NEC 2027

NRC Report More Positive for Biodiesel

Cindy Zimmerman

While traditional and next generation ethanol came out negative in the National Research Council report out this week, the biodiesel industry was pleased with the findings.

Anne Steckel, vice president of federal affairs for the National Biodiesel Board, said the report reaffirms that biodiesel is an advanced biofuel that can meet the biomass-based diesel targets under the EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2). “We were happy that the authors recognized a wide variety of environmental and economic benefits from biodiesel,” said Steckel. “For example, they noted that soy biodiesel – about half of U.S. biodiesel production – has a positive impact on livestock feed prices, helping hold down costs. This is because only the oil – which accounts for about 18 percent of a soybean – can be used for fuel, and the highly nutritious soybean meal is used for feed. The report also reaffirmed that biodiesel significantly reduces particulate matter and other harmful tailpipe emissions when compared to petroleum diesel.”

Steckel added that the report noted that there are significant uncertainties surrounding the hypothetical modeling used to calculate indirect land-use change for biofuels. “We believe the evidence demonstrates that biodiesel compares very favorably when compared to petroleum, as the EPA found in its most recent analysis, which shows that biodiesel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 57 percent to 86 percent, depending on the feedstock used,” she said.

Biodiesel, NBB

Navy Exchange Offers E85 to Pensacola Drivers

Cindy Zimmerman

The Navy Exchange Service Command (NEXCOM) has partnered with Protec Fuel to provide more 85 percent ethanol fuel to flex fuel vehicle (FFV) drivers in Pensacola, Florida.

NEXNEXCOM opened its sixth E85 station on a U.S. Navy base at Naval Air Station Pensacola this week. This facility will provide access to E85 fuel for the Navy’s fleet of FFVs as well as the general public.

“We are proud to offer E85 as a preferred choice of energy to drive our country, improve our environment and reduce our country’s dependency on petroleum,” said Larry Boone, NEXCOM’s Automotive Program Manager. “The U. S. Navy is a leader in the use of alternative fuels, including ethanol and biodiesel.”

Florida-based Protec Fuel managed the E85 installation and provides the new greener burning fuel offering at the Navy Exchange (NEX). Protec and NEXCOM also opened two other stations together last year in Virginia.

“We are proud to work with the Navy and NEXCOM to offer this American fuel,” said Steve Walk, an Executive Director of Protec Fuel. “NEXCOM is providing a cleaner burning option for its customers, the Navy, and Pensacola drivers.”

The new Pensacola facility helps the Navy meet the Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance Executive Order under President Obama’s direction, setting a goal of reducing petroleum use in the federal fleet.

E85, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Dow and Argonne Working on New Battery Materials

Cindy Zimmerman

The Dow Chemical Company and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have signed a multi-year research collaboration to jointly develop the next generation of materials for advanced battery technologies.

Dow and Argonne will be collaborating on several new materials with the intent to improve the performance, cost competitiveness and adoption of these advanced materials in the energy storage industry.

Argonne“We are pleased to work with Dow to create new advanced materials for the energy storage industry,” said Jeff Chamberlain, energy storage major initiatives leader for Argonne. “The goal of this collaboration will be to use our common scientific and technical capabilities to develop next generation energy storage materials that address the performance, cost and adoption challenges found in today’s emerging battery technologies.”

Argonne is a global leader in energy storage research and development, and has accrued a suite of more than 150 battery technology-related patents. In the last three years alone, Argonne’s lithium-ion battery technology has been licensed by General Motors, LG Chem, Envia, BASF and Toda Kogyo.

Electric Vehicles

Farm and Ethanol Groups Warn Against RFS Changes

Cindy Zimmerman

A coalition of seven agricultural and biofuels organizations sent a letter this week to two members of Congress who have introduced legislation to modify the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2), warning that it is unnecessary and could lead to higher prices at the pump.

The organizations were reacting to a bill introduced by Representatives Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Jim Costa (D-CA) that would reduce or eliminate the volumes of renewable fuel use required by the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) based upon corn stocks-to-use ratios.

The groups point to a recent analysis by economists at the University of Wisconsin and Iowa State University that found growth in ethanol production reduced gasoline prices by an average of $0.25 per gallon, or 16 percent, over the entire decade of 2000-2010. “In 2010, for example, the authors found that the use of ethanol reduced wholesale gasoline prices by an average of $0.89 per gallon,” the letter stated, adding that the result of an immediate reduction in ethanol output “would be a dramatic increase in U.S. gasoline prices and the resulting increase in U.S. gasoline imports would also cause world gasoline prices to increase in the short run.”

Speaking to concerns over high corn prices, the groups wrote, “Numerous studies have concluded that the RFS is a minor contributor to corn prices. The most recent study, a July 2011 analysis commissioned by the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, found that corn prices would have been exactly the same in 2009/10 if both the RFS and Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) had not existed.”

The groups are the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), Growth Energy, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), the National Farmers Union (NFU), the National Sorghum Producers, and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA).

More analysis on the issue can be found on the RFA E-xchange Blog.

ACE, biofuels, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Growth Energy, NCGA, RFA

RFA Announces 2012 Leadership

Cindy Zimmerman

All officers of the Renewable Fuels Association were re-elected to serve another term at the ethanol organization’s annual membership meeting held this week in Washington DC.

RFAChuck Woodside of KAAPA Ethanol in Minden, Nebraska was re-elected as Chairman of the Board. Also re-elected were Vice Chairman Neill McKinstray, Ethanol Division Vice President and General Manager, The Andersons, Inc.; Treasurer Randall J. Doyal, CEO of Al-Corn Clean Fuel in Claremont, Minnesota; Secretary Walter Wendland, CEO of Golden Grain Energy in Mason City, Iowa; and President Bob Dinneen.

Additionally, the RFA welcomed Bill Brady, CEO of next generation ethanol technology company Mascoma and Chairman of the Advanced Ethanol Council (AEC), to the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the RFA. The AEC represents a wide range of advanced ethanol technologies utilizing feedstock from grasses and corn stalks to wood waste, municipal solid waste and algae to produce clean, renewable ethanol and works in partnership with RFA.

advanced biofuels, AEC, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

Corn and Cattle Groups Disagree Over Changing RFS

Cindy Zimmerman

Corn growers and cattle producers are at odds over new legislation introduced in the House that would change the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2).

The bill, sponsored by Reps. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Jim Costa (D-CA), would allow Congress to reduce the RFS requirement for ethanol whenever corn stocks are tight.

Speaking on behalf of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) during a press conference announcing the legislation, California beef cattle producer Kevin Kester said it would provide relief from tight corn supplies.

“Cattlemen are not opposed to ethanol and we’re not looking for cheap corn. We simply want the federal government to get out of the marketplace and allow the market to work,” Kester said.

Officials with the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) say the measure would significantly weaken the RFS. “The U.S. ethanol industry is an integral part of job creation and economic opportunity throughout rural America,” NCGA President Garry Niemeyer, an Illinois corn grower, said. “This legislation would put progress made by the ethanol industry in jeopardy and we are asking members of Congress to oppose its passage.”

The RFS came into effect in 2005 and was reauthorized and expanded in 2007 to require the use of 12.6 billion gallons of corn ethanol this year and 13.2 billion gallons in 2012, topping out at 15 billion gallons in 2015.

The Goodlatte-Costa bill would require a reduction in the RFS when the stocks-to-use ratio drops below 10 percent, up to a 50 percent reduction if the ratio falls below 5 percent. Under the current corn supply, the reduction would be 15-25 percent.

corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government

Ag Secretary Criticizes Report on Biofuels

Cindy Zimmerman

The U.S. Department of Agriculture was one of the government agencies that sponsored a report on biofuels released yesterday by the National Research Council, but the secretary of agriculture is critical of the findings.

“I think they’re basing conclusions on old information that’s not as accurate as it once was,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack during a press conference on another subject Tuesday afternoon. “I think it’s unfortunate that reports based on, in my view, outdated information are suggesting that we ought to just give up the ghost.”

“We’re not going to give up on this industry,” Vilsack continued. “This industry’s too important to the United States, it’s too important to rural America, it’s too important to our future in terms of national security and it’s too important to the whole innovative culture we’re trying to accelerate in this country.”

Listen to Vilsack’s comments here: Tom Vilsack comments on NAS Report

advanced biofuels, Agribusiness, biofuels, Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News, USDA

Guesses On World Population Growth

Chuck Zimmerman

The green movement rhetoric seems to have ramped up lately. I guess a lot of people are watching too many end of the world movies? Whatever the reason is, it prompted our latest ZimmPoll question, “Do you think the world population will be 10 billion by 2050?” This prediction is being used by all kinds of organizations for all kinds of purposes. But how accurate is it? Here’s what you think. 40% said Exactly or really close; 24% said How can anyone know; 19% said Much more and 17% said Much Less. A lot of people point to a United Nations report for this number. However, they readily admit that no one can know. Here’s an excerpt from the 2004 report that says it pretty clearly. You can find the latest report with revisions here (pdf).

Projections recently issued by the United Nations suggest that world population by 2050 could reach 8.9 billion, but in alternative scenarios could be as high as 10.6 billion or as low as 7.4 billion. What will population trends be like beyond 2050? No one really knows. Any demographic projections, if they go 100, 200, or 300 years into the future, are little more than guesses. Societies change considerably over hundreds of years—as one can readily see if one looks back at where the world was in 1900, or 1800, or 1700. Demographic behaviour over such long time spans, like behaviour in many spheres of life, is largely unpredictable.

Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “How do you feel about the corn supply/demand status?” It has been a tough weather year in some areas of the corn belt. After listening to an NPR show yesterday that featured as a guest Bob Dinneen, Renewable Fuels Association, it was obvious there is a lot of worry and misinformation about our corn supply in the public and on the part of activist environmental groups. What do you think? Take our poll and feel free to comment. Thank you.

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

ZimmPoll

Ethanol Industry Reacts to NAS Report

Cindy Zimmerman

The ethanol industry is challenging a new report from the National Academies of Science that questions the ability of the biofuels industry to meet current goals under the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) and the ability of biofuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

According to the report, production of conventional biofuels and biomass-based diesel fuel will be adequate to meet the requirements of the RFS2, but whether the mandate for cellulosic ethanol can be met is “uncertain.”

“The capacity to meet the renewable fuel mandate for cellulosic biofuels will not be available unless the production process is unexpectedly improved and technologies are scaled up and undergo several commercial-scale demonstrations in the next few years. Additionally, policy uncertainties and high costs of production may deter investors from aggressive deployment, even though the government guarantees a market for cellulosic biofuels up to the level of the consumption mandate, regardless of price.”

RFA AECBrooke Coleman, executive director of the Advanced Ethanol Council (AEC) agrees that technological innovation and policy uncertainty are major hurdles for meeting the RFS2 goals for advanced biofuels. “The RFS is an aggressive, technology-forcing standard that needs complementary policy to be achieved, in much the same way that oil companies rely on a bevy of tax breaks and subsidies to protect the investments necessary to bring new sources of petroleum fuels online as known oil reserves become increasingly scarce,” said Coleman. “If we enact policies reflective of the goals set forth in the RFS, the advanced biofuels industry will emerge and the RFS targets will be met.”

Growth Energy
“You can read this report in a number of ways because the conclusions are based on variables that will undoubtedly change with technological advancements and innovation within the industry,” said Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis. “A continued commitment to the RFS will create the market certainty that is crucial for both first generation and second generation ethanol. But any effort to doubt or dismantle the RFS would block the growth of the industry and ultimately threaten American jobs, our environment and our energy security.”

Also “uncertain” according to the report is the “extent to which using biofuels rather than petroleum will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” “The idea that the RFS may not be an effective strategy to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions is regrettable given the published science on the subject,” said Coleman. “Even with land use change considerations, advanced biofuels are the lowest carbon fuels being developed in the marketplace; far and away less carbon intensive than electricity, natural gas and even hydrogen fuel cells.”

advanced biofuels, AEC, Biodiesel, Environment, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government, Growth Energy, RFA

Wisconsin Cheese Factory Promotes Renewable Energy

Cindy Zimmerman

Crave Brothers is promoting their commitment to the environment and renewable energy on the farm and in the farmstead cheese factory with a newly unveiled logo.

The new Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese logo features a dairy cow inside a green circle with the words “Produced with Renewable Energy.”

In producing their family of award-winning artisan cheeses, the Crave Brothers use 100% green power, and practice water conservation and recycling. Their commitment is evident in their land management practices and in the way they care for their cows. As a carbon-negative company, they produce more electricity with their bio digester generator than they use for their dairy farm and cheese plant. Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese goes one step further, too, inviting customers to join them in the quest for sustainability by reusing and recycling the cheese packaging. Customers can find this new logo on their cheese packages later in the year.

Crave Brothers Cheeses are created at a farmstead cheese factory in Waterloo, Wisconsin “where state-of-the-art technology promotes sustainability while maintaining traditional quality.”

biodigester, dairy, Energy, livestock