RFA President: DDGS and Ethanol Markets Inextricably Linked

Chuck Zimmerman

The President/CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association addressed the Export Exchange 2010 today and highlighted the importance of U.S. ethanol policy and expansion into foreign markets which is critical for the DDGS industry. You can read his full remarks here as well as listen to them below. In his remarks, Dinneen said, “As a nation, failure to continue the growth …

Audio, Distillers Grains, Ethanol, Ethanol News, International, RFA, USGC

Challenges and Opportunities For DDGS Trade Growth

Chuck Zimmerman

Our keynote speaker at the Export Exchange 2010 is Dr. Robert L. Thompson, Professor Emeritus from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he held the Gardner Endowed Chair in Agricultural Policy. He is a Senior Fellow of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and serves on the USDA-USTR Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee for Trade and the International Food and …

Audio, Distillers Grains, Exports, International, RFA, USGC

The Business of Grain Trade and DDGS

Chuck Zimmerman

This morning the Export Exchange 2010 program got started in earnest with opening remarks from Tom Dorr, USGC President/CEO. He says we have nearly 500 attendees from 33 countries. The proceedings will be translated into 7 languages. Tom says that the opportunity to trade across borders helps to improve lives. That opportunity needs to be done in a transparent way …

Audio, corn, Distillers Grains, International, RFA, USGC

Export Exhange Conference Kicks Off

Chuck Zimmerman

The Export Exchange 2010 got off to an official and social start this evening with welcoming remarks from U.S. Grains Council President/CEO Tom Dorr (left) and Renewable Fuels Association President/CEO Bob Dinneen. The conference is focused on connecting international buyers of DDGS and coarse grains with the U.S. market. I don’t know what the attendance totals are here but we …

Audio, Distillers Grains, Ethanol, Ethanol News, International, RFA, USGC

Friends of the Earth: Africa up for Grabs

Joanna Schroeder

Friends of the Earth International (FOE) has released a report about Africa’s move to produce biofuels to help meet the global needs of renewable energy. “Africa, up for grabs: the scale and impact of land grabbing for agrofuels” looked at 11 African countries and found that five million hectares of land, or an area the size of Denmark, is being …

Biodiesel, biofuels, Environment, International

Cane and Corn Ethanol Updates

Cindy Zimmerman

The sugarcane harvest in Brazil is running ahead of schedule and the U.S. corn crop is progressing well, according to the latest reports. The cane crush in Brazil so far this year is running about 20 percent ahead of last year, which is not necessarily good news according to the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association’s (UNICA). Technical Director Antonio de Padua …

Brazil, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, International, RFA, UNICA

World Bank Report Takes New Look at Food and Fuel

Cindy Zimmerman

Ethanol production probably had less impact on global commodity prices in 2008 than many were saying at the time. A newly released working paper, entitled “Placing the 2006/08 Commodity Price Boom into Perspective,” from the Development Prospects Group at the World Bank, concludes that “…the effect of biofuels on food prices has not been as large as originally thought.” Authors …

biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News, food and fuel, Food prices, International, RFA

Export Exchange to Focus on Ethanol Co-Product

Cindy Zimmerman

A partnership between the Renewable Fuels Association and the U.S. Grains Council will help bring producers of the ethanol co-product distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) together with interested international buyers to get answers, make connections, and build business. Export Exchange 2010 will bring together more than 150 international buyers of U.S. DDGS and coarse grains with more than 300 …

Distillers Grains, Ethanol, Ethanol News, International, RFA

Biodiesel Could Be Key to Winning War in Afghanistan

John Davis

I know the name of this blog is Domestic Fuel, but I wanted to point out a story I found that makes the case how biodiesel might just help the U.S. win the war in Afghanistan. A new white paper from Wayne Arden, an expert in the financial technology field, and John Fox, a former CEO of a biodiesel company, …

Biodiesel, Government, International

Brazil Ethanol Pipeline Gets Environmental License

Cindy Zimmerman

Brazil’s ethanol pipeline is getting closer to reality as a preliminary environmental license for the project was issued this week. The $1.1 billion project, which is a partnership between Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras), Mitsui & Co. and Camargo Correa SA, is designed to transport ethanol in a 337 mile pipeline from the producing regions in the Mid-West, Minas Gerais and …

Ethanol, Ethanol News, International