Ethanol Reaches Thousands on Sturgis Stage

Cindy Zimmerman

Free Fuel Happy Hours sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association during the Sturgis Rally at the Buffalo Chip Campground reach hundreds of bikers each year, but it’s on stage before the big name concerts that ethanol gets the most exposure.

“This year we had Kid Rock on Sunday evening,” said RFA member Craig Ammann, North America at Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled Spirits. “To be able to go out and promote ethanol in front of a crowd of 50,000 people, that’s a real thrill.”

RFA past chair Mick Henderson, Commonwealth Agri-Energy, agrees that the stage is where they get the most exposure. “When Robert White says we’re the Free Fuel guys, he gets cheers from the crowd,” said Henderson. “When he says we’re the free fuel ethanol guys, he gets that connection there.”

RFA throws coozies and beach balls out into the crowd, some with gift cards for fuel.

Interview with RFA past chair Mick Henderson, Commonwealth Agri-Energy 5:01

Interview with Craig Ammann, Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled Spirits 4:25

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

Groups File Petition for Rehearing of DC Circuit RVP Decision

Cindy Zimmerman

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), Growth Energy and the National Corn Growers Association have filed a petition for rehearing with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the July 2 decision in which the court vacated a 2019 regulation allowing year-round sales of 15% ethanol fuel blends (E15). The petition asks the full court to rehear the case because of significant legal errors in the three-judge panel’s decision.

“If allowed to stand, this court’s decision to vacate EPA’s rulemaking to allow E15 to be sold year-round will have devastating consequences for the market expansion of homegrown biofuels. Petitioning for a rehearing is a critical next step in giving biofuel producers and farmers a fair shot in the marketplace and providing American drivers with better access to cleaner fuel choices. We are hopeful that the full court takes up the petition and reverses the panel’s decision.”

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a 2019 rule by the Environmental Protection Agency that lifted outdated restrictions on the sale of E15. The case, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, et al. vs. EPA, was a challenge by oil refiners to the rulemaking that allowed the year-round sale of E15.

RFA Vice President of Industry Relations Robert White says the decision could bring expansion of E15 to a halt. “It will stall more retailers that were, in some cases, at the ready or already rolling out more E15 stations,” said White. “It also effects terminals because they have to do things differently.”

White adds that there are other ways of extending the Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) volatility waiver to E15 and RFA continues to look at options.

RFA's Robert White on E15 decision (1:19)

Audio, E15, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA

RFA Members See Value in Sturgis Promotion

Cindy Zimmerman

Walt Wendland, Ringneck Energy; Chuck Woodside, KAAPA Ethanol

The 2021 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally marked the 13th time the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) attended to tell the truth about ethanol to tens of thousands of bikers from around the country.

It was the first time that Ringneck Energy CEO Walt Wendland had the opportunity to see the promotion in action and talk to some motorcyclists as they filled up with 93 Octane E10 at the RFA Free Fuel Happy Hours. “I’m amazed at how the motorcycle people see the value of that octane,” said Wendland. “They’re all about octane and all about performance and when they fill up there they know they are getting the best deal they’ve ever gotten.”

Former RFA chair Chuck Woodside, KAAPA Ethanol Holdings, has attended the Sturgis promotion several years and he thinks it has made a difference. “We have seen return customers year over year and they look forward to it, they understand what the fuel has done for their motorcycles,” said Woodside.

Listen to an interview with both Woodside and Wendland here:
Interview with Chuck Woodside and Walt Wendland 4:01

2021 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Photo Album

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

ACE Annual Conference Begins Wednesday

Cindy Zimmerman

The 34th annual American Coalition for Ethanol conference is getting ready to Accelerate in Minneapolis starting on Wednesday evening with a welcome party to celebrate getting back together in person after last year’s virtual conference.

Business gets underway on Thursday morning with a general session that includes an update from ACE leadership where CEO Brian Jennings will be joined by Ron Lamberty, ACE Senior Vice President, and Dave Sovereign, ACE Board President, representing Golden Grain Energy in Mason City, Iowa. That will be followed by a special address from Representative Angie Craig (D-MN).

Get a preview of the activities this week from ACE Senior Director of Operations and Programming Shannon Gustafson.

ACE 2021 preview interview with Shannon Gustafson 4:34

Registration on-line will be open through Wednesday, August 18, and then on-site at the Renaissance Minneapolis Hotel, The Depot. For more information about the event, visit ethanol.org/events/conference.

ACE, ACE Ethanol Conference, Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Ethanol Report RFA 40th Anniversary – Bob Dinneen

Cindy Zimmerman

The Renewable Fuels Association was born in 1981 and RFA is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year by spotlighting some of the pioneers in the ethanol industry who were there at the beginning, like Bob Dinneen.

One of the leading authorities on the history of the U.S. ethanol industry didn’t get his start working for the energy or agriculture sectors. Bob Dinneen grew up in the suburbs of Boston before finding his way to our nation’s capital. It was actually softball that brought Dinneen to the ethanol industry and to RFA in 1987 and he has been with RFA ever since, serving as president and CEO from 2001 to 2018 and currently the organization’s senior strategic advisor.

Listen to Dinneen’s reflections and memories in this edition of The Ethanol Report.

Ethanol Report 8-16-21 (14:49)

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, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA

ACE Calls on President to Set Maximum RFS Volumes

Cindy Zimmerman

The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) is urging President Joe Biden to set the maximum statutory volumes under the Renewable Fuel Standard in the 2021 and 2022 Renewable Volume Obligation rulemaking and pursue all options to ensure uninterrupted market access for E15.

In a letter to President Biden, ACE CEO Brian Jennings said, “We recognize your goal is to electrify the vehicle fleet in the future, but the inconvenient truth is there are hundreds of millions more people driving vehicles capable of using low-carbon substitutes to petroleum such as E15 and E85 today than any other alternative. Since this reality will exist well into the future, increasing the use of ethanol today will immediately reduce GHGs while the production of electric vehicles (EVs) ramps up.”

Jennings cited the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released last week, which makes the case for policies that drive CO2 removal, such as through the sequestration of carbon with climate-smart farming practices and biofuel production, to lower the Earth’s temperature.

ACE will kick off its 34th Annual Conference Wednesday in Minneapolis where much of the discussion will focus on ethanol’s role in a low carbon future.

ACE, ACE Ethanol Conference, Ethanol, Ethanol News

RFA Urges Biden to Support Biofuels Over Foreign Oil

Cindy Zimmerman

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) sent a letter to President Biden last week supporting the Administration’s call for an investigation into the true causes of recent higher gas prices. The letter also underscored that the solution to higher pump prices is not more oil from OPEC+, but rather increased production and use of home-grown fuels such as ethanol.

“Rather than hoping Iraq, Iran, Venezuela and other OPEC+ countries will provide the cure to escalating gas prices in the United States, we 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. “Using more domestically produced ethanol would not only result in lower fuel prices for consumers, but it would also support your goals related to clean energy, climate change, and jobs.”

In the letter, RFA encourages the Biden Administration to finalize already delayed Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs) for 2021 and 2022, take action to ensure consumers have year-round access to E15, and work with Congress to ensure upcoming legislation includes incentives to increase FFV production and expanded infrastructure for higher ethanol blends like E15 and E85.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Oil, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA

Wrap-up Report on Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Activities

Chuck Zimmerman

RFA st Sturgis Motorcycle RallyThe Renewable Fuels Association has completed its on-site activities at the Buffalo Chip Campground during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. To wrap things up I talked with Robert White, VP of Industry Relations, RFA. Official numbers of bikers is not ready yet but looks like it could be a record.

The educational and promotion activities and sponsorships that RFA invests in has helped more and more people understand ethanol better, especially as it relates to pumping it into the tank of their motorcycles. But putting more gas blended with ethanol into motorcycles is just part of the ultimate value of this project. All of these people in Sturgis and at The Chip will be going home to talk with friends and neighbors and they all have cars, trucks, lawn mowers, boats and other gas powered equipment which can run on an ethanol and gas blend.

Robert say there was a steady flow of bikers filling up their gas tanks at the Free Fuel Happy Hours promotion this week. They pumped hundreds of gallons of fuel each day and handed out great t-shirts like the ones in the photo. This event offered the perfect opportunity to talk directly with motorcycle owners about ethanol and to answer their questions. I’ll be sharing some more interviews with bikers about this in coming days. So, take a listen to my interview with Robert to learn more.

Wrap-up Interview with Robert White, Vice President of Industry Relations, Renewable Fuels Association
Interview with Robert White, RFA 7:01

There are lots of photos from this year’s event and activities. I hope you enjoy them and feel free to share. 2021 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Photo Album

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

International Visitors to Sturgis Rally Love Ethanol

Chuck Zimmerman

Sturgis Attendee from HungaryThe annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally attracts visitors from all over the world. During the Free Fuel Happy Hours, educational and promotion efforts by the Renewable Fuels Association are conducted at the Buffalo Chip Campground. I spoke with one of the bikers who is a return visitor from Hungary. He says that in Hungary, fuel blended with ethanol up to 10 percent is common and he has always used it in his motorcycle. You can hear what’s he’s got to say here.

Sturgis vistor/motorcycle rider from Hungary loves ethanol
Sturgis visitor from Hungary :38

Free Fuel Happy HoursDuring the Free Fuel Happy Hours promotion RFA supplies important information for bikers, like this display showing that all motorcycle manufacturers warranty the use of a 10 percent blend of ethanol in their machines. On hand, are staff and board members who answer questions for anyone wanting to learn more.

The Free Fuel Happy Hours take place this week Monday – Thursday, 10am to 1pm, at the permanent fuel pump at the Buffalo Chip Campground.

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

ACE Welcomes Rep. Angie Craig to Annual Conference

Cindy Zimmerman

U.S. Representative Angie Craig (D-MN) will give a special address during the 34th annual American Coalition for Ethanol conference next week in Minneapolis. Rep. Craig will be featured during the morning general sessions on Thursday, August 19, welcoming attendees and providing an update on biofuel issues from her perspective on Capitol Hill.

“Increasing the use of ethanol expands markets for family farmers, supports economic growth in rural America, and reduces carbon emissions,” said Representative Angie Craig. “I’ve seen firsthand how Minnesota’s rural communities have grown due to the expansion of biofuels and that’s why I look forward to addressing the ACE conference crowd of ethanol producers and family farmers about the work being done in Washington to expand and protect the marketplace for low carbon biofuels.”

Representative Craig has supported several key biofuels policy and legislative issues this session, including sponsoring and cosponsoring important bills like the Year-Round Fuel Choice Act and RFS Integrity Act.

The 2021 ACE conference takes place August 18-20 at the Renaissance Minneapolis Hotel, The Depot. For more information about the event, visit ethanol.org/events/conference.

ACE, ACE Ethanol Conference, Ethanol, Ethanol News