The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has just released its updated 2013 corn crop report and is estimating the 2013 corn harvest will achieve a new record of 13.99 billion bushels, 7 percent larger than the previous record and a 30 percent larger than last year’s drought-shortened crop. USDA expects yield to average 160.4 bushels per acre, the second-highest yield …
Maryland Opens New E85 Station
Mid-Atlantic Petroleum Properties (MAPP) has opened a new E85 FlexFuel fueling station for drivers of flex fuel vehicles located at the Potomac SUNOCO in the Cabin John Shopping Center off of Seven Locks Road in Maryland. The opening was celebrated with a ribbon cutting, a retailer’s workshop, and speeches by partners and elected officials. MAPP offered E85 at the discounted …
Study Aims to Debunk Indirect Land Use Change
A new paper, “Wood Bioenergy and Land Use,” authored by Roger A. Sedjo, Brent L. Sohngen, Anne Riddle on behalf of Resources for the Future attempts to debunk indirect land use change theory (ILUC). The paper looks at how the use of biomass energy will affect the forests. Back in 2008, Timothy Searchinger examined the issue related to corn ethanol …
Renewable Fuels Video Contest: Enter Now
The 4th Annual “Fuel the Future” video contest has been official kicked off by the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA). The high school student contest is seeking the best student-produced video promoting the use of ethanol, E15 and/or biodiesel. The top three video entries will receive prizes in the amounts of $1,000, $600 and $400 respectively; will be aired at …
LanzaTech’s Gas-to-Biofuel Earns RSB Certification
LanzaTech’s venture in China to turn steel mill waste gases into biofuel has earned an important sustainability certification. The company’s partnership with Shougang Jingtang Iron and Steel United Company and the Tang Ming Group is now Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) certified as sustainable for biofuels and biomaterials production. When commercially producing biofuels next year, the LanzaTech technology-enabled facility becomes …
Beetle-Infested Trees to be Turned into Biofuel
Trees lost to beetle infestations might not be a total loss; they could be turned into biofuels. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded nearly $10 million in grants to a consortium of academic, industry and government organizations led by Colorado State University (CSU) to see if insect-killed trees in the Rocky Mountains could be a sustainable feedstock for bioenergy. …
How To Make E85 Sales Soar
A bottleneck of too few fuel stations that offer E85 (85% ethanol 15% gasoline), along with price incongruity are two major factors that reduce the ability of E85 to help meet increasing Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) biofuel mandates. Iowa State University economists Bruce A Babcock and Sebastien Pouliot state in “How Much E85 Can Be Consumed in the U.S.” that …
Energy Title “Vital” in Farm Bill
More than 40 bipartisan House and Senate members including Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Representatives Dave Loebsack (D-2-IA) and Aaron Schock (R-18-IL), sent “Dear Colleague” letters to Farm Bill Conference leaders stressing the vital importance of the energy title (Title IX). In response, the Agriculture Energy Coalition (AgEC) praised the legislator’s letter of support. “The energy …
IRFA 2014 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit Announced
The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) has announced the start of registration for the 8th Annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit and Trade Show. The Summit is free, open to the public, and will be held January 28, 2014 at The Meadows Conference Center at Prairie Meadows in Altoona, Iowa. With discussion over renewable fuels policy at fever pitch, the 2014 …
GPRE Acquires BioFuel Energy Ethanol Plants
Green Plains Renewable Energy (GRPE) has announced a definitive agreement to acquire two of BioFuel Energy Corp’s (BIOF) ethanol plants from its lender group. The ethanol plants are located in Wood River, Nebraska and Fairmont, Minnesota. The two facilities have a combined annual production capacity of approximately 220 million gallons, and the acquisition will increase GPRE’s production capacity by 28 …