ACE Meeting Plans Change Due to COVID

Cindy Zimmerman

As the coronavirus pandemic has had a devastating economic impact on the ethanol industry, meetings have also been changing to hopefully give more producers the ability to attend.

The American Coalition for Ethanol‘s Annual Conference will now be held in conjunction with the 2020 International Fuel Ethanol Workshop (FEW) & Expo in Omaha, Nebraska, on August 25. FEW had already been postponed from June 15-17, 2020 to August 24-26, and changed venue from Minneapolis to Omaha. The ACE annual meeting had been scheduled for the week of August 10 in Minneapolis.

“Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the economic hardship it’s brought to bear on the ethanol industry, ACE believes hosting this year’s event in association with another industry gathering is in the best interest of its members,” says ACE CEO Brian Jennings.

ACE already had to cancel its annual Washington DC Fly-in event scheduled for April, which Jennings says they are planning now for October.

In this interview, Jennings discusses the event changes, as well as concerns with EPA over so-called “gap year” waiver requests, the need for stimulus aid for ethanol producers from Congress, and the role E15 and higher blends can play in recovery for the industry.

Interview with ACE CEO Brian Jennings 14:11

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

New Ethanol Hand Sanitizer Guidelines Fall Short

Cindy Zimmerman

Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper says revised guidance on the production of ethanol for hand sanitizer are clearer but will not help alleviate the hand sanitizer shortage in any meaningful way.

“We welcome the specificity in the new guidance, but the new interim limits for certain impurities are overly restrictive and create a roadblock for producers who could otherwise supply huge volumes of safe, clean, high-quality ethyl alcohol to hand sanitizer manufacturers,” said Cooper. “For example, FDA’s new limits for certain impurities are eight times more restrictive than what is typically found in a glass of red wine and twenty times more restrictive than what has been allowed in hand sanitizer by other countries, including Canada, during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“Meanwhile, as hospitals, first responders, nursing homes, restaurants, retail stores, churches, and other public and private spaces seek out new sources of hand sanitizer to address the shortage, the U.S. continues to significantly ramp up imports of hand sanitizer from China and other countries. It is unfortunate that we are importing this product from China, when abundant supplies of high-purity American-made ethanol could be used instead. Still, we will continue to work with the FDA to ensure ethanol producers can do their part to combat COVID-19 and provide larger quantities of ethyl alcohol for hand sanitizer.”

The Food and Drug Administration Monday night issued revised guidelines for the ethanol industry regarding use in hand sanitizer “to ensure that harmful levels of impurities are not present if ethanol is used in these products.”

Based on careful review and consideration of available data, we are specifying interim levels of certain impurities that we have determined can be tolerated for a relatively short period of time, given the emphasis on hand hygiene during the COVID-19 public health emergency and to avoid exacerbating access issues for alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

Ethanol, Ethanol News

June is Renewable Fuels Month in Nebraska

Cindy Zimmerman

Renewable Fuels Month in Nebraska is normally held in May as a kick-off to the summer driving season. However, due to COVID-19 concerns, Renewable Fuels Month was postponed and is now being celebrated this month.

To help promote locally-produced biofuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts recently declared June as Renewable Fuels Month. Since 2006, the acting Nebraska governor has dedicated one month out of each year to serve as a public awareness campaign.

Throughout June, the Nebraska Corn Board, the Nebraska Ethanol Board, the Nebraska Soybean Board and Renewable Fuels Nebraska will be promoting facts and statistics about ethanol and biodiesel on their Facebook pages, which will also feature trivia promotions, contests and up-to-date information regarding upcoming fuel promotions.

Biodiesel, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Soybeans

Biodiesel Board Wants Transparency on “Gap” SRE Petitions

Cindy Zimmerman

The National Biodiesel Board is asking EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler to disclose any small refinery exemption petitions for RFS compliance years preceding 2019 that the Environmental Protection Agency received this year. In a letter to Wheeler, NBB also requests that EPA apply the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit’s ruling in Renewable Fuels Association v. EPA to all petitions submitted to the agency since January 24th of this year.

“The U.S. biodiesel and renewable diesel industry values and relies on your commitment to transparency regarding small refinery exemptions,” NBB writes, referring to Administrator Wheeler’s creation of the EPA Small Refinery Exemption dashboard. Noting that both Wheeler and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Under Secretary Mark Menezes responded to questions about “gap” petitions in May 20 testimony before two Senate committees, NBB writes, “It is concerning that no record of any of these petitions exists on the Agency’s dashboard.”

NBB further writes, “EPA’s first step upon receiving any petition for a small refinery exemption should be to evaluate its timeliness and validity before transmitting it to the Department of Energy.” The letter lays out arguments that considering “gap” petitions would be inconsistent with the 10th Circuit’s ruling, the Renewable Fuel Standard statute, and EPA’s own regulations and guidance. “Indeed, allowing gap filings would render the program entirely unpredictable for renewable fuel producers,” NBB writes.

Biodiesel, EPA, NBB

Ethanol Interests Challenge EPA Study Results

Cindy Zimmerman

The U.S. ethanol industry is questioning a Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “anti-backsliding” study released Friday on the air quality impacts of renewable fuels which also determined no further action is needed to mitigate any potential adverse impacts on air quality from the use of renewable fuels.

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) immediately raised concerns about EPA using a discredited modeling system called “MOVES” to make its determinations. “EPA relied on a controversial and discredited modeling system for its new anti-backsliding study, meaning the results are highly suspect and untrustworthy,” said Geoff Cooper, RFA President and CEO. In the study, EPA explicitly acknowledges there are “limitations and uncertainties” associated with the MOVES model it used, and admits that “updates and improvements have been suggested and are underway.”

Before the agency began the study last year, RFA stressed the need for a new modeling methodology that incorporates real-world fuel inputs and scenarios. In its March 2019 comments to the EPA, the RFA recommended the Agency either replace the MOVES2014 model or make major modifications to it prior to embarking on the anti-backsliding study.

“Unfortunately, EPA ignored the advice of RFA and air quality experts. Instead, they proceeded to use a model and data set with known flaws and technical shortcomings. The model’s questionable predictions for certain emissions result from its use of data that misrepresents the actual parameters and composition of ethanol blends,” Cooper said.

The EPA study’s results grow even more suspect when compared to EPA’s real-world data trends that show significant reductions in carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, particulate matter, and ozone during the period of rapid expansion in ethanol use.

While RFA agrees with the EPA determinations that there would be no benefit to initiating additional rulemaking to address the purported impacts of renewable fuels on air quality, the organization will be filing detailed comments in response to the anti-backsliding study.

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

Governors Ask Congress to Support Ethanol Relief Bills

Cindy Zimmerman

Members of the Governors’ Biofuels Coalition are urging Congressional leaders to provide relief for the biofuels industry in the latest COVID-19 emergency relief package being considered.

Coalition chair and vice chair South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz sent a letter to Senate and House leadership this week urging them to support the Senate’s Renewable Fuel Feedstock Reimbursement Act of 2020, introduced by Senator Grassley and Senator Klobuchar, and the Renewable Fuel Reimbursement Program provision, included in the HEROS Act passed by the House, to provide critical emergency relief for renewable fuel producers.

Nearly three-fourths of the nation’s 204 ethanol plants are fully or partially idled, resulting in worker layoffs, lost markets for farm commodities, and constrained supplies of critical ethanol co-products. The ethanol industry estimates it will suffer at least $10 billion in ethanol losses in 2020 due to covid-19. Rural America — with the ethanol industry’s 350,000 direct and indirect jobs — is facing an economic crisis of historic proportions. “We are heartened that both the House and the Senate are working to mitigate these hardships,” the governors wrote.

Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper thanked the governors for their support. “These governors have seen first-hand how important ethanol and other renewable fuels are to their states, and they have witnessed the devastating impact the pandemic has had on ethanol plants and the communities they serve. We agree with the governors on the vital importance of ensuring Congress acts quickly to provide assistance to these businesses and the 350,000 men and women whose jobs are supported by the ethanol industry.” \

Biodiesel, biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

Ethanol Report 5-29-20

Cindy Zimmerman

As America gets moving again, ethanol is ready to fuel summer adventures.

Ethanol production is slowly climbing back up after hitting historic lows due to coronavirus restrictions keeping people from traveling. Now that people are getting back on the road and in the water, Renewable Fuels Association Vice President of Industry Affairs Robert White talks about some of their summertime promotions that help educate the public about ethanol.

Ethanol Report 5-29-20 (14:17)

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

Iowa Legislature Urged to Renew Biofuel Tax Differentials

Cindy Zimmerman

Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) members are urging state lawmakers to reauthorize biofuel tax differentials before the end of this legislative session.

House File 2279 and Senate File 2403 would extend and modernize fuel tax differentials for E15 and higher ethanol blends and B11 and higher biodiesel blends, which are set to expire on June 30, 2020. With the passage of either bill, Iowa will not only continue to support renewable fuels but put millions of dollars back into the Road Use Tax Fund each year for vital infrastructure projects.

“If the legislature allows the biofuel tax differentials to expire, not only will it raise prices on consumers at the pump, it will also hurt Iowa’s farmers and biofuels producers who are suffering as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and trade disputes,” said IRFA Policy Director Nathan Hohnstein. “Since the implementation of the current tax differential, we’ve seen biofuel blend sales increase dramatically, but with June 30th just around the corner, it is imperative the legislature take action now. Iowa cannot afford to take a step backward in promoting the use of renewable fuels.”

The tax differentials have helped E10 and B11 and higher biodiesel blends in Iowa go from niche fuels to making up 86% and 57% of sales in 2019 respectively. Because of this success, the new fuel tax differential modernizes the ethanol side of the policy by applying it to E15 and higher blends, making millions of dollars available for road and bridge repairs.

Ethanol, Ethanol News

RFA Decries “Gap Year” Refinery Waiver Requests

Cindy Zimmerman

The Renewable Fuels Association is urging the Environmental Protection Agency to deny the latest attempt by the petroleum industry to circumvent the 10th Circuit Court decision which severely limits small refinery exemptions under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) by seeking past-year waivers from renewable volume obligations.

In a letter to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper argued that granting such waivers would be unlawful, inconsistent with the statute, and contrary to EPA’s own policies and regulations. According to the letter, the petitions are nothing more than a “thinly veiled attempt to circumvent” the Tenth Circuit’s decision in January, in the case of Renewable Fuels Association et al. v. EPA, that struck down a number of exemptions granted by the agency.

The new petitions are being described as “gap filings” intended to establish, without regard to merit, a continuous string of exemptions to be consistent with the court decision only allowing an exemption if it is an extension of a previously existing exemption. Some small refineries are now seeking retroactive exemptions for previous years to “fill the gaps” so that they may argue they had a continuously extended exemption.

According to RFA, some refiners are trying to “…pretend there could have been a hardship years ago that could justify the granting of an exemption today, years after the compliance deadline had passed for the year the exemption is sought.

“We urge EPA to clarify that small refinery exemption extension petitions for past compliance years are inconsistent with the RFS and will not be entertained by the Agency,” Cooper concluded. “We also urge that EPA expeditiously deny any petitions that have already been received, or that are received going forward, for past compliance years.”

EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA, RFS

Ethanol and Oil State Senators Compete for EPA Help

Cindy Zimmerman

During a hearing last week before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler was pushed by senators on both sides of the Renewable Fuel Standard for a commitment to helping them.

Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), who spearheaded a letter to Wheeler from oil state senators, expressed his dissatisfaction with the 10th circuit court decision regarding small refinery waivers and pressured Wheeler to commit to giving any petitions for hardship relief for small refineries in prior years prompt consideration, and reconsider “petitions which it wrongfully denied” in prior years.

“We are looking to see what relief we can provide everyone,” said Wheeler. “The ethanol industry is also hurting as well. But the small refiners in particular because of the 10th circuit decision and because of the amount of gasoline that’s currently being sold and used.”

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) told Wheeler she is frustrated with claims by some in the petroleum sector to blame biofuels and argue “that the RFS is the cause of their recent business troubles, not the COVID-19 pandemic.” She stressed that the law requires any waiver to have “clear evidence that the source of economic pain is the RFS” and asked Wheeler to commit to looking at past precedence in determining economic harm.

Sen. Ernst also questioned Wheeler about a promise he made to her last fall to eliminate E15 warning labels on fuel pumps. “It’s actually more complicated than what I said in that meeting,” said Wheeler.

Listen to the exchanges in full:
Sen. Barrasso/Andrew Wheeler

Sen. Ernst/Andrew Wheeler
Audio, EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News