Duluth News Tribune

On Feb 19, the Duluth News Tribune published a commentary, "Ethanol Mandate Hurts Environment" that contained inaccuracies and misleading information on the ethanol industry.

Below is our response which was published by the paper on March 11.

I disagreed with the Feb. 18 commentary, “Ethanol mandate hurts environment,” by Annette Meeks of the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota.

How Meeks came to the conclusion that, “Since its inception, the ethanol mandate had made neither economic nor environmental sense,” was unclear. A new report by ABF Economics indicates the ethanol industry contributed $44.03 billion to America’s economy in 2013 and employed, directly and indirectly, close to 400,000 Americans.

In our state, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture estimates the ethanol industry contributes $5.03 billion to the state’s economy and supports more than 12,000 jobs.

Ethanol also has helped suppress the price of gasoline. A 2012 study by Iowa State University’s Center for Agriculture and Rural Development, or CARD, concluded that ethanol reduced the price of gasoline in 2011 by $1.09 per gallon nationally. In the Midwest alone, CARD found gas prices were reduced $1.69 per gallon.

As for the environment, Argonne National Laboratory, a nonprofit research lab operated by the University of Chicago for the U.S. Department of Energy, said in a 2012 study that corn-based ethanol reduced greenhouse-gas emissions by 29 percent to 57 percent depending on the energy efficiency of the plant, or an average of 44 percent.

Using Argonne National Laboratory’s Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy Use in Transportation model, also known as the GREET model, the Renewable Fuels Association concluded that the 13.2 billion gallons of ethanol produced in 2012 reduced greenhouse gas emissions from on-the-road vehicles by 33.4 million tons. That’s the equivalent of removing 5.2 million cars and pickups from the road for a year.

Meeks cited a story by the Associated Press that claimed American farmers last year planted “15 million more acres of corn … than before the ethanol boom.” In actuality, farmers increased acreage in response to drought-ravaged corn supplies in 2011 and 2012. In fact, as detailed in the USDA’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates released in January, the amount of bushels used for ethanol decreased in 2012-13 (the marketing year for corn begins Sept. 1).

Meeks said that “5 million acres of land set aside for conversion — more than Yellowstone, Everglades and Yosemite national parks combined — have vanished under Obama’s watch.” The truth is a little different. Acreage enrolled under the Conservation Reserve Program, known as CRP acres or CRP acreage, has fallen under President Barack Obama but as a result of a lower cap on CRP acreage, as stipulated in the 2008 Farm Bill, which set it at 32 million acres from 39.2 million previously. As such, in 2009, the CRP acreage was at 33.72 million and dropped to 31.29 million in 2010 and 31.12 million in 2011. In 2012, it was 29.5 million.

Meeks added that, “Historically, farmers have used most of the domestic crop to feed livestock. However, in the past three years, the majority of America’s corn was diverted into fuel.” This statement is incorrect. Referring back to the USDA’s data, 4.67 billion bushels of corn, or 39 percent of a total supply of 11.93 billion bushels, was used for ethanol and co-products. These figures refute the idea that corn production for ethanol supersedes production for livestock feed.

Moreover, a third of every bushel of corn used for ethanol production is used to produce distiller’s dried grains, which is a high-protein animal feed.

Meeks also said ethanol raised food prices, but a study by ABF Economics last year pointed to the strong link between food and crude-oil prices. Indeed, one only has to look at readily available data by the U.S. Energy Information Service and the UN’s World Food Organization to see the correlation between crude oil and food prices. High gasoline prices affect the cost of farming and transportation.

The bottom line is that ethanol has contributed positively to our economy, both state and national; and it has created jobs, reduced greenhouse gases and saved us money at the pump.

Ashwin Raman is the communications and education coordinator for the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association (mnbiofuels.org) based in Minneapolis.

Read our response published in the Duluth News Tribune here : Ethanol Rule Helps Environment

Brainerd Dispatch

May 13, 2014

By Ashwin Raman

A recent opinion piece titled, “Pipelines: Safest Way To Transport, Oil, Gas” by Rolf Westgard which was published in the Brainerd Dispatch on May 1, 2014, contained several inaccurate and misleading statements.

In the piece, Westgard said “there is little difference in emissions from the tar sands oil versus conventional oil” and added “CO2 emissions are the same regardless of the crude source.”

In actuality, lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions, which calculates emissions from the production state to the consumption stage, for crude oil differs in accordance to its source.

The State Department’s report for the Keystone XL Project released in January clearly states that on a lifecycle analysis, Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin crude oil (which will flow through the proposed pipeline) emits 17 percent more greenhouse gases than the average barrel of crude oil refined in the United States.

It said 0.24 million metric tons of CO2 will be emitted per year during the construction period of the Keystone XL project and, once operational, it would emit 1.44 million metric tons of CO2 per year.

Westgard also mentioned the Ogallala aquifer, which is below specific parts of the proposed pipeline, and said that a bigger threat to the aquifer is the farming of corn in those areas for biofuel production, adding it takes 500 gallons of water to produce corn for a gallon of ethanol in Nebraska and Kansas.

A study by Argonne National Laboratory, which is a nonprofit research laboratory operated by the University of Chicago for the Department of Energy, points to a lower amount of water used to produce corn in those states.

In a 2011 study, it said 239 gallons of water is needed to produce corn for a gallon of ethanol in states like Nebraska and Kansas, where rainfall isn’t as much as in states like Minnesota (for illustrative purposes, only 17 to 25 gallons of water is used to produce corn for a gallon of ethanol in Minnesota).

This water usage includes groundwater, surface water, rain water and water that’s reused. It is imperative to note that water usage for corn production is the same irrespective of whether it is used for ethanol or animal feed (which still comprises the bulk of corn production nationwide).

Additionally, during the ethanol production process, only a third of the biomass in a corn kernel goes to ethanol. Another third becomes CO2 which is used for dry ice and bottled drinks while the remaining third is used to produce dried distillers grain, which is a high-protein animal feed.

As such, Argonne said, the amount of water used to produce corn specifically for ethanol in the Great Plains is actually 160 gallons.

It should be pointed out that actual ethanol production, according to the same 2011 Argonne study, only requires 2.7 gallons of water for a gallon of ethanol. In Minnesota, some producers are using only 2 gallons of water.

In another Argonne study released in 2012, it said ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 44 percent. Using the laboratory’s Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy Use In Transportation (GREET) model, the Renewable Fuels Association concluded that ethanol reduced 38 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2013, which was the equivalent of removing eight million cars from the road.

In contrast, the State Department’s Keystone XL report said the annual 1.44 million metric tons of CO2 emissions from the pipeline is the equivalent to greenhouse gas emissions from 300,000 passenger vehicles a year.

Read the original story here : Pipeline Will Increase CO2; Ethanol Is A Cleaner Option

Minneapolis, Oct 17 – The Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association (MBA) today welcomed its 14^th vendor member, Syngenta.

“We are pleased to add Syngenta to our portfolio of vendor members. Syngenta’s Enogen trait technology has piqued the interest of ethanol plants more than ever,” said Tim Rudnicki, executive director of the MBA.

Quad County Corn Processors from Galva, Iowa was the first ethanol plant to use Enogen corn after the derelegulation of its trait and since then five additional ethanol plants have signed commercial agreements to use Enogen corn while seven plants across Iowa, Nebraksa, Kansas and Ohio have signed Enogen technology trial agreements.

“Our recent successes have reinforced the value of using Enogen grain in ethanol production. We’ve been very pleased with the results this revolutionary technology has delivered and we’re excited that the market has quickly started to explore and adopt Enogen corn,” said David Witherspoon, head of renewable fuels at Syngenta.

The Enogen trait technology is bio-engineered to express a robust form of alpha amylase enzyme directly in the corn kernel which eliminates the need for liquid alpha amylase enzyme in dry grind ethanol production.

Outperforming all commercial liquid alpha amylase enzymes or liquefaction enzyme systems, Enogen corn helps drastically reduce the slurry viscosity of corn mash, which enables unprecedented levels of dry solids loading and delivers a variety of process enhancements such as:
       

        • Greater process flexibility to capture increased alcohol yield and throughput

        • Reduced consumption of natural gas, electricity and water

        • Improved process stability to reduce the usage of chemicals to manage pH levels

        • Reduced maintenance costs

        • Reduced carbon footprint by more than 10 percent

“These types of enhancements are critical for ethanol producers as market conditions are constantly fluctuating,” Witherspoon said. “Having the ability to slow down or speed up the production process with minimal adjustments is huge.”

Enogen trait technology has arrived during a critical time for the renewable fuels industry. With the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) under heavy scrutiny, and frequent changes in market conditions, Enogen corn can provide a suitable solution to deliver value throughout the entire corn ethanol supply chain.

“At Syngenta, we believe biofuels will play a crucial role in sustaining our national and rural economies, adding value for our nation’s corn farmers, and in driving technology developments in agriculture. And we’re proud to contribute in any way possible,” Witherspoon said.

With Syngenta on board, MBA now has 14 vendor members.

“In the months to come, we hope to add more valuable industry members to our portfolio. We have and will continue to play a leading role in promoting and growing Minnesota’s biofuel industry with support from organizations like Syngenta,” Rudnicki said.

For more information about Enogen trait technology, visit enogen.net and follow Syngenta on Twitter and Facebook.  

Minneapolis, Jan 12 – The Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association today welcomed its latest vendor member, Christianson & Associates.

“We are pleased to add Christianson & Associates, who are well-established within the biofuels industry, to our portfolio of vendor members,” said Tim Rudnicki, executive director at the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association.

Willmar-based Christianson & Associates is a full service accounting firm that has, among others, provided project development, feasibility, financing and organizational structuring for the renewable fuels industry.

It has assisted dozens of startups and developing companies in the ethanol and biodiesel industries as well as accounting, auditing, compliance reporting, tax planning and RIN consulting to its clients.

“We have dedicated a significant amount of resources to creating solutions our clients need. This involvement and understanding of the industry has led us to fund the development of an integrated general ledger software (Intellego), developed specifically for the biodiesel and ethanol industries,” said John Christianson, the founding partner at Christianson & Associates.

Pic above : John Christianson

The company has also developed the Biofuels Financial Benchmarking service which allows subscribers to compare their financial and production performance to the industry data set.

For 2015, Christianson & Associates has a number of projects in progress to update and improve its current benchmarking program and services.

Among them include:

1. Custom reports and analysis for E15 subscribers. These reports will include special data views, graphical / narrative reports and board presentations (upon request). Requests will be carefully evaluated to provide independently verified data about the value of ethanol while protecting subscriber data confidentiality.

2. Enhanced reporting interfaces for managers and boards to include enhanced calculations, other data views, more detailed information and easier access to groups, graphs and other advanced features. In particular, Christianson & Associates have added programming and development resources.

3. The company’s staff will continue to comprehensively review input data and reports each quarter to ensure error-free averages and ranks.

4. Christianson & Associates will also continue performing an annual labor survey in addition to its financial benchmarking services.

Learn more about Christianson & Associates here