Ethanol Coalition Urges EPA to Fully Restore RFS

Cindy Zimmerman

The coalition of farm and ethanol groups behind the case against Small Refinery Exemptions under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) that was decided in January is still waiting for EPA to implement the court decision or even communicate the intention to do so after eight months.

The four associations representing farmers and ethanol producers – the Renewable Fuels Association, American Coalition for Ethanol, National Corn Growers Association and National Farmers Union — held a press call Wednesday to discuss the current situation regarding the court decision and lack of action by the administration.

“While EPA’s recent announcement that it has denied 54 petitions for “gap year” small refinery exemptions under the RFS was indeed a big step forward, there is more work to be done to fully restore integrity to the RFS,” said RFA president and CEO Geoff Cooper. “There are 50 exemption petitions still awaiting a decision, and EPA still has not released the 2021 RVO proposal.”

“On the heels of the gap-year petition denials, it’s time for EPA to implement this decision nationally and move quickly to decide outstanding waiver requests.”

In addition to Cooper, other participants in the press call included:
Kevin Ross — President, National Corn Growers Association
Brian Jennings — CEO, American Coalition for Ethanol
Anne Steckel — Biofuels Advisor, National Farmers Union
Matthew W. Morrison — Partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Listen to the call here.
Coalition press call on EPA action needed (59:33)

ACE, Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, NCGA, NFU, RFA

Biodiesel-Powered Vehicles Wrap and Roll

Cindy Zimmerman

New biodiesel-branded vehicles highlighting the renewable fuel’s sustainability and emissions reduction benefits are rolling along city streets and interstate highways from the nation’s capital, to Texas oil country, up the California coast and throughout the Midwest.

According to the National Biodiesel Board (NBB), eight biodiesel users received matching funds to share their biodiesel success stories with wraps, decals or other vehicle branding efforts. Biodiesel cuts carbon and other pollutant emissions substantially, reducing health impacts in many communities.

“NBB’s annual Vehicle Branding Program is a great way to increase awareness of biodiesel’s benefits as these vehicles log thousands of miles throughout the country,” said Kaleb Little, NBB director of communications. “This year’s winners are featuring NBB’s new tagline, “Better, Cleaner, Now” which tells the biodiesel story simply. Biodiesel is better and cleaner than petroleum diesel — with proven environmental, health and economic benefits – and is ready to use now.”

Among the winners is the D.C. Department of Public Works (DPW) which branded 22 refuse trucks highlighting their use of 100 percent biodiesel (B100) in the nation’s capital. DPW installed a biodiesel engine upgrade developed by Optimus Technologies for medium and heavy-duty truck fleets which allows the use of B100. Since installing the system, DPW has reduced emissions by over 75 percent and lowered fuel costs. The rest of the DPW diesel fleet runs on B20.

On the other side of the country, Valley Pacific Petroleum, a California-based fuel marketer, wrapped two tanker trucks that deliver biodiesel throughout the state. Since 1947, Valley Pacific has been supplying high-quality fuels and lubricants in California. Today the family-owned company is one of the state’s largest fuel marketers and powers its own fleet with B20 as well.

Congratulations also to Michigan-based Ag Energy Transport; the City of Fort Wayne, Ind.; G&D Integrated transportation and logistics in Morton, Ill.; the City of Grand Forks, N.D.; Renewable Biofuels in Port Neches, Texas; and Evergreen Grease Services which collects used cooking oil from restaurants in Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio.

Biodiesel, NBB

ACE Annual Meeting Archive

Cindy Zimmerman

The virtual 2020 American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) annual conference was held last week, but it lives on in the archived Fuel Ethanol Workshop events. Most of the content is also available in audio form on the ACE virtual newsroom.

The last panel of the conference offered ethanol producer perspectives on these uncertain times for the industry and what the future might hold. ACE president Duane Kristensen of Chief Ethanol Fuels in Nebraska moderated the discussion with two fellow producers Dave Sovereign, Golden Grain Energy in Iowa and Neil Koehler, Pacific Ethanol in California.

Listen to their panel here:
ACE 2020 Producer Perspectives Panel (29:42)

Ethanol producers who did not register for FEW to attend the ACE conference can still do so for free and can access the virtual FEW OnDemand presentations and exhibits until October 15. To register, producers should email service@bbiinternational.com or call 866-746-8385.

ACE, ACE Ethanol Conference, Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Rural America 2020 Blames Trump for Ethanol Crisis

Cindy Zimmerman

During a virtual press conference Tuesday, Rural America 2020 blamed President Donald Trump for the current crisis in the ethanol industry, due to the administration granting of small refinery exemptions, reducing demand for ethanol and forcing the closure of refineries across the country.

Farmers members of the Rural America 2020 state steering committees participating in the press conference, including Chris Gibbs of Ohio, president of the Rural America 2020 board of directors; Aaron Lehman, Iowa; Jim Nichols, Minnesota; and Rick Telesz of Pennsylvania.

“Rather than supporting corn farmers and making E15 ‘America’s Fuel,’ Trump has consistently undercut this industry and hurt our farmers,” said Gibbs. “We cannot afford four more years of policies that do not address the dire straits our farmers are facing.”

corn, Ethanol

House Ag Committee Chair Says Ethanol is Priority

Cindy Zimmerman

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson puts ethanol second only to the hog industry in priority to get some kind of assistance to mitigate losses this year due to coronavirus restrictions.

“Because of the price of oil collapsing and people not driving…and also these waivers that have been given out by the administration, which should have never been considered,” Peterson said during the Agri-Pulse Ag and Food Policy Summit on Monday. “If we had 15 billion gallons we wouldn’t be having the kind of problems we’re having in the ethanol industry.”

Peterson would like to see producers receive 45 cents a gallon based on their January to April production, or from 2019 if they were shut down. “And that needs to happen too or we’re going to lose some of these plants.” he said.

However, the chairman from Minnesota expressed concern that getting back into the habit of ad hoc disaster aid for agriculture could be detrimental to farm policy going forward.

Listen to Rep. Peterson’s comments in this interview with Agri-Pulse reporter Phillip Brasher.
AgriPulse Summit Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN) (27:18)

Agri-Pulse, Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Ethanol Report 9-21-20

Cindy Zimmerman

Last week brought a flurry of good news for the ethanol industry in three major areas – exports, expansion of higher blends, and protecting the renewable fuel standard.

In this edition of the Ethanol Report, we hear ethanol industry leaders comment on EPA denial of retroactive refinery waivers, Brazil’s 90 day extension of its ethanol tariff rate quota, and the potential regular E10 fuel pumps could be used to dispense E15.

The podcast includes comments from Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Geoff Cooper, RFA Board Chairman Neil Koehler of Pacific Ethanol, and RFA Board member Dave Sovereign of Golden Grain Energy.

Ethanol Report 9-21-20 (15:50)

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, EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Ethanol Report, RFA

Ethanol Leaders Receive Well-Deserved Awards

Cindy Zimmerman

The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) honored two exceptional ethanol advocates for their contributions to the industry with an awards video during the 33rd annual ACE conference held virtually in conjunction with the Fuel Ethanol Workshop (FEW) and Expo this week.

Bob Scott, who served as the ACE Board President from 1999 to 2009 representing Poet Ethanol Products, was recognized with ACE’s most prestigious honor, the Merle Anderson Award, named after the organization’s founder. ACE CEO Brian Jennings and Senior Vice President Ron Lamberty presented Scott with the award.

“For me, it was a labor of love,” Scott said. “When I look back at my time on the ACE board and the enactment of the RFS, it’s one of my favorite times in my life; we challenged ourselves and everyone else. Merle Anderson convinced me that ethanol was the right thing to do and the ACE Board was truly the best board I’ve ever been a part of.”

Jan tenBensel, Nebraska farmer and chair of the Nebraska Ethanol Board, received this year’s Grassroots Award for his unyielding and humble advocacy, notably his work with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to produce thousands of gallons of hand sanitizer for donation to help address the shortage during the health pandemic. ACE Board members Roger Berry, NEB Administrator, and Scott McPheeters of KAAPA Ethanol presented tenBensel with the award.

“Jan truly is the definition of grassroots activism when it comes to ethanol,” Berry said. “Within one week, he helped pull together a production and distribution facility to provide hand sanitizer to the state of Nebraska and beyond.”

“He loves to learn and he’s generous with his time,” McPheeters added. “He’s the type of guy you want on your team.”

Congratulations to two very deserving ethanol advocates and listen to their awards presentations and remarks here:

ACE 2020 Merle Anderson Award presentation to Bob Scott (7:59)

ACE 2020 Grassroots Award presentation to Jan tenBensel (6:38)

ACE, ACE Ethanol Conference, Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News

USDA Undersecretary Censky to Return to ASA

Cindy Zimmerman

USDA Undersecretary Steve Censky gave one of his last addresses in his current role to the American Coalition for Ethanol virtual annual conference this week. It was announced this morning that Censky will be returning to his former job as CEO of the American Soybean Association in November as after serving with USDA since October 2017.

In his prerecorded remarks at the ACE conference this week, Censky accepted the organization’s Paul Dana Marketing Vision Award for his leadership on the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP).

“USDA received 121 applications from 27 different states for HBIIP,” said Censky. “We are reviewing those applications now and will be getting the money out the door starting (this month).”

Listen to his remarks here:
ACE 2020 USDA Deputy Secretary Steve Censky (7:42)

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Energy Bill Includes Renewable Fuel Standard Provisions

Cindy Zimmerman

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce this week introduced the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act, which contains provisions requiring more transparency and accountability in EPA’s process for evaluating small refinery exemption requests under the Renewable Fuel Standard. The provisions are based on the Renewable Fuel Standard Integrity Act, introduced last year by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson.

“In recent years, the Environmental Protection Agency has granted dozens of small refinery exemptions, waiving billions of gallons of biofuel from RFS blending requirements,” said Rep. Peterson. “The provisions of my bill will require EPA to pull back the curtain and show the American people how they justify granting these waivers that have greatly impacted profitability for biofuels producers and farmers across the country.”

The provisions included in H.R. 4447, Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act would set an annual deadline for refiners to request exemptions from the Renewable Fuel Standard and require EPA to publicly release the name of refiners requesting a waiver, the number of gallons requested to be waived and the number of gallons of biofuel that will not be blended as a result of the waiver. These provisions mirror the provisions of H.R. 3006, the Renewable Fuel Standard Integrity Act, with adjustments to address business confidentiality concerns that were raised by members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

“This provision would finally pull back the curtain on EPA’s secretive and obscure small refinery waiver program, and we are pleased to see its inclusion in the House energy package,” said Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper. “By setting a deadline for waiver petitions and requiring small refineries to publicly disclose their identities, this language brings badly needed transparency and structure to the program. This would prevent companies like ExxonMobil, Chevron, HollyFrontier, and CVR from hiding behind phony claims of confidentiality and stop them from further gaming the system.”

The House is expected to consider H.R. 4447 the week of September 21st.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

ACE Launches “Flex Check” Tool for E15 Compatibility

Cindy Zimmerman

During its virtual annual conference this week, the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) launched a tool on its fuel-marketer focused flexfuelforward.com website to provide retailers with a free way to check if their equipment is already E15 compatible. Available 24/7, the “Flex Check” E15 compatibility tool will arm retailers with the confidence and information they need to make a conversion all in one place.

With USDA set to announce Higher Blend Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP) grant recipients any day now, Ron Lamberty, Senior Vice President of ACE, says their focus is now on marketers who may already have the right fueling equipment for E15.

“Adding new E15 and flex fuel locations with programs like HBIIP makes ethanol blended fuel more available and visible, but to move significant gallons, we need widespread conversions on top of new construction,” said Lamberty. “A huge number of retailers have E15 compatible equipment and could sell it tomorrow without a big investment. But they don’t know, because they’ve been told by their petroleum suppliers it’s impossible for most stations to offer E15, and very expensive for others. We just want them to check, because we know a lot of them will be very surprised.”

The Flex Check compatibility tool uses National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) studies and ACE’s research with equipment companies to give retailers a place to enter the manufacturer or model of tanks, piping, and other equipment they have on site, and find out if they are already E15 compatible.

Listen as Lamberty explains Flex Check.
ACE 2020 Ron Lamberty, Flex Check tool (2:35)

ACE, ACE Ethanol Conference, Audio, E15, Ethanol, Ethanol News