The drive toward higher blends of ethanol in gasoline is accelerating and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is working to ensure that the blend wall is just another bump in the road for ethanol to ride over. This edition of “The Ethanol Report” podcast features comments from RFA President and CEO Bob Dinneen, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, EPA Acting Biomass …
Ag Secretary Focused on 12-13 Percent Ethanol Blend
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack would love to see the ethanol blend rate increased to 15 percent, but right now he would be happy with 12-13 percent. “Our view is that we can get to 12 to 13 percent by just simply understanding that it’s significantly not much different than 10 percent, it’s an insignificant difference, and under the rules and …
LACTROL, Leading Antibiotic for Ethanol Industry
You may not have heard about Phibro Ethanol Performance Group but what they offer is what they believe is the top performing antibiotic in the ethanol industry. According to Tom Slunecka, Phibro’s VP of Marketing, testing has shown that their base product, LACTROL, “outperforms all other products on the market.” Phibro Ethanol Performance Group is a subsidiary of PhibroChem, a third-generation …
Ethanol Group at the Press Club
General Wesley Clark, co-chairman of Growth Energy, addressed the National Press Club’s Newsmaker Series today in Washington, DC. Clark talked about the ethanol industry’s petition to the Environmental Protection Agency for a waiver to allow the use of up to 15 percent ethanol in gasoline. “When you are talking about energy, you’re talking about the fundamentals of national security,” said …
Study Shows Economic Stimulus to Increased Ethanol Blends
A new study released today concludes that increasing the blend of ethanol in the U.S. gasoline supply from 10 to 15 percent could boost job creation and economic growth. The study was commissioned by Growth Energy and conducted by researchers from North Dakota State University (NDSU). Nancy Hodur, NDSU researcher with the Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics, says there …
Scientists Question California Climate Plan
Over 100 of the nation’s top scientists are questioning the approach taken by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) which singles out biofuels for “indirect effects,” claiming that petroleum products result in lower carbon emissions. Scientists affiliated with research labs such as the National Academy of Sciences, UC-Berkeley, Sandia National Labs, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and MIT sent a letter …
“2008 an Anomaly Year”
“When the history books are written, 2008 most likely will go down as an anomaly year, ” began John Urbanchuk, Director of LEGC, LLC. Housing market crash. Financial market crash. Global recession. Commodity boom and bust. Wave of bankruptcies. “We slipped into a recession in December 2007, ending a seven year run of economic growth.” But, he continued, President Obama, in his address …
NRDC’s Take on Indirect Land Use
Indirect land use has been a hot topic at this year’s 14th annual National Ethanol Conference. The ethanol industry has been working closely with many organizations on this issue including the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). I caught up with Nathanael Greene, Senior Policy Analyst–Air and Energy, after he participated in the panel: The Impact of Lifecycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions …
RFA Chairman Previews National Ethanol Conference
The 2009 National Ethanol Conference is underway in San Antonio. Cindy and I are on location and will be bringing you as much of the activities as we can courtesy of the Renewable Fuels Association. We’ll also be posting content onto The Ethanol Report site for RFA. Today, one of the main activities is the annual golf tournament which is …
RFA Analyzes Recent Ethanol Impact Studies
This edition of “The Ethanol Report” podcast features comments from Renewable Fuels Association Vice President of Research and Analysis Geoff Cooper about recently released studies from the University of Nebraska and the University of Minnesota regarding life cycle analysis and greenhouse gas emissions of ethanol compared to gasoline. Cooper compares the two reports and discusses RFA’s major concerns with the …