Once again the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is offering six scholarships for college students interested in learning more about ethanol by attending the National Ethanol Conference (NEC). The annual event will take place February 20-22, 2017 in San Diego, California. Scholarships will cover the cost of the conference registration fee of $899. Recipients are responsible for other costs including travel …
ORNL Researchers Deconstruct Biomass for #Ethanol
Better methods for deconstructing biomass will lead to more efficient conversion to biofuels; however, this is one of the most complex processes in bioenergy technologies. Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have already uncovered information about how woody plants and waste biofuels can be converted more readily into biofuels. Now the team may have come one step closer to …
Congress Urged to Extend Biofuel Tax Incentives
It’s time once again for the annual push to Congress to extend tax incentives before the end of the year, a plea which is usually ignored. Renewable energy organizations sent letters to Congressional leadership this week calling for a multi-year extension of the Second Generation Biofuel Producer Tax Credit, the Special Depreciation Allowance for Second Generation Biofuel Plant Property, the …
#Ethanol Breaking Through Blend Wall
The average amount of ethanol in the nation’s gasoline supply hit a new record last week of 10.4 percent, just breaking through the 10% blend wall for the second time in a month, according to the latest data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA Weekly Supply Estimate shows that an average of 8.798 million barrels per day (mbpd) …
Record #Corn #Harvest Sets Tone for #ExEx16
An anticipated record corn harvest combined with expected record production of animal feed co-products forms the backdrop for the 2016 Export Exchange (#ExEx16) coming up next week in Detroit. More than 200 international buyers and end-users of coarse grains and co-products, including distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS), are expected to attend this biennial networking event co-sponsored by the U.S. …
American Ethanol Sweepstakes Winners Take on Talladega
The American Ethanol sweepstakes winners are taking on the infamous Talladega this week in sweet home Alabama. Fans won’t be seeing the likes of NASCAR driver Ricky Bobby (yes, I went there – Talladega Nights, the Ballad of Ricky Bobby) but they are going to see some amazing racing from drivers in speedsters fueled by E15, 15 percent ethanol and …
Review “The Ethanol Effect”
“The Ethanol Effect” is a new PBS documentary produced by Detroit Public Television that debuted earlier this month and is available on-line for anyone to see. We want to know what you think about it. The documentary is hosted by energy and environment reporter David Biello and includes comments from a variety of ethanol industry representatives and supporters, including Renewable …
Super Yeast Yields Better #Ethanol Economics
A new innovative “super yeast” could very well improve the economics of ethanol production. A collaborative research team from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) have engineered a yeast strain that nearly doubles the efficiency of plant sugar to biofuel conversion. The team focused on the baker’s and brewer’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a microbe …
Students Visit Guardian Energy for #Ethanol Education
The Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association has organized its seventh student tour of a Minnesota ethanol plant. Seventh and eight grade students visited member plant Guardian Energy, a 130 million gallon-per-year ethanol biorefinery located in Janesville. During the tour, students learned about various components of ethanol production including incoming grain grading, grain handling, grain storage, liquefaction, fermentation, distillation, distiller grain drying, corn …
Nano-Spike Catalysts Convert CO2 Into Ethanol
Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Lab have developed a way to convert carbon dioxide directly into ethanol. The team is researching an electrochemical process that uses tiny spike of carbon and copper to convert CO2 into ethanol. Their discovery involves nanofabrication and catalysis science. “We discovered somewhat by accident that this material worked,” said ORNL’s Adam …