Lallemand and Toyota Sign Cellulosic Yeast Agreement

Cindy Zimmerman

Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled Spirits (LBDS) has signed an agreement with Toyota Motor Corporation to produce and market a new portfolio of yeast strains “TOYOTA XyloAce™” for cellulosic ethanol production in North America.

Toyota, through the use of gene recombination technology, has recently developed new yeast strains that will play an important role in the fermentation process for producing cellulosic ethanol. TOYOTA XyloAce™ strains are not only highly efficient at fermenting xylose and arabinose, but are also highly resistant to fermentation-inhibiting substances such as acetic acid. As a result, these yeast strains have achieved some of the highest ethanol fermentation density levels in the world, and are expected to improve biofuel yield and significantly reduce production costs.

Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled Spirits President, Angus Ballard comments “adding the TOYOTA XyloAce product line to our portfolio will allow our customers to choose from the very best cellulosic yeast strains available. We are proud to be working with Toyota and look forward to driving increased profitability for cellulosic ethanol producers throughout North America.”

Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Ethanol Report from Commodity Classic

Cindy Zimmerman

Whether or not EPA can get to the finish line with a rule allowing year round sales of E15 before June 1 was a major topic of discussion last week, from hearings on Capitol Hill to the stage of the Commodity Classic in Orlando. First, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told the House Agriculture Committee that the rule would not be done in time, then at Classic he said the administrator had found a way to make it happen.

This week, EPA sent its E15 proposal to the Office of Management and Budget for review, the first step in the process, with less than 90 days at this point to make it happen.

In this episode of The Ethanol Report, Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Geoff Cooper talks about that issue and others from the 2019 Commodity Classic. Ethanol Report from Commodity Classic

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Audio, Commodity Classic, E15, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Ethanol Report, RFA

Ethanol Safety Webinar This Month

Cindy Zimmerman

The Renewable Fuels Association, in partnership with TRANSCAER®, is hosting an ethanol safety webinar on March 19 for ethanol emergency response teams.

The “Train the Trainer” webinar, which is funded through a Federal Railroad Administration/TRANSCAER® grant, is intended to develop instructors to lead operations-level training and is open to all professional individuals above the technical level of training who are interested in learning how to teach ethanol emergency response. A single webinar can train a group of individuals, who can then turn around and pass that information forward, equipping entire communities with the knowledge necessary to respond to any potential ethanol-related emergency.

The webinar will be held from 12pm – 2pm ET on March 19. Registration is limited 100 attendees and certificates will be emailed to all completing the webinar.

RFA will hold additional webinars on July 2 and Aug. 13. For more information or to register, visit www.rfa.traincaster.com.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA, safety

Luke Perry’s Ties to Farming and Biodiesel

Luke Perry is being eulogized for many reasons upon his sudden passing this week at the age of 52, but not so much about his rural background and his support of biodiesel.

Back in 2006, Luke Perry showed up at the National Biodiesel Conference in San Diego sporting an FFA jacket with his name on it and talked about the agriculture influence in his early life and how he was converted to biodiesel by actress Daryl Hannah.

“My neighbors growing up farmed soybeans and I used to work in the bean fields, I’m from Ohio, you know,” said Perry, during an informal press conference with Hannah. He admitted that he was not an FFA member in high school and called it “one of the biggest regrets” of his life.

“I thought I could escape the farmer in me,” said Perry. “When I got to the point where I could live anywhere in the world that I wanted, what did I do, I bought land and cows and a tractor. Because you can’t escape who you are.”

Perry was very enthusiastic and informed about biodiesel in the press conference. Listen here: 2006 National Biodiesel Conference presser with Luke Perry and Daryl Hannah

2006 was the first biodiesel conference on the Biodiesel Conference Blog and it also featured Willie Nelson.

AgWired Animal, AgWired Energy, AgWired Precision, Audio, Biodiesel

USDA Secretary Clarifies E15 Comments

Cindy Zimmerman

Two days before he appeared at the Commodity Classic last week, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told the House Agriculture Committee that rules allowing the use of E15 year round “probably will not be out for the driving season,” but he says newly confirmed EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler has “figured out” how to get it done by June 1.

Perdue says that while Wheeler had told him recently that they would not be able to get the rule done in time because of the government shut down, in the face of final confirmation votes last week, “his people found a way to do that.”

Listen to Perdue’s E15 comments during his remarks and at a subsequent press conference.

Classic19 Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue E15 comments

2019 Commodity Classic Photo Album

Audio, Commodity Classic, E15, Ethanol, Ethanol News, USDA

Where’s the Content?

ZimmComm had a crazy week of content creation – from Destin, Florida and the BASF Stoneville Legacy Club, to the Bayer AgVocacy Forum, the BASF Science Behind, and Commodity Classic in Orlando, and the Mid-South Farm and Gin Show in Memphis. If you are looking for it all, it’s being posted on the virtual newsroom for agriculture AgNewsWire.

Sometimes we gather content faster than we can get edited and posted, and that has definitely been the case this week. Add to that the fact that the Orlando Convention Center where Commodity Classic was held could not seem to provide the media room with decent internet access and we are running a little behind. All I can say is that I am glad it was Chuck at Classic this year and not me!

Here are direct links to the AgNewsWire newsrooms for each event where links to photo albums, audio and video are being posted:

2019 BASF Legacy Club Events

2019 Bayer AgVocacy Forum

2019 BASF Science Behind

2019 Commodity Classic

FMC at 2019 Commodity Classic

AMVAC at 2019 Commodity Classic

2019 Mid-South Farm and Gin Show

AgWired Animal, AgWired Energy, AgWired Precision, BASF, Bayer, Commodity Classic

Secretary Sonny Shines at Commodity Classic

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue visited the 2019 Commodity Classic Friday and addressed most of the major issues being discussed at the big annual meeting of corn, soybean, wheat and sorghum farmers.

Perdue talked about the farm economy, farm bill implementation, ethanol, and a lot about trade. He also addressed many of the same issues during a press conference with the many members of the farm media in attendance. Here are both for listening and downloading.

Classic19 Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue remarks

Classic19 Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue press conference

2019 Commodity Classic Photo Album

AgWired Animal, AgWired Energy, AgWired Precision, Audio, Commodity Classic, USDA

Ethanol Analyst: Long Term Market Outlook is Strong

Carrie Muehling

Although record ethanol production and political trade wars have presented challenges for the U.S. ethanol industry in recent months, an ethanol analyst speaking to participants at the National Ethanol Conference said the long term future for the industry looks strong.

“The good news – and this really transcends politics – is that all over the world, there is more and more implementation of what in this country we have been accustomed to for the last 14 years, which is a Renewable Fuels Standard,” said Pavel Molchanov, Sr. VP and Equity Research Analyst, Raymond James & Associates.

While China will continue to be a big player in this space, new markets are emerging in places like Mexico and Ukraine that could represent important opportunities for U.S. ethanol producers. Carbon emissions is another area where ethanol will continue to important, as transport is now the number one source of emissions globally.

“To get US carbon emissions to continue to fall on a sustainable basis, transport has to play a role,” said Molchanov. “There is undeniably a role for renewable fuels, both Gen 1 and advanced Gen 2 to play a role in decarbonizing in the U.S., and this will be just as relevant in other countries which is among the reasons why in the context of the Paris agreement, we see more and more jurisdictions implementing various biofuel blending mandates, even if they’re not nearly as high profile as the one that comes out of Washington.”

Even with electric vehicles growing market share, Molchanov believes ethanol demand will remain strong for at least the next decade, if not longer.

Listen to Pavel’s complete presentation here: NEC19 Ethanol Market Outlook, Pavel Molchanov

2019 National Ethanol Conference Photo Album

Audio, Ethanol, National Ethanol Conference

Nebraska Ethanol Emerging Issues Forum Next Week

Cindy Zimmerman

Biofuel stakeholders from across the country will be in Omaha next week for the 14th annual Nebraska Ethanol: Emerging Issues Forum on March 7-8, kicking off with a welcome from Governor Pete Ricketts.

The Nebraska Ethanol Board organizes the forum, which brings together ethanol producers and others involved in production, technology, policymaking and marketing of biofuels and its co-products. Topics include an overview and discussion of the most pressing federal policies, regulatory and legal actions, and markets affecting ethanol demand. Speakers will also discuss navigating the introduction and expansion of E15, as well as opportunities in emerging renewable chemical and co-product markets. The federal policy panel includes industry leaders from the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, Growth Energy, National Corn Growers Association, Novozymes and the Renewable Fuels Association.

More than 150 ethanol industry stakeholders are expected to attend the forum. Online registration and a detailed agenda are available on the Nebraska Ethanol Board website.

Ethanol, Ethanol News

Bioleap, Inc. Supports Ethanol Industry

Carrie Muehling

Bioleap, Inc. CEO Wayne Mitchell (far left) with other members of the Bioleap team at the NEC golf tournament.

The 2019 National Ethanol Conference had a new golf tournament sponsor in Bioleap, Inc. CEO Wayne Mitchell said the full-service engineering company is currently focused on reducing the carbon footprint and energy use of ethanol plants, making them more efficient and helping them to be lower cost producers. Mitchell sees a strong future for the ethanol industry.

“The ethanol industry started out with kind of one vision as to where it was headed with energy security,” he said. “That’s changed with the U.S. becoming the largest exporter of energy now, but now there is a new role for ethanol in terms of octane. And that’s something that’s going to be a need and it’s going to keep this industry in business for a long time and continue to grow.”

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Wayne here: NEC19 Interview with Bioleap CEO Wayne Mitchell

2019 National Ethanol Conference Golf Tournament Photo Album

Audio, Ethanol, National Ethanol Conference