Make no mistake about it. The ethanol industry is engaged in a war of words with anti-ethanol forces and every weapon in the arsenal needs to be deployed to fight against these well-funded opponents. Communications and Social Media War Room was the title of one of the breakout sessions at last week’s 2014 National Ethanol Conference. Renewable Fuels Association executive …
Driving Through the Blend Wall
We’ve heard a lot about how higher ethanol blends might affect the producers of the green fuel and the impacts to consumers on the other end. But what about the viewpoint of those who have to build the vehicles on which these higher blends would run? Representatives from General Motors and Mercedes-Benz were among the experts on a panel at …
Patriot Out Front with Ethanol
Patriot Renewable Fuels wants to be the “poster child” for other ethanol plants when it comes to marketing higher blends in their own communities. You might remember Darrell Rakestraw as the veteran we interviewed last fall about the EPA proposal to lower the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). When we spoke to him last week at his first National Ethanol Conference, …
State Level Blend Walls Update
The phrase “all politics is local” seems like it sure could apply to some of the decisions to overcome the ethanol blend wall. Challenges to increasing ethanol in the marketplace exist on the state level as well as the federal level, and participants at the National Ethanol Conference learned more about efforts to break down the blend wall in various …
Ethanol Exports Important to Industry
Exports of both ethanol and the animal feed co-product distillers dried grains (DDGs) are important for Patriot Renewable Fuels, located near the Quad Cities and not far from Chicago. Patriot commodity manager Judd Hulting attended a trade mission with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) to Brazil last fall. “It’s just another outlet for our …
NEC Global Ethanol Conversation
It is always interesting to hear the perspectives of different countries during the National Ethanol Conference global panel and to see the similarities as well as differences in viewpoint. The panel was moderated by Bliss Baker, Global Renewable Fuels Alliance, and included Renewable Fuels Association president Bob Dinneen, as well as (from left to right): Joel Velasco, Senior Advisor to …
Students Interested in Ethanol
The 2014 National Ethanol Conference scholarship winners are three totally different young men who all share the common interest of ethanol. Gavin Kenney is a farm boy from Nebraska who is about to graduate from the University of Nebraska with a major in agricultural economics and minors in agronomy and entrepreneurship. He grew up around the ethanol industry and is …
Engine Experts Talk Ethanol
Specialists in the areas of auto, motorcycle and small engines presented their experience with ethanol fuels in the real world during the National Ethanol Conference. The panel was moderated by radio host and automotive expert Bobby Likis of Bobby Likis Car Clinic in Pensacola. “In 43 years, more than 200,000 cars have rolled through the doors of my automotive service …
RFA Ethanol Industry Outlook and Pocket Guide
Every registration packet at the National Ethanol Conference included two new publications from the Renewable Fuels Association – the annual 2014 Ethanol Industry Outlook and 2014 Pocket Guide to Ethanol. The publications offer both a comprehensive look at the ethanol industry today and a succinct industry overview in a pocket-sized package. They include information about the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), …
19th National Ethanol Conference is a Wrap
The 19th annual National Ethanol Conference was one of the best ever, with strong attendance and a program that rocked. Personally, Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) president and CEO Bob Dinneen thought the Led Zeppelin 2 concert for the networking reception was the highlight of the conference, but there were lots of other great acts. “It was a substantive agenda and …