On the left, Jeff Roskam from Syngenta speaks with EcoEngineer’s Jim Ramm during the 2016 ACE Ethanol Conference.
There were many interesting panel discussions during the recent Ethanol Conference hosted by the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE). One breakout session entitled, “Technology Innovation: Kernel Fiber Leads the Way to Cellulosic Biofuel,” featured the emergence of cellulosic ethanol being produced from the corn kernel fiber. Two companies leading they way in this are Quad County Corn Processors and Edeniq. Also on the panel was Jim Ramm, founding partner/senior engineer, EcoEngineers, who led a discussion on regulatory requirements for co-processing and whose company introduced a compliance management platform designed specifically to automate the complexity of kernel fiber compliance.
I asked Ramm what some of the key messages were that he delivered during the panel discussion. He said that ethanol has an opportunity in front of them to diversify to producing D3 cellulosic credits under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) from the corn kernel fiber. These pathways are existing through the EPA since RFS2 came out in August in 2014.
EcoEngineers, said Ramm, has worked and is continuing to work with biofuel producers such as Quad County Corn Processors, Edeniq and ICM, to name a few, who are leading the development of kernel fiber to cellulosic ethanol. “We are working on the compliance, the quality programs, the RIN generation [Renewable Identification Number] protocols to allow that to happen in a good way,” Ramm explained.
He said that one of the things they are providing for the co-processing, which is the Edeniq process, is a compliance database to keep up with all the record keeping requirements and the coordination requirements between the technology provider, the producer, the laboratory, RIN generator and quality providers. “So we’re setting up a database for those five parties to work together generate those D3 RINS.” Ramm added.
To learn more about kernel fiber cellulosic ethanol and EcoEngineers role in compliance, listen to my interview with Jim Ramm: Interview with Jim Ramm, EcoEngineers