RFA Study Shows Ethanol Continues Positive Economic Impact

Cindy Zimmerman

As ethanol producers gather this week in San Diego for the 2024 National Ethanol Conference, they can celebrate a great year for the industry in 2023.

As inflationary pressures eased and demand boomed for low-carbon ethanol and its co-products, the ethanol industry’s contribution to the U.S. economy remained strong in 2023, according to the latest economic impact analysis conducted for the Renewable Fuels Association by ABF Economics.

In 2023, more than 72,400 U.S. jobs were directly associated with the ethanol industry, with an additional 322,000 indirect and induced jobs supported across all sectors of the economy. The industry created $32.5 billion in household income and contributed just over $54.2 billion to the nation’s gross domestic product—the second-highest GDP contribution ever. As a result, an estimated $10.4 billion in tax revenue was generated for federal, state and local governments. Returns over operating costs averaged an estimated $0.47 per gallon, almost doubling the average operating margin from 2022, according to the report.

RFA Chief Economist Scott Richman says the industry is very close to total recovery from the hit it took in 20202 due to the pandemic. “Consumption and production are not quite at their peaks but they have gotten pretty close,” said Richman. “But demand both domestically and internationally was pretty strong last year and hopefully this year we’ll get national E15 and that will continue.”

In this interview from the National Ethanol Conference, Richman also discusses the 2022 Census of Agriculture released last week and how it confirms not only the decline of cropland in the U.S., but also the adoption of environmental practices, which he wrote about in a blog post last week.

NEC24 Scott Richman, RFA 9:29

2024 National Ethanol Conference Photo Album

2024 National Ethanol Conference Preview Activities Photo Album

Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, National Ethanol Conference, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA

ACE Elects 2024 Executive Committee

Cindy Zimmerman

The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) Board of Directors last week elected its Executive Committee for 2024.

Re-elected to serve as officers on the 2024 Executive Committee are:

Dave Sovereign, President – Chairman of Golden Grain Energy’s Board in Mason City, Iowa and also serves on the board of Absolute Energy in St. Ansgar, Iowa.
Troy Knecht, Vice President – South Dakota farmer, representing Redfield Energy in South Dakota.
Ron Alverson, Secretary – represents Dakota Ethanol in Wentworth, South Dakota.
John Christianson, Treasurer – Founding partner and director of Christianson PLLP.
Chris Studer, East River Electric Power Cooperative, a founding member of ACE dating back to 1987.

Newly elected to serve on the 2024 Executive Committee is Bill Dartt, Chief Financial Officer for Cardinal Ethanol in Union City, Indiana. “I am grateful for the opportunity to be nominated and elected to serve on ACE’s Executive Committee,” said Dartt. “I look forward to begin this new endeavor and to be a part of such a wonderful team.”

Chris Wilson, who served on ACE’s Executive Committee for several years, is stepping down as an officer but keeping his seat on the ACE Board. Wilson is the General Manager of Mid-Missouri Energy in Malta Bend, Missouri.

ACE, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Lawmakers Urge Use of Sound Science in SAF Carbon Modeling

Cindy Zimmerman

As the Treasury Department March 1 deadline nears to update the GREET model, a bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers have written to the working group in charge of the changes to asking them to ensure they are basing them on sound science, current data, and methodologies that properly recognize modern practices in agriculture and biofuel production.

U.S. Representatives Angie Craig (D-MN), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Dusty Johnson (R-SD) and Adrian Smith (R-NE), and U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), John Thune (R-SD) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) led the effort to write the Biden Administration’s Sustainable Aviation Fuels Lifecycle Analysis Interagency Working Group, urging a timely finalization of the Department of Energy’s update of the Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy Use in Technologies (GREET) modeling for the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) market.

“As you continue to develop a model to determine eligibility, we ask that you take measures to permit every participant in the SAF lifecycle to appropriately participate in the carbon reduction process,” the lawmakers wrote. A total of 42 signed the letter.

“We thank these lawmakers for urging the administration to utilize the best available science and data when determining eligibility for the SAF tax credit established in the Inflation Reduction Act. A transparent and scientifically sound approach is crucial to stimulating investment in domestic SAF production, fostering innovation and creating American jobs,” said Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper.

Uncategorized

Ethanol Worth $2.5 Billion to Minnesota Economy in 2023

Cindy Zimmerman

Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association has just released a new study by the University of Minnesota Extension shows the ethanol industry contributed $2.5 billion to Minnesota’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023.

According to the study, the industry produced 1.35 billion gallons of ethanol in 2023, resulting in $6.6 billion in economic activity and supported 20,914 jobs. The industry also generated $1.3 billion in income for Minnesota residents and paid $182.9 million in state and local taxes last year.

In 2023, the industry also produced 3.99 million tons of dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) and 426 million pounds of corn oil, which is used to produce biodiesel and renewable diesel.

Read the study

corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News

New Mexico Passes Clean Fuel Standard

Cindy Zimmerman

The New Mexico legislature this week passed a clean fuel standard that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is expected to sign it into law. This will make New Mexico the fourth state, after California, Oregon, and Washington, to pass a clean fuel standard designed to reduce carbon emissions while promoting new investments in the production of renewable fuels and vehicles.

New Mexico’s Clean Transportation Fuel Standard, would establish benchmarks to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels by 20% before 2030 and by 30% before 2040. The bill would also incentivize the production of lower-emission fuels by offering credits to producers. Fuel producers could buy and sell these credits, creating a market that would strengthen the state’s economy.

biofuels, Carbon

License Granted for Herbicide Tolerant Camelina Production

Cindy Zimmerman

Yield10 Bioscience announced today that it has granted a global license to VISION Bioenergy Oilseeds to certain proprietary varieties of Camelina sativa (“Camelina”) for the production of feedstock oil for biofuels.

By facilitating the large-scale commercial production of herbicide tolerant Camelina, this license agreement is intended to empower farmers to capitalize on the growing biofuel market while advancing the decarbonization goals of aviation, maritime, and heavy-duty transport industries. Commercial production of Camelina is currently ramping up in North America as a source of ultra-low carbon feedstock oil for the biofuel industry. In consideration for the license and completion of certain deliverables, VISION will make cash payments to Yield10 totaling $3 million.

Yield10 will supply VISION with certain spring and winter Camelina varieties including varieties exhibiting herbicide tolerance to spray application of broadleaf herbicide glufosinate and tolerance to soil residual Group 2 herbicides. Under the license, VISION will have a three-year period of exclusivity to commercialize the licensed traits and varieties for use in biofuels. Once that period elapses, the license granted to VISION will convert to non-exclusive status worldwide. Yield10 retains the right to sublicense these Camelina traits and varieties, as well as to continue to utilize and develop these Camelina varieties to produce omega-3 oil and other Camelina oil and meal products.

aviation biofuels, biofuels, feedstocks, SAF

Ag Secretary Calls Census Numbers “Wake Up Call”

Cindy Zimmerman

USDA officials release 2022 Census of Agriculture

USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) on Tuesday released results of the 2022 Census of Agriculture, which includes more than 6 million data points about America’s farms and ranches and the people who operate them down to the county level.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack joined NASS Administrator Hubert Hamer and USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economic Chavonda Jacobs-Young to present the report, which showed a seven percent decline since 2017 in the number of U.S. farms and ranches and two percent less acres of farmland in the country.

“This survey is a wake up call…Are we okay with losing that many farms? Are we okay with losing that much farmland? Or is there a better way,” said Vilsack.

Vilsack said the declining numbers makes the investment in climate smart agriculture even more important. “The farm then creates a second stream of income,” he said. “That’s why it’s important to continue to promote bio-product production…and transitioning into sustainable aviation fuel or a wide variety of bioproducts that can replace our over-reliance on fossil fuel and petroleum-based products.”

Some good news in the data shows an increase in the number of new and beginning (operating 10 or fewer years on any farm) as well as young (under the age of 35) producers. “I hope we take this information very seriously and understand that it need not be that every five years we report fewer farmers and less farm land, it doesn’t have to be.”

Secretary Vilsack - 2022 Census of Agriculture 16:50

Audio, aviation biofuels, Farming, SAF, USDA

Consumers Driving Demand for Clean Fuels

Cindy Zimmerman

Clean Fuels Alliance America Chair Michael Rath, Sr. with Darling Ingredients is optimistic about the future of clean fuels.

In his address to the membership at last week’s Clean Fuels Conference, Rath noted that consumers, including fleets, have choices for the fuel they put in their vehicles. “Clean fuel adoption is now largely driven by that consumer demand for choice,” he said.

Rath says 2023 was a good year for the industry. “What I would call a ‘storybook year,'” he said. “We’ve increased production domestically from 3 billion gallons in ’22 to over 4 billion gallons in ’23, over a 33% increase.

Rath praised the Clean Fuels team for the work they have done over the past year in Washington, DC and on the state level. With their persistence and education and with the members they were able to have some “wins” allowing for more certainty than the industry has had in a long time.

Listen to Rath’s remarks at the conference and an interview below.
Clean Fuels Chairman Michael Rath Remarks 13:51

Interview with Michael Rath 08:09

2024 Clean Fuels Conference Photo Album

Audio, Biodiesel, Bioheat, biojet fuel, Clean Fuels Alliance

Cargill Supports Low-Carbon Fuel Feedstock Research

Cindy Zimmerman

Cargill has awarded $2.5 million to the Forever Green Initiative at the University of Minnesota to support research into new oilseed crops that can potentially produce low-carbon fuel.

The research will focus on winter camelina and domesticated winter pennycress, two crops that can produce seed-based oil for low-carbon transportation fuels while also protecting soil, improving water quality, and providing new revenue streams for farmers.

Winter camelina and pennycress could be a major climate solution for hard-to-electrify parts of the transportation sector because their seed oil can be refined into drop-in replacements for jet fuel and diesel. Grown in the off-season and with few inputs, the crops produce seed-based oil with a small greenhouse gas footprint.

Fuel made from these crops could reduce emissions by more than 60 percent compared to petroleum jet fuel or diesel. Demand for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is increasing rapidly—spurred by state and federal tax credits and the newly launched Minnesota SAF Hub—and the shipping industry is looking for low-carbon replacements for conventional diesel fuel. The oil can also be used for food, biopolymers, and other industrial applications, and the high-protein meal can be used for animal feed.

Forever Green is an international leader in the development of winter camelina and pennycress. The Initiative is advancing a portfolio of over 15 new perennial and winter-annual crops. By integrating these novel crops with common Midwest crops like corn, soybean, and wheat, farmers can keep their soil covered with living crop plants year-round—a strategy known as “continuous living cover” agriculture.

Read more.

aviation biofuels, biofuels, Carbon, feedstocks, SAF

Corn Farmers Express Concerns About EV Focus

Cindy Zimmerman

Thousands of farmers from across the country signed a letter that was sent to President Joe Biden last week expressing concern that his administration is taking a short-sighted approach to addressing climate change by prioritizing the use of electric vehicles over biofuels, such as corn ethanol, as it works to drastically lower the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.

“If we are going to address climate change and meet our sustainability goals, we are going to have to take a multi-pronged approach, that includes tapping into higher levels of biofuels, such as corn ethanol, which offers an immediate climate solution,” reads the National Corn Growers Association letter that was signed by 3,466 farmers.

The farmers said it could take years before EVs become popular with consumers, which means the administration must expand its focus and efforts to address GHGs with solutions that are available now. “As a low-carbon, clean energy source and an affordable, homegrown fuel, ethanol serves as a critical pathway for agriculture and rural America to contribute to a sustainable future,” the letter noted.

The letter, which drew thousands of signatures in less than a week, comes as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency prepares to release its light- and medium-duty vehicle tailpipe emissions standards for 2027-2032. To help meet the standards, the president has set a goal that 50% of all vehicle sales will be electric by 2030. A similar rulemaking is also being considered through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

the letter said.

corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Farming, NCGA