Domestic Fuel

Wisconsin-based Virent has delivered the first 100 gallons of its bio-based jet fuel to the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) for testing. This company news release says it will be validated against the standards required for qualification and approval of new aviation turbine fuels established by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM):

Dr. Tim Edwards of the AFRL’s Fuels and Energy Branch said, “AFRL is looking forward to working with Virent and the FAA to evaluate the performance of this fuel. This larger sample will help generate the performance data needed to advance the technology toward engine and flight testing.”

Lourdes Maurice, Executive Director of the FAA’s Office of Environment and Energy said, “We are excited that Virent is able to effectively utilize FAA funding to deliver these gallons for testing. The fuel will be used with our partners in the industry and government to progress testing of novel alternative jet fuels that can help meet FAA’s environment and energy goals under the Next Generation Air Transportation System.”

Virent officials say if the testing is successful, they next step will be to get the refinery up to commercial capacity.

Last week the biofuel industry took a hit when Florida voted to repeal its Renewable Fuel Standard, HB4001, that required fuel retailers to blend ethanol into their gasoline. The charge against ethanol was led by Florida Senator Greg Evers, who represents Escambia County, which happens to be the largest receiver of BP oil spill funds in the state. In fact, the same week HB4001 was passed, the county was one of the first to receive approximately $56 million to go toward restoration projects. Apparently, oil “balls” are still washing up on shore.

Escambia County receives its BP funds….ethanol gets squashed.

Coincidence?

I think not.

Let’s take a closer look at the correlation between state Renewable Fuel Standards and ethanol. In states that have a robust oil industry, Texas, Alaska, California, North Dakota, and New Mexico, combined with the state that has several oil refineries, Louisiana, with the exception of California, none of these states have Renewable Fuel Standards. While California has tried to move away from oil with its low carbon fuel standard, it was ruled unconstitutional. Although the legislation is temporarily moving forward, the oil industry is hoping to get another win when the roll-out is halted.

One could argue that when looking at states with the most ethanol production: Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Nebraska, and Indiana, you’d think there would be state renewable fuel standards in place. But this is not the case. With the exception of Minnesota, which has a biodiesel mandate, these states have tax incentives for production, but no mandates for use at the pump. They don’t seem to need them. Residents of these states appear to take advantage of choice at the pump (and support home grown fuels).

If there is catastrophic oil crisis, Americans in Midwestern states would be driving long after those in states heavily reliant on straight gas at the pump. In fact, Iowa produces enough ethanol and biodiesel each year to fuel 100 percent of its vehicles plus still have fuel to export.

Common sense should tell us to go the way of the Midwest, but when it comes to logic this country seems fresh out and no one wants to pay the money during a recession for a clue.
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Our friends at Farm Foundation, a group that has work in agriculture, food systems and rural communities, including biodiesel and ethanol production, has tapped Tim Brennan as their new Director of Development.

“We are excited to welcome Tim to the Foundation staff,” says Jay Armstrong of Armstrong Farms, Muscotah, KS, Chairman of the Foundation’s Board of Directors.

“The Foundation is uniquely positioned to help public and private decision makers understand evolving issues and demands that are shaping the future of the industry,” says Neil Conklin, President of Farm Foundation, NFP. “Tim will formalize a fundraising strategy and bring valuable experience to strengthen and broaden relationships in the Foundation’s networks.”

Brennan has 20 years in fundraising, most of that in higher education. He was the Associate Director of Alumni Relations for the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business, now the Booth School of Business and the Director of Alumni Relations and Marketing for Northwestern University’s School of Law, as well as the University of Chicago’s Executive Director of the Chicago Society and Director of Development at the Law School and the Senior Director of Alumni and Constituent Relations at the University.

The message being delivered to Washington, D.C. today is that Big Oil attacks on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), so-called blend wall and E15 are bogus. Today representatives from the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA), the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) and the Auto channel held a briefing in the Capitol Visitors Center to discuss these issues as well as highlight how E15 and the RFS are key parts of an “all of the above” American energy solution.

“Exposing the so-called blend wall for what it is—a Big Oil bluff—highlights how important E15 and the RFS are to achieving a more secure energy future for America,” said IRFA Executive Director Monte Shaw to the crowd. “Big Oil uses scare tactics like the so-called blend wall and bogus E15 studies to protect the petroleum monopoly at the expense of the American consumer. Meanwhile, renewable fuels benefit the American consumer by lowering gas prices, creating American jobs, and decreasing our dependence on foreign oil.”

Fuel retailer and owner of Midway Service in Sioux Falls, S.D. Bruce Vollan said to the ethanol advocates, “We have been offering blends of ethanol from zero to E85 at our station for nearly five years, and year after year, my customers buy an average of 20 to 25 percent ethanol. Despite what the so-called ‘experts’ say, we haven’t had to pay a single repair bill during that time. I think we’ve shown that – given the choice – customers are smart enough to know what works in their engines, and – given the choice – they will buy more ethanol. Being able to offer my customers all of the different fuels they want is just one of the reasons I’ve been an independent retailer for nearly ten years. I couldn’t sell these blends if my station was branded.”

When discussing Big Oil’s efforts to smear E15, ACE Senior Vice President Ron Lamberty explained, “Ethanol’s opponents have dramatically misrepresented the findings of studies about E15. We want to make sure that Congress is looking at the actual science and not just Big Oil’s distorted representations of that science.”

Auto Channel Executive Vice President Marc Rauch added, “For 180 years, the world’s top scientists and automotive engineers have known that ethanol is the best and safest engine fuel. It’s time to put this great domestic resource to serious use, and that means embracing E15 today. I’d much rather have my fuel money go to American farmers than to foreign terrorists.”

Global energy and commodity price reporting agency Argus has added a new tool to its arsenal: Argus India ethanol assessment. The company says the new product is designed to meet the growing demand for price reference and transparency in the market and was created in response to India’s mandate for increased ethanol blending in gasoline. The daily assessment is specifically for anhydrous ethanol, delivered to India. Indian demand for ethanol is expected to rise to as much as 2.2bn litres next year (38,000 b/d) to fulfill the country’s mandatory E5 blending. India plans to move to E20 blending by 2018.

According to Argus, the new assessment will provide a useful reference for the growing number of traders, brokers, planners, analysts, risk managers and strategic decision makers that follow this market. Argus spot market price assessments are based on a robust methodology, and are expected to be used by governments, regulators, oil companies with ethanol and biofuel operations, chemical companies, commodity firms, beverage companies and exchanges.

“We are delighted to introduce this assessment within a month of launching ethanol fob Pakistan (hydrous), ethanol cfr Philippines and B-grade cfr northeast Asia assessments. Argus now provides comprehensive coverage of Asian ethanol prices,” said Argus Media chairman and chief executive Adrian Binks.

The new price assessment is published daily in Argus Biofuels, a global report covering various biofuel prices including assessments for Renewable Energy Directive (RED) compliant ethanol.

Registrations for clean diesel cars are up a whopping 24.3 percent in the U.S. from 2010 through 2012, outpacing total car registrations during that same period of just 2.7 percent. The numbers from the Diesel Technology Forum should be good news for biodiesel producers, since those clean diesel cars can burn the green fuel.

“This new data of total national vehicle registrations coincides with what we’ve been seeing in the monthly auto sales – clean diesel and hybrid cars are showing consistent and impressive growth patterns in the U.S.,” said Allen Schaeffer, the Executive Director of the Diesel Technology Forum.

“This consistent growth in clean diesel registrations in the last three years is particularly noteworthy since it has occurred during an economic recession, the availability of an extremely large number of fuel efficient vehicles, which was topped off by some of the highest diesel fuel prices in U.S. history. Even in the face of these significant challenges, diesel buyers are seeing the big picture and long-term value by investing in record numbers of clean diesel cars and SUVs.”

There were nearly 800,000 diesel car and SUV registrations at the end of 2012, with 27 models of diesel passenger vehicles available … plenty of choices for the discerning green driver.

Texas, California and Florida lead the country with the most diesel vehicles on the road.

Renewable Energy Group (REG), the nation’s largest producer of biodiesel, posted its best first quarter ever. The Iowa-based producer of the green fuel announced its financial results for the quarter that ended on March 31, 2013, with the first quarter 2013 adjusted EBITDA at $22.0 million after adjusting for the $57.4 million related to the 2012 retroactive reinstatement of the Biodiesel Mixture Excise Tax Credit, commonly referred to as the blenders tax credit (BTC). This compares to the same quarter a year ago of an adjusted EBITDA of $12.7 million before including the allocation of the 2012 retroactive BTC of $10.4 million. REG sold 38.9 million gallons of biodiesel during the first quarter, up 14 percent from the first quarter of 2012:

“This was our strongest first quarter ever for production and gallons sold,” said Daniel J. Oh, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Biodiesel demand is being driven by a number of positive factors including the 2013 RVO and biodiesel’s ability to meet certain advanced biofuel targets that are not being fulfilled by imported sugar cane ethanol.”

Oh added, “Demand also benefited from the reinstated tax credit, and new counter-seasonal markets such as Northeast heating oil. We are optimistic about industry conditions for the months ahead, and are taking concrete actions to capitalize on them.”

REG officials also credited their use of biodiesel Renewable Identification Numbers (RINS) to fulfill the advanced biofuel and renewable fuel (corn ethanol) renewable volume obligations (RVO) for helping the bottom line. REG also has a Rochester, New York distribution point to help boost winter heating oil mixed with biodiesel demand.

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “Does celebrity media attention sway your purchasing/listening/watching decisions? (e.g. Carrie Underwood supporting HSUS)”

Our poll results: Sixty-four percent said No, sixteen percent said Yes, eleven percent said Carrie Underwood Who, seven percent said Depends on the Celebrity, and two percent said Other. It looks like our audience doesn’t make decisions based on what media coverage of so called “celebrities.” How about you? Do you think differently? Let us know.

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “How many generations are you removed from the farm?” With fewer and larger farms in the United States, not as many people are involved in production agriculture as 40 years ago. What is your family connection to farming? Let us know.

ZimmPoll is sponsored by .

A researcher from India is honored for her work to use a biodiesel byproduct to replace chemicals usually used in biodiesel production. The National Biodiesel Board and the American Cleaning Institute honored Dr. B.L.A. Prabhavathi Devi from the Centre for Lipid Research at CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, India with the 2013 Glycerine Innovation Award Annual Honor for using glycerol-based catalysts to replace more traditional sulfuric acid and alkali catalysts.

The ACI/NBB Glycerine Innovation Award recognizes outstanding achievement for research into new applications for glycerine, with particular emphasis on commercial viability.

The use of such glycerine-based products can enhance the economies of the oleochemical and biodiesel industries.

The award includes a plaque and a $5,000 honorarium. It was presented at the AOCS Industrial Oil Products Division luncheon during the 2013 AOCS Annual Meeting in Montreal, Canada.

U.S. Energy Information Agency numbers show that U.S. production of biodiesel was 68 million gallons in February 2013, up from January’s figures of 66 million gallons. The report goes on to say nearly three-fourths of that production came from the Midwest. All 110 biodiesel refineries throughout the country have an operating capacity of 2.1 billion gallons per year:

Sales – Producer sales of biodiesel during February 2013 included 44 million gallons sold as B100 (100% biodiesel) and an additional 23 million gallons of B100 sold in biodiesel blends with diesel fuel derived from petroleum.

Feedstocks – There were a total of 524 million pounds of feedstocks used to produce biodiesel in February 2013. Soybean oil was the largest biodiesel feedstock during February 2013 with 275 million pounds consumed. The next three largest biodiesel feedstocks during the period were corn oil (61 million pounds), yellow grease (51 million pounds), and canola oil (38 million pounds).

The following chart tracks biodiesel production over the past two years:

It’s down to the wire for the biofuel and agricultural industries to submit comments on the agricultural impact of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), a second in an RFS series being published by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Growth Energy, Fuels America, and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) all submitted input today.

The consensus among the biofuel industry is that the RFS is one of the most successful energy policies in the last 40 years. The industry cites the ethanol industry has been a direct benefit for farmers as well as Americans.

Bob Dinneen, CEO and president of RFA noted, “…it is important to remember that a central objective in developing a vibrant and robust ethanol industry was to increase demand for agricultural products and enhance farm income.” He points out that the emergence of ethanol has transformed the grain sector from a “stagnating, surplus-driven marketplace to one that is vibrant, high-tech and demand-driven.”

While opponents of ethanol say that the fuel has caused food prices to rise, Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis said that people need to better understand the relationship between corn and ethanol. “While our critics have said the ethanol industry uses a significant portion of the corn crop, if you look beyond simple volume of corn and into the net corn acreage used, the industry actually only utilizes 17.5 percent of the acres because of displacement of corn and soybean meal through the use of distiller grains as a high protein animal feed,” who also noted that biofuels have also been a benefit to farmers globally.

In a letter from Fuels America, the organization’s membership urged to keep the RFS in place because it is the framework upon which cellulosic and advanced biofuels are being built. “The future growth in the sector lies in the cellulosic and advanced spaces where billions of dollars have been invested in research and development, testing, and commercialization of an entire industry that did not exist in 2007. Today, the industry is putting steel in the ground on multiple commercial facilities led by companies including INEOS Bio in Vero Beach, Florida; KiOR in Columbus, Mississippi; Abengoa in Hugoton, Kansas; POET-DSM in Emmetsburg, Iowa; and DuPont in Nevada, Iowa.”

Ultimately, the biofuel industry is urging Congress to keep the course as set for the RFS.

Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA), American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) and The Auto Channel are bringing together a panel of experts in the fields of renewable fuels, automotive and vehicle technology and fuel retailing to discuss important issues regarding E15 fuel, the so-called blend wall, and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The briefing will highlight how E15 and the RFS are key parts of an “all of the above” American energy solution.

The event is taking place on Thursday, May 2, 2013 from 9:30 am to 11:00 am EST in Washington, D.C. at the Congressional Meeting Room South CVC 217 in the Capitol Visitors Center.

Speakers include Bruce Vollan, Owner, Midway Service, Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Marc Rauch, Executive Vice President, the Auto Channel; Ron Lamberty, Senior Vice President, American Coalition for Ethanol; and Monte Shaw, Executive Director, Iowa Renewable Fuels Association.

Please RSVP to T.J. Page, with the IRFA at 515-252-6249 or via email.

The Sierra Club is celebrating a successful campaign, “100 Days of Action to Fight Climate Disruption,” that began with President Obama’s inauguration and concluded on Earth Day. The goal of the campaign was to push the president to take bold action that would avert the climate crisis. According to Sierra Club, over one million Americans from across the country participated in events as well as signed petitions and sent letters to decision makers.

“In his inaugural address and again during the State of the Union, President Obama invited a national climate conversation. Over the past one hundred days, more than one million Americans responded to that invitation with a demand for bold action on climate disruption,” said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. “The past one hundred days have seen major climate victories — from President Obama’s designating five new national monuments that will protect our wild places from fossil-fuel drilling and mining, to the Mayor of Los Angeles announcing that the city will be coal-free by 2025. Now we’re looking to the President to follow through with his climate commitments and secure his legacy with bold climate solutions like rejecting the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.”

The 100 Days of Action to Fight Climate Disruption campaign launched on January 14, just before President Obama’s second inauguration, and provided a framework of administrative steps the President can take to help curb climate disruption. During the past 100 days, a Forward on Climate Rally was held in Washington, D.C. in what the Sierra Club is calling the country’s largest rally with more than 50,000 people in attendance. In addition, climate advocates met with policy makers and held Climate Legacy Town Hall meetings and other grassroots events.

“With President Obama well into his second term, the next few months and years will be pivotal in the fight to address climate disruption and move America toward clean energy,” said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. “Over the past one hundred days, the American people have shown that they are ready and willing to join the President in this fight that is not only winnable, but one in which we are already beginning to succeed. Working together, the President and the American people can fight the climate crisis, reenergize the American economy, create millions of jobs, and give our children the type of future they deserve.”

A new partnership has been formed to give the biofuel industry Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) solutions. The National Association of Shell Marketers and RINAlliance have partnered to aid petroleum marketers with renewable fuel blending and EPA compliance matters.

“RINAlliance is extremely excited and honored to have the support and endorsement of the National Association of Shell Marketers and we look forward to playing a role in the success of its fuel distributors,” said Dawn Carlson, president of RINAlliance, Inc. “NASM understands the regulatory burdens of petroleum marketers and recognizes the value RINAlliance brings to its members.”

As the past few months have demonstrated, RIN values are the driving factor when it comes to renewable fuel blending. The positive economics are easily assessed and the ultra-competitive petroleum industry has taken notice of blending benefits.

Jennifer Richards, president of NASM, added, “Our marketers across the U.S. benefit from the consulting expertise of RINAlliance as their professionals have the longest and most successful track record in understanding RINs and serving the needs of renewable fuel blenders.”

RINAlliance has established a network of qualified renewable fuel producers by working with EcoEngineers to qualify production and RINs. According to RINAlliance, this network allows its blenders access to top tier pricing of their RINs through negotiated contracts with obligated parties while protecting them from regulatory perils.

A bipartisan group of senators are asking for an investigation into a recent anti-dumping decision made by European Union regarding ethanol imports from the United States.

Fourteen Democratic and Republican Senators have joined together to sign a letter sent to the Acting United States Trade Representative (USTR), Demetrios Manatos and Acting Secretary of Commerce, Rebecca Blank, calling on them to review and consider a World Trade Organization (WTO) challenge to the European Union’s controversial and unprecedented anti-dumping duty recently imposed on U.S. ethanol producers.

The letter was co-authored by Senators John Thune (R-SD) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and cosponsored by Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Al Franken (D-MN), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Tim Johnson (D-SD), John Hoeven (R-ND), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Roy Blunt (R-MO).

In a joint statement, Renewable Fuels Association CEO Bob Dinneen and Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis said they are pleased to see the senators take action in the matter.

“The EU Commission failed to make any particular finding of dumping by any producer or marketer investigated in connection with the case,” said Dinneen and Buis. “The EU’s recent actions are unprecedented and we believe that the World Trade Organization (WTO) will nullify this blatantly protectionist country-wide anti-dumping duty on exports of ethanol from the United States.”

Read more here.