ACE Conference 2026

RFA: Revise RVP Rules to Level Playing Field

Joanna Schroeder

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is calling for more higher-level ethanol blends to enter the U.S. fuel supply. In a letter the ethanol organization called on Christopher Grundler, director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality for the Environmental Protection Agency, to update regulations to allow EPA to grant a 1-psi Reid Vapor Pressure waiver for other ethanol blends besides E10.

E15 pump Photo Joanna Schroeder

Photo Credit: Joanna Schroeder

“EPA’s current regulatory scheme creates an uneven playing field for E15 and other higher-level ethanol blends,” Dinneen said. “Many gasoline retailers have rejected E15 because EPA’s current RVP regulations make it nearly impossible for them to sell E15 to EPA-approved conventional automobiles all year-round. And most gas stations are not willing to dedicate storage space or dispensing equipment for a fuel that they can only sell for part of the year.”

In the letter, Dinneen noted that vehicle technology and emissions control systems have significantly evolved since 1989, when the 1-psi waiver was developed by EPA as a means of ensuring the availability of E10. “Ethanol availability and markets have … changed,” wrote Dinneen. “Today, E10 blends represent more than 95% of total gasoline sales in the United States. Marketers no longer are faced with the challenge of finding appropriate blendstocks for E10. Rather, marketers wishing to increase their use of renewable fuels beyond E10 are faced with the same dilemma E10 marketers faced 30 years ago.”

According to the letter: “The 1-psi RVP waiver – originally provided to expand the production and use of fuel ethanol – is now having a perverse effect of discouraging greater ethanol use in today’s gasoline market, and it is obstructing the successful implementation of important fuel and carbon reduction policies enacted since then, including the Renewable Fuel Standard (#RFS).” Dinneen encouraged EPA to use its authority to take immediate action by requiring refiners to lower the RVP of summertime conventional blendstock to 8.0 psi. He stated that such an action would allow gasoline retailers to give consumers access to a full spectrum of renewable fuel blends, and it would also clear the way for higher-level ethanol blends like E20 or E25 to meet applicable gasoline RVP requirements.Read More

biofuels, E15, EPA, Ethanol, RFS

Iowa Corn Receives Bio-Based Process Patent

Joanna Schroeder

The Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB) has received a U.S. patent (U.S. 2015/0329449) for a production method using corn in the industrial manufacturing of a raw material called monoethylene glycol (MEG). The product can be used as a replacement of fossil-fuel-based chemicals used in products such as plastics and helps the product to biodegrade.

Print“Patenting this research will lead to advances in the production processes for corn based bio-MEG eliminating the need for the petroleum ethylene derivatives currently used and creating demand for Iowa corn,” said Chris Weydert, a farmer from Algona, an Iowa Corn Promotion Board Director and Vice Chair of Iowa Corn’s Research and Business Development Committee. “This one switch to a more renewable material will reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil and improve the environmental footprint for hundreds of consumer products.”

The traditional way bio-MEG is made is through a conversion of sugar cane ethanol, which is usually sourced from Brazil, to ethylene, but still the majority of MEG comes from oil. ICPB’s new process can eliminate this added costs of bio-MEG by going from corn sugar to MEG in one step. Thus, there could be opportunities for ethanol biorefineries to add another co-product to the line-up.

According to Transparency Market Research (TMR), a global market intelligence company providing business information reports, the global monoethylene glycol (MEG) market stood at $27 billion in 2014 and is anticipated to reach $40 billion in 2023. ICPB cites depending on the yield of MEG conversion from corn, it would take greater than 1.2 billion bushels of corn to saturate the entire 2016 projected demand of MEG.

“ICPB has been working on the MEG research project since 2013,” added Mark Heckman, President of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board from West Liberty. “We are excited to have the bio-based MEG production patent application made known to the public. We are hopeful that the patent will be granted in the near future.”

biochemicals, biomaterials, bioplastics, corn, Ethanol

Biofuel Volumes – Many Opinions

Jamie Johansen

New Holland ZimmPollOur latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “What’s your opinion of EPA rule for biofuels volumes?”

Last week the EPA released a final rule for biofuels volumes under the Renewable Fuels Standard for 2014-2016, which increased the obligations for refiners to use ethanol, biodiesel and advanced or cellulosic biofuels. It looks like voter opinion is all over the place. Many still fill the increase in levels wasn’t enough and others think it was a good compromise.

Here are the poll results:

  • Not enough ethanol – 32%
  • Not enough biodiesel- 23%
  • Bad for livestock producers – 14%
  • Good compromise – 27%
  • Good for environment – 4%

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, Do we need any more gun control laws?

The latest Islamic terrorist tragedy which occurred here in the United States is being used by many politicians to call for more gun control. But do we need it? According to a CNN story about a Pew Research study gun homicides have declined drastically in the last twenty years. Coincidentally, gun ownership is way up. When we are “at war” with terrorism does it make sense to reduce gun availability for law abiding Americans? What about our constitutional rights? The rhetoric seems to be at a fever pitch with lots of misinformation floating around on social media. Of course that’s nothing new to those of us involved in agriculture!

ZimmPoll

Poll: Illinois Voters Support Clean Energy Credits

Joanna Schroeder

According to a new poll, three out of four (74 percent) Illinois voters support continuing to provide tax incentives for renewable energy. The poll comes out as Congress considers renewing a number of energy tax credits including the Production Tax Credit (PTC) and Investment Tax Credit (ITC). Both of these federal incentives are designed to spur renewable power development for energy sources such as wind and solar energy. The poll was released by A Renewable America (ARA), a project of the Wind Energy Foundation.

Photo Credit: Joanna Schroeder

Photo Credit: Joanna Schroeder

The poll also found:

  • Support for renewable energy tax incentives is strong across the political spectrum. 60 percent of Republicans, 83 percent of Democrats and 79 percent of Illinois Independents support continuing renewable energy tax incentives.
  • 74 percent of Illinois voters support continuing tax incentives for renewable energy, even when presented with contrasting arguments. This support was particularly strong among younger voters, as 92 percent between the ages of 18 and 29, and 82 percent of voters between the ages of 30 and 39 agree.
  • 88 percent of Illinois voters agree with the message that “we should continue to encourage renewable energy development so that the United States can move toward energy independence.”
  • 78 percent of Illinois votes agree with the message that “we should have a stable and predictable tax policy, because it makes it easier for the renewable energy industry to plan its investments and continue driving down costs.”
  • Nearly half (48 percent) of voters said they would be more favorable to a leader who supported continuing tax credits for renewable energy producers.
  • Recently, 46 renewable energy businesses and organizations with a significant presence in Illinois sent a letter to Senator Mark Kirk and Representatives Bob Dold and Pete Roskam, urging their support for timely extensions of the PTC and ITC.

“As an Illinois-based manufacturer, I can say that the policy uncertainty around these incentives jeopardizes industry growth and threatens jobs,” said Joni Konstantelos, director of investor relations and corporate communications for Broadwind Energy. “It’s not surprising that Illinoisans support stable policy to continue the growth of renewable energy in our state.”Read More

Clean Energy, Electricity, Legislation, Solar, Wind

Prez Hopefuls Learn About Biofuels

Joanna Schroeder

The countdown to the Iowa caucuses brings us less than two months to voting day and 15 out of 16 Presidential nominee hopefuls have either visited a biofuels plant or met with America’s Renewable Future (ARF). Who is missing? Ted Cruz, who is under fire from ARF for his wishy-washy position on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Cruz’s political team has fought back claiming Cruz wants to end all energy subsidies, but interestingly, ethanol receives no subsidies while oil has been raking them in for more than 100 years and Cruz gets millions from the oil industry in campaign donations.

Lincolnway Energy located in Nevada, Iowa. Photo Credit: Joanna Schroeder

Lincolnway Energy located in Nevada, Iowa. Photo Credit: Joanna Schroeder

Just last week Gov. Mike Huckabee, Gov. Chris Christie, and Carly Fiorina toured ethanol biorefineries across the state. This week Sen. Rick Santorum is touring Lincolnway Energy in Nevada, IA. These candidates join Donald Trump and Gov. Martin O’Malley in seeing firsthand the benefits of the RFS at a plant says ARF.

In addition, ARF says Sec. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Gov. Jeb Bush, Gov. John Kasich, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Gov. George Pataki, Sen. Rand Paul, and Ben Carson or their campaigns have all met with ARF co-chairs or the organization’s leadership on the RFS.

“Every candidate, good or bad, has respected Iowans and the caucus process by sitting down with us and learning about the RFS, except for Ted Cruz,” said ARF State Director, Eric Branstad, “Cruz has ignored invitation after invitation to discuss the issue. He came to Iowa with his allegiance already established to the oil industry, not Iowans and not our caucus process.”

“We’re thankful to the rest of the candidates for taking this issue seriously and listening to Iowans,” Branstad added, “and we hope to hear more from them on the RFS, which is decreasing our dependence on foreign oil, providing 73,000 jobs to Iowans, and providing consumers a choice at the pump.”

ARF is educating Iowans on the caucus process and wants voters to know where the candidates stand on renewable fuels. Caucuses take place across Iowa February 1, 2016.

Biodiesel, biofuels, Ethanol, politics, RFS

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDF1Gevo, Inc. has announced that it intends to offer and sell, subject to market and other conditions, Series A units, with each Series A unit consisting of one share of common stock and Series D warrants to purchase a certain number of shares of common stock. Gevo is also offering Series B units, in lieu of Series A units, to those purchasers whose purchase of additional Series A units in the offering would result in the purchaser beneficially owning more than 4.99% of the Company’s outstanding common stock following the completion of the offering.
  • Microgrid Energy recently expanded its national coverage with the establishment of a permanent office in Denver, Colorado. In October, the company relocated its veteran sales director, Kacie Peters, to establish the market for commercial PACE projects and recruited Mat Elmore, formerly with Elevate Energy, to help head up the new regional team.
  • Green Biologics Ltd. is moving forward with the construction of its 100 percent renewable, bio-based n-butanol and acetone manufacturing facility in Little Falls, MN. The existing manufacturing site, formerly known as The Central MN Ethanol Cooperative (CMEC), was acquired by Green Biologics in December 2014 and re-named Central MN Renewables (CMR). Commercial production is scheduled to commence in 2016.
  • The Energy Department will present a live webinar titled “Integrating Bioenergy into the 9th–12th Grade Classroom,” on Thursday, December 10, from 4:00 pm to 4:45 pm ET. This webinar is part of the BioenergizeME Office Hours webinar series designed to support high-school educators and administrators in planning activities for their classrooms that integrate bioenergy topics with the life sciences, physical sciences, earth and space sciences, and engineering and technology. In addition this webinar provides information and assistance to advisors interested in participating in the 2016 BioenergizeME Infographic Challenge.
Bioenergy Bytes

RINs’ Rise Shows Ethanol-Biodiesel Relationship

John Davis

Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) prices jumped sharply after tge Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its final numbers for the amount of biodiesel and ethanol to be blended into the nation’s fuel supply. This analysis from University of Illinois’ Scott Irwin and Darrel Good says not only were the EPA numbers a shock and reflected in the RINs’ prices, but it also shows the relationship between the two green fuels.
eth-biod rins
The price of D4 biodiesel RINs went up 30 percent and the price of D6 ethanol RINs increased over 90 percent in the three trading days following the release. The market was apparently surprised by how much the final conventional ethanol mandates, particularly in 2016, breached the E10 blend wall. In addition, the final rulemaking clearly signaled that the EPA is serious about getting “the RFS back on track,” and it would not be surprising if the EPA set the conventional ethanol mandate at the statutory level of 15.0 billion gallons as soon as 2017. The prospect of large conventional mandate gaps versus the E10 blend wall evidently shifted the expectation of market participants from one where the existing stock of RINs would not be exhausted for years to one where the stocks could be exhausted in a matter of months. When the stock of RINs is exhausted, the conventional gaps have to be filled by higher ethanol blends, such as E15 and E85, or biodiesel and renewable diesel. Our theoretical model predicts that the price of a D6 ethanol RINs should equal the price of a D4 biodiesel RINs if biodiesel and renewable diesel are the only feasible options for filling conventional mandate gaps. Consequently, the move of D6 RINs prices to nearly the same level as D4 RINs prices in the days following the November 30 release is an unmistakable sign that the market believes higher ethanol blends are not a feasible source of RINs to fill conventional gaps. Instead, biodiesel and renewable diesel are perceived to be the only viable options for filling the expected conventional gaps.

Biodiesel, EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFS, RINS

#COP21 Participants Commit to Energy Transition

Joanna Schroeder

Over the weekend UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) attendees made commitments to accelerate the ongoing energy transition through several initiatives discussed during the Lima-Paris Action Agenda Focus on Energy (LPAA). New analysis from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) finds that achieving a 36 percent share of renewable energy by 2030 would result in half of all emission reductions needed to maintain a two-degree pathway, while energy efficiency measures could supply the rest.

From left to right: Nick Nuttall (Moderator), UNFCC; Jean-Marc Ollagnier, CEO, Accenture Resources; Steve Howard, CSO, IKEA; Adnan Z. Amin, Director-General, IRENA; Rachel Kyte, incoming CEO, SE4All; Khaled Fahmy, Minister of Environment, Egypt, Chair of AMCEN

From left to right: Nick Nuttall (Moderator), UNFCC; Jean-Marc Ollagnier, CEO, Accenture Resources; Steve Howard, CSO, IKEA; Adnan Z. Amin, Director-General, IRENA; Rachel Kyte, incoming CEO, SE4All; Khaled Fahmy, Minister of Environment, Egypt, Chair of AMCEN

“With the energy sector accounting for some two-thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions, the decarbonisation of energy must be at the heart of any effort to keep global temperature rise below two degrees Celsius,” said IRENA Director-General Adnan Z. Amin. “The energy transition is underway worldwide but more action is needed. To scale up efforts to the level needed, we must utilise all available technologies, increase ambition among all actors in all regions of the world, and mobilise the funds needed to enable the transition.”

The announcements included new initiatives emerging to help further drive this transition including:

  • The Global Geothermal Alliance launched during the event. This Alliance is set to achieve a 500% increase in global installed capacity for geothermal power generation and a 200% increase for geothermal heating by 2030. The world contains vast geothermal energy potential, proven across nearly 90 countries. However, almost 90% of this remains untapped with roughly 12 GW installed so far. What was only an idea a year ago, is now a partnership of 36 countries and 23 institutions with an action plan in place to guide its success.
  • The Africa Clean Energy Corridor aims to boost renewable power deployment, reduce carbon emissions and support sustainable, climate-friendly economic growth. By facilitating a larger electricity market, the initiative could attract sufficient investments to meet half of all power needs in eastern and southern Africa by 2030. At COP21, IRENA and its partners announced efforts to develop a clean energy corridor in western Africa as well.
  • The Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Lighthouses initiative announced that Saint Lucia is the 29th island to join the initiative. Since its launch in September 2014, 18 SIDS have developed roadmaps for deployment of renewable energy, USD 150 million has been mobilised for renewable energy projects on SIDS, and 18 MW of renewable energy has been deployed. The initiative will also announce a new pilot project development facility to help develop more bankable projects.
  • To meet climate objectives, renewable energy uptake would need to increase six-fold from current levels. This would require global annual investment to nearly double to exceed USD 500 billion in the period up to 2020, and more than triple to exceed USD 900 billion from 2021 to 2030. The Sustainable Energy Marketplace was launched to provide a matchmaking platform for renewable energy projects and investors to connect. The Marketplace expects to house 100 projects by the beginning of 2016, and to mobilize USD 10 billion in project financing over the next 3 years.

These initiatives are the latest in a series of renewable energy announcements made during COP 21 including the African Renewable Electricity Program; Breakthrough Energy Coalition; and the Mission Innovation initiative.

Clean Energy, Climate Change, Electricity, Environment, Renewable Energy

NAFTC Launches First Responder Safety Classes

Joanna Schroeder

The National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium (NAFTC) is offering three newly developed Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) First Responder Safety Training classes in partnership with Tulsa Area Clean Cities (TACC). The classes will take place December 8, 2015 at the Tulsa Community College in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

naftctaccFocused on targeted information for firefighters, emergency medical services, and law enforcement, the three courses will feature techniques to safely respond to vehicle collisions, incidents and injuries involving alternative fuel vehicles. Additionally, the courses include information on alternative fuels, their properties and origins, and ways in which alternative fuel vehicles differ from conventionally fueled vehicles.

In addition to the training sessions, activities associated with the training launch include an alternative fuel vehicles display. The vehicles on display will be utilized as part of the training sessions.

“With increased alternative vehicle use, the chance of these new technologies being involved in a collision also increases,” said Bill Davis, NAFTC director. “Firefighters, emergency medical services and law enforcement need to be trained on the proper procedures for safely addressing incidents involving these new technologies so they can work together to secure accident scenes and save lives. We are happy to work with the Tulsa Area Clean Cities in the release of these new courses to make sure first responders have access to the information they need.”

Developed by the NAFTC, these courses were made possible by TACC through funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Clean Cities and were constructed from existing NAFTC First Responder Safety Training materials.

Alternative Vehicles, Education, safety

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDF1The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) has announced National Biodiesel Board (NBB) CEO Joe Jobe will deliver the industry keynote address at the 10th Annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit on January 19, 2016 in Altoona, Iowa. The Summit is free to attend and open to the public. The 10th Annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit will take place at The Meadows Conference Center at Prairie Meadows in Altoona, Iowa on Tuesday, January 19, 2016. Click here to learn more and to register.
  • Ormat Technologies, Inc. has announced it has signed a binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to acquire, gradually, 85% of Geothermie Bouillante SA (GB) at a total company enterprise value of up to around €52 million (approximately $56 million USD). GB owns and operates a 14.75 MW geothermal power plant and owns two exploration licenses with a total additional potential capacity of up to 30 MW, all located in Guadeloupe Island, a French territory in the Caribbean.
  • Trina Solar Limited has announced that its Chairman and CEO, Mr. Jifan Gao, has been elected a Co-Chairman of the Global Solar Council (GSC). The GSC was officially launched on December 6, 2015 during the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (the “COP21”) and intends to establish its headquarters in China.
  • As countries work toward a new international climate agreement in Paris, a group of six green banks and two leading non-profit groups announced they are establishing a Green Bank Network to help meet the urgent need of increasing and accelerating investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency worldwide. This green bank network potentially could bring billions of dollars in new investment to speed the development of clean energy, creating jobs and helping reduce climate change.
Bioenergy Bytes