Janesville, Sept 27 - Eleven students from Minnesota State University, Mankato visited Guardian Energy yesterday to learn more about renewable energy production.

During the visit, the students toured the various parts of the plant’s ethanol production process including incoming grain grading and handling, fermentation, grain storage, ethanol storage and shipment and dried distillers grains with solubles production and storage.

The students were from Minnesota State Mankato’s biotechnology and food science technology course.

“We’re always pleased to welcome students from Minnesota State University, Mankato’s biotechnology and food science programs. With these tours, we’re not only able to showcase our production process and valuable co-products, such as dried distillers grains and corn oil, but we also have an opportunity to underscore the vital role our industry plays in strengthening rural economies, reducing greenhouse gases and prices at the pump, as well as in moving us closer to energy independence,” said Jeanne McCaherty, CEO of Guardian Energy.

The tour was organized by the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association (MN Bio-Fuels). Guardian Energy is a member of MN Bio-Fuels. 

Gregg Marg, professor of biological sciences at Minnesota State Mankato, accompanied his students during their tour of Guardian Energy. 

“Students in the Biotechnology Program and Food Science Technology program have great preparation from their classroom and laboratory experiences. One of our goals is to have students understand and be able to apply their education to real world situations. Our tour of the ethanol plant exposed the students to the much larger scale of an industrial facility. It helped them understand the difference between a laboratory experience and the operation of a real world production facility,” he said.

Benson, Oct 10 - Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company (CVEC) hosted 11 students from Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa High School today for a brief tour of the plant’s operations.

During their visit, the students toured various stages of the ethanol production process such as incoming grain grading, grain handling, fermentation, grain storage, dried distillers grain production and storage and shipment.

“We appreciate the students from Belgrade-Brooten-Elrose taking time to come learn about ethanol production at CVEC. We take pride in our production process, various co-products and many ways in which our industry strengthens rural economies.”

“In addition to highlighting career paths, it’s also important for us to share with students the vital role our industry plays in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, prices at the pump and our reliance on foreign oil,” said Chad Friese, CEO of CVEC. 

The students that visited CVEC were from the school’s small gas engines class. All the students were from grades 10 to 12. 

The tour was organized by the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association (MN Bio-Fuels). CVEC is a member of MN Bio-Fuels. 

“My hope is that our rural ag students gained an appreciation for the many uses of corn they raise on their home farms and learned more about the many percentages of ethanol available at local gas stations around the state,” said Gary Rodgers, agriculture teacher at Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa High School.

NEW YORK, Oct. 21, 2024 – IFF, an industry leader in food, beverage, health, biosciences, and scent, today announced the launch of its OPTIMASH® F200 and OPTIMASH® AX enzyme solutions in combination to maximize corn oil recovery at fuel ethanol plants. New IFF in-plant data shows that this combination can deliver up to 15 percent additional corn oil recovery, helping to meet the growing demand in the biodiesel, renewable diesel, and animal feed industries. Additionally, IFF has developed a proprietary oil mapping calculator to help ethanol producers optimize dosing for maximum recovery. These solutions also enable ethanol producers to sell ethanol into low-carbon intensity (low-CI) markets. 

“Every ethanol plant has unique requirements for maximizing value,” said Dawn Overby, North America marketing director, Grain Processing, IFF. “By working side-by-side with ethanol producers to offer an optimized combination of OPTIMASH® F200 and OPTIMASH® AX, it can make all the difference to their bottom line. Our expert team is on-hand every step of the way to help them get the most out of their plants — both from a corn oil recovery and low-CI ethanol point of view.” 

Increasing distillers corn oil (DCO) yield is crucial for extracting the highest value from corn. In the U.S., the average recovery rate is only 50-60 percent of the theoretical yield due to the extremely complex interactions between starch, fiber and protein in corn cell walls, preventing oil release. Without disrupting these interactions, a significant fraction of oil remains unrecovered and lost to the wet cake. 

Improving corn oil and low-CI ethanol yields 

New in-plant data shows that using OPTIMASH® AX alongside OPTIMASH® F200 directs more oil into thin stillage, increasing the potential for more oil recovery. The combination of both enzyme solutions has been found to boost corn oil yield by 15.7 percent, from 0.89 lb/bu to 1.03 lb/bu. 

This enzyme duo also allows ethanol producers to enter low-CI markets by breaking down corn kernel fiber into glucose, which yeast then converts to ethanol. This process results in a lower CI score compared to ethanol from starch, generating increased revenue as a D3 RIN renewable biofuel and 

iff.com 

potentially qualifying for substantial tax credits. This ethanol is also more valuable for state programs such as the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard. 

Optimizing plant efficiencies with technical support 

IFF offers comprehensive technical support to ethanol producers from trial stage and beyond. This service includes baseline and trial oil mapping, as well as data analyses to guide custom dosing recommendations for OPTIMASH® F200 and OPTIMASH® AX, increasing oil recovery without affecting downstream processability. IFF experts also collaborate with individual plants to help reduce energy consumption through fiber dewatering enabled by these enzyme solutions. 

OPTIMASH® F200 and OPTIMASH® AX are now available across the U.S. For more information, visit here. 

Claremont, Oct 29 - Fifteen students from Triton High School’s agriculture economics class toured Al-Corn Clean Fuel today. 

During the tour, the students learned how ethanol and its co-products are produced as well as a briefing on Minnesota’s ethanol industry. 

“The Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association is always happy to welcome students to our member plants. In addition to providing a venue for students to learn more about how our member plants like Al-Corn transform local corn into renewable ethanol and various co-products, these tours give us an opportunity to share with them the various ways our industry benefits Minnesotans - by reducing carbon emissions, lowering pump prices, strengthening rural economies and supporting energy independence,” said Brian Werner, executive director of the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association (MN Bio-Fuels).

The tour was organized by MN Bio-Fuels. Al-Corn is a member of MN Bio-Fuels. 

The students that participated in the tour were from grades 11 and 12. Robert Ickler, agriscience instructor at Triton High School, accompanied his students for the tour. 

“I want students to learn about the value-add impact ethanol has on the commodities market,” he said. 

Today’s tour is the second time a group of students from Triton High School have visited Al-Corn this year. In April, 34 students from the school’s Integrated Science class toured Al-Corn.