Although considered critical to avoiding catastrophic global warming, the feasibility of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it underground -- known as negative emissions -- has been in question.

"There's really no scenario that meets the world's climate goals without negative emissions," said Katharine Mach, a senior research scientist at Stanford's School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences. "But most technologies for carbon removal are immature, largely unavailable or expensive."

But researchers at Stanford and other institutions have found new hope for cost-effective carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). Their study, published April 23 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, runs the numbers on different options for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in the U.S. and finds opportunities where it is not only commercially feasible with existing technology, but profitable.

Plants do the work

The most widely discussed strategy for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere involves growing plants, which absorb CO₂, as a first step. Those plants can then be processed to produce energy, and any resulting CO₂ emissions from that energy production would be captured and stored underground.

While it seems straightforward, these technologies -- known as bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration, or BECCS -- have not been fully developed and many areas don't have geology that's suitable for storing CO₂. What's more, pipelines would need to be built to take CO₂ from bioenergy plants to areas suitable for storage. There are also serious questions about how BECCS would scale globally and compete with plants grown for food production or impact ecosystems and biodiversity.

However, the group found that one type of BECCS technology could work immediately for U.S. ethanol producers. What's more, given current and predicted future financial incentives, the approach could even turn a profit.

"We found that between tax credits for CCS and upcoming financial incentives from low-carbon fuel standards, CCS is an untapped financial opportunity for ethanol producers across the U.S.," said Daniel Sanchez, a postdoctoral scholar with the Carnegie Institution for Science and lead author on the paper.

The United States is the largest producer of ethanol in the world, producing 15.8 billion gallons in 2017. Ethanol is made by fermenting biomass such as corn, which produces a high-purity CO₂ by-product that is easier and cheaper to capture, compress and inject underground than other emitted sources of CO₂. Right now, these emissions are largely vented to the atmosphere in the process of making ethanol.

"Negative emissions at biorefineries is commercially ready and affordable. It offers a compelling way to build the real-world experience we need to develop future BECCS technologies," said Mach.

Financial incentives

The researchers estimate that 60 percent of all CO₂ emitted annually through the production of ethanol at the country's 216 biofuel plants (about 1 percent of all CO₂ emissions from the U.S.) could be captured at low cost, under $25 per metric ton of CO₂.

Further, if credits for captured CO₂ were set at $60 per metric ton, it could incentivize sequestration of 30 million metric tons of CO₂ each year that are otherwise vented into the atmosphere -- equivalent to emissions from powering 3.2 million homes for one year -- and pay for the construction of 4,300 miles of pipeline infrastructure needed to transport the CO₂ for storage at appropriate sites across the country.

These incentives are in line with new tax credits included in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 signed by the president in February. The bill amended section 45Q of the tax code so that power plants or CO₂-emitting facilities are eligible for tax credits for captured CO₂ for up to 12 years.

"There are many ways to incentivize and unleash negative emissions technologies, one of which this administration and Congress may have just put into place," said Mach.

Another financial incentive comes in the form of low-carbon fuel standards, such as those implemented in Oregon, California and British Columbia. It works by giving tradeable credits for fuels that exceed the standard and deficits to those who don't.

Right now, accounting for CCS isn't included in the standards, but on April 27, California will consider updating its rules to include new protocols that would quantify the value of carbon removal in the fuel production process. If adopted, fuel producers could collect more credits by selling lower-carbon ethanol in California.

"This is an opportunity not only for biofuel producers to make profits, but also for CCS technology to be more widely piloted and developed. This is an essential first step if we're going to deploy carbon removal at levels necessary to keep dangerous climate change in check," said Sanchez.

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Tuesday, 10 April 2018 10:18

Senators Ask Trump to Suspend EPA's Use of Biofuel Waivers

Reuters

April 9, 2018

By Jarrett Renshaw and Chris Prentice

Five Republican senators on Monday called on President Donald Trump to temporarily halt the use of biofuels policy waivers for small oil refineries, after reports the Environmental Protection Agency had issued a recent wave of such exemptions.

The group of lawmakers, which includes Senators Charles Grassley and Joni Ernst of Iowa and John Thune of South Dakota, said the EPA waivers are “undermining” the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard, a law that requires biofuels like ethanol to be added to the nation’s fuel, which Trump has said he supports.

“We therefore urge you to call on the EPA to cease all RFS waiver action until the agency’s administration of the RFS can proceed in a more transparent and impartial manner,” the senators said in a letter dated April 9.

The request comes as Trump is scheduled to meet with EPA head Scott Pruitt and Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue on the issue later on Monday.

An EPA source told Reuters last week that the agency had issued 25 small refinery exemptions, relieving the plants of their requirements to blend biofuels last year.

Reuters also reported that Andeavor, one of the country’s largest refiners, also received EPA exemptions from the biofuels law for three of its smallest refineries.

In the past, the EPA has issued between six and eight waivers from the RFS per year to small refining operations of less than 75,000 barrels per day that can demonstrate they are struggling financially to comply, according to a former official familiar with the waiver program under past administrations.

But refiners have applied for the waivers in larger numbers after a federal appeals court ruling last year that said the EPA must expand the guidelines for approving them.

They have also been encouraged to apply by the Trump administration’s recent efforts to broker a deal between the oil and corn industries to reduce the costs of the RFS, industry sources said. Those talks have not yielded a deal.

“The EPA is using its small refinery waiver in an unprecedented manner to benefit some of the largest refineries in the nation, including Andeavor, which posted profits of approximately $1.5 billion last year,” the senators wrote.

White House spokeswoman Kelly Love did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The RFS requires refiners to blend biofuels, or purchase blending credits from other companies - a policy intended to help farmers, and cut pollution and fuel imports.

Read the full letter here.

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Monday, 09 April 2018 15:12

The Ethanol Industry's Economic Footprint in Minnesota's Seventh Congressional District

Continuing our series on the ethanol industry’s economic footprint in each of Minnesota’s congressional districts, we head over to seventh congressional district which encompasses almost the entire western edge of the state from the Northwest Angle in Lake of the Woods County to counties in southern Minnesota like Pipestone and Murray.

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Wednesday, 04 April 2018 09:17

Highwater Ethanol Applying for Boosting Production

Marshall Independent

March 30, 2018

By Jody Issackson

Highwater Ethanol is applying to increase its ethanol production with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

Highwater Ethanol CEO Brian Kletscher said his company hopes to make the best use of equipment and resources to increase shareholder profits. He said the number one reason for increasing production is to produce more renewable fuel for consumers to use in their new flex fuel vehicles. Kletscher also said that will help decrease the country’s dependency on imported crude oil and finished gasoline.

He said the company will consume another 2 million bushels of corn which will be good for the local farmers. Kletscher said that the majority of the grain Highwater uses in its processes comes from a 25-mile radius including farmers and elevators.

“It’s not going to be a huge increase, but as long as margins are profitable, it will be an increase,” Kletscher said. “Anything we can do to increase ROI (return on investment), we owe it to our shareholders to do it.”

The CEO and his staff have calculated that with their current facility and production equipment, they could increase their production form 59.5 million gallons of ethanol per year to 70.2.

“We looked at how much our plant can handle by an engineering review and calculated how much our plant can produce with the current equipment,” Kletscher said Wednesday.

One of the reasons Highwater Ethanol would not have to add equipment or storage to make this leap in production is because the company had already added a 600,000-bushel grain bin which was completed in August of 2017. This brought their storage capacity up to 1.8 million bushels.

The company had also added new computerized systems for handling grain and distillers’ grains.

The increase in production would increase the volume of pollutants, which requires the involvement of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA requires Highwater Ethanol to monitor its air emissions and calculate how much more will be produced with the increase in production, he said.

“We’ve been working with them since mid-January on this permit and expect to hear back in late summer or early fall,” he said.

The application itself was started in May of 2017 and the EPA was able to start looking at it in January.

“We do a modeling of the project for them,” Kletscher said. “They may require us to measure the emissions. However, we do those already. We anticipate very minimal increase in emissions.”

At the recent annual meeting, Board Chair David Moldan announced fiscal year 2017 (ending Oct. 31) was “another successful year.”

The company took in 20.3 million bushels of corn and sold 59.4 million gallons of ethanol. Kletscher explained Wednesday the company also sells byproducts of its process. Dried distiller grains (DDGs) are sold for swine and poultry feed, while modified distillers grains (MDG) are sold to feed beef cattle.

“They serve as protein and energy sources for livestock,” he said.

Ethanol production for FY 2017 was 200,000 gallons more than the previous year while the corn used was 600,000 bushels less.

“That allows us improved efficiencies, and the potential for a more profitable year is definitely there,” the CEO said.

The net income was just over $3.5 million, an increase from the $522,668 margin in FY 2016, the company reported to its shareholders.

Total sales for last year were $100,225,143. The previous year was just under $99 million. This profit was due in part in the 10 cent per bushel decrease in the cost of corn, going from $3.30 in 2016 to $3.20 in 2017.

Distributions of $345 a unit were paid to shareholders in December for a total distribution of $1,660,657.

Going forward, Kletscher said tariffs on imports could create a problem, but he is optimistic.

“Tariffs could potentially hurt exports,” he said. “We’ve reviewed that any tariff can have an impact on ethanol exports. Currently China has a 30 percent tariff on our exports and has talked about adding an additional 15 percent on top of that. We’re hoping our other foreign markets will pick up and offset the drop to China.”

Kletscher is anticipating the permits to increase ethanol production at Highwater Ethanol to go through by fall and they will be able to meet an increasing demand for the renewable resource as the flex fuel vehicles that use it catch on in the metro areas as well as the rural areas.

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Monday, 02 April 2018 10:28

Phil Mart

437 East Main Street

Waterville, MN 56096
507-362-8800

E15, E30, E85

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437 East Main Street
Waterville,Minnesota
United States 56096

Thursday, 29 March 2018 12:48

USDA Report Shows Impact of US Biobased Economy

Ethanol Producer Magazine

March 26, 2018

By Erin Voegele

The USDA has released a new report that measures economic growth, job creation and household income from biofuel and bioenergy production, along with future growth in renewable chemicals and biobased products.

The report, titled “Indicators of the U.S. Biobased Economy,” shows that the biobased economy is playing an increasingly important role in the U.S. economy. “Through innovations in renewable energies and the emergence of a new generation of biobased products, the sectors that drive the biobased economy are providing job creation and economic growth,” the report states.

According to the USDA, the report aims to understand and analyze trends in the biobased economy by comparing 2011 and 2016 data.

The data shows significant increases in the production of liquid biofuels, with U.S. ethanol production increasing from 175 million gallons in 1980 to more than 14.7 billion gallons in 2015. The number of ethanol plants reached 199 in 2016, with three facilities under construction and the industry accounting for more than 270,000 U.S. jobs.

Biodiesel production also grew exponentially, increasing from 343 million gallons in 2010 to 1.26 billion gallons in 2015. From 2005 to 2012, soybean use for biodiesel increased from 670 million pounds to 4.1 billion pounds.

The production of solid biofuels has also increased significantly. The report states that “wood pellets manufactured primarily in the Southeastern United States have become an important component of the bioenergy sector.” The U.S has established itself as the world’s largest exporter of wood pellets, with more than 4.6 million metric tons exported in 2016.

Growth has also occurred in the production of renewable chemicals and biobased products. The report states that the number of renewable chemicals and biobased products certified under the USDA’s BioPreferred program has increased from 1,800 in 2014 to 2,900 in 2016. The number of overall biobased products in the U.S. marketplace has increased from approximately 17,000 in 2008 to 40,000 in 2014. An estimated 4.22 million jobs were attributed to the biobased products industry in 2014. In addition, the report estimates the value-added contribution to the U.S. economy from the U.S. biobased products industry was $393 billion in 2014.

The Biotechnology Innovation Organization has spoken out to welcome the report. “The biobased economy is approaching a tipping point in its growth and maturation,” said Brent Erickson, executive vice president of BIO’s Industrial & Environmental Section. “The economic impact is evident.

“BIO calculates that the global economic value of the biobased economy—including industrial biotechnology, renewable chemicals and polymers, biofuels, enzymes and biobased materials—is $355.28 billion,” he continued. “Looking at the new USDA Indicators report and other sources, we estimate that the United States generates 58 percent of the global value of biobased manufacturing, or more than $205 billion. And that economic activity supports employment for 1.66 million U.S. workers.

“The growth of the biobased economy has been supported by good federal policy that strengthens the agricultural sector and rural America,” Erickson said. “For instance, Farm Bill energy title programs have compiled a record of success that deserves to be continued. We look forward to working with USDA and Congress to build on that success and reauthorize the programs.”

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