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Lyons, KS - February 5, 2020 - Whitefox Technologies is pleased to announce that Kansas Ethanol LLC is to install Whitefox ICE™ membrane dehydration system at its 77 million gallons per year (mmgy) plant in Lyons, Kansas.

Mike Chisam, President, and CEO of Kansas Ethanol, said, "We are first and foremost pursuing avenues to reduce our operating costs and ways to lower our carbon intensity to capitalize on low-carbon fuel markets. We also want to improve our overall operations and debottleneck existing process units. After meeting with the team at Whitefox Technologies, we knew their system and team was the right one for us. We look forward to getting the system installed and running."

Stephan Blum, Whitefox Technologies Chief Technical Officer, said, "Kansas Ethanol is already an efficient and well-managed plant. The addition of Whitefox ICE™ will further improve their overall efficiency in operations by eliminating recycle streams and fluctuations in distillation and dehydration. Whitefox ICE™ will enable Kansas Ethanol to increase production by an average rate of 30,000 gallons per day.

"This increase, and the operational improvements will keep them highly competitive in low-carbon markets and have a positive impact on their bottom line.”

Whitefox Technologies CEO, Gillian Harrison, said, “It’s great to be working with the team at Kansas Ethanol to further improve their energy and operational efficiency. It will be our first plant in this important state and our ninth ICE solution. This takes us to over 100 mmgy of installed membrane capacity, which is an exciting milestone.”

Kansas is home to 12 ethanol plants and produces nearly 500 million gallons peryear of renewable, clean-burning ethanol fuel.

Learn more about Whitefox Technologies here 

Reuters

Jan 28, 2020

A U.S. court decision last week striking down three biofuel waivers that the Environmental Protection Agency gave oil refineries in 2017 has cast doubt on the legitimacy of dozens of other EPA exemptions granted under similar circumstances, according to industry experts and agency data.

That spells uncertainty for a handful of independent refiners that secured lucrative waivers from the Trump administration, and could fire up prices for the biofuel blending credits those facilities need to comply with the nation’s biofuel law.

“The potential ramifications are huge,” said James Stock, an economist and professor at Harvard University who has researched biofuel policy.

Under the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard, oil refineries are required to blend billions of gallons of biofuels such as ethanol into their fuel or buy credits from those that do. The EPA can waive those obligations if they prove compliance would cause them financial distress.

The biofuel industry has been incensed by a near quadrupling of waivers granted by the Trump administration, saying it is undermining demand for corn-based ethanol. The oil industry argues the waivers are needed to protect refining jobs, and says the waivers do not affect actual ethanol usage.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit on Jan. 24 vacated here three biofuel waivers the EPA granted in 2017 to two small refineries owned by HollyFrontier and one by CVR Energy, which is controlled by Trump ally and billionaire investor Carl Icahn.

According to the court's decisihere the EPA overstepped its authority to grant the waivers because the refineries had not received exemptions in the previous year. The court said the RFS is worded in such a way that any exemption granted to a small refinery after 2010 must take the form of an "extension."

It also noted research showing oil refineries are able to pass the costs of complying with the RFS to consumers by raising fuel prices, suggesting the waivers were not needed to help the oil refineries financially.

Officials at Holly Frontier and CVR were not immediately available to comment. EPA spokesman Michael Abboud said the agency is reviewing the decision.

A coalition of biofuel industry groups had challenged the three exemptions, bringing the suit. Those groups hope the court decision can eventually be applied to other waivers because the issues in question apply more broadly, said Geoff Cooper, president of the Renwable Fuels Association industry group.

According to EPA data here the agency granted seven biofuel waivers in 2015. That number rose to 35 in 2017 – meaning 28 waivers were given without having been given in a previous year. The EPA does not name the refineries that receive the waivers, arguing the information is confidential, but Reuters has reported here that some have gone to small facilities owned by large companies like Exxon Mobil and Chevron Corp.

Harvard’s Stock said the case threatens to hit small oil refineries hard if it means the waivers will be rescinded and they must comply with the RFS.

“All of a sudden there would be vast amounts of past obligations due, combined with the prospect of very limited (waivers) going forward,” he said.

Prices of blending compliance credits, known as Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs), are up about 20% since the court decision to one-month highs.

Ericka Perryman, a spokeswoman for the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers refining industry group, said AFPM was “carefully reviewing the opinion and potential implications.”

Read the original story here: Court Decision Casts Doubt On Dozens Of US Refinery Biofuel Waivers

Renewable Fuels Association

Jan 27, 2020

In a decision that is expected to broadly impact the Environmental Protection Agency’s approach to granting small refinery exemptions (SREs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit late on Friday struck down three exemptions that were improperly issued by EPA.

The court ruling stems from a May 2018 challenge brought against EPA by the Renewable Fuels Association, the National Corn Growers Association, the American Coalition for Ethanol and National Farmers Union.

“We are extremely pleased with the Tenth Circuit’s decision to vacate the waivers granted by EPA to three refineries owned by CVR Energy and HollyFrontier,” said RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper. “The Court has affirmed our long-held position that EPA’s recent practices and policies regarding small refinery exemption extensions were completely unlawful. And while the decision addresses three specific exemptions, the statutory interpretation issues resolved by the court apply much more broadly.”

Among other findings, the Court held that EPA cannot “extend” exemptions to any small refineries whose earlier, temporary exemptions had lapsed. According to the Court opinion, “the statute limits exemptions to situations involving ‘extensions,’ with the goal of forcing the market to accept escalating amounts of renewable fuels over time. None of the three small refineries here consistently received an exemption in the years preceding its petition. The EPA exceeded its statutory authority in granting those petitions because there was nothing for the agency to ‘extend.’” EPA’s own data show that a maximum of only seven small refineries could have received continuous extensions of their previously existing exemptions. Yet, recently EPA has granted as many as 35 exemptions in a single year.

“The Court’s decision is welcome news for corn growers,” said National Corn Growers Association President Kevin Ross. “Ethanol is an incredibly important value-added market for corn farmers, and EPA’s waivers have reduced RFS volume requirements by more than 4 billion gallons over the past three years, impacting corn demand. We are optimistic this decision will finally put an end to the demand destruction caused by waivers and keep the RFS back on track.”

The Court also found that EPA abused its discretion in failing to explain how the Agency could conclude that a small refinery might suffer a disproportionate economic hardship when the Agency has simultaneously consistently maintained that costs for RFS compliance credits, or RINs, are passed through and recovered by those same refineries.

“ACE members are elated the Tenth Circuit court agreed with us that EPA overstepped its authority in granting three specific small refinery exemptions to CVR Refining and HollyFrontier,” said American Coalition for Ethanol CEO Brian Jennings. “The court’s ruling highlights how EPA abused the SRE provision of the Renewable Fuel Standard in broader terms to unfairly enrich the oil industry which could have far-reaching implications on the legitimacy of other refinery waivers and limit how they can be used moving forward.”

According to the renewable fuels coalition, the Court’s decision sends a resoundingly positive signal to the marketplace at a time when it is desperately needed.

“This ruling comes at a critical time for America’s farmers and the biofuels industry,” said National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson. “Due in large part to EPA’s rampant and ongoing abuse of the SRE program, 2019 was one of the most challenging years in history for the agriculture and biofuel sectors. We believe this ruling will help restore the ability of the RFS to drive demand and expand markets for renewable fuels, as Congress intended, providing a badly needed shot in the arm for rural America.”

The Court’s opinion is available here.

Purdue University

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Since 1990, the United States has ramped up its production of biofuels — to about 16 billion gallons of ethanol and 1.6 billion gallons of biodiesel in 2017. At the same time, production of palm oil has increased nearly sixfold, mainly for food production, and with it significant deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia.

That overlap has led some analysts to blame the United States for deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia, suggesting that the expansion in palm oil production is driven by biofuel production in U.S. But a Purdue University study shows that only a scant fraction of the deforestation in those countries can be pinned on U.S. biofuel production and policy.

“Our analysis shows that less than 1 percent of the land cleared in Indonesia and Malaysia can be tied to U.S. biofuel production,” said Farzad Taheripour, a research associate professor of agricultural economics at Purdue. “The amount is not significant. We’re talking about thousands of hectares amidst the millions that have been cleared for oil palm plantations and production of other commodities in Malaysia and Indonesia.”

Taheripour and the late Wally Tyner, who was the James and Lois Ackerman Chair in Purdue’s Department of Agricultural Economics, published their results in the journal Biotechnology for Biofuels based on analysis from the GTAP-BIO model, a Purdue-led economic model of the global economy available to researchers around the world for quantitative analysis of international economic-environmental-energy issues. The model included a more comprehensive look at demand for all types of vegetable oils and fats impacted by U.S. biofuel policies rather than focusing on only soy and palm as past studies have done.

“Those analyses that limit their modeling framework to only palm and soy oils and ignore other types of vegetable oils and fats provide misleading information and exaggerate about the land use implications of the U.S. biofuels for (Malaysia and Indonesia),” the authors wrote.

As the United States uses soybeans and corn to produce biofuels, one could expect less soybeans and corn will remain for other uses, including exports. That could generate some land use changes and deforestation across the world including Malaysia and Indonesia, which clear natural land to plant palm oil trees and other commodities.

 “But we’ve not seen that happen. In the U.S, we have lots of unused land available to farmers who can convert it to corn or soybeans. There has been no need to cut forests here,” Taheripour said. “In addition, crop productivity has increased significantly over time, providing more yield on the same amount of land. Because of those, the expected deforestation or conversion of natural land has not had to largely happen to account for U.S. biofuel production.”

Countries that import U.S. corn and soybeans also benefit from yield increases and use of other types of oils, such as canola, sunflower and cottonseed. It’s more likely that growing populations in countries such as India, China, and rest of Asia are mainly fueling the demand for oil palms grown in Malaysia and Indonesia. The U.S. uses little palm oil for food, just under 2 percent of the palm oil produced worldwide.

When considering all those factors, U.S. biofuel production accounts for fewer than 60,000 hectares — or 0.5 percent — of the more than 11.7 million hectares of natural land cleared in Malaysia and Indonesia between 2000 and 2016.

“Production of biofuels in the U.S. generates some land use effects in Malaysia and Indonesia due to market-mediated responses, in particular through the links between markets for vegetable oils,” the authors wrote. “These effects are minor compared to the magnitude of land use change in Malaysia and Indonesia.”

The U.S. National Biodiesel Board Foundation and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration funded the research.

Read more on the study here.

Jan 20, 2020

Neste, the world's largest producer of renewable diesel and renewable jet fuel refined from waste and residues, will deliver renewable jet fuel (sustainable aviation fuel, SAF) to Zurich Airport during the World Economic Forum 2020 in Davos, Switzerland. This is the first time SAF is available in Switzerland.

Neste MY Renewable Jet Fuel™ has up to 80% smaller carbon footprint compared to fossil jet fuel. As a result of close collaboration between Neste, Jet Aviation and Zurich Airport, this sustainable aviation fuel will be blended with fossil jet fuel. Business jets operating in Zurich during the World Economic Forum event in Davos can avail of sustainable aviation fuel. 

“Jet Aviation is committed to investing in solutions that provide business aviation owners and operators the choice to contribute to sustainable aviation. With a view to the future, these pilot schemes offer the distinguished world leaders flying into Zurich for WEF viable options in which they may collaborate. This is an important milestone in Jet Aviation’s journey to support the aviation industry’s sustainability goals,” says David Paddock, Jet Aviation President.

“We are very excited about Neste MY Renewable Jet Fuel being now available for the first time at the Zurich airport. The aviation industry has set clear targets for a more sustainable future. And as the world leaders gather at the World Economic Forum, we are proud to cooperate with Jet Aviation and Zurich Airport and offer WEF visitors our sustainable aviation fuel, which contributes to efficient reduction of aviation related greenhouse gas emissions. We will continue close collaboration with partners to support the aviation industry in reaching its ambitious emission reduction targets,” says Thorsten Lange, Neste’s Executive Vice President for Renewable Aviation.

Aviation is a key enabler of the global economy, connecting people and businesses across the globe. At the same time, the aviation industry accounts for approximately 2-3% of global man-made CO2 emissions and global aviation is growing. The aviation industry has set bold targets to reduce aviation-related emissions, including carbon-neutral growth from 2020 onwards and a 50% reduction of net aviation carbon emissions by 2050. Sustainable aviation fuels are seen as an important part of the solution.

Neste MY Renewable Jet Fuel is based on Neste’s proprietary NEXBTL technology and produced from 100% renewable waste and residue raw materials. It is fully compatible with the existing jet engine technology and fuel distribution infrastructure when blended with fossil jet fuel. In the US and Europe, the company’s renewable jet fuel annual capacity is currently 100,000 tons. With further production expansion on the way, Neste will have the capacity to produce over 1 million tonnes of renewable jet fuel globally by 2022.

U.S. Grains Council

Jan 16, 2020

President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He signed a “phase one” trade deal Wednesday at the White House, an agreement that should pave the way for China to uphold its pledge to purchase up to $80 billion in agricultural goods over the next two years and make structural changes that should provide U.S. grains products improved access to the Chinese market over the long term.

The agreement is set to go into effect on Feb. 14, 30 days after the signing. The deal itself runs more than 90 pages and reportedly also includes confidential sales targets for a full range of U.S. agricultural products, including grains, distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and ethanol.

U.S. Grains Council (USGC) Chairman Darren Armstrong, a farmer from North Carolina, was among the farmers and others who attended the agreement’s signing.

“The Council is pleased to see the signing today of a phase one deal with China, which should reduce continued market uncertainty and incentivize China to purchase significant amounts of U.S. agricultural products,” he said in a statement released on Wednesday.

“The structural reforms in the agreement – once fully committed and implemented – will hopefully offer lasting impacts beyond short-term commitments to make accelerated, market-driven purchases. The agreement, as we understand it, will offer opportunities for U.S. farmers to once again become competitive in China and serve our customers by addressing retaliatory tariffs and long-standing, non-tariff barriers to trade.”

Despite ongoing trade tensions, the Chinese market holds immense growth potential for U.S. agriculture. China is the second largest corn producer and consumer behind the United States and, in the past, was the world’s largest importer of sorghum and DDGS. These feed ingredients supply the world’s largest swine, aquaculture and egg industries, the second largest poultry industry and growing dairy and beef operations.

In the run up to the event, the Trump Administration also removed China’s formal designation as a currency manipulator since the deal includes commitments from China to upgrade its currency practices and refrain from further competitive devaluation. This and the warm reception at the deal’s signing are considered signs of improved relations between the two countries.

Over the years, the Council has leveraged its capital and expertise to help advance China’s food security, safety and sustainability through trade. It has been at the forefront of helping local producers lead modernization of China’s swine industry, a dairy technical training center and myriad of other trade servicing tasks. In recent years, the Council’s China office has offered technical and logistical input as China seeks to diversify its fuel supply and achieve environmental benefits by blending fuel ethanol.

“Our organization and our members believe in the long-term value of international trade,” Armstrong said. “We have spent more than 35 years working with partners in China to develop its feed and livestock industry. Our sector is committed to remaining a reliable supplier of grain products and ethanol for customers in the feed, food and energy industries in China as our countries’ relationships evolve.”

The Trump Administration has said there will be a second phase of negotiations, though it may not be concluded until after the presidential election in November.

Read More on the deal here

Ethanol Producer Magazine

Jan 15, 2020

The U.S. Energy Information Administration maintained its December forecast that U.S. ethanol production will average 1.03 million barrels per day in 2020 in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, published on Jan. 14. That level of production is expected to continue through 2021. 

In the STEO, the EIA notes that U.S. ethanol producers experienced weakening operating margins last year as a result of limited demand growth and oversupply. As a result, ethanol production fell for the first time in seven years, down 2 percent from 2018 levels to an average of 1.03 million barrels per day. The EIA currently forecasts that limited domestic and global demand growth potential will result in ethanol production staying largely unchanged in 2020 and 2021.

Ethanol consumption averaged 951,000 barrels per day last year. The EIA predicts consumption will fall to 947,000 barrels per day this year, and 945,000 barrels per day in 2021, driven by falling motor gasoline consumption. The predicted level of consumption would result in the ethanol share of total gasoline, which was estimated at 10.1 percent in 2018 and 10.02 percent in 2019, remaining relatively flat in 2020 and 2021. The EIA said that stable ethanol share assumes growth in higher level ethanol blends is limited by a combination of unfavorable blending economics compared with gasoline, depressed renewable identification number (RIN) prices, and limited consumer demand for ethanol blends beyond 10 percent.

Biodiesel production fell by nearly 2 percent from 2018 to 2019, averaging approximately 119,000 barrels per day last year. The EIA said it expects biodiesel production to increase by 13 percent this year to 135,000 barrels per day, and by 17 percent in 2021, reaching 158,000 barrels per day. The increase is expected to be driven by increasing Renewable Fuel Standard targets and the renewal of the biodiesel production tax credit through 2022.

Net imports of biomass-based diesel were up 47 percent, reaching 23,000 barrels per day in 2019. The EIA expects net imports to increase to 28,000 barrels per day this year and 39,000 barrels per day in 2021. The expected increase is attributed to increased volumes of renewable diesel imported to meet both the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard requirements and rising RFS targets.

The EIA’s most recent weekly data shows ethanol production reached a near record high of 1.095 million barrels per day for the week ending Jan. 10, up from 1.062 million barrels per day the previous week.

Ethanol ending stocks reached 23.006 million barrels the week ending Jan. 10, up from 22.462 million barrels the previous week.

The agency’s most recent monthly data shows the U.S. imported 522,000 barrels of ethanol in October, all from Brazil. During the same month, the U.S. exported 2.689 million barrels of ethanol, primarily to Canada, India, and Brazil.

Read the original story here: EIA Predicts Ethanol Production Will Remain Flat Through 2021

Reuters

Jan 10, 2020

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) will review the Trump administration’s use of waivers exempting oil refineries from the nation’s biofuel blending requirements, according to a letter dated Friday, after lawmakers called for an investigation.

The so-called Small Refinery Exemptions are intended to protect refineries in financial distress from the cost of blending ethanol into gasoline, but the U.S. corn lobby and its representatives have accused the administration of overusing them to help oil companies at the expense of farmers.

The GAO, a congressional watchdog unit, accepted the request from lawmakers - including Iowa Representative Abby Finkenauer, Minnesota Representative Collin Peterson and Illinois Representative Rodney Davis - to examine the administration’s handling of the waivers handed out for the 2018 compliance year.

The group in August had asked the GAO in a letter to review the factors that the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency considered in approving the waivers, and to examine the Department of Energy’s process for recommending exemptions to EPA, according to the letter.

“GAO accepts your request,” GAO Managing Director of Congressional Relations Orice Williams Brown wrote to the lawmakers in its response dated Jan. 10. The letter said work will begin “shortly” on the review.

Under the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard, refineries are required to blend 15 billion gallons of ethanol annually. But the EPA can exempt small facilities that demonstrate compliance would hurt them financially.

The EPA has roughly quadrupled the number of waivers it has been granting to oil refineries since Donald Trump became president. The agency has also routinely waived higher volumes than the DOE has recommended.

The EPA’s decision in August to grant 31 oil refiners exemptions to the rules for the 2018 compliance year prompted the latest wave of outrage from farmers and producers of the corn-based fuel.

The Corn Lobby argues that the exemptions hurt demand for ethanol, while the oil industry disputes that claim and says the blending requirements cost them a fortune.

“Our concerns stem from the economic consequences to our rural communities created by exempting nearly 4 billion gallons of fuel from the RFS, a standard intended to expand the nation’s renewable fuels sector,” the lawmakers’ August letter said.

A recent effort to quell anger in the Farm Belt over the exemptions largely fell flat after the EPA in December announced a finalized rule for 2020 blending requirements that the biofuels industry criticized as inadequate.

Read the original story here : Congressional Watchdog To Review Trump Administration's Use Of Biofuel Waivers