Food Price Increase Facts – Updated

Chuck Zimmerman

RFA Press ConferenceUpdated with recorded video

Hello from Washington, DC and the National Association of Farm Broadcasting annual Washington Watch program. I’m covering their conference on our sister site, AgWired. Today at 1pm eastern time, I’ll be attending a press conference at the National Press Club being hosted by the Renewable Fuels Association. In attendance will be:

The Honorable John Block, former Secretary of Agriculture
Tom Buis, President, National Farmers Union (NFU)
Bob Dinneen, President of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA)
Rick Tolman, CEO, National Corn Growers Association (NCGA

The topic will be: “Farmers and Ethanol Industry to Present the Facts On Food Price Increases.” This topic just won’t go away and it’s at least in part due to the immense amount of misinformation being spread in the media, most notably this week, the Washington Post with their irresponsible series called, Global Food Crisis.

I’m hoping to be able to stream the press conference live this afternoon and you’ll be able to watch it here with the following player. Basically, starting at 1pm or within a few moments of that, you should be able to click on the player and see the live stream. A lot depends on the internet connection I’ll have there. In any case, I’ll also be recording it to post on Domestic Fuel as well.


Update: The live stream worked! Here is a recording of the first 20 minutes or so:

Here is some additional footage of today’s press conference:

Listen to the entire one hour plus press conference here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/rfa/food-price-press-conf.mp3]

You can see an online photo album from the press conference here: RFA Press Conference Photo Album

Audio, corn, Ethanol, Food prices, News, RFA, Video

Missing 500,000 Barrels a Day

John Davis

geesman.jpgAn opinion piece in GreenEnergyWar.com asks an interesting question: Wouldn’t we miss the 500,000 barrels of oil that biofuels replace every day?

Check out what former California Energy Commissioner John Geesman (who, by the way, has also been following California politics for more than 40 years) has to say:

As debate continues to rage over the role which biofuels policies have played in the extraordinary inflation in world food prices, a sobering awareness may spread. Crop-based fuels like ethanol and biodiesel may have already become an indispensable element of global supplies of liquid fuels. Their absence could have a significant impact on the price of oil.

That’s the gist of some recent cautionary remarks coming from the International Energy Agency, generally considered the analytic watchdog for the energy consuming interests of the developed world. By IEA’s estimate, biofuels make up about half the new fuel coming to market this year from outside the OPEC cartel.

In the words of William Ramsey, deputy executive director of the IEA, “If we didn’t have those barrels, I’m not certain where we would be getting those half a million barrels,” adding that OPEC has indicated that it will not increase supply.

What would be the impact on oil prices without those barrels? Using a slightly different analysis, focused on an annual increase in global production of biofuels of about 300,000 barrels-of-oil-a-day equivalent, Merrill Lynch commodity strategist told the Wall Street Journal that oil and gasoline prices would be about 15% higher if biofuel producers weren’t increasing their output.

Significantly, that 300,000 barrels-a-day amount represents one-third of the world’s growth in the demand for oil last year, which was about 900,000 barrels-a-day.

Now, I don’t know about you, but 15 percent more for my gas would push it over $4-a-gallon… and I know I’m not paying as much as some people are paying. I’m just glad we’ve got some folks outside of OPEC doing what they can to make it a little better for folks like you and me… and some floks who are writing opinion pieces like Geesman is doing.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, News, Opinion

New Biodiesel Production Method Lands Student on GMA and Before Congress

John Davis

krohngma.jpgA student from Augsburg College in Minnesota has come up with a new method of biodiesel that has landed his story on Good Morning America and before the Senate Agriculture Committee.

This story from TwinCities.com says Brian Krohn, along with chemistry professor Arlin Gyberg, Krohn’s college adviser, are making biodiesel from non-food stocks like algae:

Their research is drawing attention as prices for soybeans, corn and other commodities climb beyond the reach of some of the world’s poorest inhabitants, partly because of their value in making fuels like biodiesel and ethanol.

“Good Morning America,” the ABC morning news show, taped a segment with Krohn Monday for airing today. On various days this week, he and Gyberg will be in Washington, D.C., to brief U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and the staffs of U.S. Reps. James Oberstar, Collin Peterson and Keith Ellison, all Minnesota Democrats.

Krohn’s research led to the creation of a process of making biodiesel that can use vegetable oils and animal fats that are high in free fatty acids, which usually interferes with biodiesel production, said Gyberg, his adviser.

Soybeans have almost none of these fatty acids, which is why they’ve been favored in fuel production, Gyberg said.

The new process can use oils squeezed from a wide range of sources — from animal fat to common algae to corn mash left over from ethanol production — all with fatty acid content that normally rules them out as sources of biodiesel, the professor said.

In addition to using non-food stocks, the process is faster and cheaper than using soybeans, helping settle part of that food-versus-fuel debate.

Biodiesel

Ceres First to Brand Seeds for Bioengery Crops

John Davis

ceres.pngAs technology unleashes more and more energy possibilities from more and more crops, it can get a little confusing as to which plants can do what. Ceres, Inc. plans to clarify bio-friendly seeds with its new bioenergy seed brand.

Energy crop company Ceres, Inc. plans to market its agricultural seeds and traits under the trade name Blade Energy Crops in the United States. Company president and CEO Richard Hamilton unveiled the new brand at the BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology in Chicago earlier today.

“Blade will be the first multi-crop seed brand supplying the new market for non-food, low-carbon biofuel feedstocks,” Hamilton said. These biomass-dense crops will be grown as raw materials for next-generation biofuels and biopower. One of the great appeals of energy crops is that they can thrive on agricultural lands that are ill-suited to food production.

“Supported by the latest technology in genomics-based breeding, trait development and compositional analysis, we are positioning Blade as a premium seed brand for biofuel and biopower feedstocks. For growers, that means high yields and greater yield stability. Downstream, it means easier processing, and ultimately, more energy per ton of biomass,” said Hamilton. “From both an economic and environmental perspective, if we are going to turn plant matter into fuel, we should use feedstocks that give us the maximum fuel yield per acre.”

The company says the Blade name was inspired by its first crops, switchgrass, sorghum and canes, which are from a category of closely related grass species, known as C4 grasses. C4 grasses are the natural world’s most efficient engines of photosynthesis, the process by which plants store solar energy in the form of carbohydrates. New technologies have made it possible to convert the most abundant form of these energy-rich molecules, called cellulose, into renewable fuels.

Agribusiness, corn, Distribution, Energy, Farming, News

President Talks Ethanol in Press Briefing

Cindy Zimmerman

President Bush talked about the farm bill, higher food and energy costs, expanding domestic oil production, ethanol and other alternative energy sources during a press briefing on Tuesday morning.

The president was critical of Congress blocking efforts to explore in ANWR and to expand capacity and build more refineries, as well as a “massive, bloated farm bill that would do little to solve the problem” of higher food prices. He indicated they were considering a summer moratorium on the federal gas tax to help alleviate pain at the pump and he defended the use of ethanol for economic and energy security.

Bush press conference“The high price of gasoline is going to spur more investment in ethanol as an alternative to gasoline,” Bush said. “And the truth of the matter is it’s in our national interests that our farmers grow energy, as opposed to us purchasing energy from parts of the world that are unstable or may not like us.”

In reaction to the question, why haven’t you put more resources into renewable energy research, Bush responded.

“We’ve put a lot into ethanol. As a matter of fact, the solution to the issue of corn-fed ethanol is cellulosic ethanol, which is a fancy word for saying we’re going to make ethanol out of switchgrasses, or wood chips. And we’re spending a lot of money along those lines.

But energy policy needs to be comprehensive. And we got to understand we’re in a transition period. The problem is there’s been a lot of focus by the Congress in the intermediate steps and in the long-term steps — the long-term steps being hydrogen; the intermediate steps being biofuels, for example, and researching the biofuels, and battery technology — but not enough emphasis on the here and now.”

Regarding food price inflation, Bush said that “85 percent of the world’s food prices are caused by weather, increased demand and energy prices — just the cost of growing product.” The president said the United States is concerned about the scarcity of food in poorer countries and will continue to be generous in food donations abroad.

Read the transcript of the president’s remarks here.

corn, Energy, Ethanol, Food prices, Government, Hydrogen, News

Importance of Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

The development of agriculture-based biofuels is critical to revitalizing rural communities, according to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer.

Schafer NAFBSpeaking to farm broadcasters meeting in Washington, Schafer said managing the blending of energy and agriculture is one of the top priorities for USDA. “If we over the next ten years could convert one-fourth of the four billion barrels of foreign oil that we import into this country into biofuels, not only would it increase the security of our country, it would double farm income,” said Schafer. “You can imagine if we doubled farm income in this country, what a revitalization would take place in rural areas.”

Regarding the concern about food and feed price increases relating to biofuels, “We need to remember that only about 25 percent of the corn crop goes into ethanol today and we have been able to stay ahead of that by yield increases,” Schafer said. “We have heard of this ‘perfect storm’ coming together – increased consumption, energy prices, biofuel generation, weather patterns – all those have come together to form this huge pressure on food and feed costs. I don’t think its a perfect storm.”

He explained, “When you have a storm, and you’re out on the calm sea, the storm comes in and jumbles everything up for awhile and then the storm goes away and the sea becomes flat again. The reality here is consumption and as consumption is increased we are not going to fall back.”

Schafer says corn ethanol will continue to be important in meeting the Renewable Fuels Standard and as a stepping stone towards cellulosic ethanol.

Listen to Schafer’s comments on biofuels here.
[audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/usda/schafer-biofuels.mp3]

Cellulosic, Ethanol, Government, News

New Gas Detector Can ‘See’ Ethanol

John Davis

se.pngSensor Electronics of Minneapolis has developed a new gas detector that can detect dangerous concentrations of ethanol. The detector is thought to be ideal for protecting biofuel refineries.

It’s designed for applications in biofuel processing plants, pipelines, pumping stations, storage facilities, fuel dumps, distribution networks and the like.

Calibration is quick, easy: The gas detector simply sniffs a whiff of ethanol, then locks itself into ethanol’s chemical “signature.” Thereafter, any significant concentration triggers an immediate warning.

Because this self-contained gas detector uses no mirrors or beam-splitters, it shrugs off rain, snow, fog, smog. It also ignores temperature/pressure/humidity extremes, as well as interference (false signals) from other gases.

The cylindrical unit measures 8 inches high overall, 2.5 inches diameter. The stainless-steel housing cannot rust or corrode, meaning exceptional operating life.

Ethanol, Facilities, News

Monsanto, Mendel Helping Develop Biofuel Grass

John Davis

monsanto.gifSeed giant Monsanto and Mendel Biotechnology are teaming up to develop a variety of grass seeds ideal for ethanol and biodiesel production.

This story from the St. Louis (MO) Post-Dispatch has more:

[St. Louis-area]-based Monsanto will lend its crop testing, breeding and seed production expertise to the BioEnergy Seeds & Feedstocks unit of Mendel, which is headquartered in Hayward, Calif.

Together, they will explore the potential of grasses as a feedstock for making cellulosic biofuels — fuel that is made from leaves, stems, stalks or other non-edible parts of plants.

Scientists in many companies and research institutions are tackling the challenges of unlocking energy from cellulosic sources to produce fuel. If they succeed, it could alleviate the demand for corn-based ethanol that is putting pressure on world stocks of food and animal feed.

Monsanto and Mendel have been involved in biotechnology projects in corn, soybeans, cotton, and canola for more than a decade.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, News

Earthrace Begins Its Journey Again

John Davis

earthrace.JPGThe biodiesel-powered boat has started on its round-the-world journey… again. As you might remember, it was nearly a year ago that the “Earthrace” had to abandon its attempt to break the world record for circumnavigation of the globe in a boat.

This article from Biodiesel Magazine says the green-fueled boat left port at Sagunto, Spain, on Sunday, as it makes its way around the globe on 100 percent sustainable fuel:

“For the next 40 days we’re going to believing on adrenaline,” said Pete Bethune, a skipper for Earthrace, who auctioned off his home and sold his company to fund the building of the $1.5 million vessel. “The crew have entered race mode and we have one thing on our minds – the world’s record,” he said.

With its voyage beginning in Sagunto, Spain, the boat will travel east to the Azores where it will stop for refueling, and then go on to Puerto Rico.

The crew of the 78-foot vessel plans to complete the voyage in less than 65 days, which would easily come in under the present record of 74 days, 23 hours, and 53 minutes, set in 1998 by the United Kingdom boat Cables & Wireless Adventurer.

“This time it’s really happening and we’re all raring to go,” Bethune said earlier this year. “Our new team is working really well together and we have the skills we need on board [as well as] the ground-crew to break the record.”

You can follow the Earthrace’s progress at www.earthrace.net.

Biodiesel

Groundbreaking on Oil from Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

VeraSunVeraSun Energy broke ground on a new facility last week that will tap into ethanol for oil.

VeraSun’s patent-pending Oil Extraction process is designed to yield 7-8 million gallons of corn oil annually from 390,000 tons of distillers grains currently produced at VeraSun’s ethanol production facility in Aurora, S.D. The corn oil will then be made available for sale into the biodiesel market, thus increasing the renewable fuel supply without an additional feedstock supply. The result of the process also includes enhanced distillers grains through the concentration of protein and the reduction of fat. One gallon of corn oil yields roughly a gallon of biodiesel.

VeraSunAccording to VeraSun’s Don Endres, “With fuel prices where they’re at, with diesel prices where they’re at, we need more fuel, and this will go right into the biodiesel market, fit right into that fuel stream so it’s a much more highly-valued in the fuel stream then, what it is as oil in the fuel.”

VeraSun expects to start producing the corn oil later this year. The company also plans to use the process at two of its plants in Iowa next year.

Among those giving a hand at the groundbreaking were South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds, Reid Jensen with the South Dakota Corn Utilization Council and Matt Hartwig of the Renewable Fuels Association.

corn, Distillers Grains, Ethanol, News, RFA