RFA Releases 2016 Ethanol Industry Pocket Guide

Joanna Schroeder

nec16-pocket-guideDuring the 21 Annual National Ethanol Conference (NEC) this week in New Orleans, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) released the 2016 Ethanol Industry Outlook and the Pocket Guide to Ethanol. Both resources provide up-to-date statistics, insights and analysis on the critical issues affecting the U.S. ethanol industry. Topics found in the guides include the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), background information on market activity, and the latest facts and figures regarding energy security, the environment, the economy, agriculture and trade.

“As the information contained in these editions show, 2015 proved to be a banner year for the ethanol industry,” said RFA President and CEO Bob Dinneen. “These publications are meant to give readers the best overview possible of the industry so that they get a true sense of how far this industry has come and where it is expected to head next. With so much misinformation clouding the reality about ethanol, it is important for consumers, investors, and policymakers to be armed with the facts contained in these publications.”

New this year is a series of downloadable two-page issue briefs based on the Ethanol Industry Outlook, and offers a complete overview of each topic, along with detailed charts and graphs. The Pocket Guide to Ethanol contains the same information as the Outlook, but in a simpler, portable format that includes many myth-busting factoids about ethanol.

2016 National Ethanol Conference Photo Album

biofuels, Education, Ethanol, National Ethanol Conference, RFA

RFA Chairman Pleased with #RFANEC

Cindy Zimmerman

nec16-doyalRenewable Fuels Association (RFA) chairman Randall Doyal believes the 2016 National Ethanol Conference was one of the best ever and he’s very pleased with attendance.

“Attendance is up over last year,” said Doyal. “I’ve heard people who thought that everyone would be depressed because margins are non-existent and we’re looking at some really tough times, but the industry’s kind of matured and people have gotten their feet under them – and it’s not their first rodeo.”

The CEO of Al-Corn Clean Fuel of Minnesota has been in the industry for over three decades and says he’s seen a lot of ups and downs over the years. “Oil’s overproduced, ethanol’s overproduced and the solution to that is low prices and folks slowing down production and that’s the way commodities work,” he said.

Still optimistic about the future for the ethanol industry, Doyal strongly encourages all stakeholders to voice their concerns to the auto industry in support of continued Flex Fuel Vehicle (FFV) production by taking part in the new “Flex My Choice” campaign. “My wife and I own three vehicles, all three are flex fuel, and none of them are flex fuel in the current model year – that’s not okay,” he said. “We like those vehicles, we bought them for a reason, and we won’t buy them again. General Motors, Chevrolet, Ford – they need to wake up and they need to hear our voice.”

The new campaign provides ways for interested parties to send a clear message to the auto makers, to EPA and even to their local dealers that they want to see them continue to make and sell FFVs, which can use up to 85% ethanol blends.

Listen to my interview with Randy here: Interview with RFA Chairman Randall Doyal

2016 National Ethanol Conference Photo Album

Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, National Ethanol Conference, RFA

Making #Ethanol the Consumers’ Choice

Cindy Zimmerman

nec16-willcoxAn expert on consumer marketing offered some recommendations on how to make ethanol the natural choice for consumers during the National Ethanol Conference (NEC) in New Orleans this week.

Matthew Willcox, executive director of the Institute of Decision Making, gave a presentation on how insights from behavioral science can be used by fuel marketers to affect consumer choice at the pump regarding ethanol use. Willcox also released a report on the topic, which was commissioned by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA).

Among his recommendations:

Rather than pitching products on the basis of benefits, ethanol marketers should also consider how to mitigate the feelings of potential losses that may arise when moving from the status quo choice.

Make the example of others adopting the behavior change you require visible to the people whose behavior you want to change. For ethanol, marketers might consider making messages about how many cars are powered by ethanol, how many miles are driven, or simply how many people have chosen ethanol-based fuels more prominent.

Framing benefits in the present is important. So to communicate the benefit that ethanol based fuels are cleaner, think about how that can be made visceral and immediate.

Listen to Willcox’s presentation here: Matthew Willcox at NEC16

2016 National Ethanol Conference Photo Album

Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, National Ethanol Conference, RFA

Economic and Octane Benefits of #Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

The latest study on the economic impact of the ethanol industry released at the National Ethanol Conference this week shows the renewable fuel added $44 billion to the nation’s gross domestic product and supported nearly 360,000 jobs last year.

nec16-cooper The study, conducted by ABF Economics, quantified the impact of domestic ethanol production in 2015 on the national economy. “It really highlights the enormous contribution this industry makes to our nation’s economy and workforce, particularly in rural areas,” said Renewable Fuels Association Senior Vice President Geoff Cooper. He notes that the ethanol industry also helped boost household income by $23.5 billion and increased federal, state and local taxes by $8.7 billion.

“We also look at the impact on the economy from displacing oil consumption,” Cooper added. “The industry produced 14.7 billion gallons of ethanol last year, which was a record, and that meant we didn’t need to import 527 million barrels of crude oil.”

Listen to an interview with Cooper here: Interview with Geoff Cooper, RFA

nec16-octane-2While the economic benefits of ethanol may be less significant today with lower oil prices, the higher octane benefits of the renewable fuel are unaffected by price fluctuations. Cooper hosted two panels at the NEC this year focused on those high octane benefits. “Ethanol’s octane rating of about 113 is far superior to the octane rating of other gasoline components that come out of a refinery and that makes ethanol extremely valuable to refiners and gasoline blenders,” said Cooper.

One panel on Tuesday focused on “Octane 101” and a Wednesday panel went into more detail on the economic and environmental benefits of higher octane fuels. Experts on that panel included Robert McCormick with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory; Confluence Consulting president Vincent Kwasniewski; and Platts biofuels analyst Jordan Godwin.

Listen to that panel here: Second NEC Octane Panel

2016 National Ethanol Conference Photo Album

Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, National Ethanol Conference, RFA

Iowa Biodiesel Day on the Hill

Joanna Schroeder

Chad Stone/IBB Chair/REG (far right), Grant Kimberley/IBB exec dir (Center) speak with Mark Smith (head of table), Iowa House Democratic Leader

Chad Stone/IBB Chair/REG (far right), Grant Kimberley/IBB exec dir (Center) speak with Mark Smith (head of table), Iowa House Democratic Leader

“Iowa Biodiesel Day on the Hill” recently took place hosted by the Iowa Biodiesel Board (IBB). During the event, members called on state legislators to extend and expand biodiesel incentives that are set to expire. IBB notes these incentives help Iowa’s 13 biodiesel producers make the state the top in the country for production. In 2015, 12 of these biodiesel facilities produced a record 242 million gallons of biodiesel. There is also a retailers credit that encourages fuel retailers to carry biodiesel blends, and according to the Iowa Department of Revenue, biodiesel-blended gasoline accounted for 48.9 percent of diesel gallons sold in 2014.

The event included pubic education and a luncheon where IBB members met with legislators to discuss 2016 legislative priorities. These include:

  • Extending the Biodiesel Production Credit, set to expire at the end of next year. The credit is 2 cents per gallon on the first 25 million gallons of production per biodiesel plant, and helps keep biodiesel production and economic activity in Iowa.
  • Extending the Biodiesel Promotion Retail Tax Credit, which provides petroleum retailers 4.5 cents a gallon on blends of at least 5 percent biodiesel (B5), set to expire at the end of next year. Market competition encourages this savings to be passed on to motorists.
  • Enhancing the Retail Tax Credit by adding a 2.5 cent credit (7 cents total) for blends of B11 and higher. This will encourage higher blends of biodiesel to be distributed in the state.
  • Supporting Governor Terry Branstad’s recommended appropriation to continue the successful Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program, which helps fuel distributors and retailers update equipment to include biofuels.
  • Supporting the Biochemical Tax Credit legislation, which would stimulate more demand for biochemical production.

The state biodiesel policies in place have been effective in increasing production and consumption in Iowa, said Grant Kimberley, Iowa Biodiesel Board executive director.
“It makes sense that the majority of Iowa’s diesel fuel should contain at least some biodiesel, and we’re very interested in encouraging higher blends. Common sense would say we use our own fuel product rather than foreign oil. Expanding the retail tax credit for blends of B11 and higher would resoundingly help us accomplish that.”

Biodiesel, biofuels, politics

#RFANEC Panel on Marketing Higher Ethanol Blends

Cindy Zimmerman

nec16-sheetzA really interesting session on getting more higher ethanol blends in the retail market unfortunately got cut a little short at the National Ethanol Conference this week due to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack’s visit, but you can listen to the presentations by two industry leaders here.

Pennsylvania-based Sheetz, Inc. is a family-owned chain of gas station/convenience stores located in six states. Michael Lorenz, Sheetz executive vice president of petroleum supply, says they made a commitment last year to put E15 in 60 North Carolina stores. “We’re currently actually in 34 stores, so it’s kind of a dubious honor but we’re the single largest retailer of E15 in the country,” said Lorenz to applause. “We also plan to do another 100 locations in four other states.”

In his presentation, Lorenz talks about why they chose to start in North Carolina, why the believe in E15, and how they are educating consumers about the fuel. Michael Lorenz of Sheetz at NEC16

nec16-protecThe job of Protec Fuel is to help retailers like Sheetz get the infrastructure they need to offer higher ethanol blends to consumers.

“We do station infrastructure and conversion, we handle E85 and E15 blending, we handle all the full logistics for them,” said Protec CEO Todd Garner. “So, essentially it’s a turnkey operation that allows the retailer to really not have to lift a finger to use E85 and E15.”

Garner was okay with having to give up some of his time on the program to accommodate Secretary Vilsack, since it is thanks to USDA’s Biofuel Infrastructure Partnership (BIP) that they are being able to help more retailers offer higher ethanol blends. “We estimate about an extra 215 stations that we’re going to include into our existing infrastructure, which equates to about another 1000 dispensers that we will install over the next year or so,” said Garner.

Listen to Garner’s presentation here: Protec CEO Todd Garner at NEC16

View the Protec Fuel powerpoint presentation.

2016 National Ethanol Conference Photo Album

Audio, blends, E15, E85, Ethanol, Ethanol News, National Ethanol Conference, Protec Fuel, Retailers, RFA

GFRA Calls to End Fossil Fuel Subsidies

Joanna Schroeder

Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA) President Bliss Baker is calling on national leaders to eliminate all fossil fuel subsides, especially in light of the current low price per barrel costs. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the estimated global fossil fuel subsidies are worth $490 billion. IEA is also predicting global oil demand will drop 25 percent in 2016 to 1.2 million barrels per day. Theoretically fossil fuel subsidies are supposed to increase energy access during periods of high prices; however, with the current state of global energy markets these subsidies, says Baker, are only succeeding in discouraging investment in energy efficiencies and renewables.

GRFA logo“The persistent oversupply of oil, and the resulting low prices, gives countries an opportunity not seen in recent memory to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies and encourage a transition to viable low-carbon energy sources like ethanol,” Baker said. “World leaders couldn’t ask for better circumstances to take action.”

A landmark agreement on combating climate was reached in Paris last December during COP21. The goal is to keep the global temperature rise from exceeding 2°C above pre-industrial levels in this century. This is to be achieved by shifting to a global low carbon economy and encouraging the development of clean technologies as the basis for future development.

Baker notes that over the past year 30 countries have reduced their fossil fuel subsidy programs (the U.S. is not included in this number) in recognition of the fact that current low oil prices reduces the impact of eliminating consumer fossil fuel subsidies. Baker adds that these subsidy reductions also results in lower domestic national emissions of greenhouse gases.

“It is blatantly counter productive for governments to continue to subsidize the industry that contributes the majority of global greenhouse gas emissions, especially after 195 countries agreed that drastically cutting back GHG emissions was necessary to combat climate change.” Baker concluded, “It’s time to take the brakes off of clean technology development and meaningfully begin the transition to a sustainable future.”

Biodiesel, biofuels, Ethanol, Oil

Reports Find Increasing Ethanol Efficiency

Joanna Schroeder

Two recent reports have found that ethanol production continues to become even more efficient. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Office of Chief Economist and titled, “2015 Energy Balance for the Corn Ethanol Industry“. The second report titled, “Literature Review of Estimated Market Effects of U.S. Corn Starch Ethanol,” was published by the University of Missouri, Food and Agricultural Policy Institute (FAPRI).

Corn field on BJ and Bob Funke's Iowa farm. Photo Credit: Joanna Schroeder

Corn field on BJ and Bob Funke’s Iowa farm. Photo Credit: Joanna Schroeder

Both studies reported that ethanol production continues to be increasingly energy efficient, and that increased production would continue to benefit the farm economy by increasing corn prices. Both reports also find that even with increased corn ethanol production, there would be more than enough corn to meet the needs of animal producers such as livestock.

USDA Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement regarding the report findings, “Between 1991 and 2010, direct energy use in corn production has dropped by 46 percent per bushel of corn produced and total energy use per bushel of corn by 35 percent. Moreover, between 2005 and 2010, direct energy use fell by 25 percent and the total energy use by 8.2 percent per bushel—meaning that between 2005 and 2010, the energy required per bushel of corn produced dropped by about 5 percent. The bottom line is, today, more energy is being produced from ethanol than is used to produce it, by factors of 2 to 1 nationally and by factors of 4 to 1 in the Midwest. ”

In response to the reports, Growth Energy Co-Chair Tom Buis stated, “The USDA report confirms several things the ethanol industry has been saying for years – efficiency in ethanol production is on the rise.” Buis continued by noting for years Big Oil and special interests have been attempting to drive a narrative that is false and an effort to maintain their fuel transportation fuel monopoly. He also pointed out that the FAPRI study found there was no definitive impact on global land use.

“These reports definitively prove that the misinformation and lies being spread by Big Oil and special interests hold absolutely no merit. Ethanol production has become, and continues to be more efficient,” Buis added, “Furthermore, Secretary Vilsack was spot on when he noted that, ‘there are many reasons to be optimistic about the future of the bio-economy and the role biofuels and advanced biofuels will play in the future.’”

biofuels, corn, Ethanol, Growth Energy

RFA Honors Iowa Governor for #Ethanol Support

Cindy Zimmerman

nec16-branstadIowa Governor Terry Branstad has been recognized for his unwavering support of ethanol as the recipient of the RFA 2016 Industry Award. The Industry Award is bestowed annually to individuals that demonstrate great dedication and innovation within the industry.

Since the governor had a conflict and was unable to attend the National Ethanol Conference in New Orleans this week, Absolute Energy president Rick Schwarck presented his award earlier this month in Des Moines. “Governor Branstad, you have been one of the most passionate, articulate, and effective advocates for value-added agriculture, farmers, and ethanol,” said Schwarck in a video of the presentation shown at the NEC.

Gov. Branstad at first National Ethanol Conference

Gov. Branstad at first National Ethanol Conference

Gov. Branstad is the longest-serving governor in American history, and is currently serving his sixth non-consecutive term after first being elected to office in 1983. Bob Dinneen, RFA president and CEO, noted that the governor has been a stalwart champion of the Renewable Fuel Standard since its inception.

“Governor Branstad was a founding member of the Governors’ Ethanol Coalition, and throughout his career he has worked tirelessly on behalf of our nation’s ethanol producers and farmers,” said Dinneen. “I can think of no better recipient for this year’s RFA Industry Award. The people of Iowa are lucky to have a man of such vision and character leading their state.”

Dinneen noted that Gov. Branstad attended the very first National Ethanol Conference held in Des Moines in 1996, during his first stint as Iowa’s governor, and was presented with an award at that time as well.

2016 National Ethanol Conference Photo Album

Ethanol, Ethanol News, National Ethanol Conference, RFA

Do You Have a Favorite Social Media Outlet?

Jamie Johansen

New Holland ZimmPollOur latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “How many farm shows/conferences do you attend?”

We have a very wide spectrum in our results this week. It looks like most people attend around 2 to 5 farm shows or conferences each year. As you can guess, those on the AgWired Team would fit into the 5 plus category. I think a future poll should ask the impact farm shows have on making purchases or decisions on the farm.

Here are the poll results:

  • 1-2 – 17%
  • 2-5 – 30%
  • 5+ – 27%
  • None- 26%

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, What is your favorite social media outlet for agriculture?

It is rare to find someone who isn’t using social media for personal reasons, but when I find that person I respect their reasons. However, if you aren’t using social media to market yourself, business or social issue you are missing out and getting left behind. Social media is one of the greatest places to promote our agricultural community. Do you have a favorite platform?

ZimmPoll