ACE Honors HBIIP Program Manager

Cindy Zimmerman

As USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack was handing out Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP) grants in Minnesota on Friday, the manager of that program was being honored by the American Coalition for Ethanol at their annual meeting in Omaha, where the Secretary had been just the day before.

Jeff Carpenter, who has managed the HBIIP program under USDA Rural Development since 2021, was presented with the ACE Paul Dana Marketing Vision award for his leadership in promoting the expansion of higher blends of ethanol. “I’m surprised, you know, as a federal employee a lot of times we just kind of go with the flow and or behind the scenes,” said Carpenter. “I don’t always like attention, but it’s an honor. It’s certainly unexpected and it means a lot to me.”

Carpenter says the HBIIP program has been very successful and very beneficial to retailers, consumers, and the ethanol industry, so he expects it will continue into the next administration, whatever that will be.

“HBIIP came out under the Trump administration, it was expanded under the Biden administration,” said Carpenter. “There’s a lot of strong bipartisan support from from the Senate and Congress so I think there’s a good opportunity for additional funding. I think the need is there, especially as you know some of the EV push has maybe fallen a little flatter than expected. That kind of puts the shining light back on liquid fuels if they’re gonna need to be around longer than maybe it was originally thought.”

Listen to my interview with Jeff Carpenter.
ACE 24 Jeff Carpenter, USDA 3:44

Carpenter gave a presentation on HBIIP at the ACE Conference and participated in a panel discussion with ACE’s Ron Lamberty and Randy Gard, Bosselman Enterprises.
ACE 24 Higher Blends Infrastructure panel and awards 57:34

2024 ACE Annual Conference Photo Album

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Clean Fuels Disappointed in CARB LCFS Proposal

Cindy Zimmerman

Clean Fuels Alliance America is disappointed in recently proposed amendments to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) low carbon fuel standard (LCFS). According to Clean Fuels, if adopted, these changes would impose caps on credits for soy- and canola-based biodiesel and renewable diesel, without sufficient scientific evidence to support such limitations.

“These changes unjustly penalize biodiesel and renewable diesel—low-carbon fuels that provide immediate health benefits for California,” said Jeff Earl, Director of State Governmental Affairs at Clean Fuels.

By restricting credit generation for these low-carbon alternatives, CARB risks unfairly disadvantaging biodiesel and renewable diesel—proven solutions that reduce emissions today while supporting sustainable farming and rural economies. Limiting biodiesel and renewable diesel in favor of technologies that will not be fully scalable for many years, even by CARB’s own projections, threatens both environmental progress and innovation.

According to CARB’s own data, both biodiesel and renewable diesel have significantly contributed to California’s emissions reductions, using more than 3 billion pounds of soybean oil and 1.7 billion pounds of canola oil last year in the state, with biomass-based diesel (BMBD) now accounting for 73% of California’s diesel pool.

Clean Fuels will submit comments strongly urging CARB to reconsider these amendments that threaten to reverse progress in emissions reductions and jeopardize the economic viability of renewable fuels.

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Canadian Rail Dispute Threatens Ethanol Industry

Cindy Zimmerman

The Renewable Fuels Association has signed on to a letter from U.S. agricultural supply chain interests to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, asking him to take action to ensure railroad operations continue to prevent serious damage to the Canadian and U.S. economies.

Canada’s two largest railroads, Canadian Pacific Kansas City and Canadian National, are in a labor dispute that threatens to cause lockouts or strikes that would disrupt cross-border trade with the U.S. Both said over the weekend they would start locking out union workers this week.

The letter from 35 U.S. organizations stressed the critical importance of rail transportation to the agriculture industry. “Agriculture ships more than 25,000 cars per week and this figure will go to zero during a strike or lockout,” they wrote.

Agriculture is particularly exposed to rail stoppages due to robust fertilizer and other agricultural input trade and a sizable livestock industry that depends on rail for the timely delivery of feed grains, dried distillers grains, and further feed ingredients. Additionally, many facilities, such as biofuels operations, flour mills and other agricultural operations require uninterrupted rail service. In the event of an interruption, they quickly run out of storage capacity and incur shortages of incoming raw materials. In addition, shutting down and restarting these facilities are complex operations, meaning that even a short-term disruption could stop production for several weeks.

RFA submitted comments last week to the Surface Transportation Board in response to a request for input on recent trends and strategies for growth in the freight rail industry.

“The relationship between the freight rail industry and ethanol industry is closely intertwined, as roughly three-quarters of U.S. ethanol is shipped by rail,” wrote Justin Schultz, RFA’s director of environment, health and safety. “Efficient, reliable, and effective transportation services are crucial for this industry, which relies on rail, truck, and barge transportation for both inbound products (grain) and outbound fuel (ethanol). Rail is increasingly utilized due to its efficiency in bulk shipping.”

RFA also submitted a new study showing that rail shipments of ethanol and grain are disproportionately affected during periods of rail capacity constraints and widespread service interruptions.

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Christianson Receives Highest Honor from ACE

Cindy Zimmerman

L-R: John Christianson, Ron Alverson, and Dave Sovereign

The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) presented its highest honor, the Merle Anderson Award, to John Christianson, managing partner of Christianson & Associates, PLLP. The award was presented at the organization’s 37th annual conference last week in Omaha by ACE Board President Dave Sovereign, Golden Grain Energy, and board secretary Ron Alverson, Dakota Ethanol.

Christianson has been a dedicated supporter of the ethanol industry as a professional CPA and growing up on a Minnesota farm. “I’m honored to accept this award in memory of Merle Anderson, who was a true pioneer and consistent in his vision to better the future of American agriculture, especially in Minnesota,” said Christianson, who credits his talented team for his company’s success in helping the ethanol industry expand and grow over the years.

The company started off in the mid-90’s helping farmer-led cooperatives get ethanol plants built, and they have since evolved with the industry to address increasing regulatory complexities, developing their popular Biofuels Benchmarking program for plant performance enhancement.

ACE 24 Merle Anderson award 13:35
ACE 24 Interview with John Christianson 5:36

2024 ACE Annual Conference Photo Album

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USDA Marks IRA Anniversary with HBIIP Awards

Cindy Zimmerman

Sens. Klobuchar and Smith join Sec. Vilsack at The Corner Store

To celebrate the second anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack traveled to Minnesota to announce the funding of 160 projects in 26 states to expand access to clean energy systems and increase the availability of domestic biofuels. USDA is providing $99.6 million through the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP) and the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) with funding from the IRA.

Secretary Vilsack made the announcement during a visit to The Corner Store in Inver Grove Heights, which is receiving a $518,250 HBIIP grant to create infrastructure to expand the sales and use of renewable fuels. This project will install four E15 dispensers, four E85 dispensers, and two ethanol storage tanks, one of 15 HBIIP project awards for the state totaling $16.5 million. Vilsack was joined by U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith (both D-MN).

USDA is awarding $90.3 million in this installment of new HBIIP grants to 89 projects in 26 states, bringing to a total of more than $220 million nationwide to increase access to biofuels at fueling stations.

Prior to his trip to Minnesota, Vilsack spoke to ethanol producers in Omaha at the American Coalition for Ethanol annual conference where he spoke about the importance of increasing the use of higher ethanol blends nationwide.

“It’s also not only the ability to sell it year round. It’s also about the ability to have it more available in more stations and in more states,” said Vilsack. “But in order to do that you have to have the equipment which is why it was important for us to put the higher blend infrastructure program in place…and then convinced Congress and the administration to support our request for $500 million.”

USDA continues to accept HBIIP applications until Sept. 30, 2024.

Listen to Vilsack’s remarks from the ACE conference here:

ACE 24 Sec. Vilsack remarks 48:40

ACE 24 Sec. Vilsack presser 15:17

2024 ACE Annual Conference Photo Album

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ACE Concludes 37th Annual Conference

Cindy Zimmerman

The American Coalition for Ethanol concluded its 37th annual conference on Friday after a fast-paced day and a half of information and networking for the ethanol industry.

“I think folks were energized to hear from the Secretary of Agriculture,” said ACE CEO Brian Jennings at the end of the event. “His unwavering commitment to getting some of these details right that we need in tax credits and getting farmers some credit for activities that right now they’re not getting credit for. And so the time that he spent with us, I think was critical.”

In addition to Vilsack, many of the panels and breakouts were focused on climate smart agriculture and lowering the carbon intensity score of the industry and the work ACE has already been doing since 2021 with the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) across ten states. “We’re going to have rock solid carbon intensity scores for what every single climate smart ag practice you can imagine does in different soil types and different climates,” said Jennings.

The conference included updates from ACE leadership, including Board President Dave Sovereign, Golden Grain Energy, and ACE Chief Marketing Officer Ron Lamberty, and a keynote address from Lee Blank, CEO of Summit Carbon Solutions. Awards recognized John Christianson, Christianson PLLP; Jeff Carpenter, USDA HBIIP manager; and Randy Gard, Bosselman Enterprises.

Interview with Brian Jennings, ACE 11:18

Photos and audio from the conference can be found in the 2024 ACE Annual Conference Virtual Newsroom

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Summit Carbon Continues to Make Progress

Cindy Zimmerman

Summit Carbon Solutions continues to make progress on the pipeline project that has a footprint in five states.

Summit Carbon CEO Lee Blank told attendees at the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) annual meeting this week that he believes the project will get to completion. “I know what this pipeline means to the ethanol industry today, and I know what the infrastructure means to agriculture today, which is why we have to get it completed,” he said.

Blank says they are currently preparing for a series of public meetings around Iowa approved by the Iowa Public Utilities Commission. Approval by the Iowa Utilities Board in June was a significant milestone for the project.

“It’s a wonderful project to reduce carbon. It’s the next step change project for US agriculture, just like the ethanol industry was in 2004, 2005,” said Blank. “And so I try and communicate that to the to the landowner about what would be if we didn’t have the railroad. That’s physically a taking. Our eminent domain that we may or may not have to use is not a taking. We’re actually just trying to put a piece of property under your property and give it right back to you. So ultimately it’s different.”

The pipeline was originally expected to be operational by the end of this year is now looking to be more like late 2026 or 2027, according to a recent report citing remarks from Summit Agricultural Group CEO Justin Kirchhoff.

Listen to Blank’s remarks here:
ACE 24 Lee Blank, Summit Carbon 23:13

2024 ACE Annual Conference Photo Album

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ACE Wants Corn Ethanol to be the Gold Standard

Cindy Zimmerman

The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) 37th annual conference kicked off in Omaha Wednesday with the theme “The Gold Standard.”

“To future-proof our industry, steps must be taken to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions,” said ACE CEO Brian Jennings in his opening remarks. “That’s precisely what ethanol producers have been doing; innovating, optimizing, and becoming more efficient. During this time, ACE has tackled the other half of the carbon intensity equation; how ethanol companies can further reduce their GHG emissions based on farming practices. Our goal; to make corn ethanol the undisputed, gold-standard, clean fuel of the future.”

Both Jennings and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack discussed ACE’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), which generating a great deal of interest. Over the past few weeks, ACE has conducted meetings with more than 500 farmers interested in learning about the opportunity, and those farmers have expressed interest in enrolling nearly 250,000 acres in ACE’s project, approaching five times available funding.

ACE 24 Brian Jennings remarks 12:35

2024 ACE Annual Conference Photo Album

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Vilsack Addresses ACE Ethanol Conference

Cindy Zimmerman

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack addressed members of the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) this week for the first time since 2012 and he thanked them for the work they have been doing on the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).

The RCCP started in South Dakota in 2021 and recently received a $35 million investment through USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

“You’ve now expanded it to 10 states,” said Vilsack. “You’re providing resources to help farmers reduce tillage to manage nutrients and to utilize cover crops. You have expanded this program and opportunity to 167 counties across those 10 states. You’ve got the possibility of 10s of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of acres being committed to this in an effort to help 13 ethanol facilities make sure they can comply with whatever the carbon intensity score needs to be to be able to take full advantage of new opportunities. You are creating a database that will be verified and measured…And you’re setting the stage for us to make, I think a more powerful case that ethanol needs to be part of the sustainable aviation fuel future.”

Listen to Vilsack’s remarks here:
ACE 24 Sec. Vilsack remarks 48:40

2024 ACE Annual Conference Photo Album

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Export Exchange 2024 Registration Open

Cindy Zimmerman

Registration is now open for Export Exchange 2024, which will be held in Fort Worth, Texas, Oct. 7-9.

The biennial event, which was first held in 2010, is co-sponsored by the U.S. Grains Council (USGC), Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), and Growth Energy. It is expected to bring together 200 international buyers and end-users of coarse grains and co-products, including distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS), with approximately 300 U.S. suppliers and agribusiness representatives.

U.S. suppliers of coarse grains and co-products, industry representatives and members of the grain trade are encouraged to attend and members of the sponsoring organizations are eligible for discounted pricing during online registration.

Previous editions of the conference have each resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in sales of grains and co-products traded on-site or immediately following the event.

In addition to networking opportunities, the event will focus on timely topics related to exports of U.S. corn, sorghum, barley, DDGS and related products. Council-sponsored trade teams from more than 30 countries will also be in attendance, participating in tours before and after the main conference.

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