White Paper Released on Farm Income and the RFS

Cindy Zimmerman

Leaders of the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and the National Farmers Union (NFU) jointly released a new white paper Thursday on how the EPA’s proposed rule for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is threatening farm income and rural economies across the United States.

ncga-smallerThe paper cites the latest USDA data on net cash income for American farmers and ranchers, which is forecast to decline by 26 percent in 2015 from peak levels in 2013, as proof that the EPA proposal is impacting the farm economy. “That devastating forecast is worse than originally projected, and it represents the lowest farm income levels in nearly a decade, and it could get worse,” says the paper.

“There are factors other than the RFS,” said NCGA president Chip Bowling of Maryland. “(But) it has changed the basis, the price received for our corn, it has changed the way we’re buying equipment … most of that is due to the uncertainty in the Renewable Fuel Standard.”

nfu_logo2EPA is expected to release the final rule at the end of November and NFU president Roger Johnson says they have heard nothing to indicate they will change that time line. “They agreed to that in the court order,” said Johnson. “It’s hard to say what to expect from them.”

Johnson stressed that the so-called blend wall should not be included in any determination for volume requirements under the RFS. “When the RFS was put in place it was never intended that it would stop at ten percent,” he said. “It was always the intent that it would go way beyond ten percent.”

Bowling says corn growers have responded to the demand for more corn to produce ethanol and another record crop is expected this year. “We’re still expecting yields of 162 bushels per acre at minimum,” said Bowling. “We have carry over that’s growing and without a strong Renewable Fuel Standard demand for corn is going to decrease.”

Listen to the announcement from NCGA and NFU here: Press call on RFS/farm income white paper

Audio, corn, EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News, NCGA, NFU, RFS

CoBank Report – Ethanol Industry Rebalanced

Joanna Schroeder

The ethanol industry has rebalanced in 2015 following 18 months of record earnings. As energy prices collapsed late in 2014, so did ethanol prices and plant margins. The report from CoBank, “Ethanol Industry Reblanaces,” has found that ethanol’s supply and demand has remained well balanced, and producers have maintained positive earnings. Looking into 2016, the report finds plant operators will face dueling positive and negative shifts in the market that are likely to result in lean, yet positive margins.

CoBank logo“With corn prices expected to remain relatively static, it will be the prices of distillers grains and ethanol that determine the direction of earnings,” explained Dan Kowalski, the report’s author, and director of CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange Division. “Ethanol profitability will largely hinge on two key factors: the volatility of energy prices and the industry’s ability to maintain strong export sales. The report also points to the importance of sustained discipline in growing production capacity and output.”

Kowalski continued, “The industry will see little growth in domestic sales as a result of improving fuel efficiency in the nation’s vehicles and changes to the EPA’s renewable fuels blending mandate. The EPA’s proposed alteration to the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) is expected to be approved later this year, and will set a floor beneath the current 10 percent blending level. However, the new policy will not incentivize retailers to sell higher ethanol-blended fuels.”

The report finds that the potential for increased export sales will help to counterbalance the domestic picture. Brazil has increased its domestic blending rate to 27 percent. This has reduced its export ability and opened the door to U.S. producers.

The report cautions foreign markets also pose a risk to ethanol producers. China, which currently imports 60 percent of U.S. distillers grains, is expected to change its grain policies to discourage the import of corn-alternative feed grains. These changes could significantly impact producers’ bottom lines.

biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFS

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDF1GE’s Power Conversion business has been chosen by Pacifico Energy to provide its Brillance solar skid solutions for its mega-solar project in Furukawa. By partnering with some of the country’s largest projects, GE is at the forefront of helping Japan realize its solar energy production targets. GE’s involvement in the 56.9-megawatt direct current (DC) Furukawa mega-solar project, closely following the recently awarded Hosoe solar project, demonstrates GE’s commitment to continue to grow the sector.
  • A new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) aims to assist countries in their transition to renewable energy-based power systems. The Age of Renewable Power, released today on the sidelines of the Innovation for Cool Earth Forum in Tokyo, identifies 20 measures that can be taken to support the development of national roadmaps to integrate variable renewables. It also highlights lessons learned by countries already pursuing a power system transformation.
  • According to UNICA ethanol production reached 1.99 billion liters in the second half of September – 799.48 million liters of anhydrous ethanol and 1.19 billion liters of hydrated ethanol – with a growth of 27.45% compared to same period in 2014. In the period from the beginning of the season until the end of the month, the production volume totaled 20.19 billion liters, with 12.70 billion liters of hydrated ethanol and 7.49 billion liters of anhydrous ethanol.
  • Colorado Cleantech Industries Association, together with partners at Clean Edge and the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies have released The Colorado Clean Tech Landscape report. The report highlights Colorado’s leadership across the cleantech landscape and points to significant opportunities for advancement.
Bioenergy Bytes

Interior to Auction 344,000 Offshore Acres

Joanna Schroeder

The U.S. Department of Interior has announced the auction of 344,000 offshore acres off the coast of New Jersey for development of offshore wind projects. The lease sale will take place on November 9, 2015. Should the area be fully capitalized, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates at least 3,400 MW of wind power could be developed.

NJ-offshore wind energy MAP“On the heels of this summer’s historic ‘steel-in-the-water’ milestone for the nation’s first commercial offshore wind farm, today’s announcement marks another major step in standing up a sustainable offshore wind program for Atlantic coast communities,” said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell. “This effort took significant engagement and cooperation with New Jersey and other stakeholders to advance clean energy development and reduce potential use conflicts, which moves us closer to harnessing the enormous potential of wind energy along the Atlantic coast.”

To date, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has awarded nine commercial offshore wind leases, including seven through the competitive lease sale process (two in an area offshore Rhode Island-Massachusetts, another two offshore Massachusetts, two offshore Maryland and one offshore Virginia). These lease sales have generated about $14.5 million in winning bids for more than 700,000 acres in federal waters.

BOEM Director Abigail Ross Hopper said of the efforts to expand offshore wind in the U.S., “We are pleased to see sustained commercial interest in offshore wind development. We will continue to work closely with members of the New Jersey Renewable Energy Task Force to ensure that our intergovernmental partners remain informed on the next steps proposed by the winners of this auction.”

The New Jersey Wind Energy Area starts about seven nautical miles from shore. Click here to view a map of the Wind Energy Area.

Electricity, offshore wind, Renewable Energy

New Seattle Ferry Running on Biodiesel

John Davis

doc-maynardThe newest ferry for the Seattle area is running on biodiesel. This article from Marine Log says the M/V Doc Maynard, started service at the end of September, replacing her sister ship, the M/V Sally Fox, which is undergoing some scheduled warranty work.

Both the Sally Fox and Doc Maynard were built by All American Marine, Inc. (AAM), Bellingham, WA. The 105 ft x 33 ft aluminum catamaran ferries are the first U.S. Coast Guard Sub-chapter “K” inspected passenger vessels built and delivered under new guidelines that make it possible for boat builders to design and implement suitable structural fire protection in very low fire load spaces in the construction of weight-sensitive high speed passenger vessels.

Each ferry is powered by two Cummins QSK-50 Tier 3 diesel engines, rated at 1,800 bhp at 1,900 rev/min and driving twin propellers to provide a service speed of 28 knots. The ferries also burn a 10 percent biodiesel blend and have LED lighting onboard.

All American Marine is sponsoring a tour of the Doc Maynard at MARINE LOG’S FERRIES 2015 Conference & Expo, set for November 5-6, 2015 at the Hyatt Olive 8 in Seattle.

Biodiesel

US Ethanol Exports Lowest in 2 Years, DDGS Down

John Davis

rfalogo1American ethanol exports to the world are down to their lowest levels in more than two years. This analysis from the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) says at just 50.1 million gallons (mg), total ethanol shipments in August were 35 percent lower than in July, falling by 27.1 mg. In addition, the ethanol by-product, distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) used for animal feed, was also down, but just slightly from record levels of this summer.

Ninety percent of exports were destined for only 10 countries, with the majority of shipments split between Canada (21.4 mg, or 43% of total exports) and Tunisia (12.6 mg, or 25% of total). China (3.3 mg), the Philippines (3.0 mg), South Korea (2.8 mg) and Mexico (2.0 mg) account for much of the remaining balance. Once again, Brazil remained a minor player in the U.S. ethanol export market, taking in just 1.7 mg (compared to 25.1 mg only 5 months ago). Total U.S. ethanol exports for the first eight months of 2015 stood at 564.5 mg, indicating an annualized rate of 847 mg.

August exports of undenatured ethanol for fuel use fell 44% from July to 26.2 mg. Nearly half of those exports moved to Tunisia (12.6 mg), with China (3.3 mg), the Philippines (3.0 mg) and South Korea (2.7 mg) also pulling in notable volumes. Exports of denatured ethanol fuel decreased by 24% from July, down to 20.1 mg. This is the lowest denatured volume since August 2010. Canada took the lion’s share of denatured product at 18.1 mg (90% of exports), with Jamaica, Singapore and Turkey receiving much smaller volumes. The United States exported 356,211 gallons of undenatured ethanol for non-fuel, non-beverage use, a decrease of 39% over July. Denatured ethanol for non-fuel, non-beverage purposes was the only product to see any upward movement over the prior month, with nearly all of the 3.4 mg crossing the border to Canada.

After months of virtually nonexistent fuel ethanol imports, the United States saw 15.7 mg enter the country in August—greater than the combined imports from the past 5 months. All but 3% of total imports originated in Brazil (11.8 mg undenatured, 3.8 mg denatured), with Spain and Sweden responsible for the remainder. At 65.8 mg, year-to-date imports are just half of last year’s total at this point. In August, the United States boasted a net exporter status for two years straight.

DDGS exports were off by 6 percent from the record high logged in July to a still-sizable 1,279,396 metric tons (mt), with China still receiving about half of that number – down from the 65-74 percent market share seen in recent months.

Distillers Grains, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

Renewable Energy Future Postcard

Joanna Schroeder

Hawaii at the Energy CrossroadsThe Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) has released a new paper, “Hawai’i at the Energy Crossroads“. The report highlights the fight in Hawai’i to control and harness it’s vast renewable energy resources including solar energy. The paper demonstrates the choice between utility-promoted strategies and the distributed energy resources that are gaining ground on their own. The report also provides a “postcard” from the future for how other states can plan for a 100 renewable energy future.

Hawai’i pasted legislation early this year requiring all energy to be produced from renewable resources by 2045.

“More and more customers have easy tools to manage their own energy,” said John Farrell, director of Democratic Energy at ILSR. “Hawai’ians are demanding more opportunities to harvest and store the power of the sun on their own rooftops. Now, mainland leaders are looking toward the island state to decide whether to unlock the same opportunity.”

Ultimately, Hawai’i at the Energy Crossroads shows how outdated utility business plans and corporate takeovers can affect a state’s energy market for years to come.

Clean Energy, Electricity, Renewable Electricty Standard (RES), Renewable Energy, Solar

John Hofmeister to Headline #RFANEC

Joanna Schroeder

John Hofmeister will be headlining the 21st Annual National Ethanol Conference (NEC) next February 15-17, 2016 in New Orleans. Hosted by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), Hofmeister is the founder and CEO of Citizens for Affordable Energy, former president of Shell Oil Company and author of “Why We Hate the Oil Companies: Straight Talk from an Energy Insider. The NEC conference theme is “Fueling a High Octane Future”.

John hofmeisterHofmeister founded Citizens for Affordable Energy in 2008, a public policy education firm that promotes sound energy security solutions for the U.S., including a range of affordable energy supplies, efficiency improvements, essential infrastructure, sustainable environmental policies, and public education on energy issues.

During his tenure as President of Shell he launched a groundbreaking outreach program designed to discuss critical global energy challenges. The program included an 18-month, 50-city cross-country tour during which Hofmeister, along with 250 other Shell executives, met with more than 15,000 business, community and civic leaders, policymakers, and academics to discuss what must be done to ensure affordable, available energy for the future. Hofmeister serves on the boards of Fuel Freedom Foundation; the National Energy Security Council; the Foreign Policy Association; Strategic Partners, LLC; and the Gas Technology Institute.

Bob Dinneen, RFA President and CEO, said he was delighted to have John Hofmeister headlining next year’s NEC and praised him for his extensive work in pursuing policy solutions that ensure energy is not only affordable, but is also clean and secure.

“John Hofmeister is an innovative and energetic leader on issues surrounding energy security,” said Dinneen. “As a former oil company executive, he not only possesses an insider’s understanding about how the oil industry actually operates but, because of his background, when he speaks he does so with a very credible and authentic voice. Mr. Hofmeister is the perfect choice for next year’s NEC because he wholeheartedly believes that the key to providing consumers with clean, affordable, and secure sources of energy is to implement policies that promote diversity in our energy supply.”

In addition to announcing Mr. Hofmeister as the headliner for next year’s NEC, RFA also announced that it has launched an official Twitter handle @EthanolConf and hashtag #RFANEC for the event. Registration is now open.

biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News, National Ethanol Conference, RFA

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDF1SolarCity and Temecula Valley Unified School District are together installing a six megawatt solar and energy storage project across 19 schools and the district’s administrative office. The project, which includes energy storage systems at five sites, required no upfront investment and is expected to save the district more than $520,000 within the first year of operation alone, and $35 million over 25 years by providing affordable power at a discount to utility rates.
  • Farmland Partners Inc. has announced that two of its farms in North Carolina will be home to a portion of the 208 MW Amazon Wind Farm US East that Iberdrola Renewables is building and will own and operate. The wind farm will deliver power to the electrical grid that supplies both current and future Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) Cloud data centers. The company will lease the 28 acres to Iberdrola Renewables for approximately $2,600 per acre over a 25-year lease term.
  • SkyPower has announced its plans to build 500 MW of utility-scale solar energy over the next five years in Panama, representing an investment of US $1 billion. In addition to building 500 MW of solar projects in Panama, SkyPower will also construct a US $50 million world-class solar and environmental research centre in Panama dedicated to the advancement of solar PV innovation as well as advanced research and innovation in environmental sciences.
  • Blymyer Engineers has announced the company has been chosen by Swinterton Builders as the engineering firm of record on the Springbok 2 Solar Farm in California. The full three phase project involves developing a 350 MW AC PV solar generating facility covering approximately 2000 acres of formerly underdeveloped grazing and ag lands over multiple project sites in an unincorporated portion of eastern Kern county.
Bioenergy Bytes

Ethanol Production with Enogen Tops 1B Gallons

Joanna Schroeder

There are now 16 ethanol plants using Enogen corn according to Syngenta. When combined, the plants have a production capacity of more than 1 billion gallons of ethanol per year. In addition, Syngenta says there are also in talks with a number of other plants to begin using the only biotech corn designed specifically to improve ethanol production.

Enogen logoLast year, Enogen was grown on nearly 225,000 acres while in 2016 that number is expected to exceed 400,000 acres. According to Jack Bernens, head of Enogen for Syngenta, the robust alpha amylase enzyme found in Enogen corn hybrids helps an ethanol plant dramatically reduce the viscosity of its corn mash and eliminate the need to add a liquid form of the enzyme.

“This breakthrough viscosity reduction can lead to unprecedented levels of solids loading, which directly contributes to increased throughput and yield, as well as critical cost savings from reduced natural gas, energy, water and chemical usage in ethanol plants,” Bernens said. “Growers who plant Enogen corn benefit as well – they earn an average premium of 40 cents per bushel.”

Syngenta says Enogen is growing in popularity because of the value it delivers and the opportunity it provides corn growers to be enzyme suppliers for their local ethanol plants. Assuming an average yield of 165 bushels an acre, Enogen corn is expected to generate approximately $26 million of additional revenue for local growers in 2016 through per-bushel premiums. Numerous trials have shown that Enogen hybrids perform equal to or better than other high-performing corn hybrids.

“The agreements we have in place with a steadily increasing number of plants will enable them to source alpha amylase directly from growers and keep enzyme dollars in those local communities,” added Bernens. “This is what truly sets Enogen corn apart from other technologies designed to enhance ethanol production. It adds significant incremental value at the local level for communities that rely on their ethanol plant’s success.”

corn, Enogen, Ethanol, Renewable Energy, Syngenta