ACE Conference 2026

ZeaChem to Develop “Drop-In” Advanced Biofuels

ZeachemZeaChem, a developer of biorefineries for the conversion of renewable biomass into sustainable fuels and chemicals, will receive a portion of a $40m grant from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) Regional Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP). The USDA project will establish regional systems for the sustainable production of bioenergy and bio-based products.

ZeaChem will secure $12m of the total $40m grant, and will implement the AFRI project at its existing 250,000 gallon-per-year integrated demonstration biorefinery, located at the Port of Morrow, near Boardman, Ore. The company is creating integrated cellulosic biorefineries, capable of producing a broad portfolio of fuel and chemical products from renewable biomass.

ZeaChem’s role in the USDA project is the logical progression of the company’s phased development strategy, in which it researches and develops potential products at each step toward commercialization. Design of the AFRI project is underway and the equipment modules are expected to be installed in 2013.

“ZeaChem is pleased with the USDA’s support to establish a bioenergy economy in the Pacific Northwest,” said Jim Imbler, president and chief executive officer of ZeaChem. “The grant allows ZeaChem to use our existing integrated demonstration facility to develop advanced biofuels beyond cellulosic ethanol, including bio-based jet, diesel and gasoline. The project highlights one of our unique strengths, which is that we can utilize a variety of biomass feedstocks and proven processes to develop a wide range of economical and sustainable fuel and chemical products.”

Production of bio-based jet and diesel is expected to begin in 2013 and production of bio-based gasoline, part of the C3 product platform, will follow in 2015.

The USDA AFRI Regional CAP is led by the University of Washington and includes GreenWood Resources, Oregon State University, Washington State University, the University of California, Davis, University of Idaho, and the Agricultural Center for Excellence.

advanced biofuels, bioenergy, Cellulosic

Brazil to Invest $38 Billion in Pumping Up Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

Brazil is reportedly planning to pump $38 billion into its ethanol sector to help increase production.

A statement from Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture said the purpose of the government plan is to “meet growing national demand and the potential of the foreign market for ethanol” by stimulating private sector investments in the production of ethanol, which have declined due to market conditions.

In response, Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis noted that since both the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) and the tariff on ethanol imports from Brazil expired at the end of 2011, Brazil’s action puts U.S. ethanol at a disadvantage.

“The American ethanol industry voluntarily gave up its tax incentives and the import tariff against Brazil, even though Brazil continues to have a tariff on the books and is pumping $38 billion toward propping up their industry. This shows the danger of unilaterally disarming, because it means that American ethanol producers are not competing just against Brazilian ethanol producers – but against the Brazilian government as well,” said Buis. “The U.S. unilateral disarmed at a time when Brazil is not just continuing to subsidize its industry, but is increasing its investment in a plan to undermine our domestic ethanol industry.”

Brazil’s ethanol output has been dropping in recent years, while U.S. ethanol exports to Brazil have been increasing. The government plan would raise the percentage of anhydrous ethanol to gasoline to 25% and provide incentives for increasing both sugarcane acreage and ethanol processing plants.

Brazil, Ethanol, Growth Energy

Ethanol Report Wraps Up NEC

Cindy Zimmerman

The The 17th annual National Ethanol Conference (NEC) of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) was one of the best ever, with a good crowd and headline speakers.

Over 1200 ethanol industry leaders from around the country and the world attended the conference in Orlando and were treated to yet another first class event that provided the most up-to-date information on issues important to the industry as well as lots of time to network.

Ethanol Report PodcastThis edition of “The Ethanol Report” offers a wrap-up with some of the highlights from the conference, featuring comments from keynote speakers Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, futurist Dr. James Canton, political commentators Karl Rove and Robert Gibbs, and RFA president and CEO Bob Dinneen.

Listen to or download the Ethanol Report here: Ethanol Report Wrap-Up of 17th NEC

Subscribe to the Ethanol Report here.

2012 National Ethanol Conference Photo Album

Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Ethanol Report, National Ethanol Conference, RFA

RFA CEO Pleased with Ethanol Conference

Cindy Zimmerman

Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen was very happy with the 17th annual National Ethanol Conference held last week in Orlando, Florida.

“I actually think this was our best conference ever,” Dinneen said at the conclusion of the event on Friday which drew 1200 attendees and headline speakers. “I just thought the vibe in the room was very, very constructive. People are sober about the marketplace, but they are very hopeful about the future.”

Dinneen was especially pleased with Secretary Vilsack’s address and the luncheon with Karl Rove and Robert Gibbs, as well as some of the great panel discussions that included some ethanol opponents. “I think there’s just benefit to everybody being informed. I respect other people’s opinions,” he said.

Now that the conference is over, it’s back to work for RFA on issues like getting E15 to consumers and protecting the RFS.

Listen to or download Dinneen’s wrap up interview here: Bob Dinneen Interview

2012 National Ethanol Conference Photo Album

Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, National Ethanol Conference, RFA

President Stresses All of the Above Energy Policy

Cindy Zimmerman

As the ethanol industry was meeting in Orlando last week, President Obama was talking energy just a few hundred miles to the south at the University of Miami.

“If we’re going to take control of our energy future and can start avoiding these annual gas price spikes that happen every year — when the economy starts getting better, world demand starts increasing, turmoil in the Middle East or some other parts of the world — if we’re going to avoid being at the mercy of these world events, we’ve got to have a sustained, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy,” the president said. “Yes, oil and gas, but also wind and solar and nuclear and biofuels, and more.”

President Obama spoke strongly about the need to end oil industry tax benefits. “I said this at the State of the Union — a century of subsidies to the oil companies is long enough. It’s time to end taxpayer giveaways to an industry that has never been more profitable; double down on clean energy industries that have never been more promising — that’s what we need to do. This Congress needs to renew the clean energy tax credits that will lead to more jobs and less dependence on foreign oil.”

The president talked about a variety of renewable energy sources, including algae. “We’re making new investments in the development of gasoline and diesel and jet fuel that’s actually made from a plant-like substance — algae,” he said. “If we can figure out how to make energy out of that, we’ll be doing all right.”

Read the full text of the president’s remarks here.

advanced biofuels, algae, biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government, Oil, Solar, Wind

Views from the Political Right and Left at NEC

Cindy Zimmerman

Positioned on opposite sides of the stage to their political leanings, two former presidential advisors took on a range of questions related to the 2012 election year and important policy issues in front of 1200 attendees at the 17th annual National Ethanol Conference (NEC) last week.

On the left, was senior advisor to President George W. Bush, Karl Rove, while on the right was the former White House Press Secretary for President Obama, Robert Gibbs. Serving as referee and moderator in the center was Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen. The two political insiders took on a variety of hot button topics, such as the contraceptive mandate and who will win the Republican nomination. While they disagreed on most matters, especially the contraceptive mandate, both seemed to agree that Mitt Romney will ultimately be the Republican nominee.

Energy policy was the main topic of interest for the NEC crowd and the mini-debate between Gibbs and Rove took place on the day that President Obama made a major speech about energy in Miami, just hours from where the ethanol conference was being held in Orlando. Gibbs stressed the president’s “all of the above” energy strategy. “We used less foreign oil last year than we have in 16 years. We have to re-double our commitment to renewable energy, be it wind, be it solar, be it renewable fuels – and I’m not just saying that because I happen to be talking to you all,” said Gibbs, adding that we also need to be utilizing more domestic oil, nuclear, natural gas and coal. “All this has to go into what we do to solve our energy crisis. There’s not a magic bullet.”

Rove did agree with Gibbs on the “all of the above” approach, but argued that the Obama administration was not doing as much as it could. “Robert’s right, we’re using less oil today, in part because you’re putting something into the oil so we don’t need to use as much of it. We peaked out, ironically enough, in our use of oil in this country in 2005 – the year of the RFS,” said Rove, who noted that he was disappointed that the ambitious schedule for getting cellulosic ethanol production on-line under the RFS has not been realized. “And that’s why what you’re doing in innovation is so important. If we’re going to realize the promise of the RFS, it’s going to take exactly that.”

2012 National Ethanol Conference Photo Album

advanced biofuels, Audio, Energy, Ethanol, Ethanol News, National Ethanol Conference, RFA

State of the Advanced Ethanol Industry

Cindy Zimmerman

A panel of advanced ethanol company executives at the National Ethanol Conference was at the same time optimistic and sobering about the future of next generation biofuel production.

“We openly acknowledged the ‘elephant in the room’ and that is that some of the numbers that people were talking about are bigger than we can expect in the immediate term,” said Advanced Ethanol Council executive director Brooke Coleman. “We also acknowledged that while the RFS grows linearly and aggressively over time, the industry grows more like a hockey stick. It’s very slow at the beginning and then there’s an explosion at the end.”

Listen to or download an interview with Coleman here: Brooke Coleman Interview

Coleman (left) moderated the panel which included Chris Standlee, executive vice president of Abengoa Bioenergy; Jim Imbler, president and CEO of ZeaChem; and Bill Brady, president and CEO of Mascoma. Each outlined the progress their companies are making in advanced biofuels.

“Mascoma has a project in the upper peninsula of Michigan, based on hard wood, and it is a joint venture with Valero and we also have a timber company in the joint venture as well,” said Brady, noting that they are an example of how companies are teaming up with other industries to produce advanced ethanol.

During the conference, ZeaChem officially announced the reception of a USDA project grant to use the company’s Oregon demonstration facility to develop advanced biofuels beyond cellulosic ethanol, including bio-based jet, diesel and gasoline. “We announced earlier this year that the first phase of our demo plant was completed, it started up, we’ll be adding to that,” said Imbler. “So, we’re well on our way.”

Abengoa, an international company with a significant interest in starch-based ethanol, is developing a commercial scale cellulosic plant in southwest Kansas. “We started construction in September of last year,” said Standlee. “We will have a facility that will be producing in 2013. It’s very exciting to be in that position finally to be able to say Yes, there is a reality and we see a strong future for cellulose.”

All agreed that financing for advanced biofuels is critical and depends on consistent policy to encourage investment, so accelerated depreciation, the production tax credit and government loan guarantee programs are all important to maintain.

Listen to or download the panel discussion here: NEC Advanced Ethanol Panel

2012 National Ethanol Conference Photo Album

advanced biofuels, AEC, Audio, aviation biofuels, Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News, National Ethanol Conference, RFA

RFA Working Hard to Get E15 to Market

Cindy Zimmerman

When people call Kristy Moore and ask her what she’s doing, she usually answers, “I’m just sitting around changing the nation’s fuel, and I might take a nap after lunch.”

Moore is the Renewable Fuels Association‘s Vice President for Technical Services and she is totally focused on helping the ethanol industry, fuel retailers and consumers make the move to 15% ethanol blended fuel under the EPA waiver that has approved the use of E15 in 2001 and newer model vehicles. “Those vehicles represent 65% of the vehicles on the road today, but more importantly, 82% of the vehicle miles traveled,” she noted during her remarks at the National Ethanol Conference. “What that means is those are the vehicles that are filling up and refilling with fuel on a more frequent basis.”

The recent acceptance by EPA of the health effects testing that now allows retails to register for approval to sell E15. “We are proud to say that to date we have ten E15 registrations sitting on EPA’s desk waiting for their processing,” said Moore.

The next step in getting E15 to consumers is the formulation of a misfueling mitigation plan and Moore says RFA spent six months working on a plan to assure EPA that they will teach retailers how to offer the fuel and make sure that it gets into the right vehicles. That plan has now been submitted to the agency and RFA is continuing work on how the fuel offering will be implemented on the state level. “We’re going to take our E15 retailer handbook to the marketplace where it will walk them through how to meet the regulatory requirements on a the federal and state level so they can focus on consumer needs and growing this market in a safe, profitable manner.”

Listen to or download Moore’s comments here: RFA's Kristy Moore

2012 National Ethanol Conference Photo Album

Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, National Ethanol Conference, RFA

Vander Griend Honored With RFA Award

Cindy Zimmerman

The founder and president of a world leader in ethanol plant engineering and construction is the recipient of the 2012 Renewable Fuels Association Membership Award.

Dave Vander Griend founded ICM, Inc. of Colwich, Kansas in 1995 and developed it into the industry leader for the design, construction, and support of ethanol plants. Presenting the award, RFA chairman Chuck Woodside of KAAPA Ethanol noted the important role that Vander Griend has played in “helping ethanol producers improve efficiencies, develop new technologies and product streams and increase profitability” and adding that “his commitment to the industry is unquestionable and his passion for innovation seems limitless.”

Accepting the award, Vander Griend thanked RFA for working tirelessly for the ethanol industry. “This is not about what one guy can do but what can be accomplished when a whole lot of people work together,” he said. “What we’re doing here is an exceptionally unique thing that has been a blessing to agriculture, worked well to improve the price of grain and the opportunities for agriculture and what we continue to have is the opportunity to extend this quality product to improve the quality of the air for people in urban America.”

Vander Griend is pictured here receiving the award from RFA president Bob Dinneen (left) and Woodside.

Listen to or download Woodside’s presentation of the award and Vander Griend’s comments here: RFA Leadership Award Winner Dave Vander Griend

2012 National Ethanol Conference Photo Album

Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, National Ethanol Conference, RFA

Ag Secretary at National Ethanol Conference

Cindy Zimmerman

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack expressed his personal strong support and gratitude for the ethanol industry during an address at the National Ethanol Conference on Friday.

“We owe ethanol producers in this country a debt of gratitude because we’re paying less at the pump because of what you do,” Vilsack said, noting that prices are about $1 less than they would be without ethanol.

Vilsack also thanked ethanol producers for providing jobs, contributing to a record trade surplus in agriculture and helping to increase net farm income. “In 2011, net farm income for the first time exceeded $100 billion,” he said. “Even adjusted for inflation, this is the best farm economy we’ve seen in four decades and one of the principal reasons is because you all have figured out this new value-added opportunity called renewable fuels.”

Vilsack said he was pleased with the action taken by EPA to allow registration of E15. “If we’re worried about the Straits of Hormuz, if we’re worried about Iran, one way we can be less stressed about this is getting E15 in the tanks of cars across this country,” he said.

E15 is important to Secretary Vilsack, but so is maintaining the Renewable Fuel Standard. “Make no mistake about this. Just because it’s in the law doesn’t mean it will always be in the law.” Vilsack says the success of the ethanol industry has gotten the attention of the oil industry which is trying to modify or eliminate the RFS. “We need to make sure we maintain the Renewable Fuel Standard. It is important to the security of this country that we move toward that 36 billion gallon mark.”

Listen to or download Vilsack’s speech here: Secretary Tom Vilsack at 2012 National Ethanol Conference

I also did a very quick interview with the Secretary, asking his outlook for the ethanol industry and the importance of maintaining the RFS. Listen to or download that interview here: Secretary Tom Vilsack interview

You can watch Secretary Vilsack’s speech here:

2012 National Ethanol Conference Photo Album

Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, National Ethanol Conference, RFA, USDA