Members of the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) have been in Des Moines, Iowa this week to “Unite and Ignite” for their 26th annual conference. But even before they got together, they knew their message of the good ethanol does for the entire country was coming up against some pretty deep pockets of their opponents. “We don’t have the resources …
ACE: Fighting Fallacies and Making Believers in E15
Making people converts to the idea of ethanol, especially higher blends of E15 and above, is no easy chore. But many of the folks gathered for this week’s American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) 26th annual conference, with the theme of “Unite and Ignite,” seemed pretty united and ignited to fight some of the fallacies swirling around E15. Among those is …
ACE on Ethanol: Keep it Simple, Say What You Know
As members of the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) gather in Des Moines, Iowa this week to “Unite and Ignite” for their 26th annual conference, there’s some simple advice for those advocating for the green fuel. “Keep it simple … say what you know … be able to back it up,” advised Larry Johnson, a lead consultant with LLJ, Cologne, …
ACE: When Telling the Truth About Ethanol, It’s Easy
As members of the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) gather in Des Moines, Iowa this week to “Unite and Ignite” for their 26th annual conference, we’re reminded of some previous advice from Troy Prescott with Cardinal Ethanol about telling the good news story of ethanol. “When you’re telling the truth, it isn’t hard to keep telling the story,” he told …
DF Cast: Agencies Work Together on Biofuels Targets
On August 6, 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its final rule for the 2013 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) based on analysis provided by, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which revised downward its cellulosic biofuel forecast for 2013 to 4 million gallons (or 6 million ethanol-equivalent gallons) target for cellulosic biofuels use in 2013, less than half what was …
DOE Looks to Better Catalysts for Biomass to Biofuel
New and better catalysts could be the key to unlocking the potential biofuel locked up in biomass. This article from the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory says scientists at the lab’s Institute for Atom-Efficient Chemical Transformations (IACT) for the past four years have been looking at how to improve the efficiency and selectivity of catalysts: IACT was originally …
New EPA Head Positive on Renewable Fuels
The newly confirmed head of the Environmental Protection Agency visited the Iowa State Fair last week where she spoke to farmers and met with environmentalists. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy stressed her goal of building a better relationship with farmers. “My commitment to you is that at the end of my term, we will have a stronger, more productive, more trusting …
Government Lowers Cellulosic Biofuels Targets
In the wake of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issuing its final rule for the 2013 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), the government revised down targets for cellulosic biofuel use this year. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports the new rule sets a 6 million gallon target for cellulosic biofuels use in 2013, less than half what was proposed just six …
Record Corn Crop Forecast
Despite a wet spring causing a challenging start to the season, the 2013 corn crop is still looking to break new ground this year, according to the latest USDA production estimate out today. Corn production is forecast at 13.8 billion bushels, up 28 percent from 2012. If realized, this will be a new record production for the United States. Based …
EIA: Wind, Solar & Biofuels Seeing Good Growth
The latest government energy report seems to provide plenty of good news for some of our favorite alternative fuel sources. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) August 2013 Short-Term Energy Outlook shows that wind, solar, ethanol and biodiesel productions are all up for the year, according to comments from EIA’s Administrator Adam Sieminski: Renewables: “Wind power generation is expected to …