Phibro Ethanol Performance Group Announces Innovative New Portfolio of Yeast Products for the Ethanol Industry
Phibro Ethanol Performance Group
Press Release
July 10, 2019
Phibro Animal Health Corporation’s Ethanol Performance Group has again expanded their portfolio of customer solutions by unveiling new yeast products to address the needs of a changing market.
“Ethanol production is a very efficient industry. The technology keeps improving and lately yeast has been driving those improvements,” said Michael Giambalvo, President, Phibro Ethanol Performance Group. “We understand fermentation, preventing and managing plant infections and the key role of yeast in biofuel production. Yeast has been at the core of Phibro’s businesses for decades.”
A longtime industry leader in antimicrobials, Phibro Ethanol Performance Group provides solutions for ethanol producers based on its core competencies of fermentation, infection management and co-products for animal feed. Products include processing aids, cleaning aids, corn oil recovery and now its proprietary yeast products. PhibroADY™ and FortiPhi™ yeast products represent the latest product offerings by Phibro Ethanol Performance Group.
PhibroADY was developed for ethanol production, using a specially selected Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain. PhibroADY demonstrates robust performance across a wide range of operating conditions. With high temperature tolerance, organic acid tolerance, and high gravity substrate tolerance, this yeast has an efficient performance characteristic allowing for higher ethanol production. PhibroADY has a fast fermentation kinetic and also demonstrates superior longevity, remaining viable late in fermentation.
FortiPhi, a specialized nutritional supplement for industrial yeast, is specifically designed for grain mash fermentations producing ethanol. FortiPhi contains premium organic and inorganic compounds intentionally chosen to help improve the fermentability of standard grain mashes. The inclusion of inactivated yeast culture, vitamins and essential minerals provide a balanced supplement to help support yeast growth and metabolism.
“In recent years, the market has shifted. Ethanol producers are more interested in GMO technologies because of the multiple benefits they provide. Producers have recognized the value in yeast that will express enzymes and contribute to higher yields,” said Jenny Forbes, Vice President, Products and Services, Phibro Ethanol Performance Group. Phibro is responding to this market need with an entirely new higher performance yeast due out later this year. Initial tests have proven promising for Phibro’s next generation genetically engineered yeast product that is under development. This next-gen yeast will enhance yeast robustness and performance, while reducing processing costs such as enzymes.
“We have been a leader in the ethanol production industry for many years, and we’ve been very fortunate to be able to grow with our customers,” said Giambalvo. “This is just the natural progression in providing more solutions to meet the needs of our customers. Phibro’s innovations in yeast will help the industry achieve higher productivity, higher efficiency and process optimization. If you’re not innovating, you fall behind.”
For more information on Phibro Ethanol Performance Group and the full suite of products, please visit EthanolPerformanceGroup.com.
Toyota’s Brazilian Corolla Will Run on Pretty Much Whatever You Want
July 9, 2019
By Sabrina Valle
For 22 years, Toyota Motor Corp. has made hybrid cars that don’t require drivers to choose between running on gas or electricity. In October it will add a third option: ethanol.
The Japanese manufacturer will package its ultrapragmatic drivetrain in an all-new Corolla sedan that will be bolted together at its plant in Sao Paulo. Toyota is billing the vehicle as the cleanest hybrid ever made.
Ethanol has long been a popular fuel in Brazil, where it’s brewed fairly efficiently from fast-growing sugar cane. Because the plants process CO? as they grow, ethanol is considered a renewable fuel; burning a gallon of it releases only 10% to 20% as much carbon as burning a gallon of traditional gas, according to Unica, a sugar association.
“The goal is to make a car with zero carbon emission; that’s the industry’s race,” said Ricardo Bastos, Toyota’s head of government relations in Brazil. “With ethanol, we’re closer if you consider the whole cycle, well to wheel.”
The chimera car could prove to be a useful stopgap in an industry slowly transitioning to vehicles that exclusively plug in and run on batteries, particularly in countries committed to ethanol. Brazil has supported the fuel as a green alternative since the 1970s, and as a result it’s now available at all 40,000 of the country’s gas stations. Ethanol in Brazil is often cheaper than conventional fuel, depending on the price of sugar at any particular moment.
Electrified vehicles have made little headway in Brazil, in part because of anemic charging infrastructure and taxes of up to 120% on imports such as the Toyota Prius. Of the country’s 44 million cars and trucks, only 11,000 or so were electric as of the end of 2018.
These days, however, almost all new cars in Brazil can burn ethanol or gasoline. Last month, Brazilian policymakers further primed that market for the new Toyota, making tax concessions that will lower the price of hybrid vehicles by as much as 3% for cab drivers and fleet companies. With that sweetener, a hybrid electric vehicle that also burns ethanol could make up 10% of the fleet by 2025, according to some estimates.
Such a machine may also catch on abroad. Starting next year, Toyota plans to export its new ethanol-enabled Corolla to Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. “Any country which already uses ethanol or wants to increase the usage of hybrids is a target,” Bastos said. “If Europe wants it, we have the technology ready.”
In the U.S. nearly all fuel contains a small amount of ethanol, typically up to 15%, according to a federal renewable fuel mandate last updated in 2007. A traditional internal combustion engine can be damaged by more concentrated ethanol, and it’s still tough to find a more refined version. Only 3,400 stations sell a blend of as much as 85% ethanol for purpose-built flex-fuel vehicles, and most of them are clustered in the country’s Corn Belt.
Meanwhile, ethanol has fueled a long-simmering debate. Scientists point out that it’s not as clean as it’s been made out to be, considering the energy required to grow the plants ethanol is derived from and to refine the end product. What’s more, ethanol typically emits more smog than conventional gas and produces fewer miles per gallon.
The hybrid Corolla will be able to run on any of the three fuels or two at the same time. Toyota will make the car with engines from Japan at its Sao Paulo plant, a factory that can churn out as many as 70,000 vehicles a year. The automaker has yet to release pricing or mileage-efficiency estimates for the car.
Read the original article: Toyota’s Brazilian Corolla Will Run on Pretty Much Whatever You Want
U.S. EPA Proposes Hike in 2020 Biofuel Mandate But Waiver Volumes Draw Ire
July 5, 2019
By Humeyra Pamuk
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday proposed refiners increase the volume of biofuels blended into their annual fuel output but did not reallocate the waived amounts under the hardship program, drawing ire from powerful corn and biofuel groups as well as Republican senators.
The EPA is charged with setting biofuel blending requirements for the refining industry as part of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), a more than decade-old regulation that is aimed at helping farmers and reducing U.S. dependence on oil. It also provides waivers to small refining facilities that can prove compliance would cause them financial harm.
RFS and the waiver program, known as the Small Refinery Exemption (SRE) program, have increasingly been at the forefront of a heated political debate between the influential corn and oil lobbies, leaving President Donald Trump struggling to find a balancing act between the two important constituencies as he eyes re-election next year.
The issue has also gained more importance with many 2020 Presidential hopefuls looking to secure support in key states such as Iowa, a major ethanol producing state.
Since Trump took office, the EPA has more than quadrupled the number of waivers it has granted, saving the oil industry hundreds of millions of dollars but enraging another key constituency - corn growers - who claim the move threatens demand for their products.
EPA on Friday said it has proposed increasing the volume of biofuels refiners must blend into their fuel annually to 20.04 billion gallons in 2020, up from 19.92 billion gallons in 2019. The proposed mandate included 15 billion gallons of conventional biofuels like ethanol, unchanged from 2019.
Reuters reported the proposed volumes ahead of the announcement in May, citing industry sources.
The EPA also proposed holding the biodiesel mandate at 2.43 billion gallons for 2021, unchanged from 2020. The agency sets biodiesel mandates a year in advance. Corn and ethanol producers have long urged the EPA to lift the figures to make up for the volumes waived under the small refinery hardship program.
The lack of it infuriated biofuel groups and Republican senators from corn state Iowa. “It’s unacceptable that EPA would set biofuel volumes below demand at a time when farmers, biofuels producers and agribusiness owners are forced to shed jobs and close plants,” influential Senator Chuck Grassley said.
“I urge President Trump to compel EPA to reverse course and keep his word to the forgotten Americans who have faithfully stood with him.”
American farmers have been among the most affected by Trump’s trade war with China, which once was a top export market for U.S. agricultural products - although the rural heartland has mostly remained loyal to him.
“EPA appears to be selling out to oil refiners — again — at the expense of rural America,” said Geoff Cooper, president and chief executive of the Renewable Fuels Association.
“Until the EPA reigns in the abuse of SREs (small refinery exemptions) and reallocates what has already been lost, billions of gallons of biofuel demand will be destroyed each year as SREs explode around our industry like fireworks above the Washington Monument on the 4th of July,” said Executive Director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Monte Shaw.
Trump has also been increasingly annoyed with the waiver program, sources told Reuters, and ordered a review of it, after hearing from angry farmers during his Midwest tour last month.
The proposed mandate also includes 5.04 billion gallons of advanced biofuels, like those made from agricultural wastes, up from 4.92 billion in 2019. As part of the advanced biofuel proposal, the agency set mandates for cellulosic fuel at 540 million gallons.
The deadline for EPA to issue the final rule on blending requirements is Nov. 30.
Read the original article: U.S. EPA Proposes Hike in 2020 Biofuel Mandate But Waiver Volumes Draw Ire
Grassley Statement on New Threats to RFS
July 1, 2019
Press Release
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today released the following statement in response to recent media reports on new threats to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
“For years, Big Oil and its advocates on and off Capitol Hill have worked hard to undermine the RFS and dole out ‘hardship’ waivers to oil companies without regard to actual need. Hardship waivers should be the exception, not the rule, and they have been abused for far too long.
“President Trump has promised time and again to farmers and agribusinesses in Iowa and throughout Rural America to uphold the integrity of the RFS and follow the law as it’s written. I’ve been encouraged by the commitments made by President Trump regarding ethanol and the RFS, and am confident that he will continue to keep his promises.
“I would expect that the Environmental Protection Agency, with input from USDA, and any other legitimate source, will honor President Trump’s commitment to follow the law.”
Grassley is a leader in the fight to maintain a strong Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). He led efforts to put pressure on the EPA to stop issuing “hardship waivers” to obligated refiners as well as make the waiver process more transparent. Grassley has also worked to highlight the importance of the RFS to President Trump and his administration.
Read the original press release: Grassley Statement on New Threats to RFS
Report: E10 Could Save UK Drivers £100 Million In 2020
June 19, 2019
By Erin Voegele
A reported released June 11 by the All Party Parliamentary Group for British Bioethanol found that the immediate introduction of E10 in the U.K. market could save drivers approximately £100 million ($126.44 million) in 2020.
The report explains that the All Party Parliamentary Group on Bioethanol launched an inquiry into the introduction of E10 in the U.K. in March. The interim report released June 11 brings the first stage of that inquiry to a close.
According to the report, without the swift introduction of E10, the U.K. economy could lose its £1 billion ethanol industry, resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs. The loss of the British ethanol industry would also impact the country’s ability to attract additional investments for next-generation biofuels and enhanced animal feed coproducts. In addition, the loss of the U.K.’s ethanol industry would cause increased dependence on foreign sources of biofuel. Farmers would also be impacted through the loss of markets for surplus crops and the availability of ethanol coproducts used for feed.
The report stresses the introduction of E10 would assist the U.K. in achieve its greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets, noting the use of ethanol is low-cost in comparison to other options. The U.K.’s GHG reduction requirement for 2019 is currently set at 4 percent for 2019, and is set to increase to 6 percent in 2020. The group said introducing E10 could reduce the impact of that increase, which is most likely to be passed down to drivers as an increase in fuel prices. The report predicts E10 could save consumers £100 million in fuel costs. The use of E10 and higher blends of ethanol would also improve air quality.
Within the report, the group calls on the U.K. Department of Transport to publish its response to its own consultation on E10 without further delay. That consultation closed in September 2018.
The group also calls on the Secretary of State for Transport to host an emergency summit on the future of the British ethanol industry, bringing together all relevant stakeholders before the summer parliamentary recess. “This is needed in order to quickly agree the most efficient, transparent and cost effective way E10 could be introduced in the U.K. by 2020 to safeguard this industry, realize the many economic and environmental benefits it would deliver, and avoid potentially adding millions of pounds to motorist’s fuel bills,” the group said in the report.
The U.K. Renewable Energy Association released a statement welcoming the report’s findings. “E10 has a crucial role to play in the decarbonization of U.K. transport and with the correct policy support from government, could save motorists £100 million in its first year of implementation,” said Nina Skorupska, chief executive of the REA. “The electrification of passenger vehicles is gaining momentum and whilst supply chains develop and costs reduce, E10 is essential in offering cost-effective and immediate GHG savings.
“Whether meeting our legally binding climate targets or realizing the more ambitious targets of net-zero GHG by 2050, we need to utilize all technologies available and the complimentary deployment of biofuels and electrification is a perfect example of the forward thinking needed to achieve this,” Skorupska continued.
A full copy of the interim report can be downloaded from the APPG for British Bioethanol website.
Read the original article: Report: E10 Could Save UK Drivers £100 Million In 2020
Senators Ask EPA to Update Ethanol Science to Improve Trade
June 25, 2019
By Erin Voegele
A bipartisan group of 11 senators led by Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., sent a letter to U.S. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler June 25 urging the agency to update an outdated environmental analysis on ethanol in order to improve foreign sales opportunities.
The letter references a report released by the USDA’s Office of Chief Economist in April that found greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from corn ethanol are 39 percent lower than gasoline vehicle fuel, and perhaps as much as 43 percent lower, depending on the refining technology.
“This summarized report is based on a 2017 USDA comprehensive analysis that highlights the significant reductions in emissions that have come from innovations in feedstock production as well as refining processes,” the senators wore. “It raises the question as to why the [U.S. EPA] still has not revised its assessment for corn ethanol since 2010, which only shows about a 20 percent reduction for conventional, starch-based ethanol.”
In the letter, the senators “request that EPA publicly announce its intent to review and incorporate the latest GREET modeling into an updated life cycle assessment for corn ethanol and to announce a timeline by which this will be completed.”
The senators note that the change “need not require further delay or arduous analysis” as it “is only a matter of EPA formally adopting these changes.”
If there are valid reasons the change cannot be done in a timely fashion, the senators ask that the agency remove obsolete information from its website and replace it in the interim with the USDA’s analysis.
According to the senators, the U.S. Department of Energy developed the GREET model nearly 30 years ago to measure the GHG emissions of vehicle fuels. The updated model is now used by more than 30,000 professional organizations worldwide, including the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Ford, General Motors, BP and PetroChina. EPA, however, does not currently use the updated model.
“Meanwhile, the EPA stands alone in its decade-old calculation having major implications for opening up new global markets for ethanol,” the senators wrote. “For example, until recently, Japan, which imports 99 percent of its ethanol, met those needs with Brazilian production based on Brazil’s low carbon intensity and their belief that U.S. corn ethanol did not meet their criteria for carbon intensity relative to gasoline. Not until a great effort was expended by the U.S. Grains Council in Japan to overcome the conflicting information generated by the outdated EPA model was the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry…persuaded that the latest science verifies U.S. ethanol is suitable for addressing Japan’s GHG reduction goals—creating new market opportunities for our farmers.”
The letter stresses the Brazil example is not an isolated case. While ethanol has been the fastest growing agricultural export during the past five years, the senators said the EPA’s old ethanol science is thwarting its advancements. Other nations look to EPA for technical information regarding GHG emissions on U.S. corn ethanol, wrote the senators.
“In the March 26, 2010, preamble to Renewable Fuel Standard implementing regulation, EPA committed to updating the GHG assessment for ethanol, affirmed that the science evolves, and pledged to incorporate the updated into formation into a new assessment,” the senators wrote. “The time has arrived to complete this responsibility.”
“We assert that there is little justification for EPA to maintain such an outdated calculation that otherwise could be easily corrected with existing, available analysis—and straightforwardly address an unnecessary obstacle to trade,” the continued.
In addition to Grassley and Durbin, the letter is signed by Sens. Joni Earnst, R-Iowa; Tina Smith, D-Minn.; John Thune, R-S.D.; Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc.; Roy Blunt, R-Mo.; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.; Deb Fischer, R-Neb.; and Josh Hawley, R-Mo.
The American Coalition for Ethanol has spoken out to applaud the letter. “ACE extends our gratitude to Senators Durbin and Grassley for leading this bipartisan effort to hold EPA accountable on this important issue. Unlike the Argonne GREET model, EPA has not reviewed or updated their original 2010 corn ethanol greenhouse gas (GHG) assessments,” said Brian Jennings, CEO of ACE. “Current data from the GREET model indicate that corn ethanol’s carbon intensity is almost 50 percent less than petroleum gasoline providing significantly more GHG reduction benefits than when the RFS was enacted a decade ago. Last year, ACE published “The Case for Properly Valuing the Low Carbon Benefits of Corn Ethanol” recommending, as is stated in the Senators’ letter today, that EPA refer to the latest U.S. Department of Energy GREET model for life cycle analysis of corn ethanol.
“Given the all hands-on deck nature of the climate change problem, agricultural and biofuel stakeholders continue to believe that governmental policies need to properly acknowledge the role that agriculture and biofuel can play in providing near-term solutions to offsetting U.S. GHG emissions,” he continued. “One of the most direct ways to capitalize on agriculture’s ability to mitigate GHG emissions is to properly acknowledge the role U.S. farmers and ethanol producers are playing to dramatically reduce life cycle GHG emissions from corn ethanol by improving efficiencies, investing in technologies, and adopting sustainable agricultural practices.
“U.S. farmers are under tremendous financial stress from collapsing net farm income, rising expenses, ongoing trade tensions, weather-related disasters, and the undermining of the [RFS] with demand destroying small refinery waivers,” Jennings said. “Updating EPA’s decade-old modeling would be a step in the right direction to underpin the scientific and economic opportunity for ethanol use to increase via low carbon fuel markets.”
A full copy of the letter can be downloaded from Durbin’s website.
Read the original article: Senators Ask EPA to Update Ethanol Science to Improve Trade
Virgin Australia Flies 1 Million Kilometers with Gevo’s Jet Fuel
June 24, 2019
By Gevo
Gevo Inc. announced June 17 that Virgin Australia has used Gevo’s sustainable aviation jet fuel (SAJF) to power 1 million kilometers of flights, for all aircraft operating in and out of Brisbane Airport when the fuel was put through the general fuel supply system. This marks another important step for Virgin Australia towards building a supply-chain for the long-term commercial use of Gevo’s SAJF in Australia to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Since the first container of SAJF was delivered to Brisbane back in August 2018, Virgin Australia has continued to work with Gevo and has welcomed three more deliveries of the SAJF since this time.
Virgin Australia Chief Legal and Risk Officer Dayna Field said the 1 million kilometers flown represents an important milestone and demonstrates that this low carbon product can go the distance. “Virgin Australia is proud to have led this initiative in Brisbane, as it has been an important step in promoting the use and production of sustainable aviation fuels in our region.”
“We are actively looking at ways to reduce our carbon emissions and low-carbon fuels present a real opportunity. As a diversified airline group, we know that establishing a local low-carbon fuel industry will have positive environmental, social and economic impacts,” she said.
Patrick R. Gruber, the CEO of Gevo, commented, “We are pleased to be working with Virgin Australia to get our de-fossilized, sustainable jet fuel into the Australian air. We appreciate the efforts of all the project partners, the Queensland Government, the Brisbane Airport, Caltex and DB Schenker who have all tirelessly worked to commence the transformation of the Australian jet fuel supply chain. This is a very good milestone which demonstrates the potential for the future.
Read the original article: Virgin Australia Flies 1 Million Kilometers with Gevo’s Jet Fuel
Sweden 'Must Double Biofuels Use' To Meet Emissions Goal: Report
June 12, 2019
This is how Sweden meets its climate goals for transport, a report from the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, estimates that if the goal is to be met, the transport sector will require 25 TWh of electrical energy and as much as 40TWh of biofuels.
Currently Sweden uses about 19 TWh of biofuels and 2.6 TWh of electricity for domestic transport.
"It's not enough to talk about charging stations in central Stockholm. We are also going to need large volumes of biofuel," Karin Byman, who led the project, told The Local.
She said she was still convinced that a zero carbon transport sector was "technically possible".
"But it is a big challenge because we need to change the way we look at transport. We need to have a more transport-effective society," she said. "When we plan our cities we need to look at 'where do you have the shops, where do you have the schools?', so we don't need to have so much traffic."
Byman stressed that her argument that more energy would be needed from biofuels for transport than from electricity by 2045 did not mean electric cars would not dominate passenger transport.
"The electrical motor is so much more efficient than a normal engine, so it won't require as much electricity as an amount as cars running on biofuel will require," she explained.
By 2045 she expected most passenger cars to be electric, with biofuel used predominantly for planes, agricultural machinery, and a few of the oldest vehicles.
The increased reliance on biofuels will require new legislation to promote Swedish domestic production and cut out imports of biofuels produced unsustainably from palm oil and other sources.
"We need to look at existing regulation so we don't just ask for more cars to use biofuels, we also need to en encourage more producers of biofuels to invest in new plants," Byman said.
Sweden was capable of being self-sufficient in biofuels, she said. "We have such big forests and such a big country...There is a lot of waste from felling trees in the forests that they don't care about today because the prices are too low."
Read the original article: Sweden 'Must Double Biofuels Use' To Meet Emissions Goal: Report
EIA Increases 2019, 2020 Ethanol Production Forecasts
June 14, 2019
By Erin Voegle
The U.S. Energy Information Administration released the latest edition of its Short-Term Energy Outlook June 11, increasing its forecasts for 2019 and 2020 ethanol production. The agency now predicts ethanol production will average 1.04 million barrels per day this year and 1.05 million barrels per day next year. Production averaged 1.05 million barrels per day in 2018.
The June forecasts represent an increase over production levels predicted by EIA last month. In its May STEO, the EIA predicted 2019 ethanol production would average 1.03 million barrels per day, with 2020 production increasing to an average of 1.04 million barrels per day.
On a quarterly basis, the EIA currently predicts ethanol production will average 1.05 million barrels per day during the second quarter of this year, falling to 1.04 million barrels per day during the third and fourth quarters. In 2020, production is expected to average 1.04 million barrels per day during the first quarter, increase to 1.06 million barrels per day in the second quarter, and fall to 1.05 million barrels per day in the third and fourth quarters.
Ethanol consumption is currently expected to average 950,000 barrels per day in both 2019 and 2020, up from 940,000 barrels per day in 2018.
The EIA’s most recent production data shows ethanol production reached 1.096 million barrels per day the week ending June 7, up from 1.044 million barrels per day the prior week.
Ethanol stocks fell to 21.802 million barrels the week ending June 7, down from 22.553 million barrels the previous week.
The EIA’s most recent weekly data shows the U.S imported 251,000 barrels of ethanol in March, all from Brazil. The U.S. exported 3.335 million barrels of ethanol in March, primarily to Brazil, Canada and India.
Read the original article: EIA Increases 2019, 2020 Ethanol Production Forecasts