Iowa Renewable Fuels “Unrelenting”

Cindy Zimmerman

The 2017 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit highlighted the challenges and opportunities facing the industry this year.

“The state of Iowa’s renewable fuels industry is uncertain but unrelenting,” said Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) Executive Director Monte Shaw. “We are ready to expand and bring cheaper, cleaner, home-grown fuels to US and world consumers.”

Concerning federal policy, Shaw foresees unrelenting progress going forward because “one year ago at this very conference, then candidate Donald Trump pledged to protect and defend the RFS.” Yet the industry sees uncertainty in the influence Trump’s Cabinet appointees may have over policy decisions since several have track records opposing the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

Shaw said the industry is bullish regarding the spread of higher ethanol blends at the pump, with Iowa now boasting 99 registered E15 pumps and well over 200 E85 pumps. Yet uncertainty remains because artificial regulatory roadblocks continue to complicate summertime E15 sales.

Advanced biofuels are also gaining steam in Iowa, with biodiesel demand reaching record levels in 2016 and Iowa leading the country in cellulosic ethanol production. Still, concerns abound that Congress allowed biodiesel and cellulosic tax credits to expire.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Iowa RFA

GM and Honda Join for Fuel Cell Production

Cindy Zimmerman

General Motors and Honda are teaming up to mass produce an advanced hydrogen fuel cell system in the auto industry’s first manufacturing joint venture.

Fuel Cell System Manufacturing, LLC will operate within GM’s existing battery pack manufacturing facility site in Brownstown, Michigan, south of Detroit. Mass production of fuel cell systems is expected to begin around 2020 and create nearly 100 new jobs. The companies are making equal investments totaling $85 million in the joint venture.

Honda and GM have been working together through a master collaboration agreement announced in July 2013. It established the co-development arrangement for a next-generation fuel cell system and hydrogen storage technologies. The companies integrated their development teams and shared hydrogen fuel cell intellectual property to create a more affordable commercial solution for fuel cell and hydrogen storage systems.

Fuel cell vehicles can operate on hydrogen made from renewable sources such as wind and biomass wiht water vapor being the only emission from fuel cell vehicles.

Read more from GM

automotive, Car Makers, Hydrogen

RFA Course to Help #Ethanol Plants Meet FDA Regs

Cindy Zimmerman

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is offering a training course to help ethanol plants meet the requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The class is scheduled for March 8–10 in St. Louis and is designed for personnel overseeing a facility’s food safety plan.

RFA Regulatory Affairs Director and FSPCA Lead Instructor Kelly Davis will team with Ralco Nutrition’s Matt Frederking to present the animal food standardized curriculum developed by the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA), which is recognized by FDA to meet the requirements for a PCQI.

“This training course is a critical tool to help ethanol plants come into compliance with these new rules,” said Davis, who has conducted previous industry training sessions on the topic and is recognized as an expert in the industry. RFA conducted four classes last year that educated nearly 170 ethanol stakeholders awarded PCQI certificates by the FSPCA.

More information on the course from RFA.

enzymes, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Processing

General Motors Pleased to Take Biodiesel Lead

Cindy Zimmerman

General Motors was very pleased to announce its expanded portfolio of B20-capable vehicles during the recent 14th National Biodiesel Conference in San Diego, taking the lead among auto makers with 20 trucks, cars and crossovers able to use 20% biodiesel.

“We listen to what our customers are asking us for,” said John Schwegman, GM Director of Commercial Product and Medium Duty Product. “Biodiesel means support for the local economy, especially the farming industry. It helps promote energy security.”

While GM has always been big in the diesel pickup space, Schwegman says they will be introducing three new B20-capable biodiesel cars and crossovers in the next 12 months. “The Cruze and the Malibu will both be starting production this year and then the Equinox shortly thereafter,” he said. “We know that some other OEMs are exiting this segment so it means more opportunity for us.”

Learn more in this interview: Interview with John Schwegman, General Motors

Schwegman also talked about the road ahead for cutting carbon emissions with biodiesel during a session at the biodiesel conference: GM's John Schwegman on NBB17 OEM panel

2017 National Biodiesel Conference photo album

Audio, Biodiesel, Biodiesel Conference, Car Makers

Ethanol Report on Crappie Masters and FFVs

Cindy Zimmerman

ethanol-report-adParticipants in the 2017 Crappie Masters Tournament Trail will be getting an education about ethanol while reeling in the whoppers around the country this year.

In this Ethanol Report, Robert White with the Renewable Fuels Association tells us about this new sponsorship while attending the first tournament on the trail in central Florida, and also updates us on a new RFA brochure with the latest Flex Fuel Vehicle offerings. Ethanol Report on Crappie Masters and FFVs

Click here to subscribe to the Ethanol Report podcast feed and never miss an episode!

Audio, Boats, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Ethanol Report, RFA

Two Students Receive Scholarships to #RFANEC

Cindy Zimmerman

The Renewable Fuels Association and the Renewable Fuels Foundation are proud to announce two students are receiving scholarships this year to attend RFA’s 22nd annual National Ethanol Conference: Building Partnerships, Growing Markets next month in San Diego.

Daehwan Kim is a Ph.D. candidate at Purdue University, pursuing biofuel research in the Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering and the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. His Ph.D. thesis addresses enzyme-catalyzed liquefaction of corn pericarp and fermentation to cellulosic ethanol, and also the development of inhibitor tolerant yeast strains.

David Orrego is also a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Purdue University. His work focuses on the design, optimization and scale-up of bioprocesses, with a focus on biochemical catalysis and bioreactor design.

This is the eighth consecutive year in which this scholarship has been made available to students who focus on renewable fuels in their studies and intend to pursue a career in the industry are eligible to receive the scholarship.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, National Ethanol Conference, RFA

Program Improving Sorghum for Food and Fuel

Cindy Zimmerman

A plant breeding program to improve sorghum varieties for biofuel production could now help meet growing food demands in Africa.

The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center has announced a three-year $6.1 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to expand and accelerate the development and deployment of advanced sorghum phenotyping and breeding technologies in support of improved varieties for smallholder farmers.

The funding broadens the impact of the TERRA-REF program launched in June 2015 to optimize breeding strategies for improving the yield and stress tolerance of sorghum, both as a leading bioenergy feedstock crop in the United States and a critical source of nutrition for millions of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“Initially we launched the TERRA-REF project to gain a greater understanding of the phenotypic and genomic variation of bioenergy sorghum, and to lay the foundation for genomics-enabled breeding strategies for U.S. sorghum bioenergy feedstock production, but the same strategies are directly extendable to food security crops,” said Todd Mockler, Ph.D., Geraldine and Robert Virgil Distinguished Investigator, Danforth Center.

Sorghum is of interest not only because it is a staple crop in Sub-Saharan Africa, but because grain sorghum yields have been flat or declining due to the lack of sufficient investment in the development of new improved varieties.

biofuels, Research, sorghum

Crappie Masters Helping Educate Boaters about Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

The 2017 Crappie Masters Tournament Trail gets underway today in Florida with a new addition this year – ethanol as a co-title sponsor with Bass Pro Shops.

Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) Vice President of Industry Relations Robert White says the purpose of the sponsorship is to help spread the word about ethanol to boaters. “It was an excellent opportunity to get ethanol back around the marine world and help explain the benefits and the realities of ethanol use in marine applications,” said White.

“All boating manufacturers warranty their equipment up to ten percent ethanol,” White said, noting that boaters around the Midwest “have been using nothing but E10 for decades now.”

The sponsorship, which was announced in October, includes print and TV advertising, as well as a presentation on an episode of Crappie Masters TV, a strong visual presence at the tournaments and through social media. Support for the sponsorship also comes from the National Corn Growers Association and a number of state corn grower groups.

Learn more about it in this interview: Interview with Robert White, RFA, on Crappie Masters Sponsorship

Audio, Boats, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

Biodiesel Fueling Future from Coast to Coast

Cindy Zimmerman

The closing session of the 14th National Biodiesel Conference & Expo last week provided a look back at the accomplishments of the past year and how biodiesel is fueling a low carbon future.

Led by Don O’Connor, a Vancouver-based international expert on greenhouse-gas emissions, the panel discussed biodiesel opportunities from coast to coast.

From the west coast was Simon Mui, Director of California’s Fuels, Energy and Transportation Program for the Natural Resources Defense Council, who praised the enactment of the state’s latest climate change law that expands on landmark 2006 legislation and now seeks to reduce emissions by 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. Biodiesel and renewable diesel are leading credit generators under the California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard and their presence is expected to continue growing with the expansion of this landmark policy,

Jana Gastellum, Program Director of Climate at the Oregon Environmental Council, talked about how her west coast state seeks to reduce the average carbon fuel intensity by 10 percent over a 10-year period under its own Low Carbon Fuel Standard passed last year and how biodiesel will be playing a leading role in the effort.

From the east coast, the panel included Keith Kerman, Deputy Commissioner and chief fleet officer for New York City’s Department of Citywide Administrative Services, who discussed how the city’s entire diesel fleet – the largest municipal fleet in the country – has converted to B20.

Listen to their conversation here: Biodiesel's Low Carbon Future

2017 National Biodiesel Conference photo album

Biodiesel, Biodiesel Conference, National Biodiesel Conference, NBB

FS Bioenergia Names CEO

Cindy Zimmerman

FS Bioenergia has announced that international agribusiness executive Henrique Ubrig will serve as the chief executive officer for the corn ethanol production facility being built in Brazil as a collaboration between Brazilian agribusiness Fiagril and U.S.-based Summit Agricultural Group.

“This is an exciting opportunity to make a significant difference in agriculture and renewable energy here in Brazil,” Ubrig said. “FS Bioenergia has assembled an impressive team and I look forward to working with them to ensure the success of this important endeavor.”

Ubrig is founder of Heliagro Agricultura e Pecuaria Ltda. In addition, he garnered more than 20 years of international business experience with DuPont, having served as president of DuPont South America from 1996-2003 and president of DuPont South Asia from 2004-2005.

FS Bioenergia broke ground on the corn-only ethanol production facility early last year and the facility is expected to begin operations in mid-2017. When fully operational, the facility will employ over 100 people and produce over 60 million gallons of ethanol annually.

Brazil, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, International