Janesville, October 3 – Students from Minnesota State University, Mankato visited Guardian Energy today to gain a better understanding of renewable fuel production.

During the tour, the students learned about several components of ethanol production including incoming grain grading, grain handling, fermentation, grain storage, dried distiller grain production and storage, ethanol storage and shipment.

The students, who were from the university’s biological engineering analysis class, toured the various processes of ethanol production at Guardian Energy, which produces 150 million gallons of ethanol a year.

“Our employees enjoyed interacting with the Minnesota State Mankato bioengineering students. Ethanol production requires engineering expertise and the students were able to see up close what their prospective career paths could be in this rewarding and growing field,” said Jeanne McCaherty, CEO of Guardian Energy.

The tour was organized by the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association (MN Biofuels), a non-profit trade organization that represents the ethanol industry in Minnesota. Guardian Energy is a member of MN Biofuels.

“We organize these tours with universities to demonstrate the various scientific production processes and career opportunities in the ethanol industry,” said Tim Rudnicki, executive director of MN Biofuels.

Minnesota State Mankato’s tour of Guardian was the second time the university has visited the plant. It previously toured the plant in October 2018.

The university’s biotechnology program director, Gregg Marg, said the tours provided his students with a great example on how industrial-scale processes are carried out.

“The students had a great tour that impressed them with the scale at which industry works. The students were impressed and began to understand the importance of the course content in preparing them for employment in the bioprocessing industry. The bench scale in the lab doesn’t represent ‘real life’ scale very well,” said Marg.

Janesville, September 30 – Sixteen students from New Richland Heartland Ellendale Geneva High School (NRHEG) toured Guardian Energy today to learn more about renewable energy production.

“We were pleased to welcome NRHEG to our plant to see firsthand how clean Minnesota-grown ethanol is produced. These tours seek to showcase ethanol’s many environmental and economic benefits,” said Jeanne McCaherty, CEO of Guardian Energy.

During the tour, the students, from the high school’s Ag Power/Electricity class learned about several components of ethanol production including incoming grain grading, grain handling, fermentation, grain storage, dried distiller grain production and storage, ethanol storage and shipment.

The students, grades 10 to 12, were briefed on the various processes of ethanol production at the plant, which produces 150 million gallons of ethanol a year.

“The ethanol industry plays a vital role for Minnesota’s agricultural industry and through these tours, students are given a chance to see and understand various technological processes of converting a homegrown renewable ingredient into clean energy,” said Tim Rudnicki, executive director of the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association (MN Biofuels).

The tour was organized by MN Biofuels, a non-profit trade organization that represents the ethanol industry in Minnesota. Guardian Energy is a member of MN Biofuels.

The students were accompanied by NRHEG’s agricultural educator, Dan Sorum, who previously visited Guardian Energy with his junior-high class in the fall of 2016.

“This class is primarily about electrical wiring, however I am incorporating a number of lessons on alternative energy sources and while ethanol is not as related to power generation as much as other sources like solar and wind, it is still an alternative source and thus fits my objective to expose them to the more modern technologies today,” said Sorum.

E15, E85

Winthrop, September 24 - Ten students from New Ulm High School toured Heartland Corn Products today to learn about clean renewable Minnesota energy.

"We were pleased to welcome New Ulm High School today. These tours provide us with the opportunity to show students how Minnesota-produced ethanol displaces harmful greenhouse gas emissions, benefits our local economy and increases our energy independence,” said Scott Blumhoefer, Vice-President at Heartland Corn Products.

The students were from New Ulm High School’s Advanced Natural Resources, DNR Management, Energy & Recreation class.

During the tour, they learned about several different components of ethanol production including incoming grain grading, grain handling, fermentation, grain storage, dried distiller grain production and storage, liquefaction, fermentation and ethanol storage and shipment.

The tour was organized by the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association, (MN Biofuels) a non-profit trade organization that represents the ethanol industry in Minnesota. Heartland Corn Products is a member of MN Biofuels.

"Tours like these highlight the necessary skills to pursue a career in the ethanol industry and allow students the opportunity to engage with plant staff and learn about the many benefits of locally-produced biofuels,” said Tim Rudnicki, executive director at MN Biofuels.

Heartland Corn Products is one of the largest plants in Minnesota and was built in 1995.

Jeff Nelson, agriculture educator at New Ulm High School, said his students had previously learned about ethanol in his class.

"With the increased use of technology and development of new energy options, our tour of an ethanol plant helps students make connections to agriculture, science, and technology, allowing for future career preparation in the world's workforce," said Nelson.

Last Friday, members of the Congressional Biofuels Caucus – which includes Minnesota Reps. Collin Peterson, Angie Craig and Jim Hagedorn – sent a letter to the EPA urging Administrator Andrew Wheeler to address the damage caused by the agency’s issuance of small refinery exemptions (SREs).

Renewable Fuels Association

September 19, 2019

News Release

A new study from energy policy expert Dr. Philip K. Verleger, Jr., has found that consumers save 22 cents on every gallon of gas thanks to the Renewable Fuel Standard. That’s a savings of nearly $5 every time you fill up, or $250 per American family every year. Additionally, the report demonstrates how renewable fuels enhance energy security and help act as a counterbalance to consolidation in the oil refining industry.

The Renewable Fuel Standard Program: Measuring the Impact on Crude Oil and Gasoline Prices looks at the impact of the Renewable Fuel Standard program (RFS) on crude oil and gasoline prices over the last four years (2015-2018). The findings highlight how the RFS has helped keep prices down at the pump by requiring oil refiners to blend a certain amount of renewable fuel into the fuel they produce.

Key Report Findings:

-The RFS program has provided economic benefits to consumers in the United States and worldwide. Retail gasoline prices are lower thanks to the program. The findings from an econometric analysis show that the savings to consumers resulting from the RFS averaged $0.22 per gallon from 2015 through 2018.

-The blending of approximately one million barrels per day of ethanol into U.S. motor fuels under the RFS over the 2015 through 2018 period has lowered the average price of crude by $6 per barrel.

-Because gasoline demand is price inelastic, consumers have been able to allocate a smaller percentage of their total consumption budget to fuel purchases. This has allowed them to expend more on other goods. Over four years, U.S. consumers have been able to spend almost $90 billion per year more on other goods because of gasoline prices being pulled down by renewable fuel use.

-If ethanol were eliminated from the fuel supply, as some opponents of renewable fuels have advocated, gasoline prices would surge by more than $1 per gallon.

-There have been 19 oil market disruptions over the last 46 years, starting with 1973’s Arab Oil Embargo. A modest amount of renewable fuels can significantly moderate the price impact of market disruptions. Renewable fuels can limit the process that pushes product prices higher. The suppliers of products, especially gasoline, can and will increase the amount of ethanol blended into motor fuels if the regulations allow and ethanol can be obtained at a favorable price.

-Consumers would likely pay even higher prices if the mergers that created the large oligopolistic independent refiners had not been accompanied by a second trend: the creation of an aggressive, competitive petroleum marketing sector.

-The procedures used for introducing renewable fuels into gasoline allow the competitive petroleum marketing sector to counter the market power enjoyed by U.S. refiners. This independence allows the marketer to vary the amount of ethanol blended depending on the price.

-Consumers will see increasing benefits from lower prices as marketers are allowed to blend additional ethanol into gasoline (or other renewables into motor fuels) when the ethanol can be acquired at a discount to the price of the petroleum-based blendstock. The benefit results from the high level of competition in gasoline marketing and the absence of refinery control over marketers.

Read the original article: New Study: Renewable Fuel Standard Saves Consumers at Pump, Enhances Energy Security

Ethanol Producer Magazine

September 13, 2019

By Lisa Gibson

Minimizing feedstock cost is one rule for a successful cellulosic ethanol project, according to Mark Yancey, chief technology officer for D3Max. “That can be a very large component of your project costs.”

Yancey spoke Sept. 13 at Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled Spirits’ Alcohol School, held this week in Montreal. The final day of the event focused on cellulosic ethanol.

D3Max partnered with Ace Ethanol in Stanley, Wisconsin, to construct a cellulosic ethanol plant, which is expected to start up in October. Yancey said the D3Max development plan has always been to colocate with an existing ethanol plant.

In a cellulosic project, Yancey continued, avoid feedstock harvest and transportation, make sure it’s available year-round and has a high coproduct value.

Other rules Yancey shared from his experience included those in pretreatment: ensure high solids loading, a low-cost catalyst, and minimize inhibitor production. In Enzymatic hydrolysis, minimize enzyme cost, avoid dilution after pretreatment, and use hemicellulase and cellulase enzymes. In fermentation, ensure both C5 and C6 sugar fermentation, use a robust and low-cost yeast, and aim for a high product yield.

Yancey said issues a cellulosic ethanol plant might face include: feedstock supply, feedstock cost, capital cost per gallon of ethanol, ethanol yield, coproduct value, wastewater and project financing.

The feedstock for the D3Max system is wet cake, making a pretreatment step crucial. The wet cake goes into a reactor, then a clash tank, then to fermentation, beer column, and to dehydration or decanters to recover ethanol or produce feed.

“This is considered separate processing,” Yancey said. “There’s no mixing of the starch or sugars between the two plants. That makes us what EPA calls separate processing.” The separate processing status makes permitting much easier, he added.

Corn oil yield is expected to be 1.2 pounds per bushel, with a dried distillers grains with solubles yield of 10.5 pounds per bushel. That’s an improvement of DCO yield from 0.7 pounds per bushel from a standard dry mill ethanol plant, Yancey said, and a decrease of DDGS from 14 pounds per bushel, but an increase in protein of 27 percent.

“Ace is very happy with the results,” Yancey said.

Key players in the project include Ace and D3Max, as well as Fagen Inc., AdvanceBio, Fluid Quip Process Technologies, DSM, Lallemand and Whitefox Technologies.

The D3Max plant is expected to produce about 3.4 MMgy, increasing Ace’s overall yield of 2.9 gallons per bushel to 3.1 gallons per bushel, Yancey said.

In response to questions about starch in feedstock and the effects of nutrients, Yancey said, “when this is all up, we’ll need to reoptimize the whole facility.

“Everyone is waiting for our plant to start up. The proof will be in the actual commercial demonstration.”

Read the original article: Alcohol School: Yancey Delivers D3Max Project Update

Governor Tim Walz

Press Release

September 16, 2019

Today, Governor Tim Walz signed Executive Order 19-35, establishing the Governor’s Biofuels Council to advise the Governor and Cabinet on policy and budget proposals to foster the growth of the Minnesota biofuel industry. Recent action at the federal level has led to an increasing number of renewable fuel plants closing or idling production, including the Corn Plus ethanol plant in Winnebago, Minnesota.

“Minnesota farmers endure a lot of uncertainty when it comes to the weather and the economy. They shouldn’t face that uncertainty from their government,” said Governor Walz. “The Governor’s Biofuels Council demonstrates our commitment to supporting the agriculture and biofuels industries and seizing the opportunity to move Minnesota toward a cleaner, greener transportation sector.”

The Council will be tasked with creating a report advising the Governor and Cabinet on how to best expand the use of biofuels, increase the carbon efficiency of biofuels, and implement biofuels as part of Minnesota’s larger goal to reduce greenhouse gas production in the transportation sector. The Council will be made up of 15 members including representatives of agriculture, biofuels, and transportation industries, as well as environmental, and conservation groups. The Executive Order mandates that the report be completed by November 2020.

Governor Walz is the Chair of the Governors’ Biofuels Coalition. On September 4, 2019, he and Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, Vice Chair of the Coalition, sent a joint letter to President Donald Trump urging him to support Minnesota farmers and renewable fuel producers. The Governor also published an op-ed emphasizing the need for urgent action.

Reuters

September 16, 2019

By Jarrett Renshaw, Stephanie Kelly

U.S. President Donald Trump has tentatively approved a plan to increase the amount of biofuels that oil refiners are required to blend each year to compensate for exemptions handed out to small refiners by the Environmental Protection Agency, two sources familiar with the matter said.

The plan is intended to address a major source of anger in U.S. farm country as Trump seeks to hold favor in the Midwest ahead of next year’s election, but it is likely to upset the oil industry, another important political constituency, underscoring the pitfalls of U.S. biofuel policy.

Under the plan, the U.S. EPA will calculate a three-year rolling average of total biofuels gallons exempted from the mandates under its Small Refinery Exemption program and add that figure to its annual biofuel blending quotas each year, the sources said. For 2020, that figure would be 1.35 billion gallons, according to a Reuters calculation.

That would come in addition to a tentative agreement to boost next year’s blending volumes by 1 billion gallons, including 500 million gallons for conventional biofuels like corn-based ethanol and 500 million gallons for advanced biofuels like biodiesel, the sources said.

A court in 2016 ruled that the Obama administration illegally lowered the mandate by 500 million gallons, and part of the current proposed addition would satisfy the decision.

As a result, if the Trump administration followed through on the plan, next year’s total blending mandate would come out to about 22.4 billion gallons, from just over 20 billion in the EPA’s current proposal, according to the Reuters calculation.

The EPA has until the end of November to finalize its 2020 biofuel volumes mandates.

Under the Renewable Fuel Standard, oil refiners are required to blend increasing volumes of biofuels like corn-based ethanol into their fuel each year, to help farmers and reduce imports, but small refining facilities in financial straits can seek waivers.

Trump inserted himself into negotiations between the rival oil and corn industries after his administration recently granted 31 oil refiners exemptions to their blending requirements, infuriating corn farmers and ethanol producers who say the program undermines demand for ethanol at a time the industry is already suffering from a loss of foreign markets.

He and senior administration officials have held a series of meetings with biofuel company officials, chief executives from Marathon Petroleum Corp and Valero Energy Corp, and lawmakers from key farm states including the Republican senators Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley.

Trump was expected to meet with senators representing oil-producing states on Monday to continue discussions on the issue, sources said.

It was unclear if Trump would secure the backing of the oil industry for the plan without granting it any concessions.

One idea that Trump discussed during the meeting with Marathon and Valero last week to help refiners was to potentially cap the price of blending credits refiners must earn or purchase to comply with the RFS, sources familiar with the matter said.

Senators including Pennsylvania’s Pat Toomey and Texas’s Ted Cruz sent a letter to Trump on Thursday, asking any increase to biofuel volumes be accompanied by safeguards against higher credit prices.

Read the original article: Trump Backs Plan that Would Boost Biofuel Quotas 10% in 2020