Growth Energy Urge Producers to Get Involved

Cindy Zimmerman

buis-absoluteGrowth Energy CEO Tom Buis was pleased to be part of the New Holland American Ethanol Producers Club event at Absolute Energy near Lyle, Minnesota last week to encourage the nearly 200 growers in attendance to continue the great progress ethanol has made for agriculture.

“It’s even farmers beyond just corn farmers,” Buis said. “A rising tide lifts all boats and all the data shows that and what a great run rural America has had after decades of struggling to make ends meet they finally have been able to get a decent price from the market place. And when farmers do well that money turns over several times in the local economy.”

Buis also talked about how important ethanol has been to the livestock economy with the co-product of distillers grains. “We’ve expanded the availability of feed, both here at home and worldwide, with the ethanol industry,” he said.

Buis thinks that with all Congress has on its plate right now calls to change or even repeal the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) are unlikely to go anywhere this year, but that is no reason for the industry to be complacent. “We have to keep telling our story,” he said. “If you don’t get in there and speak up for yourself, nobody’s going to do it for you…take two minutes and explain to the policy makers how important this is to your livelihood.” Interview with Tom Buis, Growth Energy
New Holland American Ethanol Producers Club photo album

Audio, Equipment, Ethanol, Growth Energy, New Holland

Eco-Energy Inks Deal with MN, Iowa Ethanol Makers

John Davis

ecoenergyTennessee-based biofuel and ethanol marketer Eco-Energy has signed deals with ethanol makers in Minnesota and Iowa. The company announced the new multiyear marketing agreement with Heron Lake BioEnergy, in Minnesota, as well as agreement extensions with Granite Falls Energy, located in Granite Falls, Minn., and Central Iowa Renewable Energy, now known as Corn, LP, located in Goldfield, Iowa.

“Our team is excited to partner with the great team at Heron Lake. We continue adding partners to our platform and generating value for our independent ethanol producers. We look forward to working with their team for years to come,” stated Chad Martin, CEO of Eco-Energy.

“Our long standing relationship with Eco-Energy has been beneficial to our company. I believe the Eco team shares the same set of values and resolve as our CORN, LP team. This is one of the major ingredients in our successful partnership,” stated Brad Davis, GM at Central Iowa Renewable Energy.

Eco-Energy now markets for 18 plants across the North America and handles more than 10% of the ethanol market.

Ethanol, Ethanol News

Hong Kong Biodiesel Maker Soon to Come Online

John Davis

ASBplantA Hong Kong biodiesel maker looks to go online soon, and when it does, it will be the city’s biggest biodiesel refinery, turning waste oil into the green fuel. This story from the South China Morning Post says ASB Biodiesel will start up next month and turn out 100,000 tonnes of biodiesel a year.

The plant will refine 600,000 tonnes each year of grease trap waste into pure “B100” biodiesel blends for construction, transport and, later, petrol companies. About 95 litres of biodiesel can be produced with every 100 litres of waste oil.

That will be enough to offset 3.6 per cent, or 260,000 tonnes, of greenhouse gas emissions from transport each year, according to the company. But vehicle emissions of nitrogen dioxide and coarse pollutant particles (PM10) are only slightly lower for biodiesel than for regular diesel.

Company officials also expect to turn wastewater from the processing into bio-gas to power the plant’s operations. While most of the biodiesel now is slated to go to Europe, the officials expect one day most of it will be consumed in Hong Kong.

Biodiesel, International

Corn Price Drop Helps Ethanol Make Money Again

John Davis

corn-harvestA drop in the price for the price for the primary feedstock for ethanol, corn, is helping ethanol producers make money again on the green fuel. This article from the Minneapolis (MN) Star Tribune looked at the industry tracking service Biofuels Benchmarking and how the new corn crop is helping put those margins back in the black.

“We are forecasting a good, solid year, as good as Blue Flint’s ever had,” said Greg Ridderbusch, president of the Maple Grove-based holding company for Blue Flint Ethanol in Underwood, N.D.

For the quarter ended in June or July, five of seven Minnesota-affiliated ­ethanol producers that release financial statements reported profits. Among those with improved results were Blue Flint and Heron Lake BioEnergy, based in Heron Lake, which reported net losses in the first quarter.

Most of the ethanol producers tracked by the Star Tribune reported getting higher prices per gallon for ethanol during the quarter — up to 13 percent more than the same period in 2012. Ethanol sales ­volumes also were up, due partly to the closing of some U.S. plants, ­producers said.

In a separate, private survey of 45 U.S. ethanol makers, Christianson & Associates of Willmar, Minn., reported that almost all plants broke even or made money in the last quarter. That’s a big shift from recent quarters when only highly efficient plants made money.

“In the next two quarters, I think things will remain fairly consistent and even rise as far as earnings are concerned,” said Paula Emberland, who manages Biofuels Benchmarking.

Also, when you consider that tighter margins in the last couple of years forced many ethanol producers to find more value-added items to get into the mix while cutting costs, that should set up the ethanol industry well for the future.

corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Vermont Energy Company to Offer Biodiesel

John Davis

bournes1A Vermont company with a history of offering bioheat – a blend of biodiesel and heating oil – will soon offer biodiesel at the pump for motor vehicles. Bourne’s Energy announced it is opening a Montpelier branch.

“When a new Bourne’s Energy location opens up, it’s because we were asked to be there and the same is true for Montpelier,” says Peter Bourne. “Montpelier is driven towards what’s best for Vermonters and supports being as eco-friendly and self sufficient as possible. Our interest in the environment, our children and Vermont’s future match perfectly so it was no surprise people are receptive to Bourne’s being here.”

The new Bourne’s location comes with a bonus being positioned beside a local fuel transporter/dealer, Kurrle Fuels. Kurrle Fuels will soon be implementing a Bourne’s biodiesel pump giving customers an opportunity to purchase greener, cleaner fuel for their diesel powered vehicles and equipment. By using biodiesel, people are engaging in ecologically and economically savvy practices such as cutting down on carbon emissions, reducing wear and tear on their vehicles and equipment as well as sustaining local jobs and cutting back on fossil fuels that are much more toxic. Benefits of biodiesel hold true for Bioheat as well.

Bourne’s Energy has been offering bioheat for the last couple of years, as well as wood pellets and propane as cleaner, alternative fuels for its customers.

Biodiesel

Google Purchases More Wind Power in Texas

John Davis

googlewindSearch engine giant Google has increased the amount of wind energy it will use to offset power used in its operations. On the company’s green blog, Google is touting a purchase of 240 MW from the Happy Hereford wind farm outside of Amarillo, Texas.

This agreement represents our fifth long-term agreement and our largest commitment yet; we’ve now contracted for more than 570 MW of wind energy, which is enough energy to power approximately 170,000 U.S. households.

The Happy Hereford wind farm, which is expected to start producing energy in late 2014, is being developed by Chermac Energy, a small, Native American-owned company based in Oklahoma. The wind farm will provide energy to the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), the regional grid that serves our Mayes County, Okla. data center.

The structure of this agreement is similar to our earlier commitments in Iowa and Oklahoma. Due to the current structure of the market, we can’t consume the renewable energy produced by the wind farm directly, but the impact on our overall carbon footprint and the amount of renewable energy on the grid is the same as if we could consume it. After purchasing the renewable energy, we’ll retire the renewable energy credits (RECs) and sell the energy itself to the wholesale market. We’ll apply any additional RECs produced under this agreement to reduce our carbon footprint elsewhere.

Google says this is just one way it’s trying to make renewable energy available to its data centers and the communities they are in, pointing to other wind agreements in Scandinavia, North Carolina and Oklahoma as examples of that.

Wind

Brazil to Import 1-1.5 Bln Liters American Ethanol

John Davis

brazilBrazil is expected to import 1-1.5 billion liters of American ethanol this winter. This story from Reuters says the imports are expected from December to April when the sugarcane-producing region is between harvests.

“We are going to import corn ethanol during the center-south interharvest. Today the price is right. It’s cheaper than local anhydrous ethanol,” [ethanol analyst from Job Economy Julio Maria] Borges said.

He said that imports would help meet growing demand for the biofuel. The Brazilian government raised the mandatory blend for ethanol in commercial gasoline to 25 percent on May 1 from 20 percent previously.

Brazil has also been exporting some of its ethanol to the United States, primarily, where it wins a premium due to its advanced biofuel status under the Environmental Protection Agency’s Renewable Fuels Standards.

Brazil’s center-south region is expected to produce 25 billion liters of ethanol this season, up 3.6 billion liters from last year.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, International

More Global Oil Demand Reinforces Biofuels Need

John Davis

25x25_logoWhile petroleum consumption in North America might have dropped last year, the rest of the world is consuming at a record pace. And in this article in Biofuels Journal, the 25×25′ Alliance says the Energy Information Administration report on the global consumption only reinforces its claim that we need to get off fossil fuels and use more biofuels.

The EIA analysis shows U.S. consumers remain vulnerable to the global oil market shocks that push prices up at the gas pump, whether they come from conflict in the Middle East or natural catastrophes that shut down oil production.

The EIA report underscores the longstanding need to pursue renewable alternatives and to continue building on a biofuel sector that has widely demonstrated over the past decade a number of economic and environmental benefits.

The alliance also quotes energy economist Philip K. Verleger’s report we told you about last week that points out biofuels have helped lower gas prices at the pump by $0.50 to $1.50 for each gallon, and without the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), commercial crude oil inventories at the end of last month would have dropped to 5.2 million barrels, a level two hundred million barrels lower than at any time since 1990. A supply that low would have pushed a barrel from the current $103-105 price to up to $150 per barrel. The 25×25′ Alliance also points out the 87,000 direct jobs and 295,000 indirect and induced jobs the biofuels sector is producing in this country. All these factors reinforce the importance of measures currently in front of Congress that will determine the future of biofuels in the U.S.

biofuels, International

Report: Lack of Biofuels Puts Economy at Risk

John Davis

daleIf the U.S. doesn’t make sufficient investments in biofuels, it could put the Nation’s economy at risk of a slowdown and could make the country face energy shortages. That’s the conclusions of a report from a professor of chemical engineering and a biofuel specialist at Michigan State University. In remarks to the Platts Biofuels and Chemicals conference in Chicago and posted on Platts.com, Bruce Dale cautioned against putting too many eggs in the fossil fuels basket, as well as possibly turning areas that are booming on petroleum now could become “ghost towns” once those supplies dry up.

“That’s where we’re heading” unless we take steps to ensure that biofuels become ever more sustainable and realistic, Dale, who is working on ways of turning grass into ethanol, said.

Successful economies require substantial power, Dale said, adding that fossil fuels significant challenges in terms of expense and likely future questions over supply.

For emerging economies, the cost of fossil fuels remained too expensive, while for established economies, there continue to be questions over the sustainability of supply.

Because of this, Dale said biofuels will have to play a substantial part in future energy supply. And to ensure that happens, further investment is needed.

Dale went on to say that current capacity and technology does not exist that would allow biomass to reach 50 percent greenhouse gas reduction goals by 2050. He says biomass needs to gain economies of scale soon, “or we’re going to be cooked.”

biofuels, biomass

More E85 Ethanol Stations, More Supportive Studies

John Davis

RFA-logo-13It’s been a pretty good couple of weeks for E85 ethanol, as the green fuel made its way into 24 more stations across the country and got another study with supportive results. The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) says there are now 139 stations in the Nation offering E85. Plus the group touted the results of Iowa State University’s Bruce Babcock study that found “… it is feasible to meet 2014 and 2015 biofuel mandates with expanded E85 consumption given existing numbers of flex vehicles and stations that sell E85.”

Other key conclusions include:

• “…enough flex vehicles are located close enough to stations that sell E85 that significant volumes of E85 would be sold if it were appropriately priced.”

• “Current high RIN prices create a large incentive for oil companies to increase consumption of E85 because expansion in E85 consumption will decrease RIN prices.”

• “…pricing E85 low enough to generate fuel cost savings has the potential to quickly increase ethanol consumption, perhaps by three billion gallons over the next year or two.”

RFA is glad to see the demand high and the price low for E85, averaging just $2.64/gallon and running as low as $2.17/gallon in Minnesota, compared to $3.42 for a gallon of regular gasoline.

E85rfa“E85 is in high demand and growing as retailers begin to see the advantages of offering the high level blend at their stations,” said Robert White, Director of Market Development at the Renewable Fuels Association. “The price savings can be seen across the country as more and more drivers demand additional fuel options and cheaper prices at the pump.”

E85, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA