E15 Gone Today Despite Trump Promises

Cindy Zimmerman

It’s June 1 and fuel retailers in the majority of the country who were selling 15% ethanol blends yesterday can’t today because of what President Trump calls “unnecessary and ridiculous” summertime E15 restrictions.

With the deadline approaching yesterday, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig joined the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) in calling on EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to use his “enforcement discretion” to allow summertime sales of E15.

“We call on Administrator Pruitt to take swift action to resolve this situation and while that process is playing out to provide guidance to retailers to allow for E15 access year round,” said Naig.

Listen to Naig and IRFA executive director Monte Shaw here: Iowa ag secretary and Iowa RFA E15 comments

Audio, E15, EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Iowa RFA

Iowa Corn Fuels Travelers with Beef and E85

Cindy Zimmerman

Iowa Corn growers have hit the road to help summer travelers fill up with corn-fed beef and homegrown fuel.

The Iowa Corn-fed Summer Road Trip offers directions for travelers with flex-fuel vehicles to find fuel retailers offering E85 near the state’s best restaurants for corn-fed burgers and tenderloins. The map also includes some of Iowa’s summer corn-fed events, like the Iowa Corn 300 on July 8.

While gas prices are expected to hit four-year highs this summer, ethanol is helping to offset higher prices, and 10 percent ethanol blends (E10) alone could save consumers at least $39 billion this year, according to a Renewable Fuels Association analysis. The current Des Moines Terminal/Rack Prices are $2.16 for E10 and E85 is priced at $1.76 per gallon.

corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Ethanol Coalition Suing EPA Over Refinery Waivers

Cindy Zimmerman

A coalition of farm and ethanol organizations has filed a lawsuit over the Environmental Protection Agency’s “secretive small refinery exemptions.”

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) and National Farmers Union (NFU), with support of Farmers Union Enterprises, filed the suit late Tuesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit to challenge several waivers from the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) EPA granted to profitable refining companies.

The petitioners are challenging three EPA decisions, made under unusually clandestine proceedings, to exempt refineries in Wynnewood, Oklahoma; Cheyenne, Wyoming; and Woods Cross, Utah from the RFS requirements of the Clean Air Act. The Wynnewood refinery is owned by Wynnewood Refining Company, a subsidiary of CVR Energy, and the Cheyenne and Woods Cross refineries are owned by Holly Frontier Corporation. The companies have since estimated in financial disclosures that the exemptions have saved them a collective $170 million in compliance costs.

“America’s corn farmers, who are expecting their fifth consecutive year of low commodity prices and who are experiencing the lowest net farm incomes since 2006, understand economic challenges. When refineries are reporting profit increases and repurchasing stock shares, we expect EPA to explain why these refineries were granted exemptions from their RFS volume obligations,” says NCGA president Kevin Skunes.

The petition also notes that EPA has consistently rejected all attempts to bring greater transparency to the small refinery exemption extension process. EPA has refused to provide even the most basic information requested in Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests from RFA and other parties. More surprisingly, the Agency has also ignored demands from members of Congress for the same essential facts.

ACE, corn, EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News, NCGA, NFU, RFA

Ethanol Report on Biker and Boater Education

Cindy Zimmerman

A custom-made motorcycle will be the centerpiece of a new educational campaign by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) to inform consumers about the proper use of ethanol-blended fuels in boats, motorcycles, and other small engines.

RFA has partnered with American Chopper‘s Paul Teutul Junior to design a custom bike that will be unveiled on June 11 and be part of the RFA promotion at the 2018 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

The Sturgis Buffalo Chip Campground had its own custom bike unveiled live on the May 28 show. It was also revealed that the bike will be auctioned off at the 11th Annual Legends Ride®, a charity event that is part of the Sturgis rally and co-sponsored by RFA.

In this Ethanol Report, RFA Vice President of Industry Relations Robert White talks about how they will be using the custom motorcycle, Sturgis and other opportunities this summer to set record straight on the use of ethanol blends in small and off-road engines.

Listen here: Ethanol Report on Biker and Boater Education

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Ethanol, Ethanol News, Ethanol Report, Motorcycle, RFA

Monarch Fueling Stations are Taking Off in Iowa

Cindy Zimmerman

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) last week announced three new Monarch Fueling Station Projects in the state, including the first retailer locations.

Star Energy FS announced intentions to establish Monarch Fueling Stations at locations in Gowrie, Rockwell City, and Manson. The monarch habitats will span anywhere from over a quarter of an acre to two acres, depending on the location. Seeding is expected to take place within the next month. Star Energy FS is also looking at expanding the project to other locations in future years.

“We at Star Energy FS are excited to come alongside Iowa biofuels plants in this effort to help restore the population of the monarch butterfly,” said Jeff Manthei, general manager for Star Energy FS. “This seemed like a natural next step considering we already work closely with Iowa biofuels plants to offer blends of their excellent fuels.”

The ADM plant in Cedar Rapids, and Big River Resources plants near West Burlington and Dyersville, are the latest biofuel facilities to join the monarch fueling program.

ADM has selected five acres to transform into a Monarch Fueling Station which will be planted with a prairie grass and flower mixture, including milkweed plants, which monarchs need for laying eggs. The Big River Resources West Burlington project will span roughly 1.8 acres and the Dyersville project will be approximately one acre. Seeding is expected to take place this fall. Big River Resources may also consider establishing similar plots of monarch habitat at facilities outside of Iowa.

The Monarch Fueling Station Project was established by IRFA in partnership with the Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium in December 2017.

Ethanol, Ethanol News

RFA Announces $1M Fuel Your Knowledge Campaign

Cindy Zimmerman

Memorial Day weekend means the start of boating, biking and lawn mowing season – better known as summer. As the small engines come out of winter hibernation, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is launching a new $1 million consumer-focused educational campaign called “Fuel Your Knowledge.”

The campaign will educate and inform consumers about the proper use of ethanol-blended fuels in boats, motorcycles, lawn and garden equipment and other off-road engines. This effort is intended to correct the record on the use of ethanol blends in small and off-road engines, educate the owners of these engines on what fuels they can legally and safely use, and highlight the benefits of choosing ethanol blends.

The RFA intends to enhance existing efforts that include a co-title sponsorship of the Crappie Masters Tournament Trail professional fishing series, involvement with an upcoming reality TV series, and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. There are also plans for several additional projects over the next 18 months that involve mechanics and more third-party validators. As part of the effort there will be new online content, videos, promotional materials, sponsorships, trade show exhibits and attendance at larger consumer events across the country. Through RFA’s partnerships with non-traditional stakeholders, this effort to educate consumers will be amplified to ensure wide outreach is successful.

Boats, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Motorcycle, RFA

Ethanol Summit Includes Plant and Farm Tours

Cindy Zimmerman

Before and after the Ethanol Summit of the Asia-Pacific held this week in Minneapolis, visitors from more than 17 countries in Asia and Oceania have been able to tour farms and ethanol plants around the region.

Teams of producers, traders, government officials and business people have been on tours in Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Wisconsin, hosted by state corn organizations and local ethanol facilities, sponsored by the U.S. Grains Council (USGC), which works to develop overseas demand for U.S. feed grains and their products, like ethanol.

The post-Summit tours included participants from China, Korea and Taiwan visiting Iowa; a team from India, Bangladesh and the Philippines visiting Kansas; participants from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam visiting Nebraska; and a team from Australia, Myanmar, Pakistan and New Zealand visiting Wisconsin.

The summit, hosted with Growth Energy and the Renewable Fuels Association, offered participants access to high-level U.S. ethanol industry members and extensive information on how ethanol is used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), improve air quality, and provide economic benefits to ethanol stakeholders.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Exports, Grains, Growth Energy, RFA, USGC

Senators Say Protecting RFS Will Help Lower Gas Prices

Cindy Zimmerman

Four Democratic U.S. senators are calling on President Trump to take actions to help lower gas prices, including protecting the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, was joined by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), in a letter to the president outlining seven specific actions he could take to “make sure OPEC does not continue to suppress world crude oil supplies” and to “protect domestic policies that help consumers.”

“This weekend is the start of the driving season, and the average American household will pay $167 more in fuel costs this summer,” said Sen. Cantwell in a press conference. “That is sticker shock to the American family – what they are seeing could get worse, and that is why we are calling on President Trump to act.”

Nationwide, the average price of gas is up more than 50 cents per gallon from Memorial Day last year and has jumped 12 cents per gallon in the past 14 days, hitting a four-year high.

Listen to Cantwell’s remarks here: Sen. Maria Cantwell on high gas prices

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) recently did an analysis of how ethanol is already helping keep gas prices lower than they would be otherwise.

Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFS

Waivers Continue as Officials Plan Biofuels Meeting

Cindy Zimmerman

As officials with the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture were preparing for a meeting today on the Renewable Fuel Standard, reports surfaced that the nation’s second largest oil refiner has requested a “hardship waiver” for one of its facilities.

Marathon Petroleum is in merger talks with Andeavor, one of the first large oil companies reported to receive a hardship waiver, which would make them the largest oil refiner in the United States that would control one-sixth of U.S. refining.

Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor hopes today’s meeting will put an end to these waivers and restore the gallons of ethanol lost because of them. “These waivers have already siphoned billions away from farm families to enrich some of the world’s largest oil companies as well as a few well-connected investors like Carl Icahn. Those gallons need to be restored and American consumers need immediate, year-round access to E15,” said Skor. “President Trump promised to protect statutory targets under the RFS, and we support Secretary Perdue’s efforts to ensure the EPA upholds that commitment to rural families.”

Officials with EPA, USDA and the Department of Energy are expected to meet today to work on the details that came out of the White House meeting earlier this month, allowing year-round sales of E15, cutting down on the waivers, and possibly allowing ethanol exports to count toward blending requirements.

EPA, Ethanol, Growth Energy

RFA Comments on Brazil RenovaBio Program

Cindy Zimmerman

Since Brazil’s new RenovaBio program will likely cause significant growth in the country’s biofuels consumption, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) wants to make sure their methodology for estimating carbon intensity correctly reflects the emissions impacts of corn ethanol.

Under RenovaBio, which was approved in late December 2017, the average carbon intensity (CI) of gasoline must be reduced by 10.1% by 2028. In comments to Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy, RFA focused on the draft CI calculation tool (known as “RenovaCalc”) that will be used to determine CI values for various biofuel pathways.

“Given that many of our member companies produce ethanol that is exported to Brazil, the pathway for imported corn ethanol is of particular interest to RFA….[I]t is imperative that the CI scoring of biofuel pathways under RenovaBio is conducted in an accurate, transparent, and science-based manner,” RFA explained in its comments.

RFA is seeking clarity on the wide discrepancy between CI scores for imported corn ethanol and Brazil-produced corn ethanol. Under preliminary RenovaCalc estimates, imported corn ethanol is found to reduce GHG emissions by more than 50% compared to Brazilian gasoline. Meanwhile, Brazil-produced corn ethanol is found to reduce GHG emissions by 70%.

With certain further refinements, RFA said it believes the calculator can provide both regulators and regulated entities with reliable estimates of the CI associated with various fuel pathways.

Brazil, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA