Thirty-year agriculture veteran Ron Wulfkuhle, head of GreenLeaf Genetics, has been appointed as the new head of Syngenta’s Enogen corn enzyme technology division. He will replace 35-year Syngenta veteran Jack Bernens who is retiring at the end of this year. Syngenta reports that Bernens was instrumental in the establishment and growth of the Enogen business. Wulfkuhle was raised on a …
IA Retailer Charlie Good Wins Distinguished Ag Award
Iowan and avid ethanol promoter Charlie Good has been honored with the 2016 Iowa Farm Bureau Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award by the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF). The award, in its 38th year, honors an individual for his or her lifetime of achievement and promotion of Iowa ag. Dr. Maynard Hogberg was also given the honor for his academic …
#Biofuels Could Benefit Under Trump
At the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) CSS & Seed Expo this week, noted agricultural economist Dan Basse with Ag Resource Company once again provided his global outlook for agriculture, which includes the outlook for biofuels. Basse noted that he doesn’t believe the Biodiesel Tax Credit, which expires on December 31, 2016, will be extended before the end of the …
Nebraska Drivers Save $17M With #Ethanol
Ethanol-blended fuels are saving Nebraska consumers money at the pump this year – nearly $17 million. According to data analyzed by the Nebraska Ethanol Board (NEB), these savings are due to lower-prices for ethanol as compared to wholesale gasoline along with the state’s projected yearly fuel consumption of 900 million gallons. Today the most common ethanol blend sold across the …
When Price is Right FFV Drivers Choose #Ethanol
When fuel prices are competitive, drivers of flex fuel vehicles (FFV) will fill up with high-ethanol blends such as E85 according to a new article published in Energy Policy. Authors Sébastien Pouliot and, Bruce A. Babcock also found that the recently finalized RFS requirement for 2017 for 15 gallons of conventional biofuels is in fact achievable with current infrastructure and …
US Government Challenging Abengoa Bankruptcy Plan
KSCB News is reporting that Shell has been outbid for the cellulosic ethanol biorefinery owned by Spain-based Abengoa Bioenergy in Hugoton, Kansas. Synata Bio Inc, who owns the cellulosic ethanol technology formerly owned by Coskata, bid $48.5 million for the shuttered ethanol plant as part of Abengoa’s bankruptcy. In October, Shell put in a bid for $26 million and according …
New Engineered Bacteria Aids #Ethanol
University of Wisconsin-Madison professor James Steele has engineered and patented a new bacteria that aids in ethanol production. The Winder Bascom professor of food science specializes in food, beverage and biofuel fermentation and as such seen first hand how during the fermentation process beer and wine can often be contaminated with lactic acid bacteria. When this occurs lactic acid is …
Study Looks at Biofuel Crops, Land Change & Climate
A new study has looked at how converting land to grow biofuel crops impacts greenhouse gas emissions. Researchers at the DOE Argonne National Laboratory found that in the past analyses only looked at the changes in the amount of carbon stored in the soil and vegetation of these converted lands that were previously forests, grasslands or pastureland. So the research …
WEO-2016 Finds Renewables, Natural Gas Future Winners
According to the 2016 World Energy Outlook (WEO-2016), the winners to reach energy demand growth through 2040 will be renewables and natural gas. The annual report is published by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and finds that the era of fossil fuels is long from over. Natural gas will continue to expand and coal and oil usage will decrease. This …
#Ethanol Industry Reacts to Increased RVO’s
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released its the final Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs) for the 2017 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The rule has increased the conventional biofuels category that includes corn ethanol, to 15 billion gallons per year, up from 14.8 billion proposed back in May. With the news, the biofuels industry has come out to applaud the …