Ethanol Groups Want Transparency in SRE Process

Cindy Zimmerman

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and Growth Energy filed a joint FOIA request Tuesday calling on the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy to release the names and locations of refineries granted exemptions from their Renewable Fuel Standard obligations.

RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper and Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor offered the following joint statement on the filing: “The public has a right to know which companies are receiving waivers from their Clean Air Act obligations and skirting requirements to blend cleaner, greener renewable fuels like ethanol. It is disingenuous for EPA to suggest that the names and locations of the exempted refineries constitute confidential business information, especially when the Agency itself has twice proposed to publicly disclose this information. We will not stop our efforts to bring transparency to this process until the shroud of secrecy has been lifted on the small refinery exemption program.”

The dispute centers on EPA’s refusal to provide certain basic information about refinery exemptions as requested by RFA and Growth Energy under the federal Freedom of Information Act. EPA incorrectly claims that even the names and locations of refineries receiving waivers are protected because they constitute “commercial or financial information obtained from a person [that is] privileged or confidential.” But RFA and Growth Energy have simply requested the names and locations of the refineries petitioning for exemptions, not any commercial information or financial data that might otherwise be exempt from public disclosure under FOIA.

“Although EPA shares the aggregate number of exemptions it has decided to grant or deny, its withholding of the basic information regarding individual exemption decisions sought here has made it difficult or impossible for affected third parties (such as Plaintiffs) to challenge its exemption decisions,” RFA and Growth Energy state in the court filing. “EPA has relieved scores of refineries of their statutory compliance obligations without any public process, leaving Plaintiffs and other affected entities ‘without a viable avenue for judicial review.’”

EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Growth Energy, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA

Author and Energy Expert Daniel Yergin to Headline NEC

Cindy Zimmerman

Pulitzer Prize winning author and energy expert Daniel Yergin will be a keynote speaker at the 26th annual National Ethanol Conference. Dr. Yergin will speak the morning of Wednesday, February 17, with a presentation titled, “The New Map: Energy and Geopolitics Coming Out of the Pandemic.”

“Dr. Yergin’s appearance at the NEC will be especially timely this year, as the geopolitical landscape continues to shift, climate policies are rapidly reshaping fuel markets, and the energy sector continues to recover from the devastating impacts of the COVID pandemic,” said Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper.

Currently the vice chairman of IHS Markit, one of the leading information and advisory firms in the world with 16,000 employees worldwide, Dr. Yergin has served on the U.S. Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Board under Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump. He is a director of the Council on Foreign Relations and a trustee of the Brookings Institution, serving also on the Energy Advisory Council of the Dallas Federal Reserve.

As an exclusive benefit for participating in this year’s NEC, all registered attendees will receive a copy of Dr. Yergin’s newest book, 2020’s The New Map: Energy, Climate and the Clash of Nations. It has been selected as one of the Best Books of the Year by both USA Today and NPR, and The Book of the Year by Bloomberg Surveillance

Taking place digitally February 16-18, 2021, the National Ethanol Conference is the most widely attended executive-level conference for the ethanol industry. For more information, visit www.NationalEthanolConference.com.

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

Nuseed Carinata Feedstock Grows Global Potential

Cindy Zimmerman

The global potential for Nuseed’s Carinata as a renewable fuel feedstock is advancing with the harvest of a commercial crop currently underway in Argentina and of Nuseed R&D trial plots in Southern France.

“The Nuseed Carinata R&D plots show good potential, growing Nuseed Carinata hybrids between rotations in the same region as Europe’s largest biofuel producers would be a huge benefit,” said Alex Clayton, Nuseed Global Business Development Leader, Carinata. “The work we are doing now is the start of a strategy that will help ensure Nuseed Carinata hybrids grow well in what are typically unproductive periods in the crop cycle for growers in the EU.”

Nuseed is advancing Carinata hybrids that produce excellent non-food oil for renewable fuels and non-GM high protein meal for livestock feed, plus agronomic advantages including the huge biomass above ground and extensive root system. It’s the Nuseed Carinata plant structure that substantially removes carbon from the air where it’s harmful and sequesters it to where it’s desperately needed to improve soil health.

Carinata is an oilseed crop that is drought resistant, heat and frost tolerant, and can be refined into diesel and jet fuel, as well as a high protein meal for animal feed. The crop is currently being produced in the United States in two main production regions – the Southeast (GA, FL, AL, MS) and the Northern Plains (SD, ND, MT, NE).

Biodiesel, feedstocks, International

RFA Celebrating Four Decades in 2021

Cindy Zimmerman

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is celebrating its 40th anniversary of biofuels policy leadership all year in 2021.

RFA was created in 1981 by a small group of innovative farmers and business leaders with the ambitious goal of growing production and demand for ethanol, a relatively unknown renewable fuel that was cleaner-burning, homegrown, and environmentally friendly. Four decades later, the U.S. ethanol industry has grown into a thriving and dynamic renewable energy powerhouse, and RFA continues to build upon the vision, leadership, and ingenuity of its founders.

“It’s no mistake that RFA has been nicknamed ‘the voice of the ethanol industry.’ In many ways, the story of RFA is the story of the ethanol industry itself,” said RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper. Since the founding of the organization, U.S. ethanol production has grown nearly 16,000 percent, from about 100 million gallons to the record high of 16.1 billion in 2018.

Through various publications and activities, RFA will celebrate its 40th anniversary all year long in 2021. The association will look back on the milestones of an industry that grew from just a handful of small plants in a few Corn Belt states to more than 200 sophisticated, high-tech biorefineries nationwide. Today’s ethanol industry supports almost 350,000 jobs and contributes more than $40 billion to the nation’s economy each year, a far cry from its humble beginnings.

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

Top Ethanol Stories of 2020

Cindy Zimmerman

Ethanol Industry Mourns Loss of Ray Defenbaugh
Biden Wants Zero Emissions by 2025, or 2050
Wheeler Court Decision Could Change Small Refinery Program
Ethanol Plants Can Shift to Hand Sanitizer
Court Strikes Down Small Refinery Exemptions
USDA Secretary Talks Biofuels at #Classic20
RIP Ethanol Industry Leader Bob Sather
President Trump Order Helps Expansion of E15
Study Finds Gas Car Ban Would Hurt Biofuels and Farmers
RFA CEO Offers Outlook for Ethanol’s Future

Ethanol, Ethanol News

Ethanol Report 12-28-20

Cindy Zimmerman

Like everyone else, ethanol producers will be happy to see the end of 2020 with hopeful hearts that 2021 will be a better year.

In this edition of the Ethanol Report, we take a ride back through the year starting with the high hopes for a great year in January and February, into the devastating impact of COVID-19 restrictions on travel in the spring, the continuing saga of small refinery waivers, celebrating 15 years of the RFS and increases in E15 availability, and ending the road with preparations to work with a new presidential administration.

Comments come from Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Geoff Cooper, RFA Chief Economist Scott Richman, Senior Strategic Advisor Bob Dinneen, Vice President of Industry Affairs Robert White, Director Of Market Development Cassie Mullen, RFA board members Jeanne McCaherty with Guardian Energy, Randy Doyal with Al-Corn Clean Fuel, Neil Koehler with Pacific Ethanol, and Chuck Woodside of KAAPA Ethanol.

Ethanol Report 12-28-20 (27:11)

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

Ames Adds New 100% Biodiesel Powered Trucks

Cindy Zimmerman

Renewable Energy Group and Optimus Technologies recently partnered to help Ames, Iowa grow its fleet of sustainable vehicles.

The City of Ames is adding seven new all-purpose dump trucks to their fleet that have the Optimus Technologies advanced fuel system integrated into their new vehicle specification. The Optimus system enables the engines to operate year-round on 100 percent biodiesel (B100) produced by Renewable Energy Group (REG).

A pilot project was conducted this year with five trucks using Optimus’ Vector System, combined with REG’s B100 biodiesel. The Vector System is designed to enable trouble-free use of biodiesel in all engines in all operating conditions.

Even in the sub-zero operations the snowplows were subjected to while battling the harsh Iowa winter, the Vector System ensured that the vehicles performed flawlessly on biodiesel. One key feature of the Vector System is that it never inhibits the use of conventional diesel fuel; the system always starts and shuts down the engine on conventional diesel, operating on biodiesel only after the engine and fuel system achieve optimal operating conditions.

Biodiesel

COVID Relief Bill Passes with Aid for Biofuels Producers

Cindy Zimmerman

Agricultural and biofuels groups as well as farm state lawmakers are pleased that the new COVID relief package passed by Congress last night includes help for producers excluded from previous aid legislation.

Sen. John Thune (R-SD) says relief includes the Paycheck Protection Program for Producers Act. “The bill also includes funding to allow the Department of Agriculture to provide additional assistance to ag producers who were dealing with a tough economy before the pandemic hit,” said Thune.

The bill explicitly makes producers of biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel eligible for USDA assistance, at the discretion of the secretary. “Biofuel producers have suffered from the drop in fuel demand during the pandemic and I hope the secretary will ensure that they are able to receive assistance,” Thune said.

Sen. John Thune (R-SD) on COVID relief for agriculture :58

The bill also extends key tax provisions that support innovation and expansion in the renewable fuels industry, including the Second Generation Biofuel Producer Tax Credit, Alternative Fuel Refueling Property Credit, and the Section 45Q tax credit for carbon sequestration.

Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President and CEO Geoff Cooper says the aid is much needed. “More than half of the ethanol industry shut down during the extraordinary demand collapse in the spring, and producers across the country still have not fully recovered from that market shock. The pandemic has cost the industry nearly $4 billion in lost revenue to date, with losses expected to continue well into 2021.”

American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) CEO Brian Jennings says they were hoping Congress would require USDA to make relief payments to biofuel producers, but he expects Agriculture Secretary nominee Tom Vilsack will be supportive. “Congress gave USDA flexibility to provide relief for biofuel producers in the last stimulus package, but USDA declined to exercise it. That is why job one in 2021 will be to work with incoming USDA Secretary Vilsack, upon his confirmation in the U.S. Senate, to get assistance to the industry in rapid fashion.”

ACE, Audio, Biodiesel, biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA, USDA

COVID Deal Includes Previously Excluded Biofuels

Cindy Zimmerman

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN) says the latest COVID relief deal moving through Congress this week has new provisions to provide help for food and agriculture sectors impacted by the pandemic restrictions, including biofuels.

In addition to a 15 percent increase in benefits for recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for six months, Peterson pointed specifically to the inclusion of important support for those who were left out earlier assistance, including contract livestock and poultry growers, ethanol producers that saw a drop in demand, and livestock and poultry producers who had to depopulate herds and flocks as a result of supply chain disruptions.

Relief for biofuels producers would come from $11.2 billion for the USDA to be distributed by the Secretary with direction by Congress. Specific language says the Secretary “may make payments to producers of advanced biofuel, biomass-based diesel, cellulosic biofuel, conventional biofuel, or renewable fuels with market losses due to COVID-19.”

Read the full breakdown of the food and agriculture provisions in the bill.

Biodiesel, biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News