NEC 2027

CARD: Reducing RFS Would Not Achieve Goals

Joanna Schroeder

According to the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) located at Iowa State, calls to reduce, revise or repeal the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) would not achieve the goals of the industries who are demanding the action.

“The desire by livestock groups to see additional flexibility in ethanol mandates may not result in as large a drop in feed costs as hoped,” said Iowa State Professor Bruce Babcock, author a new research brief, “Preliminary Assessment of the Drought’s Impacts on Crop Prices and Biofuel Production.”

As part of the research, Babcock analyzed 500 different scenarios using various levels of corn yield for the 2012 crop.  He then determined that a total waiver of the RFS would reduce corn prices less than 5 percent and cause less than a 5 percent reduction in ethanol production.

At first glance this seems like a mistake. But Babcock says the lower than expected results are due to the flexibility in complying with the RFS in 2012 and 2013. For example, during this timeframe, an estimated 2.4 billion excess Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) can be used in place of purchasing actual gallons of a renewable fuel to demonstrate compliance. This allows obligated parties to carry over RINs and lowers the economic impact of a short crop such as what we are expecting this year due to excessive drought conditions affecting nearly 75 percent of crops across the country.

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advanced biofuels, biofuels, Ethanol, RFA

Raise Carbon Price

Joanna Schroeder

The European wind power industry is backing a proposal submitted by the European Commission to increase the price of carbon. This would be accomplished by delaying the auctioning of carbon allowances through the Emission Trading System (ETS). This action must be approved by Member States and the European Parliament.

“The European Commission has finally taken the first step towards boosting the carbon price in the short term,” said Rémi Gruet, Senior Regulatory Affairs Advisor for Environment and Climate Change at the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA). As a second step a permanent solution to the current and future oversupply of carbon allowances needs to be found to ensure a high and stable future price: the amount of allowances put on the market up until 2020 needs to be reduced by 2.6 billion.”

Gruet also said that increasing carbon prices will help both the climate and economic recovery. “The wind industry is one of the most dynamic and globally competitive, in 2010 contributing 32.4 billion Euros to the EU’s GDP, 8.8bn Euros in exports, and supporting 238,000 EU jobs.

Electricity, Energy, Wind

Retrofit Kits Available to Pump Higher Ethanol Blends

Cindy Zimmerman

Gilbarco Veeder-Root this week announced E25 Field Retrofit Kits are now available for the entire line of the company’s Encore® dispensers.

Retailers interested in offering E15 fuel or any other blend up to E25 will be required to prove E25 fuel compatibility and Underwriters Laboratory (UL) approval in order to maintain the unit’s listing. Encore E25 kits provide Gilbarco’s partners with an industry first opportunity in fuel marketing and an affordable way to upgrade existing equipment with UL-certified components.

“Gilbarco is committed to helping our retailers reach the Renewable Fuel Standard goal of 36 million gallons of alternative fuels annually by 2022,” said Chad Johnson, Encore Marketing Manager for Gilbarco Veeder-Root. “We are proud to be the first in the market to offer an affordable E25 retrofit solution that will help protect and enhance their brand.”

The Encore E25 Retrofit Kit includes an innovative meter and valve assembly that enables rapid installation. These kits continue Gilbarco’s commitment to providing products that meet the changing fueling landscape while minimizing retailers’ infrastructure upgrade costs.

Ethanol, Ethanol News

New Investments to Drive Biofuels Innovations

Cindy Zimmerman

USDAThe U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Energy Wednesday announced a $41 million investment in 13 projects designed to drive more efficient biofuels production and feedstock improvements.

“If we want to develop affordable alternatives for oil and gasoline that will help reduce our dependence on foreign oil, we need investments like these projects to spur innovation in bioenergy,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “By producing energy more efficiently and sustainably, we can create rural jobs, boost rural economies and help U.S. farmers, ranchers and foresters prosper.”

Five projects will be funded through the joint Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI) to develop economically and environmentally sustainable sources of renewable biomass and increase the availability of renewable fuels and biobased products. Those projects include $4.25 million for the Quad County Corn Cooperative in Galva, Iowa to retrofit an existing corn starch ethanol plant to add value to its byproducts, which will be marketed to the non-ruminant feed markets and to the biodiesel industry.

Agricultural Research Service’s National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, Illinois will receive $7 million for a project to optimize rapeseed/canola, mustard and camelina oilseed crops for oil quality and yield using recombinant inbred lines. The oils will be hydrotreated to produce diesel and jet fuel.

A $6 million project at the University of Hawaii will optimize the production of grasses in Hawaii, including napier grass, energycane, sugarcane and sweet sorghum. Harvest and preprocessing will be optimized to be compatible with the biochemical conversion to jet fuel and diesel.

More information on the projects funded can be found here from USDA.

advanced biofuels, aviation biofuels, biofuels, biojet fuel, biomass, USDA

Will Drought Impact the Renewable Fuel Standard?

Melissa Sandfort

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “Should nutrition programs be split out of the Farm Bill?”

Our poll results: Seventy-seven percent said yes and twenty-three percent said no. What do you think? With all those nutrition programs is it really a “farm” bill?

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “How will drought impact the Renewable Fuel Standard?” With corn prices up nearly 50 percent in the last month and forecasts saying it will go higher in the near future, this summer is proving to be a rough one. Here are a few more stats: 1,000 counties in 26 states are deemed “natural disaster areas” because of drought; 61 percent of the land in the lower 48 states is currently affected by drought; 30 percent of the corn crop is in poor or very poor condition. So what do you think – will the drought and effect on the corn crop impact the RFS?

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

ZimmPoll

KiOR Receives Approval to Sell Cellulosic Fuel

Joanna Schroeder

KiOR has been granted Part 79 registration by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its renewable gasoline blendstock 5, or cellulosic gasoline. This step is required before the sale of the fuel to be used in motor vehicles becomes legal.

“Part 79 registration is a landmark for KiOR and the renewable sector, as KiOR’s gasoline is the first renewable cellulosic gasoline that the EPA has registered for sale in the United States,” said Fred Cannon, KiOR’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “With this registration, KiOR’s breakthrough cellulosic gasoline will be fueling cars of American consumers this year, providing a truly renewable fuel option that uses only sustainable non-food feedstock, reduces greenhouse gases, creates American jobs, and reduces our dependence on imported oil.”

The company’s first production facility is scheduled to begin production later this year in Columbus, Mississippi. Cannon says that the facility will provide 150 new jobs and produce enough fuel to meet the transportation needs to 20,000 area families.

Cannon added, “This facility demonstrates how the Renewable Fuels Standard and forward-thinking states like Mississippi can combine to make a positive impact on both domestic energy policy and local rural economies.”

advanced biofuels, blends, Cellulosic

Ethanol Safety Seminars Stop in Idaho

Joanna Schroeder

Idaho is the next stop on the tracks for the Ethanol Safety Seminar series hosted by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), Federal Railroad Association TRANSCAER and Eastern Idaho Railroad. The first FREE seminar will take place on August 7, 2012 at the College of Southern Idaho in the Taylor Building located in Twin Falls. The second FREE seminar will be held on August 9, 2012 at the Eastern Idaho Technical College in the Alex D. Creek Building in Idaho Falls.

There will be both morning and evening sessions at both locations. The early seminar begins at 9 am and ends at 2 pm and the evening session begins at 5:30 pm and ends at 10 pm.

This course was developed to give first responders, hazmat teams, and safety personnel an in-depth look at proper training techniques needed when responding to an ethanol-related emergency. Lunch and dinner will be provided. Click here to register.

Education, Ethanol, RFA

DHL Express Integrates Propane Into Fleet

Joanna Schroeder

DHL Express is adding 100 propane autogas vans into its fleet. The Ford E-250 cargo vans will be on the road by the end of August 2012 and were outfitted with ROUSH CleanTech liquid propane autogas fuel systems. The vans will be operating in California, Florida, Georgia, Missouri and Texas.

“Customers in the U.S. and worldwide are increasingly demanding greener logistics and sustainable business procedures,” said Ian Clough, CEO of DHL Express U.S. “Initiatives like our all ‘green’ fleet in Manhattan and this propane autogas fleet not only lower our DHL carbon footprint, but are a smart, clean and cost-effective choice for our business.”

“Greener” vehicles are not new to DHL Express. As part of its GOREEN program, they are currently operating propane vehicles in Ohio, Tennessee and Louisiana. The goal of the program is to improve the company’s worldwide carbon efficiency 30 percent by 2020 using 2007 emissions as its baseline. According to ROUSH, the use of propane autogas in each van saves nearly 22,587 pounds of CO2 emission each year.

DHL Express will both use current propane infrastructure as well as add additional infrastructure to meet its needs. ROUSH says that the infrastructure for propane autogas is less expensive than any other alternative fuel, and propane autogas has the largest alternative public refueling infrastructure.

Propane

Biodiesel Gains New ASTM Standard

John Davis

In a bid to better meet the needs of customers, the biodiesel industry sought out and gained approval of a new voluntary No. 1-B grade for B100 from the ASTM D2 Committee on Petroleum Products and Lubricants. This news release from the National Biodiesel Board says the new standard will help make the green fuel better for customers with Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) and new diesel engine and after-treatment technology:

“The biodiesel industry took a proactive stance to improve the standards governing America’s Advanced Biofuel,” said Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board. “For the large majority of biodiesel users, the current standard along with conventional industry management practices allow for biodiesel blend use year-round, even in extreme climates.” ASTM D6751, the ASTM standard for pure biodiesel (B100) prior to blending, was modified to create a new voluntary No. 1-B grade. The new grade provides more stringent controls for minor components in raw materials used to make biodiesel, such as vegetable oils and animal fats. The specification values of the current standard will become the No. 2-B grade in D6751 without change. Producers or blenders can continue to utilize the current specification under the No. 2-B grade at any time of the year exactly as done today, or they may opt to use the more stringent No 1-B grade. The finished blended fuel standards—D975 for on/off road diesel up to 5% biodiesel (B5), D7467 for B6-B20 on/off road applications, and D396 for heating oil up to 5% biodiesel—do not change. B100 used for D975, D7467, and D396 must continue to meet D6751 (either the No. 1-B or the No. 2-B grade) prior to blending.

The No. 1-B and No. 2-B designations are in line with the current No. 1 and No. 2 diesel fuel categories. This new designation stems from a handful of cases with the new Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel fuel experiencing un-expected filter clogging above the cloud point of the finished blend.

Biodiesel, NBB

iDiverse’s New Yeast Gene Boosts Ethanol Production

John Davis

Officials with biotech company iDiverse say they have discovered a yeast gene that can increase ethanol production yield by up to 34 percent:

“The gene functions by protecting the yeast against some of the lethal stresses encountered in the bioproduction process,” said John Serbin, Chief Business Officer at iDiverse. “In its current embodiment, it allows yeast to produce significantly more ethanol under the severe conditions of high concentrations of acetic acid and low pH. These critical conditions occur when fuel ethanol is produced from corn or sugarcane and are yet more severe in the newest generation of fermentation processes using lignocellulosic biomass as feedstock. Our constructs have been tested in several commercial yeasts. We believe that they can improve the performance of any yeast facing lethal bioproduction environments.”

Officials say the economic impact of this new gene could be huge, especially for the cellulosic ethanol industry, as well as other applications, such as the bioproduction of industrial enzymes, research reagents, and pharmaceuticals.

Ethanol, Ethanol News