Obama, EPA Needs to Listen to Midwesterners

Joanna Schroeder

Hundreds of people from the Midwest turned out to submit comments today to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at the “Hearing in the Heartland: Supporting the Renewable Fuel Standard” hosted by Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds.

The EPA held only one public hearing in Washington, D.C. last year in response to their 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard – a proposed policy that lowers the use of biofuels; rather IA Gov Branstad at Hearing in the Heartland Jan 23 2013than increases the use of biofuels as intended by the policy. Branstad noted that when he was testifying in DC with the Iowa delegation, they met with EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and requested a public hearing in the Midwest and were denied.

Not to be deterred, Branstad rallied several other Midwestern Secretaries of Agriculture to hold their own hearing and people from throughout the Midwest including Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota traveled on one of the coldest days of the new year to tell their stories of the benefits of biofuels.

“I’ve been a relentless supporter of biofuels dating back to the 1970s, when we called it “gasahol,” said Gov. Branstad to the audience. “It’s truly incredible to see how the industry has grown and provided diverse benefits to agriculture and created thousands of quality jobs across America.”

“With a state that has over 92,000 farmers, dozens of thriving international agri-business companies, and a large variety of bio-science leaders, it’s easy to see that the growth is a result of the hard work and innovation of our farmers and the technology advancements in the use of corn, soybeans and other biomass products.”

Branstad noted the many benefits of biofuels including: diversifying our nation’s energy portfolio and reducing our dependence on foreign oil; reducing air pollution; giving consumers choices at the pump; and helping grow family incomes in rural America. He stressed that EPA’s proposal on the RFS would have devastating effects on this growth ad on job creation and he, along with many other bi-partisan Midwest leaders have voiced opposition.

You can listen to Iowa Governor Terry Branstad’s full remarks here:Obama, EPA Needs to Listen to MidwesternersRead More

Audio, Biodiesel, biofuels, corn, EPA, Ethanol, RFS

New Analysis Shows RFS Lowers Gas Prices

Cindy Zimmerman

CARD LogoA new independent analysis from the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University has found that increased ethanol production under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program has reduced gas prices, not increased them as opponents of the RFS claim.

“Our results should reassure those in Congress and the Administration who are worried that following the RFS commitment to expanding the use of renewable fuels will result in sharply higher fuel prices for consumers,” concludes the report, authored by economists Sebastien Pouliot and Bruce Babcock.

The Environmental Protection Agency proposal to lower the 2014 RFS volume obligations was based in part on concerns that volatile Renewable Identification Number (RIN) prices last year led to higher gas prices. However, the analysis found that higher RIN prices provide incentive to offer higher ethanol blends, which lowers the price of fuel by lowering the price of ethanol. “We find that feasible increases in the ethanol mandate in 2014 will cause a small decline in the price of E10. That is, even though increased mandates increase gasoline prices, the offsetting effects from a decline in ethanol price and movement by motorists to E85 from E10 are enough to result in a net decrease in the price of E10.”

Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen says the analysis shows that the RFS is working as intended. “Many ethanol opponents have used higher RIN prices to scare people into believing that gas prices will rise if the RFS remains in place,” said Dinneen. “The new CARD analysis takes the gas price fear out of the equation.”

Read the analysis here.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA, RFS

Views on the Biodiesel Policy Climate

Chuck Zimmerman

Biodiesel Policy PanelTwo former members of Congress talked about attacks on the Renewable Fuel Standard at the National Biodiesel Conference this week in San Diego.

Former Democrat Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, now a DC policy advisory, says the EPA proposal to lower RFS volume obligations this year is inexplicable. “The Obama Administration has always supported renewable fuels,” he said during a general session policy panel. “They will, I assume, say that these mandates support renewable fuels. But they know that these mandates are below what they should be, they have to be adjusted.”

Former Congressman Kenny Hulshof of Missouri, a Republican and founder of the Missouri energy initiative, agrees it is inexplicable, but reasoned that backlash against ethanol and the 2012 drought played a role in the proposal. “I think the EPA came under some very intense political scrutiny, that’s when you saw a lot of bills being introduced to repeal the RFS,” he said.

Dorgan thinks it’s unlikely Congress will repeal the RFS, the first version of which he helped write in 2005. “I think that would be a horrible mistake. Fortunately, the Congress can’t agree on anything,” said the former senator, adding that the president would veto the bill if they tried.

Both Dorgan and Hulshof believe Congress will eventually extend the biodiesel tax incentive which expired at the end of 2013.

You can listen to the session, moderated by National Biodiesel Board Vice President of Federal Affairs Anne Steckel, here: Policy Climate Session

2014 National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

Audio, Biodiesel, Government, National Biodiesel Conference, NBB, RFS

Cape Wind Wins Again

Joanna Schroeder

Cape Wind has again defeated the efforts of its opponents to block the country’s first offshore wind farm. In a historic decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the FAA’s approval of the Cape Wind project, rejecting every argument that had been advanced by the project’s opponents.

home_page_image_Eco_Tour(1)“The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, the Town of Barnstable and their financial backer-coal billionaire Bill Koch– have failed yet again in their continuing campaign to use the courts to delay the financing of Cape Wind,” said Cape Wind Communications Director Mark Rodgers. “The court’s definitive decision is an important legal victory that brings America that much closer to launching its offshore wind industry, a keystone in America’s renewable energy future.”

This decision takes on even greater importance because this was the same court that had previously provided project opponents their sole and temporary relief, opponents have lost all 12 legal decisions in other courts.

On October 28, 2011 this Court had remanded the FAA’s third Determination of No Hazard back to the FAA to better explain the rationale for its decision. On February 9, 2012, the FAA issued a Public Notice of its reinstated project review, indicating its conclusion that “None of the turbines would have an adverse effect on the use of air navigation facilities or navigable airspace.”

On August 15, 2012 the FAA issued its 4th DNH which project opponents challenged, the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound pronounced confidence their challenge would be successful. However, this is the case decided again in favor of the FAA and Cape Wind.

Alternative energy, offshore wind, Wind

GRFA: Biofuels Must Be a Priority

Joanna Schroeder

Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week is kicking off and this week the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA) called on attendees to make increasing global biofuels use a top priority. During the week, global leaders will address the energy and sustainability challenges of the future. In addition, the World Future Energy Summit is also taking place.

“Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week and it’s complement of events is the ideal setting for Abu Dhabi Sustainability Weekattendees to endorse expanding biofuels strategies because they create much needed rural jobs, significantly curb green house gas emissions and reduce our reliance on crude oil,” said Bliss Baker, spokesperson for the GRFA.

Baker continued, “Attendees of the IRENA Renewable Energy Jobs Conference must endorse expanding the global biofuels industry because it is a bright spot in the world economy, contributing billions of dollars to output and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs now and in the future.”

According to the GRFA, global biofuels production today is making a significant contribution to the global economy, having contributed $277.3 billion and supported nearly 1.4 million jobs in all sectors of the global economy in 2010. By 2020 the global biofuel industry is forecasted to grow to support over 2.2 million jobs in all sectors of the global economy.

“Attendees of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week and the IRENA Meeting also need to recognize that biofuels are the only real feasible option available to reduce emissions in the transportation sector immediately,” said Baker.

In 2013, the International Energy Agency’s Tracking Clean Energy Progress report stated that biofuels will have to play an increased role in order to reduce Green House Gases (GHG) as part of their Climate Change Scenario by 2020. According to the GRFA, in 2013, an estimated 85 billion litres of ethanol were produced which is estimated to have reduced GHG emissions by over 100 million tonnes, the equivalent of removing 20 million cars off the road.

“How can we not expand the global biofuels industry? Last year’s global ethanol production alone reduced GHG emissions equal to removing all the cars registered in Portugal and the Netherlands from the road,” added Baker.

He concluded, “It’s clear, that with all the positive economic and environmental benefits of biofuels, attendees of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week’s events must commit to globally increasing biofuels use so they have a greater share of the future global energy mix,” concluded Baker.

biofuels, Climate Change, International

Texas Researchers Turning Yeast into Biodiesel

John Davis

alperEverything might be bigger in Texas, but some scientists in the state are looking to tiny yeast cells to yield big feedstocks for biodiesel. This news release from the University of Texas at Austin says researchers at the Cockrell School of Engineering have developed genetically engineered yeast cells to produce the lipids to go into biodiesel production.

Assistant professor Hal Alper, in the Cockrell School’s McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, along with his team of students, created the new cell-based platform. Given that the yeast cells grow on sugars, Alper calls the biofuel produced by this process “a renewable version of sweet crude.”

The UT Austin research team was able to rewire yeast cells to enable up to 90 percent of the cell mass to become lipids, which can then be used to produce biodiesel.

“To put this in perspective, this lipid value is approaching the concentration seen in many industrial biochemical processes,” Alper said. “You can take the lipids formed and theoretically use it to power a car.”

“We took a starting yeast strain of Yarrowia lipolytica, and we’ve been able to convert it into a factory for oil directly from sugar,” Alper said. “This work opens up a new platform for a renewable energy and chemical source.”

The researchers say the biodiesel they get from the yeast is similar to the high quality biodiesel now made from soybean oil. But the yeast won’t take up any land and can be more easily genetically manipulated to get more oils from the yeast.

Biodiesel, Research, University

Biodiesel Giant REG Expands with LS9 Buy

John Davis

REG LogoBiodiesel maker Renewable Energy Group, Inc. (REG) continues to get bigger, this time with an expansion into renewable chemicals. This company news release says the Iowa-based biodiesel giant has bought renewable chemical technology developer LS9, Inc. for up to $61.5 million and will call the new operation REG Life Sciences.

“This acquisition is a major step in realizing REG’s strategy to expand into the production of renewable chemicals and other products,” said Daniel J. Oh, Renewable Energy Group President and CEO. “The industrial biotechnology platform and robust patent portfolio LS9 has been building will now be combined with REG’s proven production and commercialization capabilities to accelerate the commercial introduction of renewable chemicals to meet increasing customer demand for sustainable products.”

LS9’s proprietary technologies harness the efficiency of the fatty acid metabolic pathway of microorganisms and are expected to make a wide range of renewable chemicals for large, diverse markets such as detergents and personal care, as well as renewable fuels. LS9’s technology platform can utilize diverse feedstocks including conventional corn and cane sugars, low-cost crude glycerin from biodiesel production, and cellulosic sugars. LS9 is a cornerstone investment for REG Life Sciences, which also plans to develop adjacent and complementary fermentation technologies.

“LS9 is a leader in developing technology for the next generation of chemicals and fuels to be produced from renewable feedstocks rather than petroleum,” said Vinod Khosla, founding partner of Khosla Ventures, an investor in LS9. “REG’s proven capabilities, track record for execution, and access to lower cost feedstock make it an ideal partner to commercialize LS9’s technology.”

REG already owns and operates eight active biodiesel refineries in four states with a combined nameplate production capacity of 257 million gallons, making it the country’s biggest biodiesel producer. This new venture will stay in LS9’s San Francisco operations.

Biodiesel

Eye on Biodiesel Industry Partnership Award

Chuck Zimmerman

Kirk LeedsThe Eye on Biodiesel Award for Industry Partnership was presented to Kirk Leeds, Iowa Soybean Association this morning.

Kirk is Chief Executive Officer of the Association and has been a leader among soybean organizations in supporting biodiesel efforts since the industry’s inception. ISA’s support of the National Biodiesel Board over the years has allowed the industry to prepare and face the challenges of being a billion-plus-gallon Advanced Biofuel. His visionary leadership has helped to maintain a mutually-beneficial, strong connection between the soybean and biodiesel industries. Kirk and ISA have been at the forefront of improving agriculture’s environmental performance. Through partnerships with farmers, environmental groups, agri-business and academia, ISA is helping lead efforts to identify practical solutions for complex environmental issues.

You can listen to Kirk’s remarks here: Kirk Leeds Remarks

2014 National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

Audio, Biodiesel, National Biodiesel Conference, NBB, Soybeans

CARB Receives Eye on Biodiesel Award

Chuck Zimmerman

Richard CoreyReceiving the National Biodiesel Board’s Eye on Biodiesel Impact Award for the California Clean Air Resources Board was Richard Corey, Executive Officer.

The State of California continues to serve as a national and world leader in regulations related to environmental sustainability, and the California Air Resources Board is at the heart of those efforts. In January of 2010, Air Resources Board staff successfully implemented the first ever market-oriented carbon reduction policy for transportation fuels, a policy known as the Low Carbon Fuel Standard. Since that time, use and production of biodiesel and other renewable fuels has increased significantly. Californians have since enjoyed the benefits of cleaner air, growth in green jobs, and increased fuel diversity.

You can listen to Richard’s remarks here: Richard Corey Remarks

2014 National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

Audio, Biodiesel, biofuels, Environment, Government, National Biodiesel Conference, NBB

NBB Lifetime Achievement Award

Chuck Zimmerman

Don Borgman AwardA very special award was presented to John Deere’s Don Borgman today at the National Biodiesel Conference. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his service to the industry.

Later this year Borgman will be retiring from John Deere after over 40 years of service. Most recently he served as the Director of Agricultural Industry Relations for John Deere’s North American operations. He has been involved in the promotion and expansion of demand for agricultural products since the late 1970’s, and his work was instrumental in John Deere’s acceptance, support, and promotion of biodiesel.

You can listen to Don’s remarks here: Don Borgman Remarks

2014 National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

Audio, Biodiesel, John Deere, National Biodiesel Conference, NBB