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

MN Soybean Council Promotes Superhero Biodiesel

Cindy Zimmerman

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s … Biodiesel!

This month, the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotional Council (MSR&PC) is debuting a super-powered campaign that highlights the wonder of biodiesel.

Throughout the spring and summer, biodiesel’s carbon-reduction message will be splashed across dozens of Metro Transit buses in a comic book-themed campaign sponsored by MSR&PC. The Council has also launched a new website – mnbiodiesel.com – touting the muscle behind this homegrown fuel.

Earlier this spring, the Metropolitan Council approved a measure to invest $122 million in adding 143 new biodiesel buses to the Metro Transit’s fleet. The new buses account for about 15% of the fleet. 46 buses in total will carry MSR&PC’s superhero message.

The intent of the biodiesel bus wraps is to inform Minnesotans that – despite calls for more electric vehicles – renewable fuels are already packing a serious punch when it comes to cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Learn more about this super new campaign.

Biodiesel, Soybeans

Report Shows How U.S. Farmers Can Fight Climate Change

Cindy Zimmerman

A new report commissioned by Farm Journal Foundation finds U.S. farmers have the potential to significantly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and become part of the global solution to climate change.

U.S. agriculture contributes about 10% of the total greenhouse gas emissions of the entire national economy, but farmers could greatly reduce those emissions if they were provided with the right government incentives, according to the report, which was co-authored by Dr. John Reilly of MIT’s Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change and Dr. Stephanie Mercier, senior policy adviser at Farm Journal Foundation.

Joining Farm Journal Foundation in releasing the report Thursday were Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Bill Hohenstein, director of the USDA’s Office of Energy and Environmental Policy.

Sen. Stabenow addressed how the report ties in with the Growing Climate Solutions Act and the importance of increased funding for conservation programs.
Farm Journal Foundation climate report - Sen. Stabenow (2:52)

Bill Hohenstein discussed what USDA is doing to address climate change priorities and the latest progress report on Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry.
Farm Journal Foundation climate report - Bill Hohenstein, USDA (8:18)
Hohenstein also commented on how policies such as California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard help incentivize farmers and biofuel producers to reduce GHG emissions.
Bill Hohenstein, USDA, comments on LCFS and biofuels (1:08)

Report co-author Dr. John Reilly explained how agriculture has the greatest stake in climate change, but also the greatest ability to reduce emissions in a variety of ways.
Farm Journal Foundation climate report - Dr. John Reilly, MIT (7:04)

Dr. Stephanie Mercier talked about policies that can help agriculture be part of the climate change solution.
Farm Journal Foundation climate report - Dr. Stephanie Mercier (8:46)

Audio, biofuels, carbon capture, Environment, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Farming, USDA

Ethanol Report – RFA 40th Anniversary Feature on Ron Miller

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.

In 1981, Ron Miller was head of marketing for the new Pekin Energy plant, which is now one of the oldest in the ethanol industry and goes by the name of Alto Ingredients. At the time, Pekin was one of only about five players in the ethanol industry, so Miller also found himself involved in the start up of RFA. He chaired the organization twice, from 1997-2001 and 2006-2007, making him RFA’s longest-serving chairman.

Listen to Ron Miller’s story and his thoughts on the growth of the ethanol industry and RFA’s 40th anniversary in this edition of The Ethanol Report.

Ethanol Report 5-21-21 (17:11)

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

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