RFS2 can create 26 new green collar jobs every day, some of which will be in the oil and agriculture industries. That’s 26 new skilled, family-wage positions every day. 26 more domestic jobs producing our nation’s energy security in just two years with the growth of the RFS2.

Listen to Gary’s remarks here: Gary Haer Speech

You can find a lot more stories on the National Biodiesel Conference Blog. I’ve had the pleasure of being the Biodiesel Blogger for the 7th year this year!

2012 National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

I spoke with Paul Sr. just prior to his entry into the exhibit hall and he says the bike was a tough one to build. He says it’s not a speed demon but it won’t break down, “It’s just made to go.” The bike has affectionately been named Susie, btw.

Listen to my interview with Paul Sr. here: Interview with Paul Sr.

Listen to Paul Sr. describe the biodiesel bike here: Paul Sr. Remarks

Here’s video of Paul, Sr. driving into the exhibit hall.

Remember that you can follow what the Twitterverse is saying about the conference using the hashtag #NBB12.

2012 National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

Joe spent some time talking about the RFS.

The RFS demonstrated last year that effective energy policy can be carried out by actual energy policy. After the first year of implementation it has its wrinkles to iron out and we are going to talk about those in depth. But 2011 demonstrated that the RFS can work at doing what Congress intended, which is to draw renewable fuels into the market. I want to commend the EPA for their work in bringing this program together. They have had a very difficult job to take a brand new complex law and a wide range of stakeholders, and build a workable program.

The RFS has created a clear, predictable, stable and sustainable future for this industry.

Listen to or download Joe’s speech here: Joe Jobe Speech

2012 National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

We caught up with National Biodiesel Board CEO Joe Jobe at the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit to get a preview of what promises to be a great conference. “Attendance is up, exhibitors are up, sponsorship is up, which is really a reflection of the fact that the industry’s back,” Jobe says. “The industry has come back and it’s really one of the most exciting come back stories since maybe Harley-Davidson.”

Jobe says there’s enthusiasm and excitement, but also a lot of work that needs to be done. “We need to talk about how we think about the industry going forward through the lens of the RFS, which is going to be the cornerstone of the industry moving forward,” he noted.

The conference will be held February 5-8 at the Gaylord Palms Convention Center in Orlando and while on-line registration is closed, there will be on-site registration for last minute attendees.

Listen to an interview with Jobe here: Joe Jobe interview

Steve Pittman, Director of the Indiana Ethanol Producers Association and General Manager of POET-Portland, is especially excited about the future of the cellulosic ethanol industry. “We see corn ethanol still stay as the basis of what we do and then we’ll see growth in cellulosic over the next ten years,” Steve said. “We don’t see corn going away. The concept is to reap the corn stover off the same fields we’re harvesting corn off of. We’ll have another opportunity for farmers to sell another product without having to grow another crop.”

Listen to an interview with Pittman here: Steve Pittman interview

Right now, infrastructure is important to expanding consumer choice, according to Rosalind Leeck, Director of Biofuels for Indiana Corn Marketing Council (ICMC). “Our farmers believe that expanding infrastructure to allow consumers more access to ethanol-blended fuel is crucial to the success and growth of the industry,” said Leeck, adding that ICMC is funding a program to encourage fuel retailers to add flex fuel pumps that offer mid-level blends, like E30, in addition to E85 to drivers of Flex Fuel Vehicles. “Through this program, 14 flex fuel pumps will be added to fuel stations across the state over the next several months.”

Listen to an interview with Rosalind Leeck here: Rosalind Leeck interview

Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis agrees that building infrastructure is critical to the increasing consumer choice. Buis told Gary Truitt of the Hoosier Ag Today (HAT) that he is optimistic about the future of ethanol in Indiana and nationwide. “Unlike Big Oil, ethanol is not stuck in the past, we’re focused on moving forward. With the introduction of E15 into the marketplace and increased build out of Flex Fuel pumps, American consumers will finally have choice when they fill up at the pump,” Buis says. “We know we can do more, we know it’s good for America.”

Listen to Truitt’s interview with Buis here: Tom Buis interview

Indiana produces 1.1 billion gallons of ethanol every year in 13 different ethanol plants across the state. Thanks to Gary Truitt of HAT for attending the Indiana ethanol forum and provided the photos and audio interviews.

The final panel of the day at last week’s 6th Annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit focused on preparations that are being made to make sure retailers and consumers have all the information they need to make an informed choice when it comes to E15.

“A lot of what consumers know now is wrong,” said Ron Lamberty with the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE).

Lamberty says while there are consumers who are opposed to the use of ethanol and are unlikely to change their minds, there is a good percentage of people who say they would use E15 if it were available. “When we do get E15 out to the marketplace, one of the things we have to make sure we tell people is that it’s out there and they can use it,” he said, noting that the main thing consumers need to know about E15 is that it is the most tested of fuel in history.

Another point that Lamberty believes is important for consumers to know is that the E15 approval for cars and light trucks newer than 2001 is not a mandate. “Approved for and not required,” Lamberty said. “No stations have to sell it and nobody has to buy it,” he said, although the industry believes that once consumers do try it they will want to use it.

As to when E15 will make it to the market, Lamberty says it is anyone’s guess, but he expects Iowa will be one of the very first places it will be available.

Listen to a Lamberty’s presentation at the summit here: Ron Lamberty at Iowa RFA Summit

Listen to an interview with Lamberty here: Ron Lamberty interview

Greg Emick of W&H Cooperative Oil Company spoke as a retailer that has adopted the use of blender pumps last year so they are already offering E15 as a choice in three different locations, along with other mid-level ethanol blends. “Our E15 sales were somewhat slow to increase but the E30 sales jumped right away,” he said. “I feel with promotion, advertising and pubic awareness about E15, it could become a larger percentage of sales at our retail facilities.”

Emick says their customers appreciate that they are promoting flexible fuels because of their environmental friendliness and competitive pricing, and he sincerely believes in the product and wants to see it continue to grow.

Listen to Greg Emick at the summit here: Greg Emick at Iowa RFA Summit

Photos from 2012 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit

A great discussion at the 6th Annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit featured corn and cattle organizations on the same panel talking about the “Synergies of Livestock and Ethanol.”

Moderator Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey opened the discussion by noting that sales of crops and livestock have risen as ethanol production has increased from $12 billion in 2002 – 6 billion in crop and 6 billion in livestock – to $24 billion in 2010, and 2011 is expected to be about $30 billion with at least $13 billion of that for livestock. “$13 billion on the livestock side versus $6 billion nine years ago,” Northey said. “Has ethanol been good for livestock agriculture in Iowa? I think very clearly.”

Listen to a brief interview with Secretary Northey here: Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey

Iowa Cattlemen’s Association Executive Director Matt Deppe says it’s easy to see the benefits that distillers grains (DDGS) have brought to especially cattle feeders. “We look at it as a corn replacement,” Deppe says about DDGS. “It means that they (feedlot operators) have another option that’s cost effective to put into their rations.”

Listen to an interview with Matt Deppe here: Matt Deppe Interview

The livestock industry has traditionally been the most important market for corn, noted Iowa Corn Growers CEO Craig Floss, although use for ethanol has increased significantly in the past decade. “But a third of every one of those bushels that goes into an ethanol plant goes into DDGS,” he said.

The panel also included Randy Ives, director of ethanol services for the commodity management firm Gavilon Group.

Listen to or download the entire panel discussion here: Ethanol and Livestock panel

Photos from 2012 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit

There were over 500 people at the conference on Tuesday in Des Moines and Albin says that’s a far cry from when he first started in the biodiesel industry. “I’ve personally been involved in biodiesel since 1996, helped build the first multi-feedstock biodiesel plant,” he said. “There was probably ten of us in a room at one time. And since then, we’ve seen some hard times but this year (2011) has been a strong year for us and now we need to just keep the strong going forward.”

Listen to my interview with IRFA president Brad Albin of REG here: Brad Albin interview

Photos from 2012 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit

“We have an immediate challenge before us,” NBB CEO Joe Jobe said of the postponed decision regarding 2013 volumes for biomass-based diesel under the RFS2. “The EPA recommended that we raise those volumes from the statutory minimum of a billion gallons to 1.28 billion gallons.” The Office of Management and Budget has to approve that recommendation and Jobe says that decision will be made within the next 45-60 days.

“We need to establish a precedent whereby we can have conservative, modest growth in the biomass-based diesel category,” Jobe said. He called on the biodiesel industry to make its collective voice heard on the issue. “We ask that you participate in our effort to send letters to the White House, to the OMB, to the administration and to members of Congress,” said Jobe, noting that more details about the effort will be coming soon.

Listen to part of Jobe’s address to the 6th annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit here: Joe Jobe comments

Photos from 2012 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit

At the 6th Annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit in Des Moines on Tuesday, Ames High School senior Sam Ennis was declared the first place winner of the 2nd Annual “Fuel the Future” video contest for Iowa high school students. For his highly creative, entertaining and informative music video entitled “I Got You Ethanol” Ennis was awarded the $1,000 grand prize by the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. Ennis is pictured here with Andy Anderson of the law firm Faegre Baker Daniels LLP, which sponsored the contest.

Second place and $600 was awarded to Clay Central Everly Community School tenth grade students Gabby Huss, Rebecca White and Blair Montgomery for their video entry called “Ethanol for the Economy.” Third place and $400 went to eleventh graders Cassandra Davis, Haley Jewell, Lauralin Berkley, Cody Corchado, and Meredith Brister of Pleasant Valley High School in the Quad Cities for “Dear 25 Year Old Me.”

All the videos can be seen on IRFA’s YouTube channel. Watch “I Got You Ethanol” below and listen to the song here: I Got You Ethanol

Photos from 2012 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit

Luft, who is executive director of the Institute for Analysis of Global Security, explained his analogy between oil and salt at the 6th Annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit in Des Moines on Tuesday.

“Salt used to be the most strategic commodity of all because it was the only way to cure food,” said Luft. “That changed with the invention of canning and refrigeration. Those two simple technologies essentially stripped salt of its strategic status.”

“Just like salt dominated food preservation, oil today dominates transportation,” he continued. “And just like salt’s strategic status was diminished through those simple inventions, oil’s strategic status can be diminished through the technology of flexible fuel vehicles.”

That’s why Luft strongly advocates the simplest solution to diminishing the stranglehold oil has on the transportation industry, and that is requiring all new vehicles sold in the United States to be capable of running on a variety of fuels. “Whether it is ethanol or methanol or butanol, whatever it is, let’s give people choices,” he said, noting that there is just such a bill pending in Congress called the Open Fuel Standard Act.

Luft and co-author Anne Korin wrote a book about the analogy between salt and oil and the importance of fuel choice, called “Turning Oil into Salt”, which was reviewed here on Domestic Fuel in 2009.

Listen to Luft’s address to the 6th annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit here: Gal Luft address

Listen to a brief interview with Gal Luft here: Gal Luft interview

Photos from 2012 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit

Gen. Kern ended his address to the 6th Annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit in Des Moines on Tuesday on that note, displaying a WWII military poster declaring “Stick to your job – oil is ammunition.”

“It’s your job to change that from oil is ammunition to alternative fuels are ammunition,” he said. “We need that for our country and for our Department of Defense. Your military relies on fuel to do the job that we ask them to do.”

The main focus of the highly decorated retired army general’s address was on the national security dimensions of fuel.

Listen to Gen. Kern’s address to the 6th annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit here: Gen. Paul Kern address

Listen to a brief interview with Gen. Kern here: Gen. Paul Kern interview

Photos from 2012 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit

In his annual address to the summit, Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Executive Director Monte Shaw noted that the state’s 41 ethanol plants produced 3.7 billion gallons of ethanol. “If Iowa were a country, it would be the third largest ethanol producer in the world, behind only the rest of the United States and Brazil,” said Shaw.

He also noted that with the return of the biodiesel tax credit in 2011 helped most of Iowa’s biodiesel plants return to production. “Ten Iowa biodiesel plants operated during 2011 produced a record 169 million gallons,” said Shaw.

However, Shaw noted that the challenges facing biofuels are just as strong as ever. “I know it’s hard to believe, but not everyone in America enjoys the renewable fuels success story,” he said, outlining the attacks against ethanol in particular by the food and oil industries. “Today the oil industry enjoys billions of dollars in tax subsidies while the renewable fuels industry has none,” said Shaw, proceeding to name off all of the subsides unique to the oil industry.

Shaw outlined the priority issues for the renewable fuels industry in 2012 as getting the biodiesel tax credit reinstated, keeping the Renewable Fuel Standard in place, and getting E15 commercially available.

Listen to Shaw’s address to the 6th annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit here: IRFA Executive Director Monte Shaw address

Photos from 2012 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit

POET has announced a joint venture with Royal DSM to commercially demonstrate and license cellulosic bio-ethanol based on their proprietary and complementary technologies. POET–DSM Advanced Biofuels, LLC, is scheduled to start production in the second half of 2013 at one of the first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plants in the United States.

The two partners will produce cellulosic ethanol from corn crop residue through a biological process using enzymatic hydrolysis followed by fermentation. The first commercial demonstration of the technology will be at Project Liberty, which is currently being constructed adjacent to POET’s existing corn ethanol plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa. The initial capacity is expected to be 20 million gallons in the first year, growing to approximately 25 million gallons per year.

DSM and POET will each hold a 50% share in the joint venture, which will be headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The initial capital expenditure by the joint venture in Project Liberty will amount to about $250 million. The closing of the joint venture is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

As a result of the joint venture project, POET has also announced its intent to decline the $105 million loan guarantee it was awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in September. POET will officially decline the guarantee prior to drawing any funds when the joint venture closes.

Listen to some comments from DSM Managing Board Chairman/CEO Feike Sijbesma and POET CEO Jeff Broin and questions from media during a telephone press conference today: POET-DSM press conference

Texas Corn Producers Board member Wesley Spurlock of Stratford has been speaking to groups across the Midwest explaining how U.S. corn farmers continue to grow a crop abundant enough to meet all growing demands and he has gained attention from industry publications looking to find the truth behind the headlines.

“To put it simply, growth in demand from the ethanol industry has mirrored an increase in productivity that yields larger corn crops,” Spurlock said. “We are still supplying the livestock industry with the corn that they need for feed, but we now have a market that utilizes an increasingly abundant resource to help solve our energy problems also.”

Listen to an interview with Sprulock in the National Corn Growers Association’s podcast series “Off the Cob” discussing how corn farmers are growing a larger crop on the land already in production while decreasing inputs used. During this interview, he also discusses the innovations facilitating increased yield trends, how the Texas drought plays a major role in recent cattle industry shifts, and the amazing story of modern American agriculture.

Greg Madden says they call themselves a membrane systems integrator. “We engineer and build equipment for water treatment around membrane technology,” said Madden, which includes anything pre-treatment and post-treatment. Typical systems for ethanol plants include RO pretreatment equipment, followed by single-pass RO for boiler and cooling tower feed.

H2O Innovations presented at the Houston Process Optimization Seminar last year and will be sponsoring the cocktail reception at the upcoming event in Minnesota. “There’s definitely good networking opportunities (at the event),” he said, noting that in addition to the educational aspect of the seminar “they do a pretty good job of making it fun.”

Listen to an interview with Greg Madden about the upcoming seminar: Greg Madden of H2O Innovation

The Process Optimization Seminar management series is organized by Fermentis, Fremont Industries, Novozymes and Phibro Ethanol Performance Group.

Registration is limited to 50 participants and the event is now close to sold out, as all previous seminars have been, so anyone interested in attending is encouraged to register as soon as possible at www.processoptimizationseminar.com.

Vilsack made multiple appearances in Hawaii this week, including at the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) annual meeting where he addressed the membership and met with the media and had the opportunity to comment on biofuels policy.

During a press conference at AFBF on Monday, Vilsack said he believes it is important to keep the RFS2 in place for multiple reasons. “One, it provides consumer choice. We know that because we have a healthy biofuels industry that consumers are paying 90 cents to a dollar less for gas,” he said. “It’s a job creator in rural America and an opportunity to increase the bottom line for farmers, ranchers and producers. And it has helped us reduce our reliance on foreign oil, going from 60% imports to 52% in the last couple of years.” Audio from Vilsack on RFS2

A day later at the Pearl Harbor memorial to tout the increasing use of biodiesel by the military, Vilsack was asked about the expiration of the biodiesel tax credit at the end of 2011 and whether it will hurt the industry again as it did in 2010 if Congress fails to renew it. “First and foremost, our approach is to figure out ways to build demand for the product,” Vilsack responded, noting that they can use loan programs to produce more biodiesel while the commitment by the Navy to increase use of biofuel will help increase demand. “So, I don’t think that we need to rely solely on tax credits.” Audio from Vilsack on Biodiesel Tax Credit

Pacific Biodiesel “is the oldest biodiesel producer and refinery in the country, started in 1996,” said Vilsack during his remarks on Tuesday at the memorial, noting that USDA has provided assistance to help that company grow. “We provided recently a $5 million business and industry loan to Pacific Biodiesel to allow it to continue to expand its capacity.”

That loan, announced in February 2010, is being used to construct a $10 million, 5.5 million gallon per year biodiesel production plant in Kea’au on the Big Island. Pacific Biodiesel vice president and co-founder Kelly King says Big Island Biodiesel will be the companies 13th biodiesel plant. “We’ll be owning and operating five of them, the other ones we built for clients throughout the mainland, from the east coast to the west coast,” she says, with capacity ranging from a half million to six million gallons.

“We started in Maui, where we actually had the first available biodiesel pump for the public,” said King. “Back then, most of our customers were environmental hippies who would come and pay 70 cents a gallon more for fuel and thank us and tell us to keep the change!”

King says Pacific Biodiesel operates on a community-based sustainable model set up locally to benefit local communities. While all the plants can use any type of oil feedstocks, much of them operate on used cooking oil. “It can use the most degraded oils up to the purest oils,” she said. “The degraded oils make the best feedstock because it’s the cheapest!”

King and two of her Pacific Biodiesel team members were excited to be part of the secretary’s appearance at Pearl Harbor and to have him recognize the importance of renewable fuels in the Aloha State.

Listen to an interview with Kelly King here: Pacific Biodiesel VP Kelly King

Photos from Secretary’s visit to Pearl Harbor memorial to promote biofuels

Pearl Harbor naval base was the first Hawaii military marine fleet to use biodiesel, replacing the Department of Navy-operated tour boats that shuttled visitors to and from the USS Arizona Memorial with five new boats capable of running on 100% biodiesel.

“The military in the way they are approaching the future as it relates to energy is reminding us that this country has the capacity not just to think big but also to act big,” said Vilsack. “They understand and appreciate that energy security is important for the future of this country and are dedicated to making sure that the Navy provide a good example to the country on how to go about doing this.”

The secretary noted that the Pearl Harbor navel base is also “utilizing and will continue to expand E85 and B20 opportunities for their vehicle fleet” which consists of roughly 2000 vehicles, 75% of which are capable of using either E85 or B20.

Vilsack noted that much of the biodiesel used at Pearl Harbor purchased by the Navy is produced in Hawaii by Pacific Biodiesel, “which is the oldest biodiesel producer and refinery in the country, started in 1996.”

Listen to Secretary Vilsack’s comments about biofuels at Pearl Harbor: Tom Vilsack at Pearl Harbor memorial

Photos from Secretary’s visit to Pearl Harbor memorial to promote biofuels

“Registration is required and can be done on-line at iowarfa.org,” said Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Managing Director Lucy Norton. The registration deadline for the event is January 19.

Norton says they are very excited about the event this year, which has a focus on the national security aspect of renewable fuels. “This is an opportunity for people to learn more about the impact that domestic fuels have on our energy security, our economy and the environment and the advantages of using something that we produce here,” she said. “That’s keeping our money at home instead of sending it over to countries that really don’t like us that much.”

Speakers include General Paul J. Kern (U.S. Army Ret.); Former National Security Advisory Robert McFarlane, and Dr. Gal Luft, Institute for Analysis of Global Security. The summit will also feature an update on biodiesel and the plans for implementing E15 for consumer fuel choice.

The summit on January 24 will be held at a new location in the Veterans Memorial/Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm. Registration is easy and fast on-line and there is also more information on program details and hotel availability.

Listen to an interview with Lucy Norton about the summit here: Lucy Norton on Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit

“This is our seventh event,” said Phibro’s Tom Slunecka. “All prior events have been sold out and we believe that’s based on several factors. We keep the class sizes small, we keep the locations affordable, we keep the agendas tight, and we also throw in some entertainment.”

The focus at this upcoming event will be on exports of both ethanol and distillers grains. “All plant managers today know that without the export market that our profitability would be much lower than it is,” Slunecka said. “So this seminar’s going to give pointers and tips on how to maximize that opportunity.” The seminar’s general session will cover many of the most important issues; regulations, quality control, contracting and mediation.

The entertainment portion of this event will be the National Hockey League game between the Minnesota Wild and Vancouver Canucks.

Listen to an interview with Tom Slunecka about the upcoming seminar: Process Optimization Seminar Interview

Registration is $275 and is available on-line at www.processoptimizationseminar.com.

They are:

1. First commercial availability of E15 for use in 2001 and newer vehicles
2. Free and fair trade for ethanol
3. Legal battles over ethanol use, particularly the LCFS in California and E15
4. Challenges to the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2)
5. Answering the cellulosic ethanol challenge

In this edition of “The Ethanol Report,” Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen comments on the year in preview and some of the top ethanol stories he expects to see in 2012.

Listen to or download the Ethanol Report here: Ethanol Report on 2012 Preview

GROWMARK Information Management Solutions director Keith Milburn says wEBS was developed as a fuel billing solution that makes the record keeping process easier by providing instantaneous information such as fuel type, tank sizes, taxes and credits.

Milburn says they developed wEBS when the fuel business started to get more complicated a few years ago. “We no longer just handle gasoline and diesel,” he said. “We have high sulfur, low sulfur, bio or soy diesel, ethanol blends – and all the relevant taxes have made it very complicated given those combination of blends.”

“There’s two components of wEBS,” Milburn says. “There’s the back office or centralized data set and then the hand held on the truck level.” The back office includes not only customer information, but every tank that each delivery truck services. “The system identifies each tank with a bar code that tells who the customer is, what product types, relevant taxes, discounts, and if there have fuel contracted at a certain price,” Milburn explains. So all the delivery driver has to do is pump the fuel and within minutes the transaction is recorded and an email confirmation is sent to the customer.

Milburn says this “evolution in the energy business” was first introduced as a pilot program in January 2010 with two trucks and it has since grown to incorporate about 95 trucks that essentially function as mobile hot spots to communicate information. And he says the system is continuing to evolve with the technology.

Find out more about the wEBS system in this interview with Keith Milburn here: Keith Milburn Interview

They are:

1. EPA approval of 15 percent ethanol for use in 2001 and newer vehicles
2. The end of the blenders tax credit and secondary tariff on ethanol imports
3. Surge in U.S. ethanol exports
4. New strides in advanced and cellulosic ethanol development
5. Emergence of the integrated biorefinery model

In this edition of “The Ethanol Report,” Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen comments on the year in review and some of the top ethanol stories of 2011.

Listen to or download the Ethanol Report here: Ethanol Report on 2011 in Review

Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) Vice President of Research and Analysis Geoff Cooper wrote about the “Ethanol Shuffle” this week on the RFA E-xchange Blog. Basically, it’s about the shuffling of sugarcane ethanol from Brazil to California to meet that state’s Low Carbon Fuels Standard (LCFS) – at the same time, Brazil is importing lower priced corn ethanol from the United States to make up for not only the ethanol it is exporting to California, but the shortfall that country has experienced in ethanol production recently.

So, that’s how the “Ethanol Shuffle” works. California imports sugarcane ethanol from Brazil rather than corn ethanol from Nebraska or Kansas; and in turn, corn ethanol from the Midwest travels to Houston or Galveston via rail, then is shipped to Brazil via tanker to “backfill” the volumes they sent to the U.S. Picture the irony of a tanker full of U.S. corn ethanol bound for Brazil passing a tanker full of cane ethanol bound for Los Angeles or Miami along a Caribbean shipping route.

Cooper explains the sweet irony of it all in this edition of “The Ethanol Report.” Geoff Cooper on the Ethanol Shuffle

“In agriculture, when it comes to energy, we want reliable, economically competitive sources,” says GROWMARK government affairs director Chuck Spencer. “As a country, what we are looking for is energy security and that’s going to come from a mix of both domestic production and allies like Canada.”

When it comes to domestically-produced ethanol, Spencer says the expiration of the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) at the end of this year provides new opportunities for the industry. “The domestic ethanol industry has been preparing for this moment for some time,” he said. “The energy table is rather large and there’s plenty of chairs at the table, particularly biofuels of all types. We’re going to see our fuel sources continue to diversify and in that diversity is going to come strength.”

Since the GROWMARK system is a cooperative that represents farmers throughout the Midwest and Ontario, Spencer says they are looking forward to the challenge of agriculture being able to supply more of our energy needs. “We’re all looking forward to more corn and soybean acres being planted. Farmers are responding to market signals to meet the demand for food products, renewable products, fiber and proteins for the livestock industry,” he said.

Spencer notes that the Renewable Fuels Standard is the corner stone of domestic renewable fuel policy and it should continue. “Considering that biodiesel is an advanced biofuel and ethanol can certainly become one as well, we have continued promise as far as our ability to produce renewable fuels and what that means to local economies,” he added.

Spencer also discusses what lies ahead in 2012 with the need to come up with a new Farm Bill during an election year with a huge federal deficit.
Listen to my conversation with Chuck Spencer here: Chuck Spencer Interview

Early last year, the United Soybean Board released the findings of a life cycle analysis report that compared several different soy-based products with the same products made from petroleum sources, including soy biodiesel. The peer-reviewed study was done by Omni Tech International, a consulting firm specializing in renewable and biobased products. The study included a review of soy-based biofuels, plastics, lubricants and coatings.

Omni Tech consultant Jim Pollack says they found out that soybean yields increase 12% in the last ten years, energy to grow soybeans was down 20%, soybean crushing plants were using 45% less energy to make soybean oil. “When the oil was sent over to the biodiesel plants, they were using 35% less energy,” Pollack said. “So, collectively, all of these improvements have resulted in a very favorable life cycle profile for soy biodiesel.”

Pollack was telling that story at the recent National Association of Farm Broadcasting annual meeting. Listen to my interview with him here: Jim Pollack with Omni Tech International

The highest overall grade went to Newt Gingrich, who scored straight As on every single policy issue. Second in the class was Rick Santorum, who received straight As on energy policies, but faltered under farm programs in the areas of crop insurance and conservation. President Obama received a grade of B, as did Mitt Romney, but the rest of the four major Republican candidates got no more than a C minus. Rick Perry received that grade, while Michelle Bachmann was close behind with a D+ and both Herman Cain and Ron Paul got Ds. Cain in particular failed miserably in the energy policy category and farm programs – getting straight Fs in all those areas. The energy category included three specific areas – Ethanol and Energy Policy Generally; Renewable Fuels Standard; and Ethanol Infrastructure.

“Our purpose wasn’t to endorse any candidate, but instead to give farmers a tool that they could take with them to the caucuses in January,” said Iowa Corn Growers senior policy advisor Amanda Taylor. The survey for candidates was developed in conjunction with the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) to include ten questions directly related to agricultural issues.

ICGA president Kevin Ross noted that only half of candidates responded to the survey, so the Corn Caucus used other methods to determine the grades. “We tracked interviews, speeches, media quotes and all things related to agriculture, including voting records of candidates who held office,” he said. The candidates who did return the survey were Obama, Cain, Gingrich and Santorum.

Find out more about the Corn Caucus project results from the ICGA website, and listen to a press conference this morning about it here: Iowa Corn Caucus Results

The Renewable Fuels Association says Sensenbrenner is “missing the point” when it comes to allowing American consumers the choice of using E15 ethanol blends and that EPA has already thoroughly tested E15 for safety – enough to make approximately 4,700 round trips from Washington to Milwaukee.

In an interview at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting annual meeting, RFA Director of Market Development Robert White talked about the status of the E15 waiver and when we can expect the fuel to become commercially available. “We’re close,” White says. “The EPA is going through some final information that we’ve submitted from an implementation plan to the health effects testing. We actually expect a green light at any moment.”

However, once it is approved at the federal level, White says the attention turns to the states, which have different statutory regulations for fuel sales. If the states require their own labeling, White says it will be in addition to the label already approved by the EPA, that clearly states how consumers should use E15. “We’re trying to make sure that consumers have all the information they need to make the right choice and we think they’re smart enough to figure that out,” he said, noting that RFA is complementing the efforts of EPA with a consumer education campaign.

Listen to my interview with Robert White here: RFA's Robert White

Broin talked with farm broadcasters at last week’s National Association of Farm Broadcasting meeting last week in Kansas City to provide an update on Project LIBERTY, a cellulosic ethanol plant project in Emmetsburg, Iowa. “When we got into this research ten years ago, it was a long shot,” Broin said in an interview with Jody Heemstra of KWAT Radio in Watertown, SD. “Today, we’re actually less than $3 on production costs so we’re competitive with gasoline and we’re very excited about that.”

Broin says they have cut enzyme costs by about a third and are planning to use the lignin from a grain ethanol plant next door to power both plants. “We’ll have a 25 million gallon cellulosic plant next to a 50 million gallon grain plant and there will be virtually no fossil fuel used to power those facilities,” Broin says.

Listen to all of Heemstra’s interview with Broin here: Jeff Broin, POET CEO