Ethanol Groups Oppose Calls for RFS Waiver

Cindy Zimmerman

A group of more than 150 members of Congress today asked the U.S. Environmental Protection agency to waive the ethanol requirements of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) ethanol to help livestock and poultry producers weather the worst drought in more than 50 years.

Led by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), the group asked EPA administrator Lisa Jackson to make a “fair and meaningful nationwide adjustment” to the RFS to “help to ease short supply concerns” due to the impact of the drought on the nation’s corn crop.

Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen says lowering the RFS requirement “will not make it rain in Indiana or meaningfully lower corn prices” and that calls to waive any or all of the RFS are “not only premature, but void of justification.”

Dinneen and Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis held a joint press conference at the National Press Club today to explain why waiving the RFS is not necessary. “The RFS is clearly under attack,” said Buis. “It’s really a shame that critics are trying to take the drought and blame ethanol for it.”

Buis added that no one knows at this point how much the drought will actually reduce the corn crop. “It’s analogous to a political poll, three months out before the election,” he said. “The final crop is the one that counts, just like in a political poll, the only one that counts is on election day.”

Listen to or download Buis and Dinneen here: RFA/Growth Energy at Press Club

In a statement, Brian Jennings, American Coalition for Ethanol Executive Vice President, expressed confidence that EPA understands why waiving the RFS would do more harm than good. “The bottom line is that any Member of Congress urging EPA to reduce the RFS also supports forcing consumers to pay more at the pump. Thankfully, EPA comprehends this fact and knows that reversing the RFS would not demonstrably reduce feed or food prices,” said Jennings.

ACE, Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government, Growth Energy, RFA

New Heating Oil Rail Facility Opens in East

Joanna Schroeder

A new heating oil rail facility has official opened in Yaphank, Rhode Island owned and operated by Ultra Green. The terminal will receive diesel fuel produced from vegetable oils or other fats and then will blend the fuel with traditional heating oil to create Bioheat. The biodiesel will be delivered in rail cars and the facility can store up to 250,000 gallons on site. This October, New York City’s biodiesel mandate (Bioheat) will take effect.

“The new BRT Terminal will help us ensure the economic, as well as environmental, success of the NYC Bioheat mandate, and provide lower-cost Bioheat for all of Long Island,” said Michael Cooper, vice-president of Ultra Green prior to the ribbon cutting event. “A Bioheat consisting of 12% biodiesel (B12) blended with the New York state-mandated ultra-low sulfur heating oil burns cleaner than natural gas. We’re working to ensure that every fuel dealer in the region can provide clean, reliable, and renewable Bioheat to its customers.”

Ultra Green was one of the first companies to market biodiesel dating back to 1999 and has been blending Bioheat since 2001. Today the company supplies biodiesel through the self proclaimed largest network of wholesale terminals in the New York/New Jersey region.

Biodiesel, Energy

The EV Project Expands in Philly

Joanna Schroeder

The EV Project is expanding in Philadelphia. ECOtality is offering its Blink(R) smart charging stations free to residents and commercial host sites. The move serves as an effort to expand the EV charging station network that is being developed in tandem with the Department of Energy.

“Now people interested in electric vehicle transportation in the Philadelphia region can join The EV Project and help us build a nationwide network of EV charging stations,” said Don Karner, Chief Innovation Officer of ECOtality, Inc. “By signing up for a free charger, EV owners can take part in this massive research project that can help reduce our country’s dependence on foreign oil. We are excited about bringing The EV Project, which is now in nine states and 21 major metropolitan areas to the greater Philadelphia region.”

Residents in Philly who own a Nissan LEAF or Chevy Volt can quality to receive a free residential Blink wall mount charger as well as a max installation credit of $400.

Craig Adams, PECO president and CEO, is the energy delivery company for the area. “PECO and ECOtality share a strong environmental commitment. Locally, more and more of our customers are exploring the use of electric vehicles and investing in this technology. In June, PECO launched Smart Driver Rebates. The program offers rebates and incentives for residential and business customers investing in new electric vehicle technology.

For those living in the Philly area, you can more about The EV Project at the Host Partners Forum on August 16th at the National Constitution Center.

Electric Vehicles

Alltech Installs Ethanol Distillation Tower

Joanna Schroeder

Alltech has installed a 60-foot ethanol distillation tower at its production facility in Springfield, Ky. The plant produces natural animal health and nutrition products. The company invested $4 million dollars in new yeast-production technology, a core of their nutrition products. The new system has the ability to process 52,000 lbs of liquid yeast each day and produce 20,000 gallons of ethanol per week.

This same system will be installed in Alltech’s Thomasville, Georgia production facility that is expected to be completed by the end of 2012.

In addition the company has expanded into algae production. Alltech Algae, based in Winchester, Kentucky is one of the largest algae production sites in the world according to the company. The company continues to invest in extensive research and production as it looks to the future. The company is also expanding operations in downtown Lexington at the Alltech Lexington Brewing and Distilling Co., with a new distillery scheduled for completion in September of 2012.

Agribusiness, algae, Ethanol

Grassley Supports Biodiesel Tax Credit Extension

Joanna Schroeder

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is making a run at getting the biodiesel tax credit extended. He is attempting to mark up a tax extenders package that would include a retroactive extension of the credit for an Iowa leading industry. Biodiesel production increased during the second quarter of 2012 as compared to the first quarter. Iowa is the leading biodiesel producer and 10 plants produced more than 54.9 million gallons from April to June. First quarter the facilities produced 41.8 millon gallons.

With the federal biodiesel tax credit having expired at the end of 2011, biodiesel use is being driven my filling the mandates set by the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

In 2011, the Iowa Legislature enacted a short-term, modest biodiesel production tax credit to help Iowa’s biodiesel community compete against states that provide large biodiesel incentives. The Iowa program went into effect on January 1, 2012.

“IRFA members thank Senator Grassley for leading the effort to include a retroactive two-year extension of the biodiesel tax incentive in the Senate Finance Committee’s extenders package,” said IRFA Executive Director Monte Shaw. “Biodiesel has had no better champion than Senator Grassley and we are confident he can shepherd this important provision into the final bill. Big Oil has benefited from a century of subsidies and continues to receive billions in tax breaks each year. Reinstating the biodiesel blenders tax incentive is one small way to help level the playing field so American consumers can have a true fuel choice.”

Biodiesel, Iowa RFA

IU Biologist Receives DOE Young Faculty Award

Joanna Schroeder

Indiana University biologist James McKinlay has received the Early Career Research Program award from the Department of Energy (DOE). Along with honor, the award comes with $750,000 that will help McKinlay, who is an assistant professor in the Department of Biology, continue to research how microbes might work together to produce hydrogen gas biofuels.

While others are researching better biofuels with microbes, McKinley said most are focusing on engineering single species that can perform all the necessary tasks needed to produce biofuels.

“Coordinating all these tasks in a single microbe can be challenging and can lead to undesired traits like the inefficient use of the food source,” explained McKinley. “But in nature, diverse microbes often work together to use food sources like plant-derived lignin and cellulose that resist degradation. The idea here is to create a similar cooperative relationship in the lab where each microbe supplies the other with a nutrient required for survival.”

McKinlay is attempting to decipher how metabolisms of two microbes interact, evolve together to improve nutrient transfer and discover how to optimize microbes to create a tailor-made mixture. When taken together, the result would be the economical production of hydrogen gas and other biofuels from renewable resources.

“We’re taking a lesson from nature that multiple microbial species help each other to thrive on food sources such as plant residues that those same species could not use if on their own,” continued McKinlay. “We already know that mixtures of specialized microbes can sometimes outperform a single engineered strain for producing chemicals of value to society.”

With the ultimate strategy of enhancing biofuels production, McKinlay is executing the idea to develop a co-culture of a photosynthetic bacteria and a fermentative microbe that uses sugar and energy from sunlight to produce hydrogen gas.

biofuels, Hydrogen

Biodiesel Production Remains Strong

Joanna Schroeder

Biodiesel production in the U.S. remained strong in June. According to a report published by the Environmental Production Agency (EPA), 112 million gallons of biodiesel were produced in June. Total gallons for the first six months of the year is 557 million setting the pace to meet 2012 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) mandates. The EPA has set yearly production of biomass-based diesel (biodiesel is included in this category) at 1 billion gallons.

The EPA reports that 117.5 million gallons of biomass-based diesel were produced in June but this figure also includes production of renewable diesel. Biodiesel is the only EPA-designated advanced biofuel that is produced at commercial scale.

In 2011, the biodiesel industry set a production record of producing nearly 1.1 billion gallons. This achievement was accomplished through the support of more than 39,000 employees.

Biodiesel

‘Houses’ Furnished by IKEA Now Include Solar

Joanna Schroeder

IKEA has made a name for itself through the sale of neat, affordable household items. A trendsetter in home fashion, IKEA is now on the path to become a trendsetter when it comes to integrating solar into a home’s decor, but maybe not in the way you would think. Over the past few weeks, IKEA has installed solar energy systems at stores in Draper Utah, as well as two area stores in Chicago, Illinois.

Yesterday the company installed solar rooftop arrays on two Philadelphia area stores as well as its U.S. Service Office in Conshohocken, PA. The three solar arrays scale 286,300 square feet, comprise 9,198 solar panels and generate 2,208 kW. The systems were developed, designed and installed by Gehrlicher Solar America Corp.

To date IKEA has completed 29 U.S. solar projects that combined produce 38 megawatts of energy. In addition, 10 more locations are currently in the process of installing PV solar systems. IKEA owns and operates all of each solar PV energy systems and has allocated €590 million to invest in renewable energy over the next three years with a focus on solar and wind energy.

“This solar installation is another example of how we build on our ongoing sustainability commitment,” said Conshohocken store manager Kevin Bohon.

“A solar energy system atop the store reduces our carbon footprint and improves what we do today for a better tomorrow,” added Lisa Christensen, store manager in South Philadelphia.

Electricity, Energy, Solar

Are Calls For RFS Waiver Premature?

Chuck Zimmerman

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “How will drought impact the Renewable Fuel Standard?” We’re certainly in a major drought at this point and we know it will have an impact on the corn crop. Of course who knows how significant that will be? The next crop report ought to be very interesting.

Our results show that 39 percent think we should Modify for lower ethanol production, 31 percent think No change and 30 percent chose Eliminate entirely. What do you think? Is it a little premature to call for a change?

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “Will you use the cloud to store your data?” We’re now seeing cloud based data storage specifically designed for the ag industry and there are a growing number of options to store and handle all those records, field maps, photos and more. Is the infrastructure and the services available up to the task? Your data is fast becoming one of your most valuable assets. How are you planning to handle that growth?

ZimmPoll is sponsored by Rhea+Kaiser, a full-service advertising/public relations agency.

RFS, ZimmPoll

DF Cast: House’s Turn at Biofuels in Farm Bill

John Davis

During the last Domestic Fuel Cast, we talked about the U.S. Senate’s work on the renewable energy provisions of the Farm Bill. In this edition, we follow the debate over to the House, where not much funding in the energy title of the bill moved out of the Agriculture Committee.

Listen to what some key lawmakers, as well as leaders from the renewable energy sector, farm groups, and government officials had to say as the discussion spilled over into another House committee considering changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

You can listen to the Domestic Fuel Cast here: Domestic Fuel Cast

You can also subscribe to the DomesticFuel Cast here.

Audio, Biodiesel, biofuels, Domestic Fuel Cast, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Farm Bureau, Government, Iowa RFA, USDA