POET Ethanol Plants Get Safety Awards

Cindy Zimmerman

Five POET ethanol plants have been recognized for chemical transportation safety, receiving the Union Pacific Railroad’s 14th annual Pinnacle Award. The award is given to companies that have no non-accident releases during the year and have successful prevention and corrective plans in place.

“This is Union Pacific’s opportunity to acknowledge and thank our customers for their continuing efforts to eliminate chemical releases from rail cars,” said Diane Duren, POET vice president and general manager – chemicals. “Rail is the safest way to haul the chemicals that Americans use every day, whether it is chlorine for drinking water or fertilizer for our farms that help feed the world.”

POET Biorefining plants in Ashton, Emmetsburg and Jewell, Iowa; Lake Crystal, Minn.; and Hudson, S.D. received the award.

Ethanol, POET

UNICA: Stop High Tariffs on Clean Technologies

Joanna Schroeder

The ethanol tariff debate continues as today, Marcos Jink, President and CEO of the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA) told World Trade Organization’s Director-General, Pascal Lamy, during a presentation that, “It makes no sense for countries to adopt ambitious policies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while continuing to apply high tariffs on clean technologies that can be instrumental to achieve goals and allowing fossil fuels to be traded freely.”

Photo Credit: SugarcaneblogThis presentation was given as part of Lamy’s visit to Sao Martinho, a sugar, ethanol and bioelectricity plant located in Pradopolis, a town located in the center of Brazil’s sugarcane growing region. The Sao Martinho plant processed 8.1 million tons of sugarcane in the 2009/2010 harvest season, making it the largest among Brazil’s 430 cane processing mills and largest in the world. Earlier this month, this year’s sugarcane harvest began.

“It is essential that WTO member countries reconcile their trade and climate change policies, and that we progress toward the inclusion of ethanol in the list of environmental goods for which import tariffs must be abolished,” said Jank, who argues that ethanol should be recognized as a global energy commodity. He calls for the customs classification for ethanol to be changed to reflect its role as a low-carbon energy solution.

Jank noted that biofuels are not the only clean-technology that may be affected by the move to curb climate change and believes that WTO’s rules may be challenged. He cautioned that without measurable rules based on sound science, the door will be open to creating new trade barriers. He concluded that the greatest risk is the development of implementation mechanisms to prove compliance with sustainability criteria and WTO rules, such as the Directive on Renewable Energy Sources, must be assessed carefully.

biofuels, Ethanol, International

Dyadic Resolves Lawsuit

Cindy Zimmerman

DyadicBiotech firm Dyadic International announced today an agreement to resolve a class action lawsuit initially filed in October 2007.

The litigation, Miller v. Dyadic International, Inc. et al, pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, asserted class action claims under federal securities laws based on allegations of misstatements and omissions by Dyadic and certain of its current and former officers and directors arising out of alleged improprieties at Dyadic’s Asian subsidiaries. The final settlement of this lawsuit is conditioned upon the approval of a Stipulation of Settlement which has been submitted by the parties to the Court. The Stipulation of Settlement provides for payment to the alleged class of $4.8 million in cash to be funded by Dyadic and its insurance carriers. If approved by the Court, the settlement will lead to dismissal of the lawsuit with prejudice.

Dyadic has been involved in developing technology for producing biofuels from agricultural by products such as corn stover and wheat straw.

biofuels, Biotech, Cellulosic

Ethanol Report on Scaling the Blend Wall

Cindy Zimmerman

In this edition of “The Ethanol Report,” Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) Director of Market Development Robert White talks about what RFA is doing to help ethanol scale the rapidly approaching blend wall. He discusses the BYO Ethanol program to get blender pumps installed, encouraging EPA to grant a waiver to allow up to 15 percent ethanol in regular gasoline, and reaching out to consumers to increase consumption of ethanol blends. Robert also talks about how RFA is up for a couple of national awards this week from the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) for their 2009 marketing campaigns.

Ethanol Report PodcastRFA won regional NAMA awards for their Sturgis Motorcycle Rally t-shirt design, the Flex-Fuel Challenge website, and the BYO Ethanol campaign ad. They will find out Wednesday at the Best of NAMA awards in Kansas City if any of them received national recognition.

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Listen to or download the podcast here:

Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Ethanol Report, RFA

USDA Invites Public Comment on Renewable Energy Programs

Cindy Zimmerman

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is inviting public comment on several proposed rules designed to increase the production of advanced biofuels and the development of biorefineries that were authorized under the 2008 Farm Bill.

“We view these proposed rules as part of the strategy to help meet President Obama’s goal to accelerate the commercial production of advanced biofuels and create a viable alternative fuels industry,” Vilsack said.

The proposed rules affect three renewable energy programs administered by USDA Rural Development – the Biorefinery Assistance Program, Repowering Assistance Payments, and Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels. The programs are designed to establish guaranteed loan regulations to develop and construct commercial-scale biorefineries and to retrofit existing facilities using an eligible technology to develop advanced biofuels; make payments to eligible biorefineries to install new systems that encourage renewable biomass energy use and replace fossil fuels; and establish a payment program for eligible producers of advanced biofuels.

Additional information on the proposed rules and instructions on how the public can offer comments are available in the April 16, 2010 Federal Register.

biofuels, USDA

AWEA Wants Grid More Compatible for Wind Energy

John Davis

An advocate for wind energy in the country is calling for a better electrical grid to handle wind energy needs.

The American Wind Energy Association has called for Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to update the way the nation’s electric utility system is operated to make it more efficient and better able to accommodate wind and solar power:

“While utility system operators have done an outstanding job of managing the system to ensure reliable electricity supply, many of the rules and procedures they are using were developed a generation or more ago, when our energy mix and the structure of the electric industry were very different and computing and communication technology was far less advanced,” explained Rob Gramlich, AWEA Senior VP for Public Policy.

“Our filing suggests a number of steps FERC should take to update grid operating procedures, just as they were updated in the past to accommodate new resources, such as nuclear power a generation ago.

“These reforms will make the power system operate more efficiently, even in areas where there is not a large amount of wind energy. Consumers’ electric bills will be lowered and they will get more reliable power. Being able to better integrate large amounts of wind and other renewable sources of energy onto the grid is an added bonus.”

The AWEA says many of the ideas for reforms have already been adopted in Europe and could be implemented here.

Wind

House Leader: Biodiesel Incentive Back by Summer

John Davis

A key Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives has set a goal of Congress renewing the $1-a-gallon federal biodiesel tax incentive and sending the measure to Pres. Obama by the end of May.

The Des Moines (IA) Register reports that House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Michigan Democrat Sander Levin made the prediction:

The House and Senate have been at odds over how to pay for the various tax credit extensions that the legislation contains. Levin said the main obstacle is the need to get a filibuster-proof 60-vote margin in the Senate.

The biodiesel industry, which was already struggling, has slowed to a crawl without the subsidy. The chairman and CEO of a leading biodiesel producer, Ames-based Renewable Energy Group LLC, met privately with Levin and Iowa’s three Democratic U.S. House members, during a break in a Ways and Means hearing. Jeff Stroburg said that while he’s confident House leaders want to get the bill done by Memorial Day he’s not sure the Senate would agree to a deal by then.

“I’m really concerned. There’s a lot of politics involved,” he said.

Industry officials believe biodiesel refineries will be able to ramp up again once they get the subsidy back because there are also mandates out there that will prompt more biodiesel use.

Biodiesel, Legislation

REG Buys Nova Biosource’s Biodiesel Assets

John Davis

Iowa-based biodiesel maker Renewable Energy Group has bought up the biodiesel assets of Nova Biosource Fuels of Seneca, Illinois.

This Security and Exchange Commission filing says REG will also assume Nova’s debts of about $36.25 million.

Pursuant to the Seneca Asset Purchase Agreement, the Seneca Purchaser agreed to acquire substantially all of the Seneca Sellers’ assets, excluding certain specified assets, used in manufacturing ASTM D6751 quality biodiesel and related co-products out of its production facilities in Seneca, Illinois, including all patents and intellectual property rights to Nova’s process technology, and to assume bank term debt of approximately $36,250,000.

It was about a year ago that Nova filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in an attempt to reorganize and stay afloat.

Biodiesel

Biodiesel Board Renews Call for Incentive Renewal

John Davis

The National Biodiesel Board has renewed its efforts to get Congress to renew the $1-a-gallon federal biodiesel tax incentive that expired at the end of 2009. In this latest move, the NBB has sent a letter to Congressional Leadership urging Congress to take immediate action to retroactively reinstate the incentive and was joined by the Petroleum Marketers Association of America; NATSO; Society of Independent Gas Marketers of America; New England Fuel Institute; American Soybean Association; National Farmers Union; and American Farm Bureau Federation:

“The lapse of the biodiesel tax incentive has harmed the domestic biodiesel industry and placed 23,000 jobs in immediate jeopardy. If extension of this effective incentive continues to languish, we risk losing the significant job creation, energy security and environmental benefits associated with the domestic production and use of biodiesel,” stated Manning Feraci, NBB’s Vice President of Federal Affairs.

NBB officials say the lack of the tax incentive has caused a severe retraction in the domestic production and use of biodiesel.

Biodiesel, NBB

Iowa Biodiesel Backer Awards Applications Open

John Davis

Another round of Biodiesel Backer Awards will be handed out by the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association to four K-12 Iowa schools at the 47th Annual School Transportation Conference and Trade Show in Des Moines on July 20. The $2,500 grants will go to Iowa schools that promote biodiesel:

“Fueling school buses with clean, renewable biodiesel is a key component of student health and school transportation safety,” said IRFA Biofuels Manager Grant Menke. “That makes an event focused on the safe transportation of students to and from school a natural place to present Biodiesel Backer Awards. IRFA wholeheartedly thanks the Iowa Pupil Transportation Association for inviting us back to participate in this important event.”

Applications are due to IRFA by May 28th. More information is available at the IRFA’s Web site.

Biodiesel