DuPont Granted Patent for Ethanol Fermentation Product

Cindy Zimmerman

DuPont Industrial Biosciences has been granted a U.S. Patent entitled “Prevention of Bacterial Growth in Fermentation Processes” which covers the application of stabilized chlorine dioxide, the active ingredient in DuPont™ FERMASURE®, to reduce microbial contaminations in ethanol fermentations.

“FERMASURE® is an innovative technology, representing not just the best work of our scientists and researchers, but also the real-world value DuPont technologies deliver for our customers each day,” said Judy Underwood, global marketing director for Grain Processing at DuPont. “As a company committed to cutting-edge solutions, we’re thrilled to see this work recognized by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. DuPont will continue commercializing this effective, antibiotic-free microbial control solution with the additional intellectual property protection that this granted patent affords.”

When used during fermentation, FERMASURE® controls bacterial growth without the need for antibiotics. FERMASURE® is just one of the products that the DuPont XCELIS™ fuel ethanol platform offers to help ethanol producers improve their yield and profitability.

Dupont, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Production

Growth Energy Demands Moratorium on RFS Waivers

Cindy Zimmerman

With the scandal over the Environmental Protection Agency granting numerous small refinery hardship waivers growing, Growth Energy has sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt demanding a moratorium on waivers being issued.

“EPA appears to be operating under the cover of night in a secretive process where the agency acts as judge, jury, and executioner to effectively reduce the overall demand for biofuels in this country absent any public discourse,” says Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor, noting that EPA has not confirmed or denied news reports this week regarding waivers for one of the nation’s largest refiners.

The increasing number of waivers corresponds to a decrease in demand for both ethanol and corn, and undermines the entire Renewable Fuel Standard program. “You add on waiver after waiver, and the amount of applications being considered, you are looking at upwards of 1.5 billion gallons in cut ethanol demand, a reduction of 500 million bushels of corn demand,” said Skor. That would amount to ten percent of the total Renewable Volume Obligations of 15 billion gallons for 2016.

In this interview, Skor also discusses the organization’s objections to the bankruptcy settlement with Philadelphia Energy Solutions, and – on the positive side – how EPA’s revisit of GHG emissions standards provides an opportunity for higher ethanol blends.

Interview with Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor
Audio, EPA, Ethanol, Growth Energy

Minnesota Teen Takes Part in ACE DC Fly-in

Cindy Zimmerman

Attending the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) DC Fly-in last month was a great experience for a high school junior from Minnesota.

Michael Nagler says his dad David Nagler, a board member for Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company, invited him to attend this year’s event. “I didn’t really know all that much about ethanol before,” said Michael, who had the opportunity to meet with Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), which he thought was pretty cool. “You always hear about them and then you’re standing next to them and they’re not much taller than me!”

David Nagler says it was important for him to bring his son with him to learn how what happens in Washington impacts them on the farm. “This affects rural America, it affects the economy,” he said. “We’re here to try and move this industry into the future.”

Joining the Naglers on their visits to Congressional offices was Patrick Buckwalter, a farmer who serves on the board of Al-Corn Clean Fuel. “This is my first time (at the fly-in),” said Buckwalter. “It’s always been something I was interested in and the timing is very good. There’s a lot of movement and activity in Washington regarding the RFS and I think it’s important to make our voice heard.”

Listen to my interview with them here: Interview with Pat Buckwalter, Dave and Michael Nagler, MN

2018 ACE DC Fly-in Photo Album

ACE, Audio, corn, Ethanol

RFS Waiver for Big Refiner Sparks Backlash

Cindy Zimmerman

A Reuters report about EPA exempting one of the country’s largest oil refiners from complying with the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) touched off a backlash from farm groups and ethanol organizations Tuesday.

The National Farmers Union (NFU) was first to respond to the report that Texas-based Andeavor received small refiner economic hardship waivers for three of its 10 refineries that exempted them from complying with 2016 blending obligations. NFU President Roger Johnson called the alleged actions “deeply disturbing,” noting that waiving RFS requirements for large refining corporations undercuts the effectiveness of the law. “What’s equally disturbing is that these actions have purportedly been taken without any transparency, which violates central tenets of responsible governance,” said Johnson. Andeavor reported a $1.5 billion net profit last year and the waiver was reportedly granted earlier this year.

“Providing a small refiner waiver to a company like Andeavor is laughable and abandons the commitment of President Trump to protect the RFS,” said Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) president and CEO Bob Dinneen. “Suffice it to say we are exploring all our options to return the RFS to what the statute intended and what the President has supported.”

The impact of the waiver removes additional Renewable Identification Numbers (RIN) from the total 2016 obligation, effectively reducing the total Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO) for the year. The agency previously disclosed that it had exempted at least 14 small refiners from the 2016 RFS requirements, and has approved exempting bankrupt Philadelphia Energy Solutions from a majority of its obligations for 2016 and 2017, a settlement expected to be approved in bankruptcy court today.

“Since EPA refuses to disclose which refiners get these RFS exemptions, it blurs the transparency of the RIN market giving an advantage to refiners receiving waivers,” said American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) CEO Brian Jennings. “Waiving RFS obligations based on ethanol use thresholds violate the intent of the RFS and invite litigation.”

The waivers impact both ethanol producers and corn farmers, who are facing their fifth year of prices at or below the cost of production.

“Granting these waivers significantly reduces the number of gallons of fuel blended with ethanol hurting rural economies and the nation’s corn farmers,” said National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) president Kevin Skunes of North Dakota. “When refiners aren’t meeting their blending obligations, corn farmers pay the price.”

Two of the Andeavor refineries receiving the waivers are in North Dakota and one in Utah.

ACE, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, NCGA, NFU, RFA, RFS, RINS

Rep. Peterson Visits Chippewa Valley Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

Janet Lundebrek (CVEC board member), Chad Friese (CVEC CEO), Rep. Collin Peterson and David Thompson (CVEC board member).

Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN) visited the Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company (CVEC) plant in Benson, Minnesota last week to reiterate his support for the state’s ethanol industry.

During his visit, which coincided with Ridgewater College’s tour of the plant on March 28, Peterson briefed CVEC on the latest attacks on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

“I recently met with Secretary Perdue to emphasize the importance of these programs for rural Minnesota, and will continue to fight changes to the RFS that would undermine its success,” said Rep. Peterson. “A cap on RIN prices would cost Minnesota corn farmers $370 million and hurt a lot of the investments farmers have made in our homegrown biofuels industry.”

Tim Rudnicki, executive director of the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association, said they are glad to have Rep. Peterson working for ethanol and defending the RFS in Congress. “Thanks to the RFS, in 2017, the ethanol industry contributed $2.1 billion to Minnesota’s economy and supported 18,813 jobs while reducing 715,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.

The association recently released a short video to show the importance of the ethanol industry to Minnesota – watch it here:


Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFS

ITC Vote Levels Playing Field in Biodiesel Trade Dispute

Cindy Zimmerman

U.S. biodiesel interests have won the final procedural battle in the case of unfair dumping of biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia, clearing the way for final antidumping orders to be issued later this month.

The International Trade Commission (ITC) Tuesday voted 4-0 in favor of the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) Fair Trade Coalition’s position that the industry has suffered injury due to unfairly dumped imports of biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia. “Foreign producers dumping product into American markets below cost has undermined the jobs and environmental benefits that U.S. biodiesel brings to the table,” said NBB CEO Donnell Rehagen. “Establishing a level playing field for true competition in the market will allow the domestic industry the opportunity to put to work substantial under-utilized production capacity.”

Last month, the Commerce Department calculated final dumping rates ranging from 60.44% to 86.41% for Argentine producers, and 92.52% to 276.65% for Indonesian producers. A final determination by the Commerce Department in the companion countervailing duty determination was announced in early November, resulting in duty deposit rates of 71.45% to 72.28% for Argentina and 34.45% to 64.73% for Indonesia.

Biodiesel, Trade

UF Joins New Center to Create Fuel from Plants

Cindy Zimmerman

The University of Florida is one of 17 institutions partnering with the University of Illinois in the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI) to develop efficient ways to grow, transform and market biofuels.

UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences agronomy professor Fredy Altpeter will receive more than $4.2 million for his research during the next five years to develop new strategies for biofuel production from sugarcane.

“Our goal is to genetically enhance sugarcane so that the stems and leaves accumulate large amounts of oil while retaining the plants ability to produce large amounts of biomass,” Altpeter said. His team recently created a prototype of this oil-producing sugarcane in collaboration with the Brookhaven National Laboratory, another CABBI partner.

“This breakthrough demonstrates an enormous potential for producing large amounts of renewable and energy dense drop-in fuels, like biodiesel. Sugarcane is one of the most productive high biomass crops on this planet,” Altpeter said.

Using advanced genome editing technologies, sugarcane could far exceed traditional oil crops like soybeans or canola in terms of oil production per acre, according to scientific models.

Read more

advanced biofuels, Biodiesel, biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Research, sugarcane

Ethanol Groups See Opportunity in EPA GHG Revision

Cindy Zimmerman

As expected, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Monday the Revised Final Determination Regarding Model Year 2022-2025 Light-Duty Vehicle GHG Emissions Standards, with the conclusion that “the current standards are not appropriate and should be revised.”

“The Obama Administration’s determination was wrong,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “Obama’s EPA cut the Midterm Evaluation process short with politically charged expediency, made assumptions about the standards that didn’t comport with reality, and set the standards too high.”

Ethanol organizations say this opens up an opportunity for the high-octane renewable fuel to play a role in helping automakers reduce GHG emissions as the standards are revised later this year.

“For several years, Growth Energy has strongly emphasized the fact that fuels and engines are a system and that high-octane fuels – such as ethanol blends like E25-E30 – should be part of this discussion,” said Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor. “We have provided a wealth of data to show that mid-level ethanol blends can be used by automakers to produce smaller, more efficient engines that will help meet future vehicle standards.”

EPA notes in the final determination that, “…ethanol producers and agricultural organizations commented in support of high octane blends from clean sources as a way to enable GHG reducing technologies such as higher compression ratio engines. They provided information suggesting that mid-level (e.g., E30) high octane ethanol blends should be considered as part of the Mid-term Evaluation and that EPA should consider requiring that mid-level blends be made available at service stations.”

American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) CEO Brian Jennings says they are encouraged EPA Administrator Pruitt is seeking more information on the potential for high-octane blends.

“Some might argue today’s decision means EPA will eventually relax GHG standards allowing more gasoline use and tailpipe pollution, but not if the new standards pave the way for E25-30 high-octane fuel in future engines,” said Jennings. “Ethanol-enriched, high-octane fuel enables automakers to simultaneously reduce GHG emissions and improve fuel economy. We are confident E25-30 blends will be the most affordable way to thread that needle.”

Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President and CEO Bob Dinneen adds, “For too long, our light-duty vehicle fuel economy and GHG emission regulations have focused exclusively on the vehicle. We have repeatedly encouraged EPA, NHTSA and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to also consider the important impact of fuels on fuel economy and emissions…(H)igher octane fuel would unleash and enable a wide pallet of low-cost engine technologies that offer proven fuel efficiency and GHG emission improvements at a low cost for consumers.”

ACE, EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Growth Energy, RFA

China Strikes Back

From almonds to frozen edible swine offal, the majority of the 128 products on which China imposed retaliatory tariffs Monday are agricultural, making farmers bear the brunt of the reaction to U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs.

“This is a tax on American farmers, brought about by protectionist trade policies,” said Farmers for Free Trade (FFT) Co-Chair Max Baucus. “American farmers appear to be the first casualties of an escalating trade war.”

U.S. exports of fruits, nuts, and wine will see a 15% tariff, while U.S. pork products were slapped with a 25% tariff, which is a significant blow to the industry that has China as the third largest value market, with more than $1 billion in U.S. pork being shipped there last year.

China added another 15% tariff on U.S. ethanol imports to an already-imposed 30% duty, making the total tariff 45%. “This one-two protectionist punch will ultimately harm Chinese consumers who are being denied access to the lowest-cost, highest-octane, and cleanest fuel on the planet,” said Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen. “But it will also hurt farmers in the U.S. who have worked to build value-added markets for their commodities here and abroad.”

The good news is that soybeans were not on the list announced Monday, since it could mean an overall drop in U.S. soybean exports of 40 percent, according to a study commissioned by the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC). FFT has been sharing videos of soybean growers who are concerned about the possible trade disruption that would cause for their number one market, worth $14 billion annually. Watch one here:

AgWired Animal, AgWired Energy, Ethanol, Exports, International, RFA, Soybean, Trade

How EPA is Destroying Demand for Ethanol and Corn

Cindy Zimmerman

Recent actions by EPA have effectively reduced the Renewable Fuel Standard conventional renewable volume obligation (RVO) for 2016 by more than 1 billion gallons, and the agency appears poised to take similar actions to effectively reduce the 2017 and 2018 conventional RVOs by comparable amounts, according to Renewable Fuels Association Executive Vice President Geoff Cooper.

In a blog post last week, Cooper explains how these cuts have resulted in significantly lower prices for Renewable Identification Numbers, reduced corn and ethanol demand, avoided legal obligations for highly profitable businesses, and windfall profits for certain small oil refiners.

“In total, nearly 2.4 billion gallons of ethanol demand and 860 million bushels of corn demand have potentially been lost over the past two compliance years due to EPA’s recent actions,” Cooper says. He details how EPA’s actions to exempt refineries from the 2016 RFS requirements, not enforcing the full 2016 Renewable Volume Obligations (RVO) of 15 billion gallons and excusing Philadelphia Energy Solutions from its 2016 and 2017 RFS obligations results in the 2016 RFS requirement being lowered from 15 billion gallons to just 13.82 billion, an 8% reduction.

Click to read the analysis.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA, RFS