in hot weather.

EPA spokesman Michael Abboud declined to comment.

The EPA had initially planned to combine credit trading limits into the E15 rule as a concession to the oil industry, which says speculation increases the price of biofuel credits it must purchase to comply with federal law.

Under the U.S. Renewable Fuels Standard oil refiners have to blend increasing volumes of biofuels into the nation’s gasoline and diesel each year, or purchase credits - called Renewable Identification Numbers - from those who do.

The combined draft proposal was scheduled for release this month, and was meant to be finalized and implemented by June.

“The EPA has been seriously looking at dropping the RIN reform to speed up the process on E15,” one industry source with knowledge of the matter said.

One other source said that the EPA had already decided to delay the credit trading limits. “They separated the RIN reform to ensure that the (E15) rule would get done in a timely manner,” the source said.

The sources asked not to be named discussing the matter.

The agency is still working to release its draft rule for E15 by the end of the month, possibly within days, and is planning to expedite the rule-making process to finish it by June when seasonal driving demand picks up.

The recent partial government shutdown in the United States had raised concerns the effort might not be completed on time because agency workers were furloughed. Bill Wehrum, a senior EPA official, in charge of the department drafting the rule, said the agency would still make it ready for summer driving season.

Read the original article: Exclusive: EPA May Issue E15 Gasoline Plan Without Biofuel Credit Trade Limits - Sources

Strong Global Demand for U.S. Ethanol and DDGS Continues into November

Renewable Fuels Association

February 8, 2019

News Article

U.S. ethanol exports through November 2018 reached 1.56 billion gallons, up 31% from the same period a year earlier and already a calendar-year record. Exports remained robust in November although volumes for the month decreased 16% to 147.9 million gallons (mg), according to government data released this morning and analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA). In a departure from recent trends, sales were heavily concentrated in just three countries accounting for nearly three-fourths of all U.S. ethanol shipments in November. Brazil imported 51.2 mg, representing 35% of total U.S. export sales. While this was 3.2 mg lower (-6%) than October volumes, it was enough to secure Brazil’s position as the top U.S. ethanol customer for a second straight month. Canada decreased its imports of American ethanol by 8% to 28.4 mg, the lowest volume in seven months but still 19% of total ethanol shipments in November. Volumes exported to India were a solid 28.1 mg (19% of U.S. ethanol exports), slipping just 3% from a record offtake in October. Mexico imported a record 4.8 mg, up 144% for the month.

The Netherlands (8.2 mg, down 21%), South Korea (6.2 mg, down 20%), and Spain (4.3 mg, up 156% to a 13-month high) were other top markets. Notably, after purchasing 6.2 mg in U.S. imports in October, the Peruvian market essentially disappeared with the implementation of countervailing duties on U.S. ethanol by their government in November.

November exports of undenatured fuel ethanol were 90.5 mg, an increase of 10.9 mg (14%). Brazil purchased 51.2 mg (up 10 mg or 23%), representing 57% of our undenatured export market while exports to India at 14.6 mg were down 10 mg (41%). Expanded volumes were shipped to the Netherlands (8.2 mg, up 7 mg), Mexico (4.8 mg), Spain (4.3 mg), and South Korea (2.8 mg) in November while the Philippines (2.4 mg) cut imports in half.

American producers shipped 41.0 mg of denatured fuel ethanol in November, down 55% from the October record (91.4 mg) and the smallest volume in ten months. Most of the global export market contraction can be attributed to quiet trading in six major markets (Brazil, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, Peru, Oman, and the Philippines) that were responsible for cumulative imports of over 46 mg in October. Canada captured two-thirds of our denatured fuel export market with 25.7 mg of product, despite a 9% decrease from prior month sales. India’s November purchases were up 70% for a 13-month high of 7.5 mg, accounting for 18% of our denatured fuel ethanol market. Other top customers were Colombia (2.6 mg), South Korea (2.5 mg), and Jamaica (2.2 mg).

November sales of American denatured non-fuel ethanol skyrocketed to a record 12.3 mg, up from 2.5 mg in October. India re-entered the market to purchase 6.0 mg (48% of total sales), Nigeria also stepped back in with 3.6 mg (29% share) in sales, and 2.6 mg crossed into Canada (up 8%). November U.S. exports of undenatured non-fuel product more than doubled to 4.1 mg. The majority of product shipped to Saudi Arabia (1.7 mg), Japan (1.3 mg), and South Korea (0.9 mg).

The United States imported 9.9 mg of undenatured ethanol from Brazil in November. Total year-to-date U.S. ethanol imports stand at 66.9 mg—essentially all sourced from Brazil. This is 13% behind last year at this time.

November exports of U.S. dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS)—the main animal feed co-product generated by dry mill ethanol plants—were 1.017 million metric tons (million mt). While shipments tapered slightly (-0.2%), November was the sixth straight month that global demand breached 1 million mt. Mexico purchased 174,465 mt (up 9%) to capture 17% of the market. U.S. shippers sent 166,008 mt of DDGS to Vietnam, up 47% and the largest volume in nearly two years. Shipments of 97,600 (up 1%) entered Indonesia to set a new monthly record. U.S. DDGS export volumes to some key markets contracted, although demand remained robust: Thailand (79,603 mt, -14%), South Korea (71,699 mt, -12%), Canada (51,787 mt, -18%), and the United Kingdom (48,598 mt, -33%). Year-to-date U.S. DDGS exports are 10.99 million mt, implying an annualized total of 11.99 million mt. If realized, U.S. distillers grains exports would capture the second-largest annual volume on record.

Read the original article: Strong Global Demand for U.S. Ethanol and DDGS Continues into November

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