Domestic Fuel

Progress on a new farm bill is all well and good but defending the Renewable Fuel Standard remains the top priority for the ethanol industry.

“The attack on the Renewable Fuel Standard is first and foremost and coupled with it is the blend wall,” said Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis st the National Association of Farm Broadcasting annual Washington Watch issues forum this week. “Oil has never been a fan of the RFS and they knew this day was coming. As we’re up against the 10% blend wall, rather than doing what the law allows and blending higher blends or helping to build out the infrastructure for higher blends to give consumers choice at the pump, they’ve decided they just want to eliminate it and eliminate competition.”

Buis notes that, despite weather challenges this year, corn growers will continue to grow enough corn to meet all needs.

Listen to an interview with Buis here: Interview with Tom Buis, Growth Energy

The demonstration cellulosic ethanol plant owned by Edeniq and located in Visalia, California has exceeded 1,000 hours of continuous operation. The corn-to-cellulosic migration plant uses the company’s proprietary technology to process more than one metric ton of feedstock per day into cellulosic ethanol. According to the company, this achievement exceeded the plant’s initial target. The project, funded in part by a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant, is being used to demonstrate the viability of producing ethanol in a cost-effective manner from non-food sources including corn stover, switchgrass and woodchips.

In addition to achieving over 1,000 hours of continuous operation, the plant sustained and exceeded the DOE’s target of at least 90 percent up time demonstrating over 95 percent operational reliability. In addition, the facility promotes the use of sustainable resources including reusing or recycling substantial portions of its water to meet process demands, according to a company press release.

“While we have been developing these ethanol technology solutions for years, being able to fully integrate and operate our own plant has given us invaluable, deeper insight into the intricacies of the process and has enabled us to continuously improve our core technologies and operations,” said Thomas P. Griffin, chief technology officer at Edeniq. “The DOE has been a tremendous leader and driver in moving US interests toward the commercialization of advanced biofuels, and we look forward to further collaboration with them in the pursuit of this shared mission.”

The next step for Edeniq is to continue operations of the plant under the co-sponsorship of the California Energy Commission. The plant will undergo further process enhancements toward the production of low-cost sugars from a range of biomass and agricultural waste sources, including those indigenous to California. Edeniq is also working with companies to implement larger scale facilities based on the successful testing and operations of its demonstration plant.

The Senate Agriculture Committee voted 15-5 today to approve the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013, which includes cuts to reduce the deficit by $23 billion dollars but still offers a commitment to renewable energy.

The bill includes an energy title that helps to advance “bio-energy production, supporting advanced biomass energy production such as cellulosic ethanol and pellets from woody biomass for power.”

The bill also provides support for blender pumps and higher ethanol blends, which was welcomed by the ethanol industry. “The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) thanks Chairwoman Stabenow and members of the Senate Agriculture Committee for adopting a Farm Bill which provides $800 million in mandatory funding for critical Energy Title initiatives, particularly $241 million in mandatory funding for the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP),” said ACE Executive Vice President Brian Jennings. “REAP provides vital cost-share assistance to help petroleum marketers make upgrades or install new equipment at retail stations, ensuring consumers have access to renewable and affordable fuels such as ethanol. Today’s action highlights strong bipartisan support for market access to E15 and midlevel blends, such as E30 or E85. We encourage the U.S. Senate to take action soon to enact the Farm Bill.”

The bill is expected to move to the Senate floor next week.

As the Senate and House Agriculture Committees begin to mark up a new farm bill this week, big changes are expected in the next farm bill when it comes to farm programs and ethanol is helping to make that happen.

At the annual National Association of Farm Broadcasting Washington Watch issues forum on Monday, Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen said the dramatic changes in farm programs expected are actually being made possible by the increased use of biofuels that has taken place under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). “It used to be that the price of corn was far less than the cost of production and it was government farm programs that would make up the difference,” said Dinneen. “And one of the things that Congress intended with the value-added ethanol industry was creating a value for farmers that would allow them to reduce farm program costs and it has done exactly that.”

Dinneen said the Senate farm bill proposal, which is being marked up this morning in committee, does include an energy title, the farm bill is not a real focus for them but they do hope that the farm bill will include funds for USDA to support blender pump installation and the development of advanced biofuels.

In the wake of a bill passed by the Florida Legislation to repeal a law calling for the use of 10% ethanol blends in the state, automotive technician and talk show host Bobby Likis had an op-ed in the Pensacola News Journal over the weekend calling on the governor to veto the bill.

“What could be more devastating than ditching 35 years of progress? If the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is repealed, we will haplessly relinquish the fast track to the future while fellow states and countries worldwide embrace strategic biofuels production and use,” wrote Likis.

Who among us foolishly says, “We don’t care about what ‘they’ are doing. We care about Florida?” Well, we’d better care. Because of “them,” more efficient, better-mpg engines, cleaner air, national security and lots of dollars — in Florida — are at stake.

Governor Scott, now is the time for one good man to come to the aid of his state—by vetoing HB4001/SB320.

Florida’s Renewable Fuel Standard Act, which requires that all gasoline sold in Florida contain 9-10 percent ethanol, or other alternative fuel, by volume has been in effect for five years. The legislature passed a bill to repeal the act last month but it has not yet been signed by the governor.

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) today announced that Dawn Schueller Moore has joined the staff as Communications Director. Moore served as Press Secretary to U.S. Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin for nearly three years and has publicized issues and events ranging from agriculture, rural development, Supreme Court Justices Sotomayor and Kagan’s nomination hearings and Senator Kohl’s “No Oil Producing & Exporting Cartels Act” antitrust legislation to help decrease the cost of gasoline.

“I’ve seen firsthand the positive impact ethanol has had in my home state and I know all too well the fight that ethanol has ahead of it in Congress as oil interests bear down to desperately protect their monopoly,” Moore said. “I’m anxious to put my press and social media skills to work telling the amazing story of this industry and the Renewable Fuel Standard.”

“Dawn is a great addition to our team. With her Midwestern roots and Washington political experience, she has rural America in her blood and politically savvy instincts,” said RFA CEO Bob Dinneen. “Besides her valuable Senate experience, she is high energy and enthusiastic about the value-proposition that U.S. ethanol brings to agriculture, economic development, and our country as a stronger, more energy independent nation.”

Moore rounds out RFA’s communications team led by Christina Martin, Executive Vice President. Moore will be the point person for day-to-day press activities including media inquiries, interviews, and press conferences. She will be actively participating in social media. Look for Dawn Moore on Twitter at @RFADawn.

It’s time for National Association of Farm Broadcasting members to gather in Washington, DC for their annual Washington Watch program.

Activities this afternoon with the Issues Forum, sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association. Among the topics sure to be discussed will be what a new farm bill may hold for renewable energy and the latest on attacks to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

Tomorrow morning the farm broadcasters meet up at USDA and will be speaking with a number of department heads including Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. It looks like Wednesday morning will be all about the Farm Bill with input from various members of the Senate and House where their versions of the new legislation are going through mark ups this week.

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association reports that Sperry One Stop in Coon Rapids is the sixth Iowa retailer to offer 15% ethanol as a registered fuel for all 2001 and newer passenger vehicles and all flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs).

“This is a new station and we want to be offering the fuels of the future, and that’s cleaner-burning, American made E15,” stated Sperry One Stop Owner Kurt Sperry. “With the POET-Coon Rapids plant nearby, there’s a strong renewable fuels presence here in Coon Rapids, so offering a fuel like E15 just made sense.”

“The citizens of Coon Rapids will really benefit from renewable, less expensive options at the pump like E15,” said IRFA Managing Director Lucy Norton. “This station is offering a variety of ethanol blends as well as biodiesel, and we see that as a win for the consumer and a win for the local economy.”

Retailers interested in installing a blender pump to offer E15, E85, and other ethanol blends can apply for a grant from the Iowa Department of Agriculture. The IRFA provides assistance in the application process. For more information, please visit: http://www.iowaagriculture.gov/agMarketing/IRFIP.asp.

The Advanced Ethanol Council (AEC) has sent a letter to the White House expressing concern about ongoing delays in the approval process for advanced biofuel pathways pursuant to the implementation of the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The letter calls for the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to prioritize and approve a number of these pathways to facilitate the program.

“While we understand that the White House and U.S. EPA must be thorough in their analysis when it comes to which advanced biofuels qualify for the RFS, we have gotten to the point where administrative delays are causing project developers to look to other countries to build their facilities,” said AEC Executive Director Brooke Coleman. “The private sector has stepped up to the plate when it comes to advanced biofuels and the RFS, but developers rightly expect resolution on the pathways to start construction on these projects. There is a point where too much delay and uncertainty drives these innovative projects to Brazil and China, and that’s where we are for some of the more critical pathways.”

The AEC points out that some pathway deliberations have been ongoing for three years without any clear timeframe for resolution. “It is absolutely critical for the private investment marketplace to have a transparent, expeditious and predictable resolution process for all proposed pathways, or we face the prospect of losing these projects to other countries, ” the letter states.

The National Corn Growers Association recently submitted comments on the impact of the Renewable Fuel Standard to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce in response to their second white paper, “Agricultural Sector Impacts.” In these comments, NCGA addressed how the RFS affects commodity products including corn, agricultural output and economics, RFS flexibility, food prices, cellulosic feedstock and global impacts.

The comments began by noting that corn farmers have responded to the increased demand of ethanol from the Renewable Fuel Standard by producing more corn and doing so in a more environmentally friendly manner. “In the last 30 years, corn production has improved on all measures of resource efficiency, by decreasing per bushel: land use by 30 percent, soil erosion by 67 percent, irrigation by 53 percent, energy use by 43 percent and greenhouse gas emissions by 36 percent.”

The remainder of the comments directly addressed questions posed by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce about impacts of the RFS. Topics of particular interest included impacts attributable to the RFS on corn prices, food prices, job creation, economic growth and land use change. NCGA comments provided a detailed look at the myriad of factors involved in each area that are often overlooked in discussions about this standard including: the impact of export demand for soy from China; the direct impact of the drought on beef production; alternative models and theories concerning the idea of indirect land use change; the impact of rising global labor and diesel costs on food cost; and the inherent flexibility of the standard.

The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) along with Michael Best & Friedrich LLP (Michael Best) are hosting a webinar series focused on pressing legal issues facing ethanol producers. The first webinar focused on compliance issues with federal Health Care Reform in 2013. The 30 minute webinar, says ACE Executive Vice President Brian Jennings, will be a valuable resource for the ethanol industry.

“With so many demands on our members’ time, we are pleased to team up with ACE member Michael Best to sponsor this series of webinars providing ethanol producers with useful and timely updates on important legal issues,” said Jennings.

Porter J. Martin, Michael Best partner, describes the webinar series as an approachable way to communicate information every ethanol producer needs in the most efficient way. “The webinars are based on our experience representing ethanol producers and other industry clients. The goal is to provide participants with a basic understanding of potential legal challenges they may face in their business and prepare them to make educated decisions in the future,” said Martin.

Future webinar topics include, long-term compliance with health care reform (2014 and beyond), intellectual property concerns, OSHA inspections, State and EPA enforcement activities, negotiating air permits, employee wage and hour matters, and others. You can access the first webinar here.

Wisconsin is the home of eight new E15 pumps. The 15 percent ethanol 85 percent gasoline blend is now offered at SmartStation, 1290 Business Highway 151, Platteville, Wisconsin. The station is a wholly owned subsidiary of Badger State Ethanol.

“We are honored to be Wisconsin’s first retailer to offer E15 to our customers who have been asking for it,” said Erik Hushitt of Badger State Ethanol. “We hope other retailers follow our lead so that consumers around the state have an opportunity to gain access to a cleaner burning fuel that contributes directly to the billion dollar ethanol industry in Wisconsin.”

E15 is approved for cars and light duty trucks model year 20o1 or newer. This represents a market of more than 75 percent of vehicles on the road today eligible to use E15. This market also represents 85 percent of the unleaded fuel sold across the country.

“We congratulate Badger State Ethanol and Wisconsin’s ethanol industry for working together to bring E15 to the Wisconsin market,” said Joshua Morby of the Wisconsin Ethanol Coalition, an organization that helps retailers interested in selling E85 navigate the process. “E15 offers retailers a chance to set themselves apart by offering a new, exciting fuel to their station that not only confirms their commitment to domestic renewable fuels but also offers them a competitive advantage.”

Morby added, “We expect retailers around the state to take notice of the demand by consumers for cheaper, cleaner, more homegrown E15.”

In ethanol-related news over the past week or so we have seen senators request a probe into the European Union’s anti-dumping duties on ethanol, comments to the House energy committee on the RFS, and legislation introduced for an energy title in the next farm bill.

To find out more about all of those stories and more, we caught up with Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen to get his comments in this new edition of “The Ethanol Report.” We’ll be hearing more from him and others in the nation’s capitol next week when we attend the annual National Association of Farm Broadcasting Washington Watch.

Listen to or download the Ethanol Report here: Ethanol Report on Current Events

Subscribe to “The Ethanol Report” with this link.

Legislation to reauthorize the Farm Bill energy title was introduced in the Senate Monday.

Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Al Franken (D-MN) introduced the Rural Energy Investment Act to “help farmers, ranchers, and rural communities by encouraging the growth of agricultural energy technologies, including advanced biofuels, biogas, biomass, and renewable energies.”

“These energy programs are essential for expanding clean energy supplies, which also spur rural economic development and job creation,” said Harkin. “The tradition of providing strong support for an energy title in a farm bill must continue today, so for that reason I am hopeful that this measure will serve as a marker as the 2013 bill moves through the U.S. Senate.”

“Advancing our agricultural energy technologies is good for our farmers and economy, and it improves our overall energy independence and security,” added Franken. “This legislation will create jobs and play a critical role in cutting costs for our farmers and producers and will help them with the adoption of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies.”

The Agriculture Energy Coalition supports the legislation and thanked the senators for introducing it. Last week, the coalition joined more than 100 national, state and regional organizations in a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, urging them to adopt a new Farm Bill with robust mandatory funding for renewable energy and energy efficiency programs.

While we talk a lot about using more biodiesel and ethanol, there’s no more fitting place to use the green fuels than the farms where it all starts. A Minnesota farmer took his own advice to use more biofuels to heart, and this article from the Rochester (MN) Post Bulletin explains most farmers should use higher blends because their equipment can handle it:

[Eyota, Minn. farmer Dan] Brandt, who is president of the Olmsted/South Wabasha County Corn and Soybean Growers, discussed his idea of encouraging more biodiesel use with directors and members of the group at their annual meeting. They liked it and encouraged him to proceed…

“Nobody’s asking for it (higher blends), and that’s what we have to change,” Brandt said.

The article goes on to quote Kaleb Little, communications and member specialist with the National Biodiesel Board, who says the majority of agricultural manufacturers design their engines to use at least B20, some even allow the use of higher blends. New Holland engines can run B100, Little said.