A Virginia ethanol plant that uses barley as a feedstock will be offering a unique co-product as livestock feed when it comes on line later this year.
Osage Bio Energy has contracted with Land O’Lakes Purina Feed to market its barley protein meal (BPM), a co-product of its ethanol bio-processing operation. Osage Bio Energy’s first plant, Appomattox Bio Energy, located in Hopewell, Va., is currently under construction and scheduled to come online in late spring 2010. When complete, it will be the first commercial scale barley-to-ethanol processing plant in the United States.

The company reports that BPM is a “new protein-rich animal feed ingredient.”

The innovative process design of Osage Bio Energy’s plant includes a specialized milling technique that removes the hulls from the barley — thus reducing the fiber and concentrating the protein and starch. The hulls will be pelletized on-site and sold as a renewable fuel source.

Through the use of special enzymes during fermentation, the plant will convert the problematic waxy beta-glucans in the barley into ethanol, preventing them from becoming part of the BPM. Additionally, state-of-the-art ring dryers will shorten the BPM drying time and preserve the proteins and amino acids.

The nutritional profile of BPM has unique characteristics that differentiate it in the feeding world. It has a low fat profile and high protein and lysine content relative to other grain-based feeds. Additionally, because the product is derived from barley that has not been genetically modified, it represents a new source of non-GMO animal feed for global customers.

Appomattox Bio Energy has the capacity to produce up to 250,000 tons per year of barley protein meal annually.

Craig Shealy, OSAGE Bio Energy CEO will be a speaker at the
EPAC 20th Anniversary Biofuel Conference, June 28-29th in Missoula, MT

Tue Feb 23, 2010 07:28 AM CST

WASHINGTON (DTN) -- President Barack Obama will continue championing biofuels as a job creator, said Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack when he spoke to members of the Governors' Biofuels Coalition on Monday. Vilsack is hopeful for a positive decision on higher ethanol blends soon.

The administration wants to increase the production and use of biofuels.

Vilsack said he spent part of Monday afternoon at a meeting with the president talking about the effects of the recession on rural America. Coupled with expansions in broadband access, Vilsack said biofuels can provide more opportunities in rural parts of the country.

"We need to do an even better job getting that message out because there are enormous opportunities here, opportunities to create jobs and futures in rural America," Vilsack said. "So I impressed that upon the president and I think the president recognizes that."

USDA continues advocating for EPA to increase the allowable ethanol blend in most newer automobiles from 10 percent ethanol to 15 percent, or E15. Vilsack said EPA is waiting on some final analysis from the Department of Energy before making a decision on raising the blend.

"I remain confident we will have expanded opportunities and that we will be working with our auto industry to create vehicles that will use higher levels of biofuels," Vilsack said.

Still, members of the Governors' Biofuels Coalition are searching for ways to better educate the public about the benefits of biofuels. Burl Haigwood, president of the Clean Fuels Development Coalition, said afterward that the biofuels industry is now a success story getting twisted around by critics who continue to claim biofuels can't succeed. Haigwood noted that a decade ago few people would have imagined there being enough ethanol produced nationally to hit the E10 blend wall.
"We need to hear we're still shored up and the administration is behind ethanol," Haigwood said.

The Department of Energy and EPA have a responsibility to explain the importance of biofuels research and how biofuels benefit the overall public, Vilsack said. USDA also has a responsibility to explain the benefits of biofuels when it comes to creating refineries across the country and helping the nation produce more of its own energy. Governors and others also need to highlight the benefits to their own states, he said.

"I'm talking about biofuels all the time," Vilsack said. "There are significant investments being made in rural America that we haven't seen in quite some time."
Still, planning is needed to effectively implement the 36-billion-gallon Renewable Fuels Standard, Vilsack said. The RFS was already in place when the Obama administration came into office last year, but Vilsack said there was no strategic program to ensure the country achieves the RFS. "There really wasn't a plan that tells us or shows us how the country was going to reach that 36-billion-gallon goal," he said.

So the administration has been developing a strategic plan and set some benchmarks over the next several years to determine if goals are being met. Further, Vilsack said different departments such as USDA, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency had to eliminate some redundancy amongst themselves, such as studies on feedstocks and biofuels.

Vilsack added that the administration recognizes that some parts of the country only see biofuels as a Midwest program and aren't engaged. Vilsack said every region has resources that can develop various biofuels.

"To the extent that ethanol has been perceived to be a regional fuel, that only a small portion of (how) America is benefiting from this, I think it's important for us to send a strong message across the country that we see a national biofuels effort that is not going to be stationed solely in one area because there is plenty of capacity here with 36 billion gallons," Vilsack said.

Further, Vilsack said criticism of corn-based ethanol is misplaced. Increases in production of corn are not slowing down. There is more corn being exported and enough to meet the demands of feed and fuel, he said. "There is more than enough to do everything we need to do."

USDA's energy programs have grown dramatically. Vilsack noted the Biomass Crop Assistance Program is now up and running with 240 certified facilities. The administration plans to spend $400 million to $500 million a year on that program to assist farmers and others who provide feedstocks for biofuels.

by markus schmidt

HOPEWELL, VA - As the launch of operations at Hopewell's new ethanol plant gets closer, Osage Bio Energy LLC has already hired a total of 44 employees, with nine more positions to be filled.

If everything goes as expected, the plant will open in June.

"We're running a little bit behind schedule, but we're talking just a few weeks," said John Warren, director of government relations and project management at Osage.
Warren added that Osage's goal is to be able to purchase all barley needed for ethanol production from local farmers within a 100 miles radius in two to three years.

"There is a lot of interest from local farmers and we have already confirmed a number of contracts and we have many seed sales outside of these contracts," Warren said.

The City of Hopewell considers the $150 million ethanol plant a new source of income with an expected $2.19 million in tax revenue every year. In addition to tax revenue, Osage has created a total of 55 new jobs.

"A total of 86 percent of these jobs come from the Tri-Cities, including 30 percent from Hopewell," Warren said.

"We want to prepare them for their work so they won't just come in on their first day, but we want them to be familiar with the legacy of their workplace," Warren said. Over the past 12 months, Osage faced numerous challenges with the project. Planners met resistance from some Hopewell residents and even government officials who were skeptical, especially after Osage submitted a revised air quality permit application for the construction of the plant in March 2009. The revised application came at a time that the city's air quality was under scrutiny.

Under the new permit, emissions from the plant would decrease slightly, but a separate operation involving two gas-fired boilers would add to air pollution, according to Sparky Lisle, permit writer for the state Department of Environmental Quality, who reviewed the application.

But Lisle said that the pollution increase wouldn't be a health hazard, because the plant would stay within permitted pollutant release limits.

Last fall, Osage had to deal with piles of contaminated soil construction workers uncovered on the site. Warren said that the contamination level was very low. According to the DEQ, the main type of contamination comes from the landfill and was primarily metal and concrete left in the ground.

Osage also initially faced a lack of interest in barley production from local farmers. Earlier this year, Osage launched an effort to educate local farmers about the advantages of growing barley and, recently, interest among local farmers has increased. "We're very pleased," Warren said.

Until production can be sustained from locally-grown barley, Osage will work with Perdue AgriBusiness to source barley to operate the Hopewell plant. Perdue is a leading grain supplier in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.

The ethanol plant is expected to produce 65 million gallons of ethanol and food and fuel by-products every year. The plant will use winter barley to make ethanol, which is an additive to gasoline.

You may download the report in Adobe .pdf format here.

You may download the report in Adobe .pdf format here.

You may download the report in Adobe .pdf format here.

EPA's final rule for implementation of the expanded Renewable Fuels Standard, among other provisions, sets mandatory blend levels for renewable fuels while implementing a framework for carbon emissions calculations that will be the basis for future carbon reductions from fuel.

According to EPA’s modeling, corn-based ethanol achieves a 21% greenhouse gas reduction compared to gasoline when international indirect land use change is included. Without the land use consideration, corn-based ethanol achieves a 52% GHG reduction. Cellulosic ethanol achieves GHG reduction of 72-130% depending upon feedstock and conversion process. All GHG reductions for ethanol exceed those mandated by the RFS2.

Bob Dinneen, President of the Renewable Fuels Association, says - EPA was right to recognize that ethanol from all sources provides significant carbon benefits compared to gasoline. As structured, Dinneen says, - the RFS is a workable program that will achieve the stated policy goals of reduced oil dependence, economic opportunity, and environmental stewardship.

Farm Bureau President on RFS Rule

American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman says - America’s farmers and ranchers are encouraged by the RFS rule - in that it will help keep the nation’s renewable fuel standards on a path toward greater energy independence. Stallman says - by raising the volume of biofuels available for our nation’s transportation fuel supply, the administration is building on the strong bipartisan efforts that began years ago to provide a home-grown solution to the energy challenges facing our nation.

Stallman does have one concern - the so-called measurement of indirect land use. He says - continuing to utilize indirect land use changes to calculate greenhouse gas emissions is unfair to domestic biofuels. Using it as a measurement of biofuels’ carbon impact is still highly controversial and scientifically unproven.

NCGA Says EPA Regulations Confirm Ethanol’s Environmental Superiority Over Gasoline

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s newly released regulations implementing an expanded federal Renewable Fuel Standard are significant because they provide further evidence of corn ethanol’s superiority over conventional gasoline when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, the National Corn Growers Association said.

“We’re pleased the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognizes that corn ethanol provides a distinct advantage over conventional gasoline when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, with a reduction of more than 21 percent in some cases,” said NCGA President Darrin Ihnen. “This means that all corn ethanol including existing grandfathered capacity and new production will qualify to meet the conventional biofuels targets in the RFS.

NCGA continues to be disappointed that EPA chose to use the flawed theory of international indirect land use change in their calculations. Ihnen stressed that the EPA should reject the unproven theory of international indirect land use change, which assumes that growing more corn means planting corn on a proportionately greater amount of acreage and will impact other crops or natural resources on a global basis. Today’s yield trends show this to be false. 2009’s record corn yield was 165.2 bushels per acre, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 11 bushels higher than 2008 and nearly 15 bushels higher than 2007.

“In 2009, corn growers were challenged with one of the worst growing season in generations, and we still brought in a record crop and yield,” Ihnen, a corn grower in Hurley, S.D., said. “We grew more corn than we did in 2007, the last record year, and we did so on nearly 7 million fewer acres.”

Further, the idea of international indirect land use is applied only in the case of corn ethanol. “This is the perfect example of bad science being applied unfairly, “ Ihnen said. “Removing the impacts from the international indirect land use theory means that corn ethanol actually provides a 52 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, compared to gasoline. The EPA is not considering similar indirect impacts of petroleum-based fuels, so why are they so stringent when it comes to green, renewable corn ethanol?”

NCGA works closely with all interested parties in promoting the importance of corn ethanol as a market for its members and an important part of our nation’s domestic energy sector, Ihnen added.

“U.S. corn growers are committed to continuing to meet all needs for their product in a sustainable fashion and we’re committed to providing a domestic, renewable fuel that supports our nation’s economy and helps reduce our dependence on foreign oil.”

Growth Energy Supports President's Move

Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy, says the President understands the need for enhanced support for the existing ethanol industry and greater investment to create jobs, improve our environment and increase our national security. According to Buis, the President is adding muscle to the bone by investing in new technologies, reforming the loan guarantees for cellulosic ethanol to encourage the development of this cutting-edge fuel, and equipping government facilities with Flex Fuel Vehicles.

As for the RFS rules, Buis says there are several improvements from when EPA first proposed the expanded RFS last year. We’re pleased with the decision to make volume levels of domestic ethanol retroactive to the first of the year – this is a significant step toward reducing dependence on foreign oil, creating U.S. jobs, and improving the environment.

Further, by using skewed ILUC calculations, the RFS gives Brazilian sugarcane ethanol preferred status as an advanced biofuel. Buis adds, - I don’t think that was the intent of Congress when it passed the Energy Independence and Security Act. It won’t make the U.S. any more energy independent by switching our addiction from foreign oil to foreign ethanol.

Peterson Targets Problems in RFS

House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson says - typical of most decisions made in Washington, there is some good and some bad in the Renewable Fuel Standard final rule. While he is pleased that ethanol and biodiesel will qualify as advanced biofuels, Peterson says, - I am concerned about some provisions in the final rule that fail to use science-based standards.

According to the Committee chair, - to think that we can credibly measure the impact of international indirect land use is completely unrealistic, and I will continue to push for legislation that prevents unreliable methods and unfair standards from burdening the biofuels industry.

Peterson, House Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton and Representative Jo Ann Emerson have introduced a bill to prevent EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. The bill, H.R. 4572, also includes provisions that would stop the EPA from using international indirect land use calculations in biofuels regulations and would expand the definition of renewable biomass.

Students who have conducted projects relating to Ethanol, Biodiesel or other biofuels are invited to submit a summary of that project to EPAC (Ethanol Producers And Consumers) for consideration for the “Spirit of Ethanol” award. EPAC is a non-profit, grass roots organization who supports the production and use of Biofuels as a clean and renewable alternative energy. Organized in 1991, EPAC offers the competition each year to a student who has completed a project about Biofuels

The project is self determined. Past entries have included essays and hands on projects dealing with the production or use of ethanol or biodiesel; feedstock crops that can be processed to biofuels, the value added opportunities of distillers grains co-products and fuel performance. Students ages 13-21 who have completed any Biofuels related project for school, 4-H, FFA or other youth groups in the past year are invited to apply. Each entry will be a maximum of two pages that outlines the nature of the project, the results, and why the project was chosen, the teacher or leader that oversaw the project. Please attach a separate sheet with contact information and include any awards won in other competitions as well as a photo that could be used in the conference manual and press. Entries are due by May 28, 2010. Applications can be returned to the EPAC office at 172 Ball Road, Nashua, Montana or by email to epac@ethanolmt.org or pamd@ethanolmt.org.

The “Spirit of Ethanol” award winner will be chosen and announced by the EPAC Board of Directors on Tuesday, June 1, 2010. The “Spirit of Ethanol” award is a plaque recognizing the winner, $100.00 in cash and full registration and lodging at the 20th Anniversary EPAC Biofuel Conference. One parent or leader of the winner will receive a free registration to the conference; lodging not included. The 20th Annual EPAC Biofuel Conference will be held June 28 – 29, 2010 in Missoula, Montana.

The one and a half day conference attracts an international audience. The 2010 conference titled “The Biofuel Journey,” will feature speakers who are knowledgeable in feedstocks, processing methods, financing facilities, fuel performance and other biofuels issues; and an industry trade show. For more information about this competition or the conference please call 406-785-3722 or visit EPAC’s web site at www.ethanolmt.org
####

From the February 2010 Issue
AE Biofuels to restart Cilion ethanol plant
by Holly Jessen

Posted Jan. 28, 2010

A California ethanol plant that has been idle since April is on the way to being restarted. AE Biofuels has entered into a three-year lease agreement with Cilion Inc., the owner of the plant, to operate the plant with the subsidiary name AE Advanced Fuels Keyes.

Andy Foster, president and chief operating officer of the AE Biofuels Advanced Biofuels Division, said the plant will first undergo repairs and retrofitting. The goal of the Cupertino, Calif.-based company is to start producing ethanol again in late spring this year.

AE Biofuels has agreed to pay $1.6 million in the process to repair and restart the plant. Praj Industries Ltd., the engineering contractor, will pay $1 million, Foster told EPM. AE Biofuels is leasing the ethanol plant from Cilion for $250,000 a month. Once ethanol is being produced again, the company will pay Cilion $3 million yearly for three years. Cilion investors will be able to convert their shares into AE stock, according to the terms of the agreement.

The 55 MMgy ethanol plant will, in the beginning, continue to use corn as its main feedstock. Eventually however, AE Biofuels plans to utilize up to 25 percent ag residues, such as corn stalks and wheat straw, collected from 50 to 100 miles from around the plant. “We anticipate making the conversion to cellulosic inputs once the plant has been up and running at a steady state for at least 6 to 9 months,” he said. “Our goal for cellulosic production is the first half of 2011.”

Implementing cellulosic ethanol technology at the plant is still subject to final approval from Cilion. To reach that point, AE Biofuels will conduct further testing, put some jointly agreed upon plant modifications in place and update operating protocols, Foster said.

AE Biofuels operates a cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant in Butte, Mont. The company announced in August 2008, for the facility’s grand opening, that it was the first integrated cellulose and starch ethanol demonstration facility in the United States, according to the Web site. The plant uses a variety of feedstocks, including grasses, wheat straw, corn, corn stover and sugar cane stalks.

The company also operates Universal Biofuels Ltd. in Kakinada, India, a 50 MMgy biodiesel plant. Although the plan was to upgrade it to 100 MMgy in 2009, that hasn’t happened yet. “Due to macroeconomic conditions, the India plant expansion has been temporarily put on hold,” Foster said. “However, we are currently evaluating additional technology upgrades at the Kakinada facility including, but not limited to, fractionation.”

AE Biofuels also owns land for two potential ethanol plant sites in Sutton, Neb., and Danville, Ill. Currently there are no specific plans to build, Foster said, but the company will continue to evaluate that possibility.
© 2010 BBI International

From the February 2010 Issue
Water use continues to fall at Poet plants

News release posed Jan. 20, 2010

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Poet Biorefining – Preston, Minn., has cut its water use by 13 percent thanks to a recently installed water recovery system. Poet LLC operates a 46 MMgy ethanol plant in Preston.

The new system allows the plant to recycle an additional 19 million gallons of waste water per year from the filtering system at the plant, bringing its total water use per gallon of ethanol down to 2.6 gallons. Poet plants on average use about 3 gallons of water for each gallon of ethanol.

It also means the Poet plant will be using less water from the city of Preston.

“This new process is good for the plant, good for the environment and good for the city of Preston,” said Richard Eichstadt, general manager of Poet Biorefining – Preston.

“Water is a precious natural resource and must be managed responsibly,” Poet CEO Jeff Broin said. “Despite the fact that our water use has declined more than 80 percent since we started producing ethanol, Poet is constantly looking for ways to use even less water in our production process. The Preston plant is the latest example of that.”

Since Poet started producing ethanol in 1987, the company has lowered its water use per gallon of ethanol by 80 percent through a number of creative and innovative techniques. For example, Poet Biorefining – Bingham Lake (Minn.) began operating a zero-liquid discharging system this year. Poet Biorefining - Corning (Iowa), gets most of its water for the cooling process from the Corning Waste Water Treatment Plant. Poet Biorefining – Portland (Ind.) gets all of its water from a nearby quarry. Poet Biorefining - Big Stone (S.D.) gets 80 percent of its water from cooling ponds of an adjacent power plant, and the water is discharged back to the power plant.

Ethanol, like all other energy sources, uses water in the production process. Plants in Minnesota used about 4 gallons of water to produce 1 gallon of ethanol in 2006. That’s a water efficiency improvement of 30 percent since 1998, according to a December 2008 study by the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board titled "Managing for Water Sustainability.”

About Poet
Poet, the largest ethanol producer in the world, is a leader in biorefining through its efficient, vertically integrated approach to production. The 22-year-old company produces more than 1.54 billion gallons of ethanol annually from 26 production facilities nationwide. Poet recently started up a pilot-scale cellulosic ethanol plant, which uses corn cobs as feedstock, and will commercialize the process in Emmetsburg, Iowa. For more information, visit http://www.poet.com.

SOURCE: Poet
© 2010 BBI International

From the February 2010 Issue
Neb. Corn Board speaks out against LCFS

News release posted Jan. 19, 2010

California’s low carbon fuels standards were given final approval by the state’s Office of Administrative Law last week and are set to have a major negative impact on Nebraska corn ethanol should the rules be rolled out as planned, according to the Nebraska Corn Board.

The Nebraska Corn Board estimates that 27 percent of Nebraska’s ethanol with a value approaching $1 billion goes directly to California’s fuel market.

“What California has done is over think its goal to use low carbon fuels and in the process rely on improper models filled with outdated data, and include a theory on indirect land use change,” said Jon Holzfaster, Nebraska Corn Board farmer director from Paxton and chairman of the National Corn Growers Association’s Ethanol Committee. “The result will be that Nebraska corn ethanol, and most all ethanol produced in the United States, will be shut out of an important domestic market. The economic impact will be negative for Nebraska’s ethanol industry, rural communities and farmers.”

While California is the largest fuel-consuming state, 11 states in the Northeast have essentially copied California’s standards, Oregon is looking at following suit and others may be next. The bottom line, Holzfaster said, is that motorists will be forced to rely on more crude oil and, possibly, foreign sources of ethanol.

“The model California uses somehow concludes that ethanol from South America is ‘better’ and that crude oil is OK,” said Kelly Brunkhorst, director of research for the Nebraska Corn Board. “Yet the major producer of ethanol in South America is facing a shortage and common sense tells us ethanol performs better than crude oil on many levels.”

The California ARB ignored the incredible advances in corn and ethanol production over the last several years, choosing instead to look backward on data instead of to the future. “The lowest carbon fuel on the market today – which will approach 12 billion gallons in 2010 – is corn ethanol,” Brunkhorst said. “There is no other viable option available on that scale now, nor will there be next year or the year after that.”

The notion that corn ethanol is not a low carbon fuel comes from the idea that corn ethanol production in the United States causes land to be tilled in other parts of the world, releasing carbon that is then assigned to U.S. corn ethanol. “This is quite unscientific, yet people have been led to believe it is true,” Brunkhorst added. “At the same time we’re looking at record U.S. corn crops being produced on fewer acres. The whole land use idea is out of synch with reality. It’s just a theory, and a bad one at that.”

California’s ARB is currently facing a lawsuit over the low carbon fuel standards. The lawsuit, filed by the two largest U.S. ethanol trade organizations and others, charges that the standards are unconstitutional, erecting new regulatory obstacles to ethanol, impacting the federal Renewable Fuel Standard and threatening the nationwide market for domestic ethanol. They also charge that the rules go against the Commerce Clause, which forbids state laws that discriminate against out-of-state goods.

The Nebraska Corn Board is a self-help program, funded and managed by Nebraska corn farmers. Producers invest in the program at a rate of 1/4 of a cent per bushel of corn sold. Nebraska corn checkoff funds are invested in programs of market development, research and education.

SOURCE: Nebraska Corn Board
© 2010 BBI International

2010 looks promising for ethanol industry
By SUE ROESLER, Lee Agri-Media
Saturday, January 16, 2010 1:12 PM CST

The upcoming year looks promising for ethanol with the economy improving, and the increasing amount of blender pumps being available around the country, said Robert White, director of market development for the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA).

The RFA is the national trade association for the ethanol industry and works for policies and research that will lead to the increased production and use of renewable fuels.

“2009 has been a long year for the ethanol industry,” White said. “We all witnessed gas dropping down to a near record low price, and that makes it difficult for ethanol to be competitive.”

There are approximately 200 ethanol plants across the U.S., and if they were all currently operational, they would be producing 13 billion gallons of ethanol per year, he said.

However, with all the economic and situational difficulties in 2009, the U.S. is producing only about 11 billion gallons with several of those ethanol facilities idle.

But toward the end of 2009, ethanol has been seeing a comeback with the economy getting better, White said. Ethanol plants formerly owned by VeraSun are back, “but with a different name on the front.”

Gas prices have increased at year's end, and with it, demand for gas decreased.

There are still around 500,000 jobs in the ethanol industry, and ethanol is continuing to use different feedstocks for grinding besides corn. Those include barley, sorghum, corn cobs, wood chips and more, White said.

“The National Renewable Energy laboratories have identified 280 feedstocks right now that can be used for ethanol,” he said.

The corn crop in 2009 was approximately 13 billion bushels and of that, 4.2 billion or 32 percent of the crop went to ethanol, White said.

Corn prices are expected to be in the range of $3.05 to $3.65, according to USDA statistics.

Distillers grains put back into the livestock feed market offsets some of that used corn crop - about 1 billion bushels, he added.

“The one important thing you continue to hear about is we are running out of food. No one seems to really relate that the unfortunate instances of world hunger are usually dominated by three subjects: political corruption, a lack of infrastructure, or a lack of money,” White said.

The lack of food has nothing to do with the corn supply, he said. At the end of 2009, there was a large corn carryout - about 1.6 billion bushels - with some of the crop not being harvested due to weather conditions.

The National Renewable Fuel Standard continues to require that 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels be in use by 2022.

“If you look at where that ethanol can go - 90 percent gas and 10 percent ethanol is good for just about every vehicle out here,” White said.

But the RFA is looking for something higher in 2010, and the EPA is re-evaluating its acceptance of E15.

“This would allow petroleum marketers to blend up to 15 percent ethanol,” White said.

All of the research on using an E11 or E12 blend is “definitely similar” to using unleaded gasoline, so this may be more where marketers may go initially, he added.

Another blend is E70, which the EPA says is designed for flex-fuel vehicles only. The E70 is the winter blend of E85 intended for use in colder climates such as the upper Great Plains, White said. It adds more gasoline and lowers the flash point of the fuel, making the car easier to start in the winter months.

“We've all heard these war stories of people mixing their own ethanol or diluting some E85 down and using it in their own vehicles. That's a whole different story,” he said, adding that retailers have to go by the EPA guidelines in the marketplace.

How do we take all of these options and throw them into one?

Blender pumps are the answer and they are increasing in the U.S., White said. In fact, several groups have banded together to increase the amount of blender pumps to 5,000 nationwide over the next three years, he added.

The ethanol comes in at 98 percent and is poisoned so “college kids can't drink it,” he said. The dispenser can be used by all consumers, who simply select a pre-set blend percentage.

The blender pumps are connected to two underground tanks, one containing unleaded gasoline and the other containing E85. In addition to offering more traditional fuels such as unleaded, E10, and E85, the fuel pump can also dispense a variety of mid-level ethanol blends, he said.

“It brings a greater return on investment than just E85 pumps,” White said, adding instead of 20 years to return an investment on an E85 pump, it might take just a year or two to receive a return investment on a blender pump.

Some states, such as North Dakota, are now offering an incentive for owners to put in blender pumps. In North Dakota, there is a $2 million program for gas stations and other marketers, which includes $5,000 per pump, $40,000 per retail location and tax credits, he said.

Retailers installing blender pumps can also apply for a matching grant of $2,500 per pump from the North Dakota Corn Council.

For some gas station owners, just an E10 and E85 blender pump is all they want, so there are options available, White said, adding that some stations and areas of the country don't want to go all the way with ethanol blends yet.

According to the EPA's Web site, the agency recently submitted its final rule for the expanded Renewable Fuels Standard to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which is the final step before it takes effect.

EPA wants to expand its standard for renewable fuels, to include increasing the use of biomass-based biodiesel.

www.bloomberg.com

Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- California regulators approved a carbon fuel standard yesterday that the U.S. ethanol industry says will bar domestic forms of the fuel from being used in the nation’s largest fuel-consuming state.

The state’s Office of Administrative Law yesterday approved the implementation of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard, or LCFS, which aims to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions. The regulations will count the emissions created when corn is planted, harvested and ground into fuel as part of ethanol’s carbon output.

“It’s crippling,” said Cory Garcia, an analyst at Raymond James & Associates in Houston. “It makes ethanol produced in the Midwest uncompetitive.”

Last month, the two largest ethanol trade organizations sued California over the standard, saying the regulation is unconstitutional because it discriminates against out-of-state goods and will stunt ethanol’s growth. The industry also says the standard favors foreign fuels such as ethanol made in Brazil over the fuel made in the U.S.

“What’s at stake is the California market, particularly for ethanol produced outside the state,” said Matt Hartwig, a spokesman for the Renewable Fuels Association in Washington. “This doesn’t change the fundamentals of the lawsuit.”

The policy, which would take effect in 2011, would also examine the effect on deforestation. Heat-trapping greenhouse gases from fuels must not exceed California gasoline blendstock’s calculation of 96.88 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per megajoule.

The regulation also employs so-called indirect land-use changes, which estimate the impact on other areas of planting corn in the Midwest for ethanol. Counting indirect land use, ethanol produced from a dry-mill plant has a carbon intensity of 97.6 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per megajoule.

Poet LLC, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Archer Daniels Midland Co. in Decatur, Illinois, and San Antonio-based Valero Energy Corp. are the largest U.S. ethanol producers.

(January 6, 2010) Washington – A recent “policy paper” from Houston-based Rice University and sponsored by Chevron seeks to continue the orchestrated campaign to limit, and ultimately eliminate, the use of biofuels to displace foreign oil.

In its commentary, researchers from Rice rely upon out-of-date information and questionable assumptions to denigrate Congress, farmers, and ethanol producers for their support of domestically-based renewable fuels.

“Not surprisingly, this oil industry-sponsored analysis relies on myths, generalities, half-truths to dismiss ethanol while providing no comparison to our increasingly dangerous and costly addiction to oil,” said Renewable Fuels Association Director of Public Affairs Matt Hartwig. “A debate about the appropriate role of biofuels is valid and should occur, but not without proper context and based upon last century’s assumptions.”

Specifically, the Rice paper makes a number of misleading statements and assumptions, including:

• The paper assumes 44% of the 2007 corn crop will be needed to meet the 15 billion gallons of ethanol called for in the Renewable Fuels Standard. It
does not account for the 1/3 of each bushel that is returned to the feed
market in the form of distillers’ grains, nor does it give credence to increased
yields. Despite difficult planting and harvesting conditions, American farmers
achieved record yields in 2009.

• The paper states, “The preponderance of evidence shows that existing biofuels offer no improvement over gasoline…” when it comes to carbon emissions. Every credible lifecycle analysis directly comparing ethanol to
gasoline shows a carbon benefit to ethanol use, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s assessment of a 61% benefit. Only when the unproven and controversial notion of international indirect land use change (ILUC) is applied to ethanol and not to gasoline do the carbon benefits of ethanol suffer.

• The paper assumes additional land, including marginal acres, will be needed to fulfill the RFS mandates. This is not necessarily true. Based upon yield
trends, corn production on roughly the same amount of acres being cultivated will be sufficient to meet the corn-based ethanol demands of the RFS. New feedstocks, such as crop residues, wood waste, and grasses, will also be used and will require no additional acres.

• The paper criticizes the secondary tariff on imports of ethanol, but provides no context. The secondary tariff exists to offset the tax credit available to imports of ethanol. The tariff does not restrict trade, as evidenced by the
import of ethanol when needed, but rather protects American taxpayers. Moreover, no discussion is given to the 25% tariff Brazil places on imported ethanol. Given the poor sugar crop in Brazil, it is likely U.S. ethanol could be exported and face the 25% tariff.

• The paper generalizes that irrigated corn used for ethanol production will be in the same proportion as all irrigated corn (~18% of the total crop). Analysis from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory indicates that 96% of all
corn used in ethanol production is non-irrigated.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. and CINCINNATI, Jan. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- BioJet Corporation (www.biojetcorp.com)and Great Plains Oil & Exploration (www.camelinacompany.com) announced today that they have executed a Teaming Agreement for the purpose of producing renewable jet fuels. The companies plan to jointly develop integrated Camelina cultivation and associated refinery projects in the U.S., Europe, South America, and Asia.

BioJet will bring its international network and management experience in developing renewable jet fuel projects. Great Plains will provide its extensive experience in Camelina growth and processing. It is estimated that within 5 years, Camelina production from currently planned team projects will yield approximately 200 million gallons per year of renewable jet fuel, 65 million gallons per year of co-products, and 2.3 million tons per year of Camelina meal, for use as a high-quality animal feed.

Great Plains is the largest Camelina producer in the world and has extensive agronomic and genomic intellectual property with exclusive access to the majority of the world's Camelina germplasm. These strengths will allow Great Plains to identify the best proprietary varieties of Camelina for each teamed project location, thereby optimizing production yield. Great Plains has contracted approximately 85% of the Camelina acreage currently planted in North America and plans to rapidly expand its acreage in 2010 and beyond.

Sam Huttenbauer, CEO of Great Plains, said "Affordable feedstock is the key to all biofuels, and due to Camelina's low inputs and high-quality meal by-product, it has tremendous potential to be competitive with petroleum jet fuel. The scale of these projects will allow this to happen quickly." It's expected that the majority of production from the teamed projects will be international. "This relationship greatly expands our bandwidth for international crop production, refining, sales & distribution, corporate finance, and carbon trading. We expect these capabilities to allow our company to rapidly produce Camelina-derived renewable jet fuel at competitive pricing."

BioJet is a leading international supply chain integrator in renewable jet fuel for the aviation sector. Its operations include feedstock generation, technology, refining, logistics, and distribution to end users in the aviation sector. In 2009, BioJet executed the world's largest take-or-pay contracts for Jatropha feedstock and forward sale of Bio-SPK jet fuel. Most recently, BioJet was selected by the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels as the first implementation Pilot Company for Version 1 of the Principles of Sustainability. BioJet's strong international networks in the field of renewable jet fuel production will allow for integrated supply chain management from the teamed projects as well as access to large-scale acreage for Camelina growth.

BioJet CEO Mitch Hawkins commented "We're very pleased to team up with Great Plains. We already control the world's largest quantities of Jatropha dedicated to jet fuel, and work in designer feedstocks and algae. This deal effectively triples our feedstock resources. It is a major step in the achievement of our goal of 20 million barrels per year of renewable jet fuel by 2020."

Great Plains Oil & Exploration (Great Plains - The Camelina Company) is the renewable fuels company that pioneered the manufacturing and marketing of fuel and chemicals from Camelina. Great Plains has exclusive access to the majority of the world's Camelina germplasm and is the established leader in the field of Camelina agronomy and production. With over 12 years of camelina development, Great Plains has developed a grower base and production facilities from which it produces and supplies commercial quantities of biofuel as well as high-protein, omega 3-rich animal feed. More information: www.CamelinaCompany.com.

BioJet Corporation's objective is to be the international leader as supply chain integrator in renewable jet fuel for aviation (www.biojetcorp.com). The Company is committed to utilizing any and all sustainable and economically viable feedstocks in the fulfillment of its mission. BioJet has a strong, experienced management team with a clear strategic vision, and has put in place the feedstock, refining, sustainability, management, sales, and logistics infrastructure to achieve effective, rapid growth and significant market share.

As we enter a new decade, take a minute to look back at where ethanol has come from in the past 10 years.

Compiled by staff
Published: Jan 7, 2010

As you look back at the past decade and begin a new one, take a moment to think about the last 10 years that saw ethanol emerge as the leading renewable fuel alternative to our nation's dependence on foreign oil. Matt Hartwig, communications director with the national Renewable Fuels Association, based in Washington D.C., provides the following review.

No matter what the calendar says, the decade of the years 2000 through 2009 began on September 11, 2001. That tragic day ushered in a new consciousness of America's vulnerability, to terrorist attack most assuredly, but also to the very high price we pay for our dependence on imported oil. When President Bush announced a few months later that we would break our addiction to oil, Americans knew well why it was necessary – national security was now linked to energy security and the consequence of inaction was now tangible.

By decade's end, concerns about climate change provided additional momentum to the effort to wean the world from oil and develop sustainable, secure alternatives to oil.

Past decade was the era when biofuels came of age

Thus it was that the past decade truly was the era when biofuels such as ethanol came of age. From just 1.4 billion gallons of production in 1999, the U.S. ethanol industry last year produced an astonishing 10.6 billion gallons. Ethanol is now, truly, a ubiquitous component of the U.S. motor fuel market, with ethanol blended in more than 80% of every gallon of fuel, and ethanol blends sold virtually coast to coast and border to border.

As ethanol production has increased, so have the industry's contributions to the American economy. As recently as January 2000, there were only 54 ethanol plants in the U.S. Nine years later, there were more than 200 plants in 26 states, with even more under construction.

Throughout the nation, the ethanol industry supports almost half a million jobs and contributes to the coffers of every level of government, generating an estimated $12 billion in federal tax revenues and $9 billion in state and local revenues in 2008. Ethanol's benefits were among the economy's few steady strengths during the rollercoaster ride of the past decade. For instance, in 2008, despite a deepening economic downturn, the U.S. ethanol industry opened 31 new plants and added 240,000 jobs.

Ethanol is helping U.S. economy build for the future

The American biofuels industry has been able to build for the future because landmark legislation provides a floor from which we can grow with confidence. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 created a Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) that requires refiners to use an increasing percentage of renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel in their fuel mix, as well as creating new incentives for ethanol production from sugar, cellulose and other on-traditional feedstocks.

Building on this historic legislation, the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act, required the use of 9 billion gallons of renewable fuel in 2008, growing to more than 15 billion gallons in 2012 and 36 billion gallons by 2022.

These policies are being justified by biofuels' performance. Clean-burning American ethanol reduces oil imports by more than 300 million barrels a year, making the U.S. less dependent on OPEC and unfriendly governments from unstable parts of the world. And ethanol diminishes the dangers of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 61% compared to gasoline.

Ethanol is an efficient, environmentally-friendly fuel

The years from 2000 through 2009 are only the third decade in ethanol's evolution from a novelty item to a major source of energy. Over the past decade, the industry's innovativeness has increased exponentially, with development of improved efficiencies, new technologies, and the next generation of feedstocks.

According to a survey compiled by Argonne National Laboratories, covering the years between 2001 and 2006, the nation's ethanol biorefineries reduced their water consumption by 26.6%, their use of electricity by 15.7%, and their total use of energy by 21.8%. With new technologies such as heat fermentation and fractionization, the industry is becoming even more efficient, while increasing the value of its coproducts, such as the 27 million tons of high-quality livestock feed produced in 2008.

Meanwhile, a new cellulosic ethanol industry is emerging, with biorefineries producing fuels from new feedstocks, including cornstalks, sugar wastes, wood chips, wheat straw and even plain old garbage.

Ten years from now, ethanol will play an even bigger role

As we begin the new decade, the biofuels industry has overcome great challenges and is now poised to seize even greater opportunities, nationally and globally. Here in the U.S., we need to break through the 10% blend wall and move on to blends of 12%, 13% and, eventually 15% and beyond, while expanding the vehicle fleet and blender pump infrastructure for E85.

We can and will maintain the momentum ethanol has garnered through this past decade. The opportunities that lay before this industry are vast, and are a direct result of the progress it has achieved through a collective belief in a rising tide lifting all boats. Ten years from now, there can be little doubt that ethanol from a wide array of sources will be a more significant and even more meaningful piece of America's energy future.

Successful Farming magazine Business Editor

12/29/2009, 2:14 PM CST
The ethanol trade groups, Growth Energy and the Renewable Fuels Association, along with state and local farm groups, have filed a federal lawsuit challenging Calfornia's low carbon fuel standard. The groups' lawsuit alleges that the new rule, which will be phased in starting in 2011, unfairly discriminates against corn-based ethanol made primarily in the Midwest, in violation of the Commerce and Supremacy clauses of the U.S. Constitution.

The complaint, filed in federal district court in Fresno, California on December 24, says the fuel standard "is unconstitutional because (i) it conflicts with and is preempted by federal law, including the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007; (ii) it interferes with the regulation of interstate commerce; and (iii) it discriminates against out-of-state corn ethanol producers and importers and improperly regulates their extraterritorial conduct."

The lawsuit, which was also brought by Rocky Mountain Farmers union, the Redwood County, Minnesota Corn and Soybean Growers, and Penny Newman Grain, Inc., was filed against the California Air Resources Board, which is part of the California Environmental Protection Agency.

Stanley Young with the Air Resources Board told Agriculture.com Tuesday, "We feel that their claims are without merit. This is a regulatory decision to provide cleaner, low carbon fuels to California consumers and we will vigorously defend it in court."

The goal of the new low carbon fuel standard is to encourage fuel blenders to use fuels that put out lower levels of greenhouse gases in production, transportation and when burned in vehicles. Before the Air Resources Board approved the fuel standard last April, its estimates of how green a fuel is included the concept of indirect land use. It assumed that as more corn is used to make ethanol in the U.S. that rainforests and tropical savannahs will be destroyed in other countries in order to grow more crops.

The lawsuit alleges that the fuel standard "penalizes all corn ethanol based on the purported indirect effects of assumed farming practices that occur predominately outside California and through the regulation, California seeks to curb or eliminate these farming practices throughout the United States and beyond by making the entire corn ethanol market responsible for them."

The fuel standard also assumes that ethanol made from sugar cane in Brazil is greener. The effect of the new fuel standard, the lawsuit says, "will be to required regulated entities producing gasoline for sale in California quickly to try to obtain ethanol produced in Brazil, not the United States."

At the federal level, the EPA is also using indirect land use to estimate how green ethanol is, but the federal 2007 energy law exempts older ethanol plants from meeting tougher greenhouse gas requirements under a new renewable fuel standard. California does not and the lawsuit alleges that the state s fuel standard interferes with the federal law.

In a joint website statement, Growth Energy and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) summed up the effects of California's action.
"&by closing California s borders to corn ethanol from other states, the LCFS [low carbon fuel standard] will change how corn is farmed and ethanol is produced all over the country. The Commerce Clause specifically forbids state laws that discriminate against out-of-state goods and that regulate out-of-state conduct. The LCFS imposes excessive burdens on the entire domestic ethanol industry while providing no benefit to Californians. In fact, in disadvantaging low-carbon, domestic ethanol, the LCFS denies the people of California a genuine opportunity to clean their air, create jobs, and strengthen their economic and national security. One state cannot dictate policy for all the others, yet that is precisely what California has aimed to do through a poorly conceived and, frankly, unconstitutional LCFS."

Regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit, the fact that both RFA and Growth are financing it together is a big change in the internal politics of the ethanol industry. Growth Energy was formed in part by frustrations over how the RFA was responding to criticism of ethanol in Washington and the media. At times, according to some in the industry, members of the two lobbying groups were barely talking to one another. Then, about a year ago, the National Corn Growers Association began an effort to get industry groups working more closely together, our sources say.

Corn relies on ethanol and vice-versa, so it just made sense for us to work together on policy issues," NCGA president and South Dakota farmer Darrin Ihnen told Agriculture.com Tuesday.

The group, informally called the ethanol alliance, also includes the American Coalition for Ethanol and has met several times in the past year.

Ihnen said the NCGA hasn t decided whether to join the lawsuit but the topic will be on the agenda when the group's board meets in January. "As a board, we ll decide, should we get involved and how we ll get involved," he said.

The Hill

Ethanol producers file suit against California climate rules
By Ben Geman - 12/28/09 07:19 PM ET

Two ethanol industry trade groups filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday that alleges California regulations to reduce the carbon content of fuels are unconstitutional and should be struck down.

The Renewable Fuels Association and Growth Energy say California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) collides with federal energy law and would harm the industry.

The state policy seeks a 10 percent decrease in the carbon content of motor fuels sold into California markets by 2020.

But the ethanol trade groups call the rules at odds with a 2007 federal law that requires use of 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels in the nation’s fuel mix by 2022. The 2007 law created first-time greenhouse gas limits on renewable fuels under the federal standard. But, unlike the California policy, it exempted ethanol from plants in operation when the law passed.

The lawsuit claims the LCFS “interferes with and frustrates” the federal energy law because it would effectively exclude the trade groups’ members from selling fuels into the California market.

“State regulations such as the LCFS cannot prohibit or limit the sale of ethanol products based on the level of GHG emissions purportedly attributed to them when Congress has specifically foreclosed limitations on the sale of the same ethanol products based on GHG emissions,” states the lawsuit filed in federal district court in Fresno.

Stanley Young, a spokesman for the California Air Resources Board, said the suit against the state rules has no merit. “It is a regulation that provides California consumers with cleaner, low-carbon fuels,” he said.

By STEPHEN POWER
WASHINGTON --Two groups representing ethanol producers asked a federal court on Thursday to strike down a California rule that calls for a reduction in the carbon content of fuels sold in that state, saying the measure violates the Constitution and jeopardizes the nationwide market for ethanol.

The suit, filed in federal district court in Fresno, Calif., by Growth Energy and the Renewable Fuels Association, takes aim at California's so-called low-carbon fuel standard. The rule, adopted by California's Air Resources Board last spring but not due to take effect until early next year, calls for a 10% reduction in the carbon content of fuels sold in California by 2020.

In a written statement, the two ethanol trade groups said the measure would erect "new regulatory obstacles" to ethanol and frustrate a 2007 federal law that set targets for the U.S. to blend 36 billion gallons of biofuels a year into the U.S. fuel supply in 2022, up from 11.1 billion gallons in 2009. By frustrating the goals of the 2007 law, the groups said, the California measure violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Spokespersons for the California Air Resources Board said they hadn't seen the suit and couldn't comment directly on it, but expressed confidence in the rule's constitutionality.

Ethanol producers have complained that California's rule would unfairly discriminate against corn-based ethanol, because the measure would take into account land-use changes that are said to occur abroad when land in the U.S. is converted to growing corn for fuel from growing corn for food.

A study published last year in the journal Science found that U.S. production of corn-based ethanol increases emissions by 93% compared with using gasoline, when expected worldwide land-use changes are taken into account. Some scientists and many biofuel proponents have challenged the Science study, saying it relied on unrealistic assumptions. There is also disagreement among scientists and economists over how to measure the impact of land-use changes in one country on land-use changes in another.

Senators pledge to extend biodiesel tax credit

By PHILIP BRASHER
pbrasher@dmreg.com
Washington, D.C. — Hoping to reassure beleaguered biodiesel producers, leaders of a key Senate committee are pledging to resurrect the federal subsidy for the fuel additive early next year.

The $1-a-gallon tax credit is due to expire Dec. 31 after the Senate failed to agree on an extension of the subsidy.
The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus, D-Mont., and the panel’s senior Republican, Iowa Republican Charles Grassley, released a letter Tuesday saying that they intend to act retroactively extend the biodiesel credit and other expiring tax provisions, including a tax break for teachers who purchase their own school supplies.

“These provisions are important to our economy — not only because they help create jobs, but also because they are used to address pressing national concerns,” the senators wrote.

Grassley said taxpayers “need notice that these tax provisions” will be extended next year.

The House recently approved legislation extending the biodiesel subsidy and other expiring tax credits but the Senate took no action on the measures. Republicans objected to including the extensions in a defense bill because it also would have included an estate tax measure to which GOP senators objected, said Grassley.

The biodiesel industry has been saying that a lapse in the tax credit could force some producers to shut down. Officials with a leading biodiesel producer, Ames-based Renewable Energy Group Inc., said plants it owns or manages will stay in operation after Dec. 31 but may reduce production.

“We expect some limited biodiesel demand to remain in the marketplace, despite the tax credit lapse,” said Daniel Oh, the company’s president and chief operating officer.

He said the lapse in the credit will create a “high degree of uncertainty in the biodiesel marketplace.”

REG owns plants at Ralston, Ia., and Seabrook, Texas, and manages five other plants in Iowa and one each in Minnesota and Illinois.

The biodiesel industry already has been struggling economically because of relatively high feedstock costs, slumping fuel demand and new tariffs on exports to the European Union. The industry operating at about 15 percent of capacity and production is down 30 percent this year from 2008.
________________________________________

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver praised the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announcement last week that modern automobile engine control systems will likely allow the agency to approve, sometime in 2010, higher ethanol blends in vehicles manufactured since model year 2001. Culver is currently vice-chair of the National Governors' Biofuels Coalition. He will become chair of the 36-member coalition in January of 2010.

EPA announced last week, on December 1, that it is postponing its decision whether to allow for the blending of up to 15% ethanol in conventional gasoline. Growth Energy, an ethanol trade organization, made the request last spring for EPA to raise the blend from E10 to E15, and EPA had set a deadline of December 1 to make the decision. Last week EPA officials said they need more time to evaluate on-going testing of vehicles using E15 that is to be completed in August. Some ethanol boosters say EPA's postponement of the decision until mid-2010 raises more questions than answers.

Culver, however, remains hopeful that EPA will eventually rule in favor and allow the blending rate to be increased from E10 to E15 next August. "They did some tests on vehicles using the higher blend of ethanol and they have a number of tests left to do," says Culver. "EPA officials have said that if the continuing tests show results like the two that have been completed, we will be moving to E15."

EPA says the tests thus far are very positive for moving to E15

Culver feels good that EPA will make a positive decision by the middle of next year. "EPA's declaration this past week is encouraging and positive as it signals the agency is moving toward a decision to raise allowable ethanol blends in gasoline from 10% to 15%," says Culver. "I am pleased that EPA is conducting the necessary studies and wants to finish them, to allow intermediate ethanol blends such as B15 to be offered to consumers."

Gov. Culver adds, "EPA's decision is based on engine and fuel distribution testing called for by the Governors' Biofuels Coalition in 2005, as a means to create a solid foundation for expanded ethanol use. The intermediate ethanol blend testing carried out by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has moved quickly and appropriately to ensure the viability of using both E15 and E20 in our nation's transportation fuel system." The testing by DOE in 19 different vehicles continues to show positive results, and the testing is scheduled to be completed by August of 2010.

Decision will mean a lot to Iowa farmers and the state's economy

"Expanded markets for biofuels builds upon and leverages years of work and investment by Iowa ethanol producers, farmers, researchers and others to produce and deliver increasing amounts of homegrown, renewable transportation fuels for America," says Culver.

Ethanol's contribution to the Iowa economy at the E10 blend level is well documented, displacing the need for 3.27 million barrels of oil in Iowa, which equals $2.8 billion that stayed in the Iowa economy instead of flowing overseas. "In addition," says Culver, "A typical 80 million-gallon ethanol plant provides 2,560 local jobs that are enduring and valuable to the citizens of Iowa. And, the move to E15 will not only expand the economic and environmental value of biofuels, it'll diminish the impact of future gasoline price spikes on all consumers."

Biofuel sustainability plan being developed by administration

As a part of the EPA announcement last week, President Obama indicated that his administration's Biofuels Interagency Working Group, led by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, along with U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, and EPA Administrator Laura Jackson, is developing a biofuels sustainability plan to ensure that future expansion of biofuels production remains environmentally and economically sustainable.

The Obama Administration is also finalizing details on a comprehensive biofuels market development plan, says Culver.

The Governors' Biofuels Coalition earlier this year recommended to Obama that his administration focus on biofuels market development and sustainability. Last week, Obama cited the coalition as a key factor in his "Biofuels Directive," which is aimed at expanding the production and use of biofuels in the United States, and he pledged his Interagency Working Group would work closely with the national Governor's Biofuels Coalition on these issues. Iowa Gov. Chet Culver will become chair of the 36-member coalition next month.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

30C(c). Alternative fuel vehicle refueling property credit
(c) Qualified alternative fuel vehicle refueling property
For purposes of this section, the term “qualified alternative fuel vehicle refueling property” has the same meaning as the term “qualified clean-fuel vehicle refueling property” would have under section 179A if- --
Duel Use Refueling Property – the credit shall be allowed, without limitation, for dual use property that is used to dispense both alternative fuel and conventional fuel.

Honorable Max Baucus, Chairman Honorable Charles Grassley,
Ranking Member Senate Committee on Finance Senate Committee on Finance
219 Dirksen Senate Office Building 135 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20510

Honorable Charles B. Rangel, Chairman Honorable Dave Camp,
Ranking Member House Committee on Ways and Means House Committee on Ways and Means
2354 Rayburn House Office Building 341 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairmen Baucus and Rangel and Ranking Members Grassley and Camp:

As your committees prepare a tax extenders bill prior to the end of the year, the undersigned organizations encourage you to consider adopting language to the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling property tax credit to allow a blender pump to receive the value of the credit.

As part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Section 1342 provided a 30 percent federal tax credit, limited to $30,000 per site, to vendors that installed alternative fuel vehicle fueling infrastructure. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 increased the credit to $50,000 or 50 percent of the total cost and extended it to projects completed prior to January 1, 2011.

Unfortunately, in implementing the provisions of the credit the IRS interpreted the statute in such a manner that fails to recognize the value of mid-level blends of ethanol. This interpretation has precluded blender pumps from receiving the value of the credit. Marginalizing the credit has resulted in further stagnation of the
development of alternative fuel infrastructure.

Reducing our nation’s dependence on foreign oil with renewable domestic transportation fuels is an achievable goal; revising the IRS interpretation will be a step in the right direction to achieve that goal.

Enclosed is suggested language, we are willing to work with you and your staff to achieve the necessary fix for the IRS misinterpretation.

We appreciate your consideration of this request and look forward to working with you to address this important provision.

Sincerely,

Ag Biomass Council
Abengoa Bioenergy (Chesterfield, MO)
Absolute Energy, LLC (St. Ansgar, IA)
Amaizing Energy, LLC (Denison, IA)
American Agriculture Movement
American Corn Growers Association
Arkansas Farmers Union
Badger State Ethanol, LLC (Monroe, WI)
Ball Industrial Services, LLC
Big River Resources (West Burlington, IA)
Blue Flint Ethanol (Underwood, ND)
Bluestem Capital, Sioux Falls, SD
Bob Haskins Racing (Poolesville, MD)
Bosselman Energy Inc. (Grand Island, NE)
California Ethanol & Power, LLC
California Ethanol Vehicle Coalition
Capital District Clean Cities Coalition (Albany,NY)
Centerpoint Energy Services (Houston, TX)
Central Oil & Supply Corp. (Monroe, LA)
Central Texas Clean Cities
Clean Fuels Development Coalition
Clean Fuels Ohio
Co-Bank
Colorado Corn Growers Association
Colorado Farm Bureau
Conestoga Energy Partners, LLC
Corn LP, Goldfield, Iowa
Dakota Ethanol, LLC (Wentworth, SD)
Davis Oil Company (Perry, GA)
Dodge City Cooperative (Dodge City, KS)
Dresser Wayne
East Kansas Agri-Energy
Ethanol Producers And Consumers
Fagen, Inc.
FlexFuel US, LLC (Chicago, IL)
Fremont Industries (Shakopee, MN)
Front Range Energy, LLC (Windsor, CO)
Gate Petroleum Company (Jacksonville, FL)
GEA Barr-Rosin Inc. (St. Charles, IL)
Genencor (Palo Alto, CA)
Growth Energy
Golden Triangle Energy (Craig, MO)
Green Plains Renewable Energy, Inc.
Hawkeye Energy Holdings (Ames, IA)
Hawkeye Gold (Ames, IA)
Husky Petroleum Equipment (Pacific, MO)
ICM, Inc.
Illinois Corn Growers Association
Illinois Farmers Union
Indiana Ethanol Producers Association
Indiana Farmers Union
International Institute for Ecological Agriculture
Iowa Biotechnology Association
Iowa Corn Growers Association
Iowa Ethanol Producers Association
Iowa Farmers Union
Iowa Renewable Fuels Association
Jefferson City Oil Company (Jefferson City, MO)
Kansas Association of Ethanol Processors
Kansas Corn Growers Association
Kansas Ethanol, LLC (Lyons, KS)
Kansas Grain Sorghum Producers Association
Kentucky Petroleum Marketers Association
KNC Holdings Petroleum Company (Albany, NY)
Lifeline Foods
MFA Oil Company (Columbia, MO)
Michigan Association of Convenience Stores
Michigan Corn Growers Association
Michigan Petroleum Association
Minnesota Corn Growers Association
Minnesota Ethanol Producers Association
Minnesota Farmers Union
Missouri Corn Growers Association
Missouri Renewable Fuels Association
National Association of Wheat Growers
National Corn Growers Association
National Farmers Organization
National Farmers Union
National Sorghum Producers Association
Nebraska Corn Board
Nebraska Corn Growers Association
Nebraska Ethanol Board
Nebraska Farmers Union
Nebraska Grain and Feed Association
Nebraska Wheat Growers Association
Nesika Energy, LLC (Scandia, KS)
New Jersey Clean Cities Coalition
New Mexico Petroleum Marketers Association
North Dakota Alliance for Renewable Energy
North Dakota Ethanol Producers Association
North Dakota Farmers Union
North Dakota Petroleum Marketers Association
Ohio Corn Growers Association
Ohio Ethanol Producers Association
Oregon Farmers Union
Osage Bio Energy, LLC (Glen Allen, VA)
Osage, Inc. (Salem, VA)
Petro Serve, USA(Fargo, ND)
Petroleum Equipment Institute
Petroleum Marketers Association of America.
Pinal Energy, LLC (Maricopa, AZ)
Platinum Ethanol, LLC (Arthur, IA)
POET Biorefining (Alexandria, IN)
POET Biorefining (Big Stone City, SD)
POET Biorefining (Bingham Lake, MN)
POET Biorefining (Caro, MI)
POET Biorefining (Coon Rapids, IA)
POET Biorefining (Corning, IA)
POET Biorefining (Glenville, MN)
POET Biorefining (Gowrie, IA)
POET Biorefining (Groton, SD)
POET Biorefining (Hanlontown, IA)
POET Biorefining (Hudson, SD)
POET Biorefining (Jewell, IA)
POET Biorefining (Lake Crystal, MN)
POET Biorefining (Leipsic, OH)
POET Biorefining (Macon, MO)
POET Biorefining (Mitchell, SD)
POET Biorefining (North Manchester, IN)
POET Ethanol Products
Prairie Horizon Agri-Energy (Phillipsburg, KS)
Prime BioSolutions (Omaha, NE)
PRIME BioSolutions, LLC (Omaha, NE)
Redfield Energy, LLC (Redfield, SD)
Renewable Fuels Association
RenewE85, LLC (Oshkosh, WI)
Renova Energy (Boise, ID)
Rocky Mountain Farmers Union
Siouxland Energy and Livestock Cooperative (Sioux Center, IA)
South Dakota Corn Growers Association
South Dakota Ethanol Producers Association
South Dakota Farm Bureau
South Dakota Farmers Union
Southern Pump and Tank Company
Texas Farmers Union
Tharaldson Ethanol (Casselton, ND)
The Anderson, Inc.
TJ Technologies
Utah Farmers Union
Utica Energy (Oshkosh, WI)
Vertical Software, Inc. (Bartonville, IL)
Western Ethanol Company, LLC (Placentia, CA)
Western New York Energy, LLC (Medina, NY)
Western Plains Energy (Oakley, KS)
White Energy (Russell, KS)
White Energy, Inc. (Dallas, TX)
Wisconsin Bio Industry Alliance
Wisconsin Corn Growers Association
Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association
Women Involved in Farm Economics
Worley & Obetz, Inc (Strasburg, PA)
25x25

Biodiesel Completes Capitol Christmas Tree Journey
Posted by John Davis

Tuesday, December 8th was a magical time in Washington, D.C., as the Capitol Christmas Tree was officially lit.

The National Biodiesel Board points out that the 85-foot blue spruce made the 4,000-mile cross-country trip from Arizona to the nation’s capital on a truck fueled with biodiesel … a first for the tradition of the Capitol Christmas Tree that goes back to 1964:

Two diesel trucks running on B5 (a 5 percent biodiesel fuel mix) were part of a caravan carrying the approximately 125-year-old tree from the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest.

“It is significant that the Capitol Christmas Tree was delivered with biodiesel because economic development, carbon reduction, and energy security continue to dominate national priorities,” said Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board. “Biodiesel helps us achieve all of those things.”

The trucks carrying the tree and its accompanying 10,000 handmade ornaments and 80 companion trees that will be placed in offices throughout the Capitol Complex made their way across country, using the BioTrucker system going from biodiesel station to biodiesel station to pick up donated biodiesel along the way.

Today we received a letter from EPA on our waiver request. The letter is straightforward, and encouraging. It sends the best possible signal that the agency is prepared to grant our request and raise the permitted amount of ethanol blended into gasoline from 10 percent to 15 percent. This will significantly increase demand for ethanol in this country, putting idled plants back into production and drawing new capital investment into cellulosic ethanol.

A copy of the letter is available as an Adobe pdf file here

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday it wants more tests to determine if car engines can handle higher concentrations of ethanol in gasoline before it decides whether to increase the maximum blend from 10 to 15 percent.
Still, the agency appeared to be favoring a higher ethanol concentration in gasoline, saying that the congressional mandate for increased ethanol use can't be achieved without allowing higher blends of the renewable fuel, most of which comes from corn.

The EPA, in a letter to a pro-ethanol group, said it expects to decide by June whether to raise the concentration and is inclined to do so if the limited, positive test results conducted so far are borne out by additional tests being done by the Energy Department.

The ethanol industry has maintained there is sufficient evidence to show that a 15 percent ethanol blend in motor fuel will not harm the performance of car engines. But the refining industry, small engine manufacturers and some environmental groups have argued against an increase, saying more testing is needed.

"Although all of the studies have not been completed, our engineering assessment to date indicates that the robust fuel, engine and emissions control systems on newer vehicles (2001 or later models) will likely be able to accommodate higher ethanol blends," the agency said in the letter to Growth Energy, a pro-ethanol lobbying group.

But EPA Assistant Administrator Gina McCarthy emphasized the agency wants more cars tested to confirm the initial assessments. "We want to make sure we have all necessary science to make the right decision," McCarthy wrote.
Wesley Clark, Growth Energy's co-chairman said the EPA letter was "a strong signal" that the agency is preparing to adopt a 15 percent, or E15, ethanol blend. The group had petitioned the EPA to increase the maximum concentrations and, by law, the agency had to formally respond by Dec. 1.

Congress has mandated sharp increases in ethanol use, requiring refiners to blend 12.9 billion gallons of biofuels in 2010, of which 12 billion gallons would be ethanol. The mandate soars to 36 billion gallons, mostly ethanol, by 2022.
To meet those requirements "it is clear that ethanol will need to be blended into gasoline at levels greater than the current limit of 10 percent," acknowledged the EPA.

Ethanol content in gasoline varies from none at all in some parts of the country to as much as 85 percent for fuel blended to be used in so-called flex-fuel vehicles. About 80 percent of the gasoline sold in the United States contains some amount of ethanol, most of it in concentrations of 10 percent or less for use in conventional vehicles.

But with gasoline demand declining because of the sagging economy and the wider use of more fuel efficient cars, "we're rapidly approaching the ethanol blend wall" that would make it difficult to achieve the mandates for ethanol use without higher concentrations, said Matt Hartwig, a spokesman for the Renewable Fuels Association.
Hartwig said the ethanol industry was disappointed that the EPA did not at least boost the blend cap from 10 to 12 percent as an interim step.

An increase in the cap is a way to boost ethanol demand and would give an economic boost to the ethanol industry. While the industry's capacity has grown to just under 12 billion gallons a year, about 1.3 billion gallons of that capacity has been idle, Hartwig said.

Opponents to increasing the blend ceiling include manufactures of smaller engines — used in everything from lawn mowers to boats — because they say those engines are not designed to use higher concentrations of the renewable fuel.
"No recreational marine engines, fuel systems or boats are currently designed, calibrated or warranted to run on any fuel with more than 10 percent ethanol," said a statement by the National Marine Manufacturers Association, urging more engine testing.

Mat Dunn, the group's legislative director, said an attempt by EPA to approve different ethanol concentration for different gasoline uses "would lead to a myriad of misfueling, liability and consumer safety issues" and cause the price of fuel to increase.

The EPA said that long-term tests conducted on two vehicles showed no adverse performance impact from a 15 percent ethanol blend, but that the Energy Department is expected to complete tests on 19 additional vehicles by next August.
"Should the (additional) test results remain supportive and provide the necessary basis, we would be in a position to approve E15 for 2001 and newer vehicles in the midyear timeframe," McCarthy said in the letter to Growth Energy.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Frustration over EPA’s delay on E15 decision

December 1, 2009 by Ken Anderson
Filed under Events/Organizations, News, Top Stories, USDA/Government

Disappointed and frustrated.

That’s how many are reacting to the EPA’s delay on its decision to raise the ethanol blend rate from 10 to 15 percent. Many groups contend the move is long overdue.
The EPA announced Tuesday that it was still conducting tests on E15. And while the agency hinted that it is leaning towards approving the higher blend, it also indicated a decision would not come until at least June of next year.

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) blasted the EPA for postponing the decision. “This delay from EPA threatens to paralyze, essentially, the continued growth of America’s ethanol industry because of its decision to overanalyze this issue,” says RFA spokesman Matt Hartwig.Hartwig says the EPA should have approved an intermediate ethanol blend, such as E12, while it finishes it testing on E15.

Also expressing disappointment was Monte Shaw of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. “While they did send some positive signals out there and I don’t want to minimize those, we are disappointed,” Shaw says. “We feel that there’s a mountain of scientific evidence that clearly indicated they could have approved E15 today.”

Bill Chase, president of the South Dakota Corn Growers Association, says he was hoping for a positive decision on E15 or something close to it. “The fact that they’re going to go back and study it some more disappoints us,” says Chase, “but, on the other hand, they didn’t say no.”

Adopting a “glass-half-full” attitude about the EPA announcement was Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy. Buis says he was pleased with “the certainty that we’re going to have a firm decision by the middle of next year” and “EPA’s acknowledgement that the tests thus far are very positive for moving to E15.”

Growth Energy was the organization that filed the E15 waiver request with EPA earlier this year. Buis calls EPA’s announcement “a strong signal” that the raising of the so-called blend wall is imminent.

Ron Lamberty of the American Coaltion for Ethanol, says although they would have like the E15 waiver approved, the decision is still forward progress.
“You know, they were supposed to make a decision and (they)kicked the can down the road a little further—so that’s disappointing,” says Lamberty. “We’re confident that in the long run they’re going to find out what a lot of people who have put this stuff in their own cars have figured out—and that’s E15 and even E20 and E30—I think ultimately they’ll figure out that that’s the way to go.”

Also expressing disappointment was Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns. Johanns says the continued delays are part of what he calls “a troubling pattern that calls into question this administration’s commitment to our nation’s growing renewable fuels industry.”

Illinois Corn Growers President Rob Elliott isn’t surprised by the EPA putting off their decision on whether to raise the allowable ethanol blend rate in gasoline from 10 percent to 15 percent. Elliott says he anticipated that further research would be needed to support a boost in the ethanol blend. However, he’s disappointed that EPA did not announce a slightly higher blend in the meantime.

“There were indications by many that EPA might offer 12 or 13 percent as kind of an interim while they gathered the final information, with 12 or 13 being what they call substantially similar to E-10,” Elliott said from his combine cab during an interview with Brownfield. “Obviously they chose not to; we’ll wait and find out and see where they go in the next go-around, I guess.”

He says allowing a 12 or 13 percent ethanol blend would be an immediate, no-cost stimulus package to the economy. Elliott is currently in the middle of gathering a late but plentiful corn harvest.

“We’ve proven that we can provide enough for food, feed, fuel and the export market, so we welcome the opportunity to add to that E-10 blend and upwards toward E-15,” said Elliott.

Disappointment aside, Elliott’s pleased with EPA’s acknowledgement that a full review of science is an important part of their decision making process.

Brownfield’s Tom Steever and Jody Heemstra-KWAT also contributed to this story.

Ethanol from winter barley generates useful byproducts
by Lisa Gibson

Report posted Nov. 24, 2009, at 1:39 p.m. CST

In the process of developing winter barley as an ethanol feedstock, the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Eastern Regional Research Center, Wyndmoor, Pa., and its partners realized that biomass byproducts generated in the process can be used to manufacture biomass-derived fuels and coproducts.

The resulting barley straw, hulls and the ethanol coproduct distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) can be used to make bio-oil and biochar through pyrolysis, according to Kevin Hicks, research leader at the Crop Conversion Science & Engineering Research Unit at the ERRC. The bio-oil can be used as boiler fuel today, and with some improvements, could someday be used by petroleum refineries to make drop-in transportation fuels such as green gasoline and diesel, according to Akwasi Boateng, ERRC pyrolysis team leader. Biochar is a carbon-rich product that can be used to improve soil fertility and to sequester carbon in the soil.

Barley hulls and straw are fairly low-value feedstocks and their conversion to bio-oil and biochar is a win-win situation, Hicks said. Although DDGS is an animal feed ingredient, it occasionally may contain mycotoxins that would preclude that use, and under those circumstances, it can be used for other purposes, according to Hicks. An article about the work, written by ERRC Associate Researcher Charles Mullen and other co-authors, is published in the current issue of the Energy & Fuels, an American Chemical Society journal.

Only liter quantities of bio-oil are being produced now for testing, Hicks said, and its stability and quality need to be improved before it can be used widely. Small amounts of biochar are being produced around the world from fast pyrolysis and are being used for agronomic studies, including at the ARS. The market for biochar is developing and could become significant depending on what type of climate legislation is passed in the U.S., he said. “If farmers in the future can make money by sequestering carbon, the value of biochar would increase accordingly,” he said. “If agronomic studies show positive impact on soil fertility and if use of biochar also sequesters carbon effectively, we expect much more biochar will be produced in the future,” he said.

The barley-to-ethanol production project was a collaboration among ERRC, Virginia Tech, Genencor/Danisco and Osage Bio Energy, Glen Elen, Va. The winter barley used was produced by traditional breeding at Virginia Tech and the country’s first winter barley ethanol plant is being developed by Osage Bio Energy in Hopewell, Va., called Appomattox Bio Energy. Osage has formed a partnership with Perdue AgriBusiness to supply barley from local growers and the plant will begin operation next spring, requiring between 20 million and 30 million bushels per year, Hicks said.

“So, if we are successful with our pyrolysis initiative, we will have helped create a sustainable agricultural industry based upon barley for production of ethanol and DDGS, but also green gasoline and diesel, and biochar,” he said. East coast farmers will be able to grow the winter crop along with summer crops they already grow, avoiding competition with food production, he added. In addition, they can sell their barley straw to be converted to bio-oil and biochar soil amendments. The barley ethanol plant could also sell its hulls to a pyrolysis facility and will have a market for its nonfeed grade DDGS. “Everybody wins,” he said.
© 2009 BBI International