Biodiesel Producers Cutting Back Due to Uncertainty

John Davis

nbb-advancedNearly 80 percent of biodiesel producers nationwide have cut back or idled production this year, due to uncertainty in policy coming out of Washington, D.C. A new survey from the National Biodiesel Board shows that a weak Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Congress’ failure to extend the biodiesel tax incentive is also behind the drive by two-thirds of the producers to cut their workforces as well.

“Inconsistency in Washington is wreaking havoc on the U.S. biodiesel industry,” said Anne Steckel, NBB’s vice president of federal affairs. “It’s not just hurting these producers. It is a setback for local economies where these plants operate, for our environment, for our national energy security, and for drivers who are tired of ever-increasing fuel prices that result from the petroleum industry’s monopoly at the pump.”

Among the other survey findings:

78 percent have reduced production versus 2013
57 percent have idled production altogether or shut down a plant this year
66 percent have reduced workforce or anticipate reducing workforce
85 percent have delayed or canceled expansion plans

The producers nearly universally attributed the industry decline to the weak RFS proposal and loss of the tax incentive.

NBB also attended a news conference in Washington today, where six U.S. Democratic Party senators, along with some biodiesel producers from across the country, blasted the Obama Administration for the EPA proposal, as well as the congressional inaction (we’ll have more on what they had to say tomorrow).

asteckelAfter the senators’ and producers’ remarks, Anne told me while the policy has been uneven and caused the uncertainty for producers, she is appreciative of the steadfast support from the lawmakers at today’s event.

“It’s a strong support of biodiesel, and I think that bodes well for us, as we look for EPA to make this final decision on raising the RFS volumes for biodiesel. We’re very hopeful that this strong support will resonate with the Administration,” she said.

Listen to what Anne had to say after the news conference: Anne Steckel, NBB’s vice president of federal affairs

Audio, Biodiesel, NBB

The Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture

Jamie Johansen

New Holland ZimmPollOur latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “Is climate change impacting agriculture?”

Typically our ZimmPoll’s don’t have a landslide winner like this one. It is clear the majority of those who took this week’s poll believe that climate change has a strong impact on agriculture. To read more about the climate change assessment released by the White House last week, check out this recent AgWired post, EPA Chief Discusses Climate Change Report.

Our poll results:

  • Definitely – 64%
  • Not at all – 7%
  • Maybe, but not man made – 13%
  • Nothing we can do about it – 8%
  • No idea- 4%
  • Other – 4%

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “What is the best way to market to millennials?”

Last week Chuck covered Animal Agriculture Alliance’s Stakeholders Summit themed with “Cracking the Millennial Code.” Marketing to the millennial generation is key, yet may need to be a little different then marketing tactics in the past. What do you feel is the best way to market to millennials?

ZimmPoll

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDF On Thursday, May 15, Ecotech Institute is hosting a one-day “Renewable Energy and Sustainability Forum.” It will go from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Ecotech Institute’s campus in Aurora at 1400 S. Abilene Street, right off of I-225. Key speakers for this event will include members from Ecotech Institute’s Board of Directors and the CEO of RES Americas, Susan Reilly.
  • Save the date for the Wood2Gasoline Technology Showcase taking place Friday, June 6, 2014 at 1:00 pm. The event will feature technologies to convert biomass to gasoline including Gas Technology Institute’s (GTI) advanced gasification pilot facilities. Department of Energy officials and congressional delegates will be on hand. Team partners Haldor Topsoe, GTI, Andritz-Carbona, Phillips 66, and UPM will review the project successes and define the next steps and future of the technology. You’ll also have an opportunity to tour GTI’s integrated biorefinery pilot plant. Click here to RSVP.
  • BIRD Energy announced its sixth funding cycle for U.S.-Israel joint project proposals with a focus on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. To be considered, a project proposal must include R&D cooperation between two companies or cooperation between a company and a university/research institution (one from the U.S. and one from Israel). The proposal should have significant commercial potential and the project outcome should lead to commercialization. The conditional grant per project is up to 50% of the R&D costs associated with the joint project, and up to a maximum of $1 million per project. Examples of areas of research and development themes within the scope of this call are: Solar Power, Alternative Fuels, Advanced Vehicle Technologies, Smart Grid, Water-Energy Nexus, Wind Energy or any other Renewable Energy/Energy Efficiency technology.
  • Sanmina Corporation and Primus Power have announced a manufacturing agreement focused on the growing energy storage market. Primus Power has developed the EnergyPod®, a safe, low cost, distributed energy storage system that bolsters the stability and security of the electric grid, while offering exceptional power density, reliability and portability. As part of the agreement, Sanmina will assemble and test EnergyPods at its Silicon Valley manufacturing facilities.
Bioenergy Bytes

Students Hope to Get Solar Edge from Soy

Joanna Schroeder

Students at Appalachian State University (ASU) are hoping to get the edge during the Solar Decathlon Europe 2014 using soy-biobased products. The student team designed and built a “reimagined” solar-powered row house that is sailing to France to compete against 20 global teams. ASU, located in Boone, North DOEstudentsfastenersinwoodCarolina, is one of three schools chosen for the sister competition to the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon.

“We congratulate these students on their innovation and leadership for sustainability,” said United Soybean Board Customer Focus Action Team Chair John Motter. “People around the world will learn from their example.”

The students worked around the clock to design and build the “Maison Reciprocity” house that they will also disassemble and ship to France from Norfolk, Virginia on May 16, 2014. Once in Versailles, students from ASU along with their partner school, Université d’Angers, will unite to reassemble and then compete in the house that offers multiple environmental attributes.

Soy-based, formaldehyde-free plywood as well as durable floor matting are important features of Maison Reciprocity. Students used 1,700 square feet of Columbia Forest Products’ PureBond® hardwood plywood made with its soy-based formaldehyde-free adhesive on DOEstudenttylerthepanelguyfloors, walls and stairs. The product won the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Presidential Green Chemistry Award. Formaldehyde is classified as a known human carcinogen.

“These panels not only provide an attractive finish, but the fact that they are formaldehyde free is an important attribute that will help our entry compete in the ambient air quality portion of the competition,” said Mark Bridges, a graduate student at ASU and the communications manager for the project. “The floor mat, basically a 30-feet-long runner, will protect the floors from the large amount of foot traffic that the home will experience during its weeks of open houses,” Bridges says.

EcoPath™ and the USB provided the mat backed with EnviroCel™, which uses soy as well as recycled plastics. The mats are widely used at the Pentagon and other major facilities with very heavy foot traffic.

biomaterials, Clean Energy, Environment, Renewable Energy, Solar, Soybeans

Biodiesel Pushes Up Soybean Use, Producers’ Profits

John Davis

USBlogoGood news for biodiesel means good news for the growers of its main feedstock, soybeans. This article from KTIC says last year’s biodiesel production of 1.36 billion gallons of biodiesel in 2013, 37 percent more than in 2012, means 468 million bushels of U.S. soybeans were squeezed to get that feedstock oil. And that has pushed up soybean prices by 74 cents per bushel between 2006 and 2012.

Rob Hanks, United Soybean Board director and a soybean farmer from Le Roy, Minnesota, says he’s thrilled to see biodiesel bring such a major return on investment back to the U.S. soybean farmers who helped start the industry and have continued to support it ever since.

“U.S. soybean farmers have been very supportive of biodiesel for more than 20 years,” he says. “It’s really gratifying to see those farmers reaping the benefits of that support.”

According to research commissioned by soybean farmers in Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota through their state soy checkoff boards, biodiesel contributed to a $15 billion increase in soybean-oil revenues, or 74 cents per bushel, between 2006 and 2012.

Hanks also points out that using soybean oil for biodiesel supports the U.S. animal agriculture sector. As the biodiesel industry’s demand for soybean oil rises, so does the supply of soybean meal. That larger supply reduces the prices poultry and livestock farmers pay for feed.

The good relationship between bean farmers and the National Biodiesel Board has meant a good number of soy checkoff dollars have been put back into biodiesel research.

Biodiesel, Soybeans

DuPont CEO Calls for Supporting RFS

Cindy Zimmerman

dupont-kullmanThe CEO of DuPont today called on Congress and the administration to preserve Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

In a keynote speech at the 11th Annual World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology, DuPont Chair and CEO Ellen Kullman said preserving the RFS would ensure regulatory stability for the renewable fuel industry and continue to encourage “private investment from companies like DuPont to create a sustainable bio-based economy.”

“Legislative and regulatory uncertainty has a direct impact on the growth of this industry,” Kullman said. “If the EPA issues an RFS rule with increasing biofuels volumes, supporting a stable regulatory environment, our industry can thrive.”

DuPont has invested heavily in the future of renewable fuels and will soon complete one of the world’s largest commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol biorefineries, set to open in Iowa later this year. DuPont committed over $200 million to the project, which will yield 30 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year, produced from corn stalks, leaves and cobs left in fields after harvest.

Kullman attended the BIO World Congress to accept the 2014 George Washington Carver Award, which each year honors one individual in the private sector, government or academia for leadership in using industrial biotechnology innovation.

advanced biofuels, BIO, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Five Reasons To Love the RFS

Cindy Zimmerman

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) has created a new video that briefly and creatively outlines five major reasons why the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is good for America.

1. The RFS saves money – 50 cents to $1.50 per gallon last year
2. The RFS reduces oil imports – ethanol displaced $48 billion in imported oil last year
3. The RFS cuts greenhouse gas emissions – equivalent of taking 7.9 million cars off the road
4. The RFS creates jobs – 86,000 direct and 300,000 indirect jobs from ethanol
5. The RFS spurs investment and innovation – cellulosic ethanol is here today

What’s not to love? Watch and share.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA, RFS

Boeing & Embraer Create Aviation Partnership

Joanna Schroeder

Boeing and Embraer S.A. have joined together to open a joint research center with the goal of advancing a sustainable aviation biofuel industry in Brazil. Under a memorandum of understanding, the two companies will perform joint biofuel research, as well as fund and coordinate research with Brazilian universities and other institutions. The research will focus on technologies that address gaps in a supply chain for sustainable aviation biofuel in Brazil, such as feedstock production and processing technologies. The companies’ biofuel research center will be located in Sao Jose dos Campos Technology Park.

“Boeing is working aggressively around the world to expand the supply of sustainable aviation biofuel and reduce aviation’s carbon emissions,” said Julie Felgar, managing director of Sao Jose dos Campos Technology ParkEnvironmental Strategy and Integration, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “With our joint biofuel research center, Boeing and Embraer are making a strong commitment toward a successful, sustainable aviation biofuel industry in Brazil.”

In 2013, Boeing, Embraer and the Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa of the State of Sao Paulo (FAPESP) completed an action plan – Flightpath to Aviation Biofuels in Brazil – that identified gaps in a potential biofuel supply chain. The joint research between Boeing and Embraer will help address those gaps. This joint center is the next phase of execution of the plan.

Mauro Kern, Executive Vice President, Engineering and Technology, Embraer, said of the new center, “Embraer is committed in supporting the development of sustainable biofuels for aviation and the joint efforts with Boeing will undoubtedly contribute to the company continuing to be in the forefront of research in this area. Brazil has tradition in the area of alternative fuels and enormous potential yet to be explored in bioenergy research.”

When produced sustainably, aviation biofuel emits 50 to 80 percent lower carbon emissions through its lifecycle than petroleum jet fuel. Globally, more than 1,500 passenger flights using biofuel have been conducted since the fuel was approved for use in 2011.

advanced biofuels, aviation biofuels, Brazil

Crystalline Module Manufacturers Outsource Trend

Joanna Schroeder

According to a new report from GlobalData, significant growth in market demand and attempts to reduce a number of costs are fueling a module production outsourcing trend among the world’s leading crystalline module manufacturers. Ankit Mathur, GlobalData’s Project Manager for Alternative Energy, said that out of the top crystalline module manufacturers – Yingli Green Energy, Trina Solar, Sharp Corporation, Canadian Solar and Jinko Solar – only the latter company and Trina Solar are able to utilize their own module production fabrication lines without the need for outsourcing.

silicon modulesMeanwhile, Mathur continued, the other companies, including Yingli Solar, have a less-than-68 percent factory utilization rate. However, these firms are still able to boast substantial module manufacturing under their own brand names by outsourcing their production to Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) partners.

“Sharp Corporation’s recent announcement that it will outsource its entire module production from 2014 signifies that most of the leading companies are taking the outsourcing route,” said Mathur. “This is due to a massive increase in global market demand, which is difficult for manufacturers to meet using their existing production capacity. Attempts to reduce other costs, such as logistics costs related to transporting modules from the factory to the customer, are also contributing factors.”

Until last year, key manufacturers could leverage upon plummeting silicon prices to reduce module production costs. However, the expected price recovery of polysilicon in 2014 will make it difficult to implement such reductions further. As a result, said Mathur, companies will either outsource their entire production capacity to OEMs, or produce a certain proportion of modules from their production lines and source the rest from OEM partners.

Renewable Energy, Research, Solar

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDFAcross the nation, from Florida to Alaska, and in eight countries around the world, events will be held on Saturday, May 17, for the fifth annual “Hands Across the Sand and Land” event, to say no to dirty fossil fuel projects that endanger our local communities, and accelerate the shift to clean, renewable energy such as wind, solar and energy efficiency. The events are a strong show of support for clean energy at a time when a host of new dirty fuel proposals are under consideration. A complete list of events can be found here: www.handsacrossthesand.org.
  • Using the same proven technology that has made the Cushing Storage Report an industry standard for crude oil traders, Genscape has launched the New York Harbor (NYH) Product Storage Report. The new weekly report is available one day before the widely used EIA estimates are published. Currently, Genscape has identified a 90% correlation between the gasoline and distillate storage measurements in the NYH Product Storage Report and the EIA estimates for PADD 1B. In addition to aggregate storage levels, the Genscape report offers volumetric detail down to the tank level for a more specific, relevant, and complete data set.
  • Proposals to maintain the growing momentum behind renewable electricity investment in the UK, while continuing to deliver value for money for consumers, have been unveiled. The proposals are about ensuring the right balance of support for renewables and a smooth transition to the Government’s new Contracts for Difference. Proposals include: Consultation on changes to financial support for solar PV; Support for community energy projects under the Feed-in Tariffs Scheme; and Electricity Market Reform: Further consultation on allocation of Contracts for Difference Government response on allocation of Contracts for Difference.
  • Clean Energy Collective has announced that Next Step Living, the Boston-based provider of whole-home energy solutions, is an authorized agent to sell CEC’s community solar solutions to Massachusetts customers in WMECo and NGRID territories.
Bioenergy Bytes