Cool Planet BioFuels has made a major breakthrough in converting biomass to gasoline. Using giant miscanthus, an advanced bioenergy crop, the company achieved 4,000 gallons/acre biomass to gasoline conversion in pilot testing. Gasoline has about one and a half times the energy of ethanol, so this is about twelve times more yield than current corn ethanol production levels. According to …
2012 National Ethanol Conference Scholarship Winners
Here are the 2012 National Ethanol Conference Scholarship winners. In the photo with leaders from the Renewable Fuels Association are Olumoye Ajao, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal; Vinay Patel, Troy University; Anahita Eckard, South Dakota State University; Ted Elverson, South Dakota State University; Hunter Flodman, University of Nebraska; Jason Levar, Minnesota West Community and Technical College and Karen Lewis, Arizona State …
EPA Approval Moves E15 Closer to the Market
Fifteen percent ethanol blended motor fuel has gotten one step closer to commercial availability with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approval of health effects testing submitted by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and Growth Energy. EPA concluded, “Our evaluation therefore concludes that RFA/Growth Energy has submitted data and analysis that would satisfy the Tier 1 and Tier 2 testing requirements for …
Ethanol Report on RFS Challenge
The Renewable Fuels Association is pleased with the action taken by environmental groups in withdrawing from a lawsuit brought by the National Chicken Council, National Meat Association, and National Turkey Federation challenging EPA’s Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS). In this edition of “The Ethanol Report,” Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen talks about what this means for the challenge …
BBI International and NEAtech Form Joint Venture
BBI International and NEAtech have formed a joint venture, called BBI Consulting Services, to offer bioenergy consulting to thousands of companies and organizations worldwide, as well as state and federal departments in the United States. BBI International originally started as a bioenergy consulting firm in 1995 and has since grown into a media and events company focused on growing the …
Federal Judge Finds California LCFS Unconstitutional
A Federal District Court judge in Fresno, California has sided with America’s ethanol industry in ruling that the State of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution and is therefore unconstitutional. In a joint statement, Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen and Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis said: “The state of …
Butamax Signs First ‘Early Adopter’ Agreement
Butamax Advanced Biofuels has entered into an agreement on commercialization principles with Highwater Ethanol, a leading ethanol producer based in Lamberton, Minn. Butamax, a leading global biobutanol technology development company, is working to offer current ethanal producers proprietary biobutanol technology to permit improved biofuels growth and plant profitability. “We are developing relationships with a group of early adopters. These facilities …
RFA Responds to EU Ethanol Probe
The European Union (EU) has initiated anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations regarding U.S. exports of ethanol to Europe and current U.S. policies surrounding ethanol production and use. Allegations by EU ethanol producers, represented by the organization ePure, suggest that U.S. ethanol exports to Europe are taking advantage of the expiring volumetric ethanol excise tax credit, or VEETC, prior to export …
Major Global Companies Sign on to WindMade™ label
Major global companies including Motorola Mobility, Deutsche Bank, Bloomberg, Method and BD (Becton, Dickinson and Co.) announced their commitment to use at least 25 percent wind energy and become certified under the new WindMade™ consumer label at a Global Launch event in New York last week. The label allows participating companies to communicate the share of wind power and other …
Ethanol Train Terminal to Open in Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama is going to be the new home of an ethanol unit train terminal located on the BNSF Railway, owned by BlendStar, LLC, a subsidiary of Green Plains Renewable Energy. The new terminal will have 160,000 barrels of storage and accept 96-car unit trains of ethanol per day. Expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2012, it …