Citing a need for increasing jobs and combating climate change, President Obama pledged to do more to “speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy” during his 2013 State of the Union address. Four years ago, other countries dominated the clean energy market and the jobs that came with it. And we’ve begun to change that. Last year, wind …
Perspectives on the Future of the RFS
Representatives from corn growers, the oil industry, advanced ethanol and the investment community addressed the future of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) during the 18th National Ethanol Conference. The panel moderated by Geoff Cooper with the Renewable Fuels Association included National Corn Growers Association CEO Rick Tolman, John Reese with Shell Oil Products, Advanced Ethanol Council executive director Brooke Coleman, …
Live Stream of Ethanol State of the Industry
This morning Bob Dinneen, CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, will give his annual state of the ethanol industry speech at the 2013 National Ethanol Conference, scheduled for 8:15am pacific time. We’re streaming it live for you. Just click on the play button to watch. There may be a short commercial to sit through to get started. Thank you. Post …
Taking Corn Cobs for Biofuels Won’t Hurt Soil Quality
Concerns over hurting the soil quality when harvesting some crop residues for cellulosic biofuels, instead of leaving the residues on the fields to help the soil quality, might be unfounded. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) research says that soil quality would not decline if post-harvest corn cobs were removed from the field. “Crop residues have many useful functions when left …
U.S. Needs to Open Cars to Fuel Competition
Anne Korin, co-author of “Turning Oil into Salt,” and the new book “Petropoly,” gave a thought provoking presentation during the 7th Annual Renewable Fuels Summit hosted by the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA). Korin is the co-director for the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, a think tank focused on energy and security, that she says takes no money …
We Will Fight For Biofuels
We will fight for biofuels was the key message delivered by both Iowa Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds and Iowa Governor Terry Branstad during the opening session of the 7th Annual Renewable Fuels Summit, hosted by the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA). As IRFA Executive Director Monte Shaw said during his remarks, 2013 will be a pivotal year for biofuels. Both …
Muscatine Students Win Fuel the Future Contest
LOVE IT! The winners of the 3rd Annual High School Renewable Fuels Video Contest hail from Muscatine, Iowa and wow are they clever. Alli Burns, Ana Arzate and Sariah Garrido of Muscatine took the top price in the “Fuel the Future” video contest for high school students that was sponsored by Faegre Baker Daniels, LLP. The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association …
General Wesley Clark Rallies The Troops
At today’s U.S. Custom Harvesters luncheon, sponsored by New Holland, retired General Wesley Clark, co-chairman of Growth Energy, took the stage. The organization is holding their 30th annual convention which is co-located with the 2013 AG CONNECT Expo in Kansas City, MO. Gen. Clark says his passion was the military and now his passion is national energy security and the …
RFA Condems UN Biofuels & Food Security Study
Earlier this month, the U.N. Committee on World Food Security (CFS) has released a draft study on biofuels and food security with a public comment period until January 30, 2013. Yesterday, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) submitted comments about the report and its several policy recommendations. The authors write, “Our report has confirmed the central role of biofuels in provoking …
Using Corn to Support Biofuel Production
Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, ”How many machines (tractors, etc.) does your farm own?” Our poll results: The majority of you at thirty-five percent own 10+ machines and equipment. Twenty-five percent own 3-5, close behind was 6-9 at twenty-one percent, thirteen percent own 1-2, and six percent said other. As we suspected, every farm and farmer has a different …