RFA Stands by Facts in Ad

Cindy Zimmerman

The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) took offense at an ad recently run by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) in Morning Consult comparing the effects of year-round E15 vs refinery exemptions and what each means to the renewable fuels industry and consumers. As a way of “fact-checking” the RFA ad, AFPM wrote a blog post “scribbling things on Post-it Notes and marking up the ad with a red pen,” according to RFA in a response blog post.

There were very few facts in AFPM’s response, except one, which they got wrong. AFPM claimed the blend rate of ethanol has gone up each year. But the ethanol blend rate dropped from 10.13% in 2017 to 10.07% in 2018. Even more striking is that in January 2018 EIA had forecast that the blend rate would increase to 10.26% in 2018, which did not happen. The practical impact of the lower blend rate was a loss of hundreds of millions of gallons of ethanol demand.

RFA Communications Director Ken Colombini concludes simply, “Here’s a fact for AFPM: We stand by our ad.”

Read the whole post.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

Educating #SturgisRally Bikers about E10 Once Again

chuck zimmerman

RFA at Sturgis Buffalo ChipFrom the Ag Media Summit and IFAJ Congress to the Sturgis Rally at the Sturgis Buffalo Chip. There is quite a difference in the local flora and fauna if you know what I mean.

Here’s the Renewable Fuels Association team with Rusty Wallace of racing fame and Rod Woodruff, owner of the Buffalo Chip. We’ll be doing on-stage promotions and free fuel happy hours this week as we help motorcycle enthusiasts learn more about using E10 in their machines which all manufacturers warranty.

This annual event has been a valuable opportunity for RFA to overcome mis-information about this renewable fuel. I’ve been working RFA’s Robert White and team for years now and we have many repeat visitors to the free fuel happy hours to fill their motorcycles with a high octane E10 blend of gas so they can go ride all they want. I’ve interviewed countless riders who have used E10 and never had a single problem with it. We’re also doing on-stage promotions each night prior to the big name entertainment which this year features Disturbed, Snoop Dog and Toby Keith. Now that’s a contrast in music! It’s going to be fun and of course, educational.

2019 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally with RFA at The Chip photo album

AgWired Energy, biofuels, Ethanol, RFA

Ethanol Report on Plans for 2019 Sturgis Rally

Cindy Zimmerman

The Renewable Fuels Association is back for the 11th year at the 79th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Aug. 2-11 in Sturgis, S.D., once again partnering with the Buffalo Chip Campground to provide free 10% ethanol for bikers along with the facts about ethanol use in motorcycles.

In this edition of The Ethanol Report podcast, RFA Vice President of Industry Relations Robert White talks about plans for this year’s rally and why this event is important for ethanol education.

Ethanol Report on 2019 Sturgis Rally plans

Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Ethanol Report, Motorcycle, RFA, Sturgis

Coalition Goes to Court Over Biofuel Waivers

Cindy Zimmerman

A coalition of seven agricultural and biofuels organizations is seeking court action to force the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to account for lost biofuel volumes resulting from small refinery exemptions granted by the agency.

The coalition consisting of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), Growth Energy (Growth), National Biodiesel Board (NBB), National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), and National Farmers Union (NFU) had petitioned EPA for redress on this issue in June 2018 but has received no response from the agency. In the petition filed this week, they are asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to lift a stay it placed on the joint 2018 petition asking the court to protect the renewable fuels industry from undue harm caused by EPA.

The coalition had asked for the stay to give EPA time to review its request to reconsider its current regulations. EPA’s response never arrived, but EPA’s statements and actions over the past 13 months indicate that EPA has effectively denied the request. Not content to wait further, the coalition asked the court to step in and restart proceedings.

“Thirteen months have passed since the filing of the petition, without even a proposed substantive response from EPA,” the motion states. “Meanwhile, the Agency has shown through various actions that it is not genuinely considering the Coalition’s administrative petition and has in effect denied it.”

The coalition wants EPA to revise its Renewable Fuel Standard regulations for setting annual percentage standards of renewable fuel to account for small refinery exemptions the Agency issues retroactively. EPA’s current regulations factor in only future small refinery exemptions granted prior to the compliance year, despite the fact that most of the exemptions granted in recent years have been for compliance periods that had already ended.

ACE, Biodiesel, biofuels, corn, EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News, NCGA, RFA, RFS

Biofuels Groups Testify at EPA RFS Hearing

Cindy Zimmerman

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) heard concerns from many biofuels industry stakeholders during a public hearing Wednesday in Ypsilanti, Michigan on the proposed rule to set 2020 renewable volume obligations (RVOs) and the 2021 RVO for biomass-based diesel under the Renewable Fuel Standard. Much of the comments from both sides of the issues centered on whether or not EPA should account for renewable fuel volumes waived under small refinery exemptions.

Among those on the first panel of witnesses was Renewable Fuels Association chief economist Scott Richman. “Unfortunately, the market has no faith that the proposed 2020 renewable volume obligations will result in biofuel blending volumes consistent with the RFS standards set by law, including the 15-billion-gallon conventional renewable fuel requirement,” RFA Chief Economist Scott Richman said. “It is a misnomer to call the numbers in the proposal ‘obligations’ as long as small refinery exemptions (SREs) continue to transform the RFS into a voluntary program for roughly one-third of the nation’s refineries.”

RFA chief economist Scott Richman hearing testimony

American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) Communications Director Katie Fletcher testified that failure of EPA to reallocate waived gallons is contributing to an already tough economy for farmers and ethanol producers. “EPA’s mismanagement of the RFS has placed an artificial lid on domestic ethanol demand causing dozens of ethanol plants to consider slowing production or shutting down.”

ACE Communications Director Katie Fletcher hearing testimony

Several representatives from the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) testified at the hearing, emphasizing that EPA is sending a negative signal to the biodiesel industry by proposing flat volumes and then rolling them back through retroactive small refinery exemptions. NBB Chairman Kent Engelbrecht, who is also the biodiesel trade manager at Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), said “EPA has selected volumes for the biomass-based diesel market that are simply too low.”

Also testifying on behalf of NBB were Vice President of Federal Affairs Kurt Kovarik, and Chief Operating Officer Doug Whitehead.

National Biodiesel Board hearing testimony

ACE, Audio, Biodiesel, EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News, NBB, RFA, RFS

New Corn Hybrids Could Benefit Ethanol and Biodiesel Producers

Cindy Zimmerman

Benson Hill Biosystems has entered into a partnership with Brownseed Genetics, a Wisconsin-based seed breeder of new corn hybrids that are higher in both oil content and essential amino acids offering added value for farmers, ethanol and biodiesel producers.

“Brownseed’s focus on varieties with both quality and productivity benefits can generate greater profitability for growers, livestock producers, and the ethanol industry,” said Matt Crisp, CEO and co-founder of Benson Hill. “Together, through this partnership, we will broaden the Brownseed portfolio so these hybrids can be grown across the Corn Belt.”

“For a small, family-owned company like ours to have access to the powerful technologies that Benson Hill offers would have been unthinkable only a few years ago,” said Charles Brown, CEO, Brownseed Genetics. “These advanced capabilities in predictive breeding and gene editing would have been available only to very large players in the seed industry, I’m pleased that Benson Hill is working with partners like us, across the food chain, regardless of size.”

Because Brownseed hybrids have higher calorie and nutrient content, they already enjoy steady growth in the livestock industry. With the E+™ hybrid, the company is targeting the corn-to-ethanol industry. After four encouraging trial runs of E+™ corn in research and commercial-scale ethanol plants, the company plans a major planting next year.

Biodiesel, biofuels, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News

EPA Chief Urged to Visit Ethanol Plant

Cindy Zimmerman

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler visited an oil refinery in Pennsylvania Monday at the request of Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), who just last week filed legislation in Congress to eliminate corn ethanol from the Renewable Fuel Standard. Now ethanol producers would like to see Wheeler visit one of their plants.

“This refinery produces 200k barrels/day and is a great economic driver for the region,” Wheeler tweeted after his tour of Monroe Energy, which is owned by Delta Air Lines.

Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Geoff Cooper issued an invitation to Wheeler to balance his visit to Monroe with a tour of an RFA member ethanol plant and discussion with plant workers and local farmers.

“During your visit, you likely will hear the refiners’ perspective on the Renewable Fuel Standard, and they will no doubt encourage you to continue EPA’s unprecedented use of small refinery exemptions,” Cooper wrote in his invitation letter. “Even though Monroe Energy is not a ‘small refinery,’ Delta officials will certainly argue that the company has benefited from the waivers because they resulted in a significant collapse in RIN prices. Of course, your agency’s own analysis has concluded that the financial health of refineries is not affected by RIN prices, stating that, ‘…obligated parties, including small entities, are generally recovering the cost of acquiring the credits necessary for compliance with the RFS standards through higher sales prices of the petroleum products they sell.’”

Cooper is hopeful that Wheeler will come and learn more about the challenges the ethanol industry is facing. While Wheeler was briefly at Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy (SIRE) in June as President Trump made an appearance there to celebrate completion of the year-round E15 rule, he was not able to tour the facility with President Trump, Cooper, and SIRE CEO Mike Jerke.

EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Oil, RFA, RFS

Quad County to Establish Monarch Fueling Station

Cindy Zimmerman

Quad County Corn Processors is the latest Iowa biofuels plant to start working with Iowa Renewable Fuels Association to establish a Monarch Fueling Station.

The monarch habitat will span roughly one acre. Today the land is used as a small corn field, but the plant will begin converting it to habitat after harvest with a mid-November seeding.

“We see the Monarch Fueling Station project as a new way to show how rural Iowa is leading the way in producing our nation’s food and fuel while protecting our natural environment,” said Alan Bennett, board member at Quad County Corn Processors. “Biofuel and agricultural production can coexist with important pollinators and native plants, and this project shows how that is possible.”

The Monarch Fueling Station Project was established in two years ago by IRFA in partnership with the Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium to help Iowa’s ethanol and biodiesel plants establish monarch habitat on plant grounds.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Iowa RFA, pollinators

RFA CEO Blasts RFS Reform Bill

Cindy Zimmerman

Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President and CEO Geoff Cooper criticized recycled legislation introduced last week by
Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Pat Toomey (R-PA) that “abolishes the corn ethanol mandate in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).”

“Perhaps Senators Feinstein and Toomey are confused about the RFS. There is no ‘corn ethanol mandate’ under the program and there never has been. Yet, the senators are again seeking to bolster the fossil fuels industry by trying to kill one of the most successful environmental and climate policies ever enacted by Congress,” said Cooper. “We are confident that, as with past attempts, this legislation will go nowhere.”

Cooper called the name of the legislation, the “Restore Environmental Sustainability to Our Renewable Energy (RESTORE) Act,” ironic because it would “force more petroleum into our nation’s fuel supply.”

“Whether it’s oil spills in the Gulf, increased carbon emissions, or earthquakes in fracking country, what is environmentally sustainable about today’s oil industry?” said Cooper. “On the contrary, renewable fuels like ethanol reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40-50% compared to gasoline, while also slashing harmful tailpipe pollutants like particulate matter and carbon monoxide.”

Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA, RFS

RFA Partners with Hauk Designs to Take E85 Off-Road

Cindy Zimmerman

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and Kenny Hauk of Hauk Designs are partnering to highlight the many benefits of using ethanol fuel blends in high-performance off-road vehicles. Fans can watch the Hauk team design and build an RFA flex-fuel Jeep Wrangler JL in a special “Hauk Machines” Amazon Prime video series airing soon. But first, the series kicks off exclusively on RFA’s Facebook page the week of August 12.

A special preview video debuts on RFA’s Facebook page this week as part of a larger social media campaign around this project that will continue for 14 weeks. This and other video content (mini-episodes) from this social media program will be used afterward on Amazon Prime as part of the much more comprehensive “Hauk Machines” second season.

Listen to RFA Vice President for Industry Relations Robert White give an overview of the new project.
RFA's Robert White describes partnership with Hauk Designs


Audio, E85, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA