Ethanol Report – RFA 40th Anniversary Feature on Bruce Heine

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 Ron Miller in our first feature, Bruce Heine is another oil guy who started to see the potential of ethanol during the 1970s oil embargo and went to work in marketing at one of the original RFA member companies. New Energy Co., now known as South Bend Ethanol, brought Heine into the ethanol policy arena on keeping the excise tax exemption and educating lawmakers on the benefits of domestic ethanol production from a national security and environmental standpoint.

Today, Heine is vice president for government and media affairs at Magellan Midstream Partners in Tulsa, which has nearly 80 petroleum terminals in over 20 states, and those that handle gasoline also have ethanol blending capabilities.

Listen to Bruce Heine’s reflections on 40 years of the RFA in this edition of The Ethanol Report.

Ethanol Report 6-10-21 (17:35)

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.

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

RFA Updates Best Practices Manual for Ethanol Rail Transport

Cindy Zimmerman

At the request of the National Transportation Safety Board, the Renewable Fuels Association has published an update to its Best Practices for Rail Transport of Ethanol manual which helps promote regulatory compliance for the safe transport of ethanol via rail.

“More than two-thirds of ethanol travels to the marketplace by rail, and rail transport plays a significant role in the everyday operations of most ethanol production facilities,” said Kelly Davis, RFA Vice President of Regulatory Affairs. “Rail transport of ethanol has established an impeccable safety record over the years, thanks in large part to the best practices the industry has developed and put into place. We are pleased to continue offering our members—and the industry at large—the information and tools they need to stay safe.”

Davis noted that an ethanol plant situated on a rail line can easily expect to receive and ship an average of three dozen railcars per day. This includes the reception of raw materials and process inputs, as well as the shipment of output products—fuel ethanol and co-products like distillers grains—to customers. Rail transport often represents the third-highest expense for a typical ethanol facility, following only expenditures on feedstock and direct energy costs.

Among the important updated practices is to place the older DOT-111 tank cars toward the back in high-hazard flammable trains, to minimize the risk of derailment and tank car breach, and the newer DOT-117s in front of them. RFA and its members encourage the continuing rapid pace of the replacement of the DOT-111 fleet with DOT-117 cars to eliminate the need to sort and arrange cars.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA, safety

E15 Soon to be Welcome in Nevada

Cindy Zimmerman

Nevada drivers will soon be able to fill up with 15 percent ethanol-blended fuel.

Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak has signed legislation to allow sales of E15, which passed the Nevada legislature in May with overwhelming support in both the Assembly and Senate. The bill requires the State Board of Agriculture to adopt rules governing sales of E15 by July 2022.

The bill (AB411) was brought by the Nevada State Assembly Committee on Growth and Infrastructure and Assemblywoman Tracy Brown-May, a Democrat representing Las Vegas, who pointed out the environmental and economic benefits of ethanol. “A reduction of one-half to two-thirds of emissions from motor vehicles could result in a substantial step toward meeting Nevada’s climate strategy goals,” said Brown-May. “In addition, E15 fuel costs and average of 5-15 cents less a gallon.”

A recent study by Air Improvement Resource, Inc estimates that the use of E15 in Nevada has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 148,000 metric tons annually.

Brooke Coleman, Executive Director for the Advanced Biofuels Business Council, testified on behalf of the legislation when the bill was considered in committee. “The bottom line is that (this bill) will bring Nevada into alignment with most of the country and open the door for a cleaner and cheaper fuel blend,” said Coleman.

Nevada will join 30 other states in allowing the sale of E15, which is available today in more than 2,000 stations nationwide.

Listen to the comments from Brown-May and Coleman in support of this legislation and what it would mean for Nevada.
Nevada E15 legislation (6:52)

advanced biofuels, Audio, E15, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Golden Grain Energy Holds Big Bin Bash

Cindy Zimmerman

Golden Grain Energy (GGE) in Mason City, Iowa is now home to the world’s largest grain bin, built by Sukup Manufacturing Co. The bin measures 165 feet in diameter with a peak height of 155 feet, 7 inches and boasts a capacity of 2.2 million bushels.

GGE held a Big Bin Bash this week to celebrate completion of the bin with a choir performing a concert in the empty interior. GGE board chairman Dave Sovereign, who also serves as president of the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), hosted the celebration for the new addition which will increase the amount of corn the plant is able to store onsite for its ethanol production.

GGE documented construction of the big bin, which began in December, on its YouTube channel.

ACE, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Flawed Land Use Change Study Results Corrected

Cindy Zimmerman

A review by researchers at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) have found that two recent studies examining purported cropland expansion in the Midwest are based on a flawed methodology that “suffers from accuracy and certainty issues.” The SIUE authors found that the inherent defects in the methodology of studies by Zhang et al. and Lark et al., “severely hinder its use for estimating land use change over time.”

In their paper, Joshua Pritsolas and Randall Pearson of SIUE’s GeoSpatial Mapping, Applications, and Research Center pointed out that both studies relied on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cropland Data Layer (CDL) tool to estimate the conversion of grassland to cropland, a use for which the tool was not intended and is poorly suited. As the USDA itself has noted, “Unfortunately, the pasture and grass-related land cover categories have traditionally had very low classification accuracy in the CDL,” meaning grassland is often confused with cropland in the CDL dataset.

The reliance of Zhang et al. and Lark et al. on USDA’s CDL tool renders the results of both studies highly questionable. “Given these issues, policy makers should exercise caution in referencing studies that have performed or integrated land cover/use change analysis that relies on the CDL,” according to Pritsolas and Pearson.

According to the SIUE analysis, it is likely that Zhang et al. and Lark et al. grossly overstated the amount of cropland expansion between 2008 and 2016 because the CDL tool frequently misclassified cropland as grassland in the early part of this time period. “The cropland expansion claimed by Lark et al. (2020) and adopted by Zhang et al. (2021) has a high potential of being false change due to poor classification certainty in the earlier CDL,” the authors found.

Read more from RFA.

corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA

POET Acquires Flint Hills Resources’ Biofuel Business

Cindy Zimmerman

POET has acquired the bioethanol assets of Flint Hills Resources’, expanding the company’s production capacity by 40 percent.

The acquisition includes six bioprocessing facilities located in Iowa and Nebraska and two terminals in Texas and Georgia. POET will now operate 33 bioprocessing facilities across eight states with a combined annual capacity of 3 billion gallons.

“This acquisition will increase POET’s ability to bring even more high-quality, plant-based biofuels and bioproducts to the world—allowing us to have an even bigger impact on fighting climate change and cleaning our air,” said POET Founder and CEO Jeff Broin.

Ethanol, Ethanol News

RFA Ethanol Days of Summer Contest is Back

Cindy Zimmerman

It’s time for the Renewable Fuels Association to roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy Ethanol Days of Summer contest again.

The contest, which begins Memorial Day, encourages consumers to submit pump prices for flex fuels like E85 and ethanol blends like E15 to the popular E85prices.com website or through its mobile app. Simply submitting your fuel prices this summer enters you in a random weekly drawing for a $100 fuel gift card.

To enter, contest participants must have or create an account on E85prices.com or on the E85Prices.com app, where they can submit pricing for a chance to win. Pricing on the crowd-sourced website is updated routinely and gives consumers instant access to fuel prices that nearby drivers have reported. Winners will be chosen weekly until Labor Day and users can submit prices for multiple stations each day. No purchase is necessary to participate, and more information can be found at EthanolRFA.org/summer-contest.

More than 5,100 stations are now selling E85 across more than 2,700 cities, and roughly 2,100 stations in 30 states offer E15. Among other information, E85prices.com contains a nationwide map of E85 and E15 stations and historical pricing, along with a public forum to allow consumers to pose questions and have discussions. An ethanol savings calculator is also featured, allowing users to see how much money they can save by using higher ethanol blends.

Because of the pandemic, RFA skipped the annual contest last year, but in 2019 more than 4,000 new users registered at E85prices.com, with 98 different contest winners who collectively received $5,000 in free fuel.

“We are excited to bring back our summer contest as more drivers return to the open road. This contest has been popular with existing users of higher blends and recruiting new consumers,” said RFA Vice President of Industry Relations Robert White. “Ethanol lowers the price that consumers pay at the pump, lowers the amount of carbon in their fuel and their greenhouse gas emissions. We have more stations offering higher blends each week and we want consumers to find those stations and have some fun doing it.”

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA

More About New Biodiesel Superhero Campaign

Cindy Zimmerman

Biodiesel is on a mission to save the planet from carbon and other evil greenhouse gases and the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotional Council (MSR&PC) has kicked off a new campaign that highlights the super powers of biodiesel with colorful bus wraps and a new website – mnbiodiesel.com.

MSR&PC CEO Tom Sluencka says the intent of the biodiesel bus wraps is to show Minnesotans that renewable fuels are already packing a serious punch when it comes to cutting greenhouse gas emissions. “Biodiesel is reducing greenhouse gas emissions by over 80 percent, reducing particulate matter by over 47 percent, and that’s what we consider smog, and we’re doing it with a fuel that’s raised and produced right here in Minnesota,” said Slunecka.

At a time when there is a strong push for electric vehicles, Slunecka says they are proud that the Metro Transit system chose biodiesel to reduce emissions. “They realized that with the cold temperatures in Minnesota and the length of some of their routes that big, heavy batteries in their buses were just not going to get the job done,” he said. “So, instead they decided to use the original advanced biofuel, which is biodiesel.”

Slunecka discusses the new campaign and the superhero benefits of biodiesel in this interview.

MN Biodiesel Superhero Campaign - MSR&PC CEO Tom Slunecka (9:33)

Learn more about this super new campaign.

Audio, Biodiesel, Soybeans

RFS Integrity Act Introduced in Senate

Cindy Zimmerman

U.S. Senators Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) this week introduced the bipartisan RFS Integrity Act of 2021 to “provide more certainty for rural America by bringing transparency and predictability to EPA’s small refinery exemption process.”

The bill would require small refineries to petition for Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) hardship exemptions by June 1st of each year. This change would ensure that EPA properly accounts for exempted gallons in the annual Renewable Volume Obligations (RVO) it sets each November.

“This legislation is necessary because under President Trump, EPA brazenly granted nearly 90 waivers for small refineries, erasing over 4 billion gallons from the RFS volumes established by Congress,” said
American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) CEO Brian Jennings.

“While we remain hopeful that the U.S. Supreme Court will soon put this issue behind us once and for all by affirming the Tenth Circuit Court’s decision in RFA et al. v. EPA, introduction of the RFS Integrity Act marks an important step forward toward getting the program back on track,” said Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper.

The Tenth Circuit’s vacatur of three last minute Trump Administratin exemptions last week means RFA was successful in preserving 260 million gallons of renewable fuel blending requirements that would have otherwise been erased if the exemptions had been allowed to stand.

RFA asked both the Tenth and D.C. Circuit Courts to dismiss its challenges to the three midnight-hour exemptions. “Now that the Court has vacated these improperly granted exemptions and is sending them back to EPA for reconsideration, we are gladly requesting the withdrawal of our original objections,” said Cooper.

ACE, EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

Legislation Would Extend Biodiesel Tax Credit

Cindy Zimmerman

Legislation was introduced this week in both the House and the Senate that would extend the biodiesel tax credit through 2025.

Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) introduced the bipartisan Biodiesel Tax Credit Extension Act of 2021 in the Senate, while Rep. Cindy Axne (D-IA) and Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) put forth the bill in the House. The tax credit is set to expire at the end of 2022 after being revived in December 2019.

“The biodiesel tax credit has proven to work by reducing our dependence on foreign oil and lowering greenhouse gas emissions,” Grassley said. “The biodiesel industry employs more than 60,000 Americans. This extension would provide important, longer-term stability for them and their communities.”

Sen. Grassley on biodiesel tax extension (1:41)

“The biodiesel tax credit continues to be extremely successful in expanding consumer access to cleaner fuels,” said Kurt Kovarik, National Biodiesel Board Vice President of Federal Affairs. “Biodiesel and renewable diesel cut carbon emissions by an average of 74% compared to petroleum diesel and they support job creation and economic opportunity for rural communities across the country. NBB’s members sincerely appreciate Senators Grassley and Cantwell and Representatives Axne and Kelly, along with the 27 original cosponsors.”

Audio, Biodiesel, NBB