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September 26, 2017

On Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced they wanted comments for the potential options for reducing biofuels and renewable fuel volumes lower than those proposed in the 2018 Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

The Notice of Data Availability (NODA) issued by the EPA outlined how the EPA could reduce the 2018 biofuel volume requirement from a proposed 4.24 billion gallons to 3.77 billion gallons, and the total renewable fuel volume requirement from a proposed 19.24 billion gallons to 18.77 billion gallons.

These proposed decreases are driven by concerns over biofuel imports.

Bob Dinneen, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, issued a statement, explaining his continuing frustrations to the proposed cuts from the EPA. It reads in part:

 

“There is no rationale for further lowering either the 2018 advanced biofuel volume requirement or the total renewable fuel volume…We see no statutory basis whatsoever for attempting to limit biofuel imports through the use of a general waiver.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Ia.) expressed his concerns about the opportunity for the public to comment on the potential reductions. His statement reads in part:

“It’s outrageous that the EPA would change course and propose a reduction in renewable fuel volumes. This seems like a bait-and-switch from the EPA’s prior proposal and from assurances from the President himself and Cabinet secretaries in my office prior to conformation for their strong support of renewable fuels. That’s contrary to the goal of America first. I plan to press the Administration to drop this terrible plan.”

Read the original article: Grassley: Proposed Biofuel Reduction Seems Like "Bait-And-Switch"

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Reuters

By Michael Hirtzer

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. ethanol makers, taking advantage of low corn prices, are ramping up production and expanding capacity to try to squeeze less-efficient competitors out of an overcrowded market.

The ethanol industry, which for years bolstered corn prices and U.S. farming, faces saturated domestic demand and lost exports as trade wars bite into the global market.

But U.S. producers have added more capacity in 2017 than in any of the previous six years and hit record output levels - and there is more to come.

“There’s only two speeds - there’s full throttle or off,” said Randall Doyal, chief executive officer of Al-Corn Clean Fuel in Minnesota. His company, which accounts for about 1 percent of total U.S. ethanol production, is three months ahead of schedule to double annual capacity to 120 million gallons by early 2018. “We are going to oversupply the market,” he said.

Since 2007, nearly every gallon of gasoline sold in the United States is mixed with about 10 percent ethanol as part of a mandate enacted to reduce dependence on foreign oil and boost use of renewable fuels.

Doyal said the expansion would increase fixed costs only slightly, enabling more profit per unit from higher volumes.

The top U.S. ethanol producer, Archer Daniels Midland Co, is also wielding its volume power. “We’ll probably run our plants to maximize yield,” Chief Executive Officer Juan Luciano said last month on a conference call with analysts. ADM can produce about 1.8 billion gallons annually - more than total U.S. exports last year.

The United States currently has production potential of about 16.3 billion to 16.4 billion gallons a year, according to producers and analysts, up from roughly 15.2 billion in 2016. That is more than enough to cover the call from the domestic market, which should be about 15 billion gallons in 2018, according to requirements from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Production hit 1.060 million barrels a day (44.52 million gallons) at the end of August, close to the all-time high touched at the end of January.

THIN MARGINS, HIGHER YIELDS

Average margins in the top ethanol state of Iowa hit a 2017 high of 30 cents a gallon in August. That was less than a third of the record highs seen in late 2014, despite corn prices near one-year lows. Efficiencies have boosted yields only slightly, to 2.91 gallons from a bushel of corn from 2.84 gallons last year, according to the Renewable Fuels Association.

Exports, which sucked up much of the oversupply last year at 1.17 billion gallons, were up 30 percent in the first seven months of this year to 803 million gallons.But now that outlet is under threat after Brazil and China - the second- and third-biggest importers in 2016 after longtime No. 1 buyer Canada - slapped on tariffs. China’s imports plunged to 53,000 gallons through the end of July from 146 million gallons in the same period of 2016 after tariff hikes in January, while Brazil set a limit on tax-free imports on Sept. 1.

“Added capacity for the industry will have to lean heavily on exports, and that’s why the Brazil decision is so damaging,” said Scott Irwin, agricultural economist for the University of Illinois.

Those that can, continue to ramp up output. No. 2 ethanol maker POET LLC, which can make nearly 1.6 billion gallons, is spending $120 million to expand an Ohio plant to 150 million gallons from 70 million gallons by late 2018.

Ring-Neck Energy & Feed LLC is pouring concrete for a $140 million plant in South Dakota and Tharaldson Ethanol of North Dakota has a $3.4 million expansion funded in part with a $341,000 federal grant.

Those that cannot expand could face closure, said John Christianson of consultancy Christianson & Associates.

“There’s a laggard group that hasn’t had the ability to improve themselves,” he said, declining to name specific companies. “If we produce too much... there’s a bottom group that runs out of cash and they will shut down.”

Read the original story here.

Sept 19, 2017

Claremont, Minnesota – By an overwhelming majority the membership of Al-Corn Clean Fuel has voted to convert from a cooperative to a Limited Liability Company (LLC). The results of the shareholder vote were announced this morning by Rodney Jorgenson, Chairman of the Board of Al-Corn Clean Fuel.

Al-Corn Clean Fuel, LLC will be acquiring all of its corn for operations on the open market through traditional pricing methods, as well as average pricing contracts and other methods as determined by management.

“Without our member’s willingness to grow and compete in an ever changing business environment, we wouldn’t be here today.” said Rod Jorgenson, President of Al-Corn Clean Fuel. “We have begun moving forward to allow the conversion to become a reality while ensuring our current operations continue running smoothly”.

Al-Corn Clean Fuel, LLC is currently expanding and modernizing the Claremont facility from 50 million gallons per year to 120 million gallons per year, including storage for 1.5 million bushels of corn to facilitate deliveries. Once complete, the expansion will require an additional 25 – 27 million bushels of corn annually.

“By increasing the production capacity of the Claremont plant, we will be able to drive down cost of production and reach better price markets. The conversion to an LLC was necessary for Al-Corn Clean Fuel to realize the full potential of the expansion and modernization project” said Jorgenson.

Ethanol Producer Magazine

By Erin Voegele

Sept 18, 2017

A bipartisan group of senators, led by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is calling on U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to work with the Brazilian government to end a recently reinstated tariff on ethanol imports.

In late August, Brazil’s Chamber of Foreign Trade approved a recommendation to impose a 20 percent tariff on U.S. ethanol imports in excess of 600 million liters (158 million gallons) annually.

According to information released by Grassley’s office, the U.S. exported 264 million gallons of ethanol to Brazil last year. This year, current trends indicate exports to Brazil could be even higher. Grassley cites U.S. producers as stating that Brazil’s tariff plan is “a trade barrier that threatens over $750 million in U.S. exports and American jobs.”

On Sept. 15, the senators sent a letter to Lighthizer, asking him to directly engage the Brazilian government and quickly work to resolve the issue.

“For several years, the U.S. and Brazil have engaged in ethanol trade which signaled the maturing and global nature of the biofuels industry,” wrote the senators in the letter. “However, this new action by Brazil’s Chamber of Foreign Trade indicates a potential turning point in how ethanol moves between our respective countries.”

The letter notes that the U.S. renewable fuels industry has invested heavily in ethanol plants, feedstock development and infrastructure over the past several decades, advancing the industry. Similar investments have also been made in other countries, including Brazil. “Unfortunately, seemingly arbitrary or protectionist tariffs are threatening to disrupt the growing global market that has developed for ethanol,” the letter continues. “We look forward to working with you to address the concerns regarding Brazil’s actions.”

In addition to Grassley, the letter was signed by Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa; Deb Fischer, R-Neb.; Joe Donnelly, D-Ind.; Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.; Al Franken, D-Minn.; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.; Ben Sasse, R-Neb; and Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

A full copy of the letter can be downloaded from Grassley’s website.

Read the original story here.

Sept 15, 2017

MONTRÉAL - Enerkem Inc, a world leading biofuels and renewable chemicals producer, announced today it has started the commercial production of cellulosic ethanol.

Enerkem's game-changing facility in Edmonton, AB, Canada, is the first commercial-scale plant in the world to produce cellulosic ethanol made from non-recyclable, non-compostable mixed municipal solid waste.

The company has been producing and selling biomethanol since 2016, prior to expanding production to include cellulosic ethanol with the installation of its methanol-to-ethanol conversion unit earlier this year.

"The commercial production of cellulosic ethanol at our facility in Edmonton marks a landmark moment for our company as well as our customers in the waste management and petrochemical sectors, and confirms our leadership in the advanced biofuels market," says Vincent Chornet, President and Chief Executive Officer of Enerkem.

This growing global market is expected to reach 124 billion liters per year by 2030 according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. "We will now progressively increase production in Edmonton, while preparing to build the next Enerkem facilities locally and around the world," adds Chornet.

Advanced biofuels play a vital role in the transition towards sustainable mobility by producing transportation fuels that replace a portion of gasoline. Enerkem's technology not only provides a clean transportation fuel, it also disrupts the traditional waste landfilling and incineration models by offering a smart alternative to communities wanting to recover waste while sustainably fueling vehicles.

Sept 14, 2017

Visalia, Calif. – On September 7, 2017, Edeniq, Inc.’s President and CEO, Brian Thome, submitted written comments to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) supporting
final approval of Little Sioux Corn Processors’ application under California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) for a pathway for cellulosic ethanol produced from corn kernel fiber at its
Marcus, Iowa plant.

In January, Little Sioux received a D3 cellulosic ethanol registration from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after deploying Edeniq’s technology at its plant. Mr. Thome noted the significance of the consistency between CARB’s approval and the EPA’s approval. He also expressed support for CARB’s assignment of a 31.23 carbon intensity, validating the potential for Edeniq’s technology to help California achieve the greenhouse gas reduction goals of the LCFS.

“We commend CARB’s work toward finalizing Little Sioux’s cellulosic ethanol application,” Mr. Thome said. “Approval of the first LCFS Pathway for corn kernel fiber cellulosic ethanol is an exciting milestone that paves the way for California to become a leading market for cellulosic ethanol. We believe that cellulosic ethanol is the cleanest transportation fuel and are encouraged by the support from CARB and the EPA for low-cost cellulosic ethanol made from corn kernel fiber at existing ethanol plants.”

New York Times

September 13, 2017

By Reuters

China's bold plan to blend renewable fuels into its gasoline supply within three years will revolutionise its fledging biofuels industry, industry players said, likely spurring billions of dollars in investment in ethanol factories.

On Wednesday, state media reported Beijing plans to roll out the use of a gasoline known as 'E10' - containing 10 percent ethanol - across the world's largest car market by 2020. It's the first formal timeline in a radical push that's part of a broader drive to clean up the environment.

The move doubles up as part of the government's effort to boost industrial demand for corn. Beijing must find a way to work off a stockpile of 200 million tonnes - so big it could feed China's 1.4 billion people for more than a year - after decades of buying the crop to support farmers in a country haunted by post World War II famine.

"More money will now flow in, including from private and foreign investors," said Li Qiang, chairman of consultancy JC Intelligence Ltd, predicting boom times for ethanol. More than 10 new ethanol plants are planned in the northeastern cornbelt, according to JC Intelligence.

Most of those will go on line next year, adding 3 million tonnes of capacity, the consultancy predicts. Reuters estimates, based on industry officials' calculations, suggest an ethanol plant of average capacity - about 300,000 tonnes per year - costs about 1 billion yuan (£115.46 million) to build.

While sceptics may question the feasibility of such a rapid rollout, Wednesday's news also comes days after Beijing said it is studying when to ban production and sale of cars using fossil fuels. It adds to potential headaches for the oil industry, which could lose a sizeable portion of the 150-million-tonne gasoline market worth 26.2 billion yuan at current retail prices.

The planned rollout marks a major victory for domestic ethanol producers, which have struggled to compete with cheap oil without a nationwide mandate that requires a minimum amount of biofuel must be blended into fuel - similar to the United States and Brazil, the world's top two markets for ethanol.

Ethanol-blended gasoline makes up only a fifth of gasoline use in China for now.

"We have been waiting for this policy for many years and now the shoe has finally dropped," said a manager at a major ethanol producer, who declined to be named as he was not authorised to speak to media.

According to Reuters calculations, as much as 15 million tonnes of ethanol could be needed each year to meet new demand. That's well above the target Beijing announced in December last year - doubling output to 4 million by 2020.

It could also mean building as many as 36 new plants each with 300,000 tonnes per year of capacity at an estimated cost of 36 billion yuan, according to Reuters calculations based on experts' estimates.

Those factories would need 45 million tonnes of corn as feed, potentially depleting the government stockpile in just over four years.

Experts question how Beijing will implement the plan so quickly and on such a vast scale, but Beijing is likely to take a leaf out of the United States' play book.

Its decade-old renewable fuels policy illustrates how government backing has transformed the U.S. cornbelt and built a biofuels sector. Ethanol demand soared by 208 percent and industrial corn use more than doubled between 2005 and 2010.

But the seeds of ethanol growth in China - the first in a decade - emerged this year already, as firms sought to take advantage of lower corn prices and hefty import tariffs on ethanol introduced in January, fueling the plant construction in the northeast.

Read the original article: China Set for Ethanol Binge as Beijing Pumps Up Renewable Fuel Drive

Owatonna People's Press

September 7, 2017

By William Morris

Al-Corn Clean Fuel is ahead of schedule on the major expansion of its Claremont ethanol plant, and approaching a final decision as well on whether to remain a farmer-owned cooperative or switch to a different type of legal organization.

The plant broke ground last year on a $146 million expansion project that, when completed, will more than double the plant’s capacity from 50 million to 120 million gallons of ethanol per year. The project originally was slated for completed next July, but now, CEO Randy Doyal said, they’re anticipating wrapping up work in March or April.

“They do a really good job of [project management],” Doyal said of general contractor McGough Construction. “They work really well with our engineering firm, KFI, also out of the Cities. This is very much a Minnesota project. That’s pretty cool.”

On a tour around the property, Doyal can point out numerous new features under construction: a retention pond that will ensure the project releases even less runoff after completion than when it was farmland; a massive rail loop to the west of the plant, large enough for three 110-car trains to load or offload; the 300-ton and 550-ton cranes, and in particular three giant concrete silos and grinder units erected in one non-stop 90-hour pour, Doyal said.

“They form the steel and then start pouring the concrete. It’s a very slow pour, so the amount of concrete they’re using isn’t coming super fast,” Doyal said. “It’s a quick-setting concrete, and they pour it around in the ring, and do the next set of steel, the next set of concrete, and they’re lifting the ring about ¾ inch every 2 minutes. It’s one continuous pour.”

The project is right on budget as well, he said, and should remain that way short of some major equipment issue. And in August, the Environmental Protection Agency certified that the completed plant will produce ethanol with 22.4 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than equivalent gasoline energy, beating the 20 percent threshold needed to sell ethanol for domestic fuel production. And Doyal said the agency’s baseline figures are probably conservative.

“In real numbers, it would probably be 50 percent below gasoline,” he said.

Since its founding, Al-Corn has been a cooperative, required by law to receive at least 50 percent of the grain it processes from its members. The expansion was almost derailed in 2015, when shareholders rejected a vote to issue additional shares to cover the increased capacity for the expanded plant, and went forward with several question marks still remaining about how the plant would be supported.

The new plan, which Doyal said is currently awaiting voting from members, is to convert Al-Corn into a limited liability corporation, which would convert existing shares into ownership units and relieve owners of the obligation to supply corn each year.

“We’re waiting on the vote on that right now, but I’ve had a lot of members saying, ‘Thanks, this is exactly what I was looking for,’” Doyal said.

A big appeal of the LLC model is that it makes it easy for aging farmers, some of whom have been with the cooperative for 25 years, to pass on or dispose of their shares as they retire.

“They want something where it’s easier to get out, easier for estate planning, and I think the vote will be positive,” Doyal said.

Ballots for that vote are due back Sept. 19.

Read the original article: Al-Corn Expansion on-Budget, Under-Schedule, CEO Says