ACE Conference 2026

Iowa Biofuel Production Rebounds

Cindy Zimmerman

A new study finds Iowa biofuels production rebounded in 2021 to provided a strong boost to the state’s economy.

The study, authored by John Urbanchuk of ABF Economics and commissioned by the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA), found the production of ethanol and biodiesel accounts for over $5 billion in state GDP, supports nearly 46,000 jobs throughout the economy, and boosts Iowa household income by more than $2.6 billion. All three metrics are up since 2020’s COVID downturn.

“Rebounding biofuels production combined with higher commodity values really boosted Iowa’s economy in 2021, especially in rural communities,” said IRFA Executive Director Monte Shaw. “And what’s really exciting is that so much more is ahead of us. This is why increasing consumer access to higher blends through the Governor’s Biofuels Access Bill is so vital. When Iowans have access to biofuels, they choose biofuels. They save money and support Iowa’s economy. It’s a win-win for all.”

In 2021 Iowa ethanol production hit an all-time record high of 4.4 billion gallons while biodiesel production decreased only slightly to 340 million gallons in response to market and supply-chain challenges.
Read the full study.

Biodiesel, biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Senate Committee Hearing Looks at RFS

Cindy Zimmerman

The U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a hearing Wednesday to examine the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

Chairman Tom Carper (D-DE) said the committee has not held an oversight hearing on the RFS since 2016. “Since the implementation of the program, we’ve come a long way toward achieving our goals. Economic growth in agricultural communities has expanded and our fuels have become significantly cleaner than they were two decades ago,” said Carper. “However, EPA has been slow to make decisions on new advanced biofuel applications and pathways for usage. At the same time, the Clean Air Act prohibits some of the advanced renewable fuels that qualify for state programs from qualifying as renewable fuel under the federal program.”

Committee member Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) pushed back against the narrative by some at the hearing that the RFS is the cause for higher gas prices. “It’s not, it’s about the price of oil. So, I reject that,” said Ernst, who says it has nothing to do with the price of Renewable Identification Numbers (RINS). “Any claim that RIN prices are increasing gas prices, it is a bunch of hogwash.”

EPW RFS hearing - Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA)

Sen. Ernst introduced for the record comments from both the Renewable Fuels Association and Clean Fuels Alliance America.

RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper said the Renewable Fuels Standard has been a “resounding success” by any measure. “In addition to decreasing reliance on imported petroleum, the RFS has reduced emissions of harmful tailpipe pollutants and greenhouse gases, lowered consumer fuel prices, supported hundreds of thousands of jobs in rural America, and boosted the agricultural economy by adding value to the crops produced by our nation’s farmers,” wrote Cooper. “Simply put, the RFS ensures renewable fuels are able to gain access to a fuel market that had been monopolized for nearly a century and would otherwise be closed to competition.”

“The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is necessary to build domestic alternative fuel production capacity, bolster U.S. energy security, and address environmental health. It is succeeding,” said Kurt Kovarik, Clean Fuels’ Vice President of Federal Affairs. “Biodiesel and renewable diesel are solutions that reduce carbon now.”

Audio, Biodiesel, Clean Fuels Alliance, Ethanol, Ethanol News, renewable diesel, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA, RFS

RFA Refutes Negative Ethanol Land Use Study

Cindy Zimmerman

Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper is challenging the results of a new study out of the University of Wisconsin that claims corn ethanol is worse for the environment than gasoline.

Seeking to set the record straight, Cooper said the report, which was funded in part by the National Wildlife Federation, is based on “a series of worst-case assumptions, cherry-picked data, and disparate results from previously debunked studies to create a completely fictional and erroneous account of the environmental impacts of the Renewable Fuel Standard.”

The claims in this report simply don’t align with reality and the facts on the ground, and the paper reads more like a fantasy novel than a genuine piece of academic literature. It should not be taken seriously.

In fact, when related research from some of the same authors was released several years ago, representatives from RFA and corn grower organizations met with this study’s lead author, Tyler Lark, at the University of Wisconsin, in an attempt to begin a constructive conversation about today’s ethanol industry and the real impacts of biofuels policy.

At that time, we shared data and information with Lark and his colleagues and asked how we could collaborate on research. We asked how we could work together to ensure their error-ridden satellite analysis of land-use changes was grounded in reality. We never heard back from them.

RFA is always open to having an honest, fact-based discussion about the impacts of ethanol and the RFS on the environment and economy. We have a great story to tell, and the data to back it up. Ethanol already reduced GHG emissions by roughly half compared to gasoline, and we are on a trajectory to achieve a net-zero emissions carbon footprint for ethanol by 2050 or sooner. Unfortunately, the authors appear more interested in slandering farmers and getting salacious headlines than examining the facts.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

Ethanol Report on New Hauk Designs Project

Cindy Zimmerman

In the wake of the successful flex-fuel Jeep Wrangler project in 2019, the Renewable Fuels Association and the Missouri Corn Merchandising Council are working together with Hauk Designs on a new Can-Am X3 project running on low-carbon E85 fuel, to be featured on Season 4 of the popular Hauk Machines television program.

In this edition of The Ethanol Report, we hear from RFA Vice President for Industry Relations Robert White, designer Kenny Hauk, and Missouri Corn CEO Bradley Schad about this project and other ways corn farmers help promote ethanol.

Ethanol Report 2-14-22 (16:33)

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, corn, crappie masters, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Ethanol Report, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA

Nebraska Ethanol Forum Next Month

Cindy Zimmerman

Biofuels’ stakeholders and experts from across Nebraska and the nation will join together next month for the annual Ethanol: Emerging Issues Forum March 23-24 in La Vista, Nebraska.

The Nebraska Ethanol Board and Renewable Fuels Nebraska organize the forum, which is in its 16th year. It brings together ethanol producers and others integrally involved in production, technology, policymaking and marketing of biofuels and its co-products. This year’s agenda topics include:
Ethanol’s role in environmental health & justice
Farming CI accounting & sustainability
Industry policy forecast
Carbon Capture & Sequestration, Sustainable Aviation Fuel, and other renewable chemicals
Innovative uses for ethanol and its co-products
Retailer market growth and more

Click here for registration and a detailed agenda. Early-bird registration closes Feb. 24.

Ethanol, Ethanol News

WasteFuel Agriculture to Make Green Fuel from Farm Waste

Cindy Zimmerman

WasteFuel Agriculture was launched this week at World Ag Expo in California to provide sustainable, profitable solutions for producers of agricultural waste. Producers will be able to sell biogenic farm waste to WasteFuel Agriculture which will convert it into low-carbon fuels such as renewable natural gas and green methanol.

Compared to conventional fuels, WasteFuel aims for its fuels produced from agricultural waste to cut greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90%. But importantly, WasteFuel Agriculture also provides farmers with a route to effectively manage their waste – whether it is from livestock or other crops – and helps them meet the needs of our communities and maintain stewardship of their land.

Trevor Neilson, Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of WasteFuel said: “At WasteFuel, we believe there is no such thing as waste, there is just potential fuel. WasteFuel Agriculture offers a solution to the growing problem of farm waste that can help ensure the environment’s future. We’re pleased to be launching in the agricultural sector and look forward to working with farmers to reduce waste and emissions.”

The company has received investments from companies including Maersk, NetJets, Prime Infrastructure, and i(x) Net Zero and will now also work alongside farmers and their families to revolutionize mobility by air, land, and sea.

livestock, Natural Gas, Waste-to-Energy

Pearson Fuels Opens 250th E85 Station

Cindy Zimmerman

Pearson Fuels this week opened its 250th retail E85 flex fuel station in California.

Greg Jones, Director of Business Development at Pearson Fuels, says the milestone is long overdue because of the pandemic, supply chain issues and material delays. “In 2022, we’re looking forward to resuming our rapid pace of opening 50–60 new E85 stations per year. We’re also fortunate to have received significant funding from the USDA’s HBIIP Grant Program as well as a generous investment from the Nebraska Corn Board, Kansas Corn Commission, and Missouri Corn specifically earmarked for building out new retail E85 stations throughout California over the next 12-24 months.”

Pearson Fuels is the largest distributor of E85 flex fuel in the U.S., delivering more than 50 million gallons of E85 flex fuel through its retail station network in 2021. This volume of E85 represents nearly 200,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions reduced each year by California motorists choosing to fuel with E85 flex fuel rather than unleaded gasoline. Pearson Fuels is now focusing on blending its E85 with renewable naphtha, resulting in a nearly 100% renewable fuel that is 60% lower in greenhouse gas emissions compared to unleaded gasoline.

“Our goal is to continue to build E85 retail stations throughout the state to bring E85 flex fuel closer to neighborhoods of more FFV owners,” said Jones. “California is a huge state, and there is still an enormous potential to expand our retail E85 footprint.”

E85, Ethanol, Ethanol News

House Members Urge Support for RFS

Cindy Zimmerman

U.S. Representative Angie Craig (D-MN) led several co-chairs of the Congressional Biofuels Caucus in sending a letter urging the Biden Administration to take steps to protect and strengthen the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

The letter encouraged EPA Administrator Michael Regan to maintain the blending requirements for 2022, deny all pending Small Refinery Exemptions (SREs), reconsider proposed retroactive cuts to previously finalized 2020 RVOs and set 2021 RFS volumes at the statutory levels. Craig was joined in signing the letter by Representatives Cindy Axne (D-IA), Cheri Bustos (D-IL) Ron Kind (D-WI), Mark Pocan (D-WI) and David Scott (D-GA).

“The benefits of renewable biofuels are clear,” the six House members wrote. “They play a key role in reducing carbon emissions from the transportation sector, generate economic growth and markets for family farmers across rural America, and reduce the cost of fuel at the pump for hardworking Americans.”

Ethanol industry organizations thanked the lawmakers for their support. “We applaud these House members for standing with American farmers and renewable fuel producers,” said Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper. “They understand the impacts these EPA proposals could have on their districts and across America’s heartland at a time when we need to focus on rebuilding the economy and reducing carbon emissions. We appreciate their support and hope EPA will listen and respond.”

“As EPA prepares to make several important decisions regarding the RFS this year, the backing and leadership of these House members is greatly appreciated,” said American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) CEO Brian Jennings. “EPA has steps at its disposal it can immediately take to get the RFS back on track and we appreciate the House members for underscoring these actions to the Agency, so the program’s potential can be fully realized.”

ACE, EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA

RFA Releases Ethanol and DDGS Export-Import Reports

Cindy Zimmerman

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) has just released the latest statistical reports on U.S. exports of ethanol and distillers grains in 2021.

The ethanol trade summary report shows that 1.24 billion gallons were exported in 2021, representing 8.3 percent of total U.S. ethanol production. While this is 5 percent lower than 2020, it remains the fifth-largest export volume in history and, at $2.77 billion, the value of those exports was the second-highest on record.

U.S. ethanol was shipped to 88 countries and Canada remained the top export destination, taking in 30 percent of U.S. ethanol exports in 2021, followed by India and South Korea. Overall exports fell mainly as a result of lower shipments to Brazil, which were 59 percent below 2020 levels, when it ranked as the second-leading market for U.S. ethanol exports.

The second trade summary report covers co-product exports, including distillers grains, a high-protein feed ingredient for livestock and poultry. Distillers grains exports totaled 11.6 million metric tons in 2021, a slight improvement over 2020 and the third-largest annual volume on record, representing 36 percent of U.S. distillers grains production.

Distillers grains were exported to more than 50 countries. Mexico remained the top destination for U.S. distillers grains, representing 21 percent of total shipments, followed by Vietnam and South Korea. U.S. distillers grains exports set a record in 2021 with an aggregate value of $3 billion.

Listen to RFA president and CEO Geoff Cooper talk about how U.S. ethanol exports continued to be impacted by the COVID pandemic last year in this segment from the recent Ethanol Report.
RFA president and CEO Geoff Cooper 4:09

Audio, Distillers Grains, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Exports, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA

American Coalition for Ethanol Staff News

Cindy Zimmerman

The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) announces the hiring of a new Communications Manager, and the shifting of Ron Lamberty’s role to Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).

Ashley Borchert, former Digital Marketing and Social Media intern at Midcontinent Communications (Midco), replaces Katie Muckenhirn who took on the role of ACE’s Vice President of Public Affairs last fall. Borchert’s responsibilities include handling the organization’s social media platforms and assisting with media and member relations, along with other communication activities, including ACE websites, Ethanol Today magazine, and events and advocacy efforts.

Ron Lamberty’s new role as the organization’s Chief Marketing Officer makes him responsible for the planning and implementation of ACE’s market development and member relations efforts. As CMO, he’ll continue leading ethanol business development in the fuel marketing sector and build strategic relationships with current and prospective ACE members.

“Ethanol plants’ product offerings are constantly evolving in response to emerging market opportunities,” Lamberty said. “With these growing market possibilities, ACE has the experience to help communicate product benefits, identify and educate potential buyers, and ensure public policy provides access and a level playing field for our members’ products. As CMO, I’ll make sure we’re doing all we can to continue to expand markets for ethanol and other products for our members.”

ACE, Ethanol, Ethanol News