The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) held a press conference this week during 2016 Commodity Classic to discuss several key issues facing the corn industry and highlight the efforts currently in place to create solutions to the challenges that have been facing growers. NCGA Present Chip Bowling, a corn grower from Newburg, Maryland, said that the most important action the organization …
RFA: API Understates Benefits of RFS
Is the American Petroleum Institute (API) changing its RFS tune? In a recent interview with POLITICO Pro Energy’s Morning Energy, API President and CEO Jack Gerard said his organization was pivoting its strategy toward reforming the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) rather than continuing to call for an outright repeal. A change of tune for sure but whether it’s on key …
Mid American Agri Products Adds Cellunator
Mid American Agri Products/Wheatland (MAAPW) has gone online with Cellunator from Edeniq at its ethanol and biodiesel facility located in North Platte, Nebraska. According to Edeniq, the technology will increase the plant’s 44 million gallons per year (MGPY) of ethanol production by pretreating the corn slurry to liberate additional starch. The MAAPW facility also produces three MGPY of biodiesel. The …
Growth, RFA Urge U.S. to Action Against China
Back on January 12, 2016, the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China (MOFCOM) filed antidumping and countervailing duty cases against the U.S. distiller’s dried grains industry (DDG). This was not the first time the MOFCOM has filed antidumping charges against the U.S.; however, all earlier cases were dropped. Yesterday the ethanol industry including Growth Energy and the …
Veteran Reporter Rachel Gantz Joins RFA Team
Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) Journalist Rachel Gantz is joining the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) team on March 7, 2016. She will serve as RFA’s new communications director and spokesperson and in her role will communicate the organization’s key messages to reporters as well as assist in growing RFA’s media footprint. “I am excited to join the RFA staff and …
Berkeley Lab’s Enzyme Reduces Plant Lignin
One of the barriers to efficient second generation biofuels is creating a better way to break down the lignin in plants that is then converted to the sugars that create the building blocks of biobased products such as cellulosic ethanol, biomaterials and biochemicals. But this hurdle may be getting lower with research out of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Scientists have …
US Grains Releases New Portal, App
The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) has released a grains conversion calculator app and a U.S. grains-in-all-forms exports portal to help members of the global grain trade access critical information more easily. The U.S. grains-in-all-forms exports portal is an online calculator that converts volumes of exported U.S. commodities including ethanol and dried distillers grains (DDGs) into corn equivalents. This offers a …
Poll Show Iowans Support RFS
According to a new poll from the Des Moines Register, 71 percent of Iowans favor the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), 21 percent oppose it and eight percent are unsure. The issue was a hot button for candidates leading up to the Iowa Caucus where Sen. Ted Cruz received the state’s nomination, despite voters being unsure as to what his stance …
US Ethanol Production Sets Records
New records were set in 2015 for U.S. ethanol production and blending according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Last year ethanol production hit a record high of 14.81 billion gallons while refiners and blenders integrated a record 13.69 billion gallons into the U.S. gasoline supply. The industry’s monthly average output in December 2015 also crested the 1 …
University of Illinois Identifies Ideal Bioenergy Crops
New research from the University of Illinois has identified what bioenergy crops are best for certain regions while minimizing effects on water quantity and quality. The study was based on replacing current vegetation with crops for ethanol production and looked at how each crop would impact water quantity and quality in soils. “We expect the outcome of this study to …