A group representing grain producers’ interests is looking to expand the market for a popular ethanol by-product. The U.S. Grains Council says it is looking to the south, Middle East and Southeast Asia to expand on American distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS), already chalking up 9.7 million metric tons – valued at $2.9 billion – exported in 2013 to …
Biodiesel Adds Value, Diversification to Ethanol Ops
It’s not a brand new idea, but the concept of co-locating ethanol and biodiesel plants has been catching on more and more lately. This article from Biodiesel Magazine talks about how ethanol refiners are looking to take their by-product, distillers corn oil (DCO), and turn it into biodiesel to add value to those ethanol plants already on the ground, while …
USDA Predicts Another Record Corn Crop
The U.S. Department of Agriculture released its initial assessment of the nation’s corn crop for the coming year on Friday, calling for another record based on the March 31 Prospective Plantings report. Corn production is projected at 13.9 billion bushels, up slightly from the 2013/14 record with higher expected yields more than offsetting the year-to-year reduction in planted area. The …
Evolving Distillers Grains: Take the Survey
Iowa State University is looking at how the use of distillers grains have changed in the United States over the past several years. Interested growers are invited to participate in a survey currently being conducted by Iowa State University Assistant Professor Dr. Kurt Rosentrater. The survey findings will create a better overall picture of the roll distillers grains play in …
2012 Ag Census Includes Renewable Energy
The 2012 Census of Agriculture shows a doubling of on-farm renewable energy production since 2007. According to the census data released by USDA today, there were 57,299 farms that produced on-farm renewable energy in 2012, more than double the 23,451 in 2007. By far the biggest was solar panels, used on over 36,000 farms. Geoexchange systems and wind turbines each …
DF Cast: Fuels America Fights Back with “Oil Rigged”
Backers of renewable fuels say when it comes to the fight against Big Oil, the fight is rigged… oil rigged. Recently, Fuels America held a pair of news conferences. The first was to announce the launch of its “Oil Rigged” television and digital ad campaign and OilRigged.com, designed to “expose the many ways the oil industry is rigging the system …
EPA and USDA Dispute Corn Stover Study
Two federal agencies joined the biofuels industry last week in seriously questioning the results of a University of Nebraska study that claims negative greenhouse gas emissions impacts in using corn stover for ethanol production. A statement by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman Liz Purchia about the report noted problems with “hypothetical assumption that 100 percent of corn stover in a …
Renewable Fuels Fuel Jobs and Economy
A new industry report released today shows how the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is creating jobs and significant economic impact. The Fuels America coalition released an economic impact study by John Dunham & Associates showing that the industry supports more than 850,000 American jobs and drives $184.5 billion of economic output. Renewable fuels now represent nearly 10% of America’s fuel …
Forbes Flubs Ethanol Facts
A Forbes article by a contributing editor proclaiming that “corn ethanol is of no use” contained such blatant fact errors that the author had to change it. “Thanks to … commenters for pointing out some errors, especially my failing to mention the tax credits and tariffs have expired,” wrote author James Conca after removing that reference from the story. Not …
Advanced Biofuels Group Questions Corn Stover Study
A new study about the climate impact of using corn residue for biofuel production raises more questions than it answers, according to Brooke Coleman, Executive Director of the Advanced Ethanol Council (AEC). “In reality, the study confirms what we already know; that excessive agricultural residue removal is bad for the soil and has negative impacts on climate,” said Coleman in …