Ethanol Industry Provides Comments on California LCFS

Cindy Zimmerman

Ethanol industry stakeholders submitted comments to the California Air Resources Board this week regarding the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS).

The Renewable Fuels Association stressed its ongoing support for the LCFS and provided recommendations to strengthen and expand the landmark program beyond 2030. However, RFA underscored that without complementary regulatory actions—like expeditious approval of E15 and support for E85 and flex-fuel vehicles—more stringent future LCFS requirements may be very difficult to achieve. 

As part of the comments, RFA also recommended that CARB modify the new California Transportation Supply (CATS) model to better reflect current and projected ethanol economics, carbon intensities and volumes. This includes reflecting the current carbon intensity of ethanol and its expected downward trajectory and considering the rise of higher blends such as E15 and E85, noting the latter blend volumes have been increasing at an annual growth rate of approximately 50-60 percent in recent years.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Low Carbon Fuel Standard, Renewable Fuels Association, RFS

Kum & Go Offers $1.99 E15 for Christmas

Cindy Zimmerman

Iowa-based convenience store chain Kum & Go is offering all customers E15 grade fuel for $1.99 per gallon from December 23-26.

Approximately 91% of holiday travel is by personal vehicle according to the United States Department of Transportation. Kum & Go is proud to offer customers this promotion on a more sustainable fuel offering that is also better for the environment.

“As a family-owned company, Kum & Go is always looking for ways to make days better for our customers in the communities we serve. During a time when many will be traveling, we are delighted to offer this promotion on our E15 fuel,” said Ken Kleemeier, Vice President of Fuels at Kum & Go.

There are 198 Kum & Go locations that offer E15. Customers can locate the store nearest them online or on the Kum & Go App and find the blue E15 handle when fueling up at the store.

E15, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Jon Doggett Reflects on Decades of Work in Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

Jon Doggett is retiring as CEO of National Corn Growers Association at the end of the year after more than 20 years with the organization, and decades of work on behalf of ethanol and agriculture in Washington DC. Doggett announced his retirement earlier this year and NCGA is currently searching for his replacement with the intention of introducing a new CEO during Commodity Classic in March.

Doggett made one of his final public appearances on behalf of NCGA last week at the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) CSS & Seed Expo 2022 on a panel discussing the Political Lay of the Land for agriculture.

Doggett was actively involved in the effort to pass the Renewable Fuel Standard and he is pleased with EPA’s recent proposal for three years of biofuel standards. “A lot of folks, at times I myself, had some concerns about what’s going to happen in 2023, are we just going to drop off the cliff? That didn’t happen,” said Doggett. “The Biden administration clearly wants to continue to have at least 15 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol in the fuel supply and they’re actually going to bump that up a little. That’s really good news.”

In this interview, Doggett talks about his career on Capitol Hill for the past 34 years as he prepares to move on to wherever he may roam.
ASTACSS Interview with Jon Doggett, NCGA 6:06

Audio, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, NCGA

RFA Helps Retailers with Higher Blends Infrastructure Grants

Cindy Zimmerman

Dozens of fuel retailers got help from the Renewable Fuels Association this year to apply for $100 million in matching grant funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP) under the recently concluded signup period.

RFA hosted webinars with more than 250 participants, thanks to the assistance of state retail organizations from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, and Iowa. At the conclusion of the brief 90-day application window, the organization had helped over 40 companies with their applications. With the generous assistance from the National Corn Growers Association, RFA filed grant applications totaling more than $36 million, with matching retailer funds totaling more than $150 million.

RFA Director Market Development Cassie Mullen said the grant applications represent $200 million in infrastructure funding that could lead to 1,000 more dispensers at more than 220 new E15 locations across 19 states. “One exciting aspect of this round was the interest we saw from applicants in non-traditional ethanol states such as California,” said Mullen. “RFA helped retailers apply for 10 locations in California, and there may have been more than 100 sites that applied statewide.”

Sheetz, which offers E15 and E85 at many of its locations across Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina, worked with RFA to apply for funding at 67 new locations. “Over the last few months, we worked side-by-side with RFA and could not have gotten this over the finish line without their hard work and dedication,” said Sheetz Senior Petroleum Scheduler Joshua Jadlock. “This process is not always an easy one, but with our partners at RFA we were able to submit our application and hopefully bring a lot more ethanol into the marketplace.”

RFA has had a perfect success rate in assisting retailers to apply for and receive grants under this program; since 2020, RFA-supported grants led to infrastructure projects by 35 companies, totaling $74 million and covering 260 retail operations spanning 21 states. Going into 2023 and beyond, Mullen noted, more funds will become available for retailers thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, which provides an additional $500 million for higher blend infrastructure. For more information, contact Mullen at cmullen@ethanolrfa.org.

biofuels, blends, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Renewable Fuels Association, Retailers, RFA

Ethanol Production Jumps to Highest Level This Year

Cindy Zimmerman

U.S. ethanol production shot up 6 percent the week ending December 2 to the highest level this year to 1.077 million b/d, equivalent to 45.23 million gallons daily and a 51-week high, according to data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration and analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association.

Production was 1.2% lower than the same week last year yet 1.8% above the five-year average for the week. The four-week average ethanol production increased 0.7% to 1.037 million b/d, equivalent to an annualized rate of 15.90 billion gallons (bg).

Ethanol stocks rose 1.4% to 23.3 million barrels, the largest weekly volume recorded since August. Stocks were 13.6% more than a year ago and 6.1% above the five-year average.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

Danforth Center Researching Water Use for Bioenergy Crop

Cindy Zimmerman

Donald Danforth Plant Science Center Principal Investigator Ivan Baxter is leading a new $16 million multi-institutional project on understanding of water use efficiency in sorghum as a bioenergy crop.

“To be economically viable and have environmental benefits, crops used for bioenergy production need to be grown where the supply of water is insufficient or too inconsistent to support production of traditional food crops,” said Baxter. 

Yields of bioenergy crops, such as Sorghum bicolor, have increased through breeding and improved agronomy. However, the amount of biomass produced for a given amount of water use has remained constant. 

The multi-institutional team will focus on three major control points of water-limited production: enhanced acquisition of available water by roots, reduced water use through the pores plants use to exchange water and CO2, and improving photosynthetic carbon assimilation. The project will also look at a closely related model plant, Setaria viridis, which is smaller and faster growing to enable rapid testing. In both species, genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics will be used to identify new genes that can affect the control points.

Read more

bioenergy, biofuels, biomass, Research, sorghum

Year Round E15 Legislation Introduced in the House

Cindy Zimmerman

This has been a busy week for actions to get a permanent fix for year-hour E15.

In the latest, U.S. Representatives Angie Craig (D-MN) and Adrian Smith (R-NE) introduced the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2022 to enable the year-round, nationwide sale of ethanol blends higher than 10%.

The Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2022 would extend the Reid vapor pressure (RVP) volatility waiver to ethanol blends above 10 percent to allow for the year-round, nationwide sale of E15. In addition, it would ensure consistency across the fuel markets and limit disruptions across the national fuel supply chain by prohibiting the removal of the 1-psi waiver for E10 ethanol.

In the House, the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Act is cosponsored by Representatives Cindy Axne (D-IA), Dusty Johnson (R-SD), Dan Kildee (D-MI), Randy Feenstra (R-IA), Mike Flood (R-NE), James R. Baird (R-IN), Tracey Mann (KS-1), Jim Banks (IN-03), Mary Miller-Meeks (R-IA), Jake LaTurner (R-KS), Michelle Fischbach (MN-07), Ashley Hinson (IA-01),Vicky Hartzler (MO-4), Sam Graves (R-MO), Ken Buck (R-CO), Cheri Bustos (D-IL), Brad Finstad (R-MN), Ron Estes (R-KS), Tim Ryan (D-OH), James Comer (R-KY) and Jason Smith (R-MO).

The House bill is a companion to bipartisan Senate legislation introduced on Nov. 29 by Sens. Deb Fischer (R-NE), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and 13 other senators. More than 250 organizations and companies urged the Senate to pass this legislation before the end of the session. In addition, the White House Office of Management and Budget is now officially reviewing the request from nine Midwest governors to eliminate the 1-psi RVP waiver for E10 in their states and allow year-round sales of E15.

While there is some doubt that Congress will be able to pass legislation before the end of the year, Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper said, “We are highly encouraged by the broad, diverse and bipartisan support that this effort is receiving, and we urge Congress to move quickly to adopt this commonsense legislation.”

“Achieving a national, permanent solution for E15 year-round is best done through Congress and we are enormously grateful for the leadership of Reps. Craig, Smith, and other House biofuel supporters for introducing this legislation to clarify the statute ahead of the 2023 summer driving season,” said American Coalition for Ethanol CEO Brian Jennings.

A recent CSP survey found that one out of every five fuel retailers plan to add the E15 blend at their locations in the coming year. Currently, more than 2,800 U.S. fuel stations carry the blend.

ACE, E15, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Research, RFA

17th Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit Next Month

Cindy Zimmerman

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) is proud to present the 17th Annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit. The 2023 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit is taking place on February 7, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. Registration is free and required to attend.

“The rapid changes occurring across the energy spectrum make the 2023 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit a can’t miss biofuels event,” said IRFA Marketing Director Lisa Coffelt. “Biofuels producers and supporters will be digging into the challenges and opportunities, from the future of U.S. biofuels policy to carbon capture and next generation markets. Anyone interested in the intersection of agriculture, energy and the environment will benefit from attending the Summit.”

Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper will share his insight on industry issues as the biofuel keynote speaker at the summit. “America’s ethanol producers have a powerful story to tell,” Cooper said. “Whether you’re concerned about jobs and market opportunities in rural communities, clean and sustainable fuel choices in urban cities, or low carbon initiatives, ethanol is an excellent fuel choice to address those concerns and more. We in the industry need to be bold in sharing that story.”

For more information, visit IowaRenewableFuelsSummit.org.

Biodiesel, biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Iowa RFA, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA

White House Reviewing Governors E15 Volatility Petition

Cindy Zimmerman

The White House Office of Management and Budget is now officially reviewing the request from nine Midwest governors to eliminate the 1-psi RVP waiver for E10 in their states and allow year-round sales of E15, according to the RegInfo.gov dashboard.

Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper said, “OMB review marks an important step in this process, and we are pleased to see that the governors’ petition is moving ahead. This means the petition remains on track for approval before summer 2023, just as Administrator Regan outlined a few months ago. Of course, a legislative fix that applies nationwide (like the one introduced last week by Sens. Fischer and Klobuchar) would obviate the need for this multi-state petition, and we are actively pursuing that approach for E15 market access as well.”

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds led seven other Midwest Governors in a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan in April of this year formally requesting a permanent Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) waiver that will allow each state to continue selling E15 year-round without restriction. In addition to Iowa, the states include Nebraska, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine joined the petition as well in June, bringing the total number of states to nine.

E15, EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Renewable Fuels Association, RFA

250 Groups Call for Senate Passage of Year-Round E15 Bill

Cindy Zimmerman

Over 250 organizations and companies signed a letter to Congressional leaders this week calling for quick passage of S. 5145, the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2022, a bipartisan bill that allows for year-round of E15 by extending the 1-psi Reid vapor pressure (RVP) waiver to fuel blends containing gasoline and over 10 percent ethanol.

“Due to the current policy, it is extremely difficult for many fuel marketers and retailers that may desire to offer E15 to their customers in the summer months to source that product,” the letter states. “By ensuring uniformity across the nation’s fuel supply chain, federal legislation will provide more flexibility and result in more consistent outcomes than a state-by-state regulatory landscape. In the absence of such legislation, we could see gasoline marketplace uncertainty and political disputes over E15 continue to resurface every summer.”

The letter was signed by ethanol producer companies, organizations and stakeholders, farm groups, corn growers, petroleum interests, convenience store owners, and more. “We all agree that the marketplace desperately needs the certainty and stability that this legislation would provide,” said Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper. “And by ensuring consumers nationwide have uninterrupted access to E15, this bill would help lower pump prices, enhance our nation’s energy security, and reduce emissions of both greenhouse gases and the pollutants that contribute to air pollution and smog.”

Earlier this week, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said if they are unable to get the bill passed in the lame duck session it will be a priority in the new Congress. “I think that’s a very difficult thing to get done this year,” Grassley said during his weekly press call with farm reporters Tuesday. “But we are not going to stop fighting for it for sure.”

Read the letter.

ACE, Ag group, Audio, corn, E15, Ethanol News, Renewable Fuels Association