Leaders of the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and the National Farmers Union (NFU) jointly released a new white paper Thursday on how the EPA’s proposed rule for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is threatening farm income and rural economies across the United States. The paper cites the latest USDA data on net cash income for American farmers and ranchers, …
CoBank Report – Ethanol Industry Rebalanced
The ethanol industry has rebalanced in 2015 following 18 months of record earnings. As energy prices collapsed late in 2014, so did ethanol prices and plant margins. The report from CoBank, “Ethanol Industry Reblanaces,” has found that ethanol’s supply and demand has remained well balanced, and producers have maintained positive earnings. Looking into 2016, the report finds plant operators will face …
US Ethanol Exports Lowest in 2 Years, DDGS Down
American ethanol exports to the world are down to their lowest levels in more than two years. This analysis from the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) says at just 50.1 million gallons (mg), total ethanol shipments in August were 35 percent lower than in July, falling by 27.1 mg. In addition, the ethanol by-product, distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) used …
John Hofmeister to Headline #RFANEC
John Hofmeister will be headlining the 21st Annual National Ethanol Conference (NEC) next February 15-17, 2016 in New Orleans. Hosted by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), Hofmeister is the founder and CEO of Citizens for Affordable Energy, former president of Shell Oil Company and author of “Why We Hate the Oil Companies: Straight Talk from an Energy Insider. The NEC …
Ethanol Production with Enogen Tops 1B Gallons
There are now 16 ethanol plants using Enogen corn according to Syngenta. When combined, the plants have a production capacity of more than 1 billion gallons of ethanol per year. In addition, Syngenta says there are also in talks with a number of other plants to begin using the only biotech corn designed specifically to improve ethanol production. Last year, …
Alliance BioEnergy Converts Coastal Hay to Sugar
Ek Laboratories, located in Longwood, Florida, has achieved a 63 percent conversion of Coastal Hay, at commercial scale, into fermentable sugars in less than 30 minutes. The Alliance BioEnergy Plus subsidiary used it licensed and patented mechanical/chemical CTS (Cellulose to Sugar) process. According to Ek Laboratories, unlike most cellulose to sugar technologies, their CTS process does not use liquid acids, …
Aemetis Harvests Record Sorghum Crop in Cali
Aemetis has announced the harvest of sorghum grown in Central California that grew between 12-15 feet tall. The 20 acre demonstration crop was grown using proprietary Nexsteppe seed genetics and harvested in 90 days by Aemetis. The water supply for the sorghum was lower quality pump water containing salts that typically damage crops in western San Joaquin Valley, an area …
RFA Unveils New Website
The Renewable Fuels Association has unveiled a new website this morning. With improved user experience, the new site has new and enhanced content to further improve ease of navigation and usability. RFA’s website will provide up-to-date market data as well as feature news of importance to the ethanol industry. In addition, users will be able to access ethanol industry statistics, …
Senator Toomey’s Anti-RFS Amendment Tanks
Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) introduced an amendment that would eliminate corn ethanol from the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). It was promptly defeated by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs by a vote of 15-7. Pro RFS supporters came out en masse against Toomey’s amendment and thanked the Committee for making the right decision on consumer choice at …
Joule Receives EPA Cert for CO2 Ethanol
Joule’s fuel grade Sunflow-E ethanol has been registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for commercial use in E10 and E15 gasoline blends. The fuel is derived from recycled CO2. “We are approaching commercialization with a technology that is first of its kind, able to convert CO2 directly into multiple drop-in fuels. It is critical to prove its readiness …