DC Gets Grant for B100 Biodiesel Project

Cindy Zimmerman

The Greater Washington Region Clean Cities Coalition (GWRCCC) is getting some help toward lower greenhouse gas emissions in the District thanks to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 2021 Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) grant.

The Project will retire 14 diesel powered vehicles, replacing them with 12 B100 (100 percent biodiesel) vehicles. This effort is projected to reduce greenhouse gases by 76% (98.3 metric tons); this is the equivalent of remove 21.4 passenger cars or planting 1,625 trees. In addition, this project will reduce harmful particulate matter (known to cause cancer, asthma, and lung-related issues) by 97%. The vehicles will also reduce nitrogen oxides (known to cause low level ozone) by 94% among other harmful air emission.

GWCCC Executive Director Ira Dorfman participated in a Virtual B100 Biodiesel Technology Showcase this week. “It appears that Washington DC has become a hot bed for the utilization of B100,” he said.

GWCCC Executive Director Ira Dorfman (2:01)

The National Biodiesel Foundation and National Biodiesel Board are partners in the project.

Biodiesel, NBB

Ethanol Production Hits Near Record High

Cindy Zimmerman

U.S. ethanol production increased last week to pre-pandemic levels and hit a near-record high, according to EIA data analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association for the week ending October 15.

Ethanol production increased over six percent last week, or 64,000 barrels per day (b/d), to 1.096 million b/d, equivalent to 46.03 million gallons daily. This is the third-highest volume on record and just 12,000 b/d below the all-time record. Production was 20.0% above the same week last year, which was affected by the pandemic, and 10.0% above the same week in 2019. The four-week average ethanol production volume increased 4.5% to 1.005 million b/d, equivalent to an annualized rate of 15.41 billion gallons (bg).

Ethanol stocks rose 1.2% to 20.1 million barrels. Stocks were 1.8% above the year-ago level but 6.0% below the same week in 2019.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA

Groups Urge White House to Embrace Biofuels

Cindy Zimmerman

Ten biofuel and farm advocacy organizations are asking President Biden to “swiftly expand access to lower-carbon, lower-cost biofuels as the administration seeks to address the rising cost of fuel.”

In a letter to the White House, rural leaders noted that biofuels hold the power to “insulate consumers from volatile oil markets by extending the fuel supply, much like releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, but with sustainable results.”

“Simply extracting more oil – or importing it from Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) – won’t deliver the results you are seeking for consumers or the climate,” warned the Advanced Biofuels Business Council, American Soybean Association, Association of Equipment Manufacturers, Growth Energy, National Biodiesel Board, National Corn Growers Association, National Farmers Union, National Sorghum Producers, Renewable Fuels Association, and Fuels America.

To promote competitive prices while reducing emissions, biofuel and farm advocates also urged regulators to act swiftly on long-awaited biofuel blending requirements under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

“You can put American motorists first by aggressively pursuing your stated goal of ‘doubling down on the liquid fuels of the future which make agriculture a key part of the solution to climate change.’ On the cusp of COP-26, this is an opportunity to show that the United States is serious about embracing new, cleaner solutions to age-old challenges,” they added.

Biodiesel, biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA

Registration Open for 2022 National Ethanol Conference

Cindy Zimmerman

Registration is now open for the Renewable Fuels Association 27th annual National Ethanol Conference, to be held in New Orleans Feb. 21-23, 2022.

RFA Board Chairperson Jeanne McCaherty, CEO of Guardian Energy, says the theme for 2022 is “Zeroing In on New Opportunities” and the bright future of the U.S. low-carbon ethanol industry.

“As much as the U.S. ethanol industry has been challenged the past few years, it’s easy to be optimistic about our future—and the 2022 theme puts these coming opportunities in the spotlight,” McCaherty said. “RFA’s member companies are focused on decarbonization, innovation, and developing new markets for ethanol and other co-products. These opportunities and many others will be on full display in New Orleans. We have much to share and much to learn from each other, and the National Ethanol Conference remains the top opportunity for networking and moving our industry forward.”

Early bird registration provides substantial discounts until Nov. 30. For more information and to register, visit http://www.NationalEthanolConference.com.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, National Ethanol Conference, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA

Senators Seek Answers on Biofuels COVID Assistance

Cindy Zimmerman

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and several of his Senate colleagues sent a letter this week to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack asking him to explain the delay in delivering financial assistance to biofuels producers negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In June 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced $700 million in aid to biofuel producers as part of the USDA Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative. USDA’s press release indicated that this assistance would be implemented within 60 days. Now, more than 120 days later, biofuel producers are still waiting.

Grassley was joined in the letter by fellow Republicans Joni Ernst of Iowa, Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall of Kansas, Deb Fischer and Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and John Thune of South Dakota.

“There’s no excuse, the money ought to be out, it’s allocated by Congress,” said Grassley during a call with reporters on Tuesday morning. “But if there is an excuse I haven’t heard an excuse.”

Early last month, Secretary Vilsack said biofuels producers should see those payments “very soon.” Sen. Grassley said while he has not spoken with Vilsack recently, he is confident in the secretary’s support of ethanol.

Sen. Grassley on COVID payments for biofuels (1:05)

Sen. Grassley stressed the need for President Biden to support biofuels and the Renewable Fuel Standard during a speech on the Senate floor Monday. “The media has reported the White House has been in discussion with Big Oil regarding rising fuel prices,” said Grassley. “A common-sense solution would be to turn to the biofuel industry for assistance during this time.”

Sen. Grassley floor speech 10-18 (5:53)

Audio, biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News, USDA

RFA Submits Comments on Export Competitiveness

Cindy Zimmerman

The Renewable Fuels Association provided input to the International Trade Administration regarding a U.S. Clean Technologies Export Competitiveness Strategy. These comments were issued in addition to joint comments submitted earlier by RFA, the U.S. Grains Council and others.

The RFA comments, written by Vice President for Regulatory Affairs Kelly Davis, noted the importance of sound science and a level playing field when it comes to lifecycle assessments as other countries consider their own clean standards.

“U.S. ethanol can play a critical role towards global decarbonization goals,” wrote Davis. “Many countries are now developing or revising their renewable energy policies and typically require renewable fuel substitutes for gasoline to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. While the ethanol industry has experienced significant volume expansion, it has also reduced the carbon intensity dramatically utilizing technology adoption and improved efficiencies.”

Davis also stressed the need for greater interagency collaboration between the International Trade Administration and the Foreign Agricultural Service and recommended a working group on bioenergy trade issues. She noted that RFA in the past has successfully worked with the Department of Commerce to offer the International Buyers Program in conjunction with the National Ethanol Conference. This program sunsetted at the end of 2019.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Exports, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA, Trade

Meet the New GREET

Cindy Zimmerman

The U.S. Department of Energy Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) has just released its latest update to the Greenhouse gas and Regulated Emissions and Energy use in Transportation (GREET) model, the standard tool used to audit the energy and environmental effects of transportation fuels such as ethanol and gasoline.

The 2021 GREET model includes a number of significant updates, especially for corn ethanol. Recognizing that the corn ethanol industry has significantly evolved in the past two decades, they conducted a retrospective analysis evaluating the changes from 2005 to 2019.

The results show that corn grain yield has increased while fertilizer inputs per acre have remained constant, which led to a decrease in fertilizer intensities per bushel of corn harvested. In addition, increased corn grain ethanol yield and reductions in energy use have reduced the life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per megajoule (MJ) of corn grain ethanol produced and used. Based on the results of this study, we have updated the time-series values of relevant parameters for the corn ethanol pathway in GREET 2021.

American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) CEO Brian Jennings thanked Dr. Michael Wang and his team at Argonne for making updates to the GREET model which will help farmers, ethanol producers, and government agencies better understand how farming practices play a pivotal role in reducing the overall carbon intensity of corn ethanol. “Given the growing support for new clean fuel markets at the state and federal level, particularly among Midwestern states, these timely updates to the GREET model should help us advocate for policies that give credit to farmers for practices which further reduce corn ethanol’s carbon footprint.”

The 2020 version of GREET created a new Feedstock Carbon Intensity Calculator (FD-CIC) to help quantify the soil carbon sequestration benefits of corn and other biofuel feedstocks. In response, ACE, along with corn grower groups, provided recommendations to modify the calculator to measure crop-specific impacts on soil carbon and reduce nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from fertilizer use. The 2021 update included our request to account for the nitrous oxide reducing impacts of 4R (Right rate, Right form, Right place, Right time) nitrogen management methods, and enhanced efficiency nitrogen fertilizer (EEF) use. The information ACE provided to Argonne showed full implementation of 4R management along with EEF could reduce N2O emissions by up to 40 percent relative to GREET estimates.

ACE board member Ron Alverson with Dakota Ethanol says the FD-CIC has been extremely helpful in evaluating the effect farming practices have on ethanol’s GHG emissions because it accounts for corn yield and energy, fertilizer, and chemical use factors for individual farms instead of relying on default values and can be used by biofuel feedstock producers to determine how best to reduce their carbon intensity. “We look forward to continuing to collaborate with Dr. Wang and the Department of Energy scientists to incorporate additional updates to GREET in the future, specifically regarding corn transportation distances, energy use factors for corn ethanol facilities, lime use rates, and crediting the use of biofuels by biofuel feedstock producers,” said Alverson.

ACE, Carbon, corn, Environment, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Ethanol Report on 13 Years of Sturgis Promotions

Cindy Zimmerman

The Renewable Fuels Association began promoting ethanol at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in 2009 as a way of reaching motorcycle riders with the facts about ethanol in gasoline. Since that time, the organization’s sponsorship at the Sturgis Buffalo Chip Campground has grown to include a permanent fueling station that sells 10% ethanol fuel (E10) year-round. The 2021 Sturgis Rally showed how much progress RFA has made in 13 years to educate bikers about ethanol.

In this edition of The Ethanol Report, RFA Vice President of Industry Relations Robert White talks about some of the highlights of the Sturgis Buffalo Chip partnership over the years and how he believes they have made a difference.

Ethanol Report 10-18-21 (13:46)

2021 RFA Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Promotion photo album

The Ethanol Report is a podcast about the latest news and information in the ethanol industry that has been sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association since 2008.

Choose an option to subscribe

Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Ethanol Report, Motorcycle, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA, Sturgis

REG Breaks Ground on Renewable Diesel Expansion Project

Cindy Zimmerman

Renewable Energy Group (REG) held a groundbreaking ceremony last week to celebrate the start of construction on the company’s improvement and expansion project at REG Geismar in Louisiana. The project will take total site production capacity from 90 million gallons per year to 340 million gallons per year, and bring more than 60 permanent jobs and up to 500 construction jobs to the area.

REG Geismar was the first renewable diesel production facility in the U.S. and was acquired by REG in 2014. The project involves upgrades to the existing site, as well as an adjacent expansion. Improvements will include enhanced marine logistics that will enable global trading of feedstocks and fuel. The estimated project cost is $950 million, and is expected to be fully operational in 2024.

The groundbreaking event included state and local lawmakers, as well as project partners and community members. “It’s an honor to have such a forward-thinking business like Renewable Energy Group right here in the state of Louisiana,” said Louisiana Governor, John Bel Edwards. “REG has been an exceptional partner for this community and our state, and we were proud to be able to provide an incentive package for this improvement and expansion. This team is helping our world achieve lower-carbon goals, all while providing a great benefit to our local economy.”

REG, renewable diesel

RFA Offers President Solution for Rising Gasoline Prices

Cindy Zimmerman

According to AAA, the national average price for a gallon of gas was $3.27 on October 11, the highest price since October 2014. It is 10 cents more than a month ago, $1.09 more than a year ago, and 63 cents more than pre-pandemic in 2019. With gas prices forecast to continue rising, there are reports that the White House is meeting with oil industry officials to discuss solutions.

The Renewable Fuels Association has a solution for President Biden. “Instead of pursuing actions that will lead to increased crude oil production, we again urge your administration to pursue a real and immediate solution to higher pump prices—increased production and use of low-carbon renewable fuels like ethanol,” said RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper in a letter sent to the President this week. “We encourage your administration to expeditiously finalize robust RFS volume requirements for 2021 and 2022, take action to ensure consumers have year-round access to gasoline continuing 15% ethanol (E15), and work with Congress to ensure upcoming legislation includes the incentives necessary to support increased FFV production and expanded infrastructure for higher ethanol blends like E15 and E85.”

According to the latest EIA data analyzed by RFA for the week ending October 8, ethanol production was back up to the million barrel per day level, increasing 5.5% to a 13-week high of 1.032 million b/d (43.34 million gallons.) However, the latest EIA Short Term Energy Outlook lowered the fuel ethanol production average to 960,000 barrels per day for this year, an increase from 2020, but not back up to the million gallon per day level until maybe next year.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA