by Doug Durante (Clean Fuels Development Coalition/South Dakota Farmers Union) ... While almost all gasoline now contains 10 percent ethanol, we are easily producing enough that the base gasoline in the United States could absorb at least 12-15 percent. And, if
oxygenate
Back TO HOMEBiofuels Timeline Reveals 'Incredible Accomplishment'
by Noah Fish (Echo Press) The biofuels industry has made incredible strides since Michael McAdams joined the sector in 1978. McAdams, president of the Advanced Biofuels Association (ABFA), manages the voice in the U.S. capital for the advanced biofuels industry. ... In an interview
April 19, 2023 Read Full Article
Ethanol: In Case We've Forgotten Why Ethanol is a Really Good Fuel for Internal Combustion Engines
by Bob Kozak (Atlantic Biomass/Advanced Biofuels USA) Formula 1, Indianappolis 500, and International Sports Car Championships use high volume renewable ethanol fuels. Do they know something we should know? Does ethanol "work" better as as a fuel? Does it help an
April 05, 2023 Read Full Article
USGC: Study Showcases Ethanol’s Advantages in Various Countries
(U.S. Grains Council/Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. Grains Council recently partnered with Turner, Mason & Company (TM&C), a leading energy research and consulting firm, to conduct the Fuel Ethanol Cost-Benefit Analysis Study, quantifying the economic and strategic benefits of blending ethanol in
March 27, 2023 Read Full Article
Nigeria Fuel Ethanol Cost Benefit Analysis Study
(Turner Mason and Company/U.S. Grains Council) There is only one grade of gasoline in Nigeria, a 91 RON regular. The gasoline is generally supplied from refineries in Western Europe and tankered to Nigeria. Nigeria has eight domestic refineries, four larger
March 08, 2023 Read Full Article
Energies' Special Issue "Hydrothermal Liquefaction for Aviation and Maritime Sustainable Fuels"
(Energies) ... Aviation and maritime, key components of the transport fuel area, will thus be pillars of future sustainable energy scenarios and thus prioritized in policymaking, being the most difficult sectors to electrify. These applications, however, present very peculiar and different technological
January 11, 2022 Read Full Article
A Rebuttal to DeCicco: Use Locally Produced Renewable Energy
(Owatonna People's Press/Renewable Fuels Association) The author claims that the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) was enacted in the wake of 9/11. That is not true. The RFS was enacted after the petroleum industry was unsuccessful in getting Congress to protect the
January 05, 2022 Read Full Article
New Study Demonstrates Ethanol Blend Compatibility of Vehicles Around the World
(U.S. Grains Council/GrainNet) A new study conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is out now that shows all vehicles in the study countries are highly likely to be compatible with E10. Motorcycles and scooters similarly analyzed in India and Indonesia have full compatibility with
November 12, 2021 Read Full Article
Biofuels, the World’s Energy Past and Future
by Mario Osava (Inter Press Service) The biofuel from this mini biogas power plant in the municipality of Entre Rios do Oeste, in the southern Brazilian state of Paraná, is supplied by local pig farmers, who earn extra income while
November 11, 2021 Read Full Article
What Is E85 Gas and Should You Use It?
by Andy Jensen (Advanced Auto Parts) ... E85 is widely available, an affordable alternative for many popular vehicles. Here's why you should take another look at ethanol. ... E85 is a gasoline and ethanol blend, much like your regular gas. If you
October 22, 2021 Read Full Article
USGC Showcases Ethanol’s Role in Fuel Decarbonization Policies
(U.S. Grains Council/Ethanol Producer Magazine) A shifting fuel standard in Australia could allow a larger role for ethanol in that market. To better understand the changes, the U.S. Grains Council’s Southeast Asia office presented “Ethanol: Decarbonization of Transport Fuel in the
September 25, 2021 Read Full Article
The Fuel Economy Rule: An EPA That Won’t See, Hear, or Speak to the Facts
by Doug Durante (Clean Fuels Development Coalition/Biofuels Digest) The release of the highly anticipated revision of the Safe Affordable Fuel Efficient Vehicle (SAFE) proposed rule this month was, for the biofuels industry, yet another poke in the eye as the EPA
August 26, 2021 Read Full Article
Readers Write: Ethanol, ... Critical Thinking: No Need to Be Bound to Petroleum.
by Kirk Cobb (Star Tribune) Thanks to Jim O'Connor and Tim Waibel for their letter about the future of ethanol ("Products change, but corn endures," Readers Write, June 12). But they shouldn't sell themselves short! Ethanol was the first really
June 17, 2021 Read Full Article
LETTER: Ethanol Actually Saves Consumers Money at the Pump
by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association/Las Vegas Review-Journal) In response to your May 23 editorial: The increased use of ethanol resulting from the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act has lowered — not increased — prices at the pump for American
June 01, 2021 Read Full Article
Green Nanochem for Biofuels and Batteries: The Digest’s 2021 Multi-Slide Guide to Sylvatex
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Energy and transportation sectors need renewable solutions, and Sylvatex is using green nanochemistry to turn renewable feedstocks into sustainable solutions for the $2+ trillion market. What is their proprietary tech MicroX? How does it turn renewable
March 29, 2021 Read Full Article
Big News for the Big Heavy: As Renewable Diesel Surges, HONEYWELL UOP Dials up a One-Step Process to Collapse Capex
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) There’s news from Planet Honeywell UOP, that they’ve achieved a one-step conversion to renewable diesel for selected feedstocks. It’s notable for two reasons. First, it reduces the capex for certain eligible feedstocks — right now, think quality
February 10, 2021 Read Full Article
EPA Delivers Final Fuels Regulatory Streamlining Rule to OMB
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. EPA released a proposed rule on April 13 that aims to streamline and modernize the agency’s existing fuels regulations. In the rulemaking, the EPA said it is proposing “some slight modifications to
September 22, 2020 Read Full Article
Fugitive Methane, Eating Elephants, and Brewing Quarantine Ethanol
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... We left the discussion with a hint about the potential conversion of methane to methanol, which can serve as a powerful chemical building block or, in China most prominently, as a fuel. We’ll pick up from that
June 11, 2020 Read Full Article
Wheels Keep Turning on Innovations for More Efficient and Clean Vehicles
(Department of Energy) While approximately 30% of today’s new cars can boast fuel economy of at least 30 miles per gallon, there is still the opportunity for further efficiency gains. Top scientists, engineers, and analysts with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Co-Optimization
June 03, 2020 Read Full Article
PODCAST: Ethanol: The Future of the Fuel Industry, with RFA's Bob Dinneen and NCGA's Mark Palmer
(National Corn Growers Association) This may be a tumultuous time for corn farmers and ethanol producers. But then again, the ethanol industry's entire history has been a roller coaster ride. In this episode, NCGA CEO Jon Doggett revisits the battles that got us
April 17, 2020 Read Full Article
EPA Releases Proposal to Streamline Existing Fuels Regulations
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. EPA released a proposed rule on April 13 that aims to streamline and modernize the agency’s existing fuels regulations. In the rulemaking, the EPA said it is proposing “some slight modifications to the
April 14, 2020 Read Full Article
Mexico's Supreme Court Rules against Hiking Ethanol Fuel Content
by David Alire Garcia and Sharay Angulo (Reuters) The Mexican Supreme Court ruled against the modification of a fuel rule on Wednesday that would have allowed higher ethanol content in gasoline, similar to content rules in the United States, arguing that
January 16, 2020 Read Full Article
Research Yields Potential Bioblendstock for Diesel Fuel
(National Renewable Energy Laboratory/Phys.Org) The NREL scientists, along with colleagues at Yale University, Argonne National Laboratory, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, are part of the Department of Energy's Co-Optimization of Fuels & Engines (Co-Optima) initiative. Co-Optima's research focuses on improving
December 19, 2019 Read Full Article
Alternative Oxygenate Effects on Emissions
(Urban Air Institute) The Urban Air Initiative (UAI) would like to thank the Coordinated Research Council (CRC) for its recent study that shows simply adding an oxygenate lowers tailpipe emissions. This recent CRC study, Report No. E-129, titled ALTERNATIVE OXYGENATE EFFECTS ON EMISSIONS,
July 01, 2019 Read Full Article
Catalysis Rocking: The Digest’s 2018 Multi-Slide Guide to ChemCatBio
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ChemCatBio is a research and development consortium dedicated to identifying and overcoming catalysis challenges for biomass conversion processes. Led by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories, we work with industry to rapidly transition R&D discoveries
December 26, 2018 Read Full Article
Biodiesel By-Product Helps Fuel Come Clean
(King Abdullah University of Science and Technology/Phys.org) ... This work on glycerol carbonate also supports Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 initiative, which aims to diversify the Kingdom's economy from its current reliance on the oil industry. (Binod) Giri explains that this research
December 05, 2018 Read Full Article
RFA President Says February Not Soon Enough for E15 Rulemaking
(WNAX) This week, the Environmental Protection Agency published its rule making agenda for 2019 and in it said they’’ll start the rulemaking process for year-round use of E15 in February of next year. Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper
October 22, 2018 Read Full Article
Making Crude Oil from Paper Pulp? Vertoro Creates This ‘Green Gold’
by Olga Koltsova (Innovation Origins) Vertoro is Spanish for “Green Gold“. The founders clearly had their end product in mind when they started thinking of a brand name. Vertoro, a spin-off from The Chemelot Institute for Science & Technology (InSciTe), valorises the technology of
August 09, 2018 Read Full Article
USGC Explores Potential Ethanol Demand in Chile and Argentina
(U.S. Grains Council/Ethanol Producer Magazine) Increased global bioethanol use is only a well-constructed policy decision away in markets like Argentina and Chile. The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) traveled to both countries in June to investigate their existing ethanol markets and discover
August 06, 2018 Read Full Article
Mexican Court Overturns Ethanol Blending Injunction
by Josh Pedrick (Platts) A federal tribunal in Mexico Thursday overturned an injunction blocking ethanol blending from climbing to 10% from 5.8%, two sources connected to the case told S&P Global Platts. "Effectively, today the collegiate court decided to revoke the suspension,"
June 15, 2018 Read Full Article
Isobutanol: Now on the Radar for USA COMMENTS DUE April 30, 2018
by Jess Hewitt (Biofuels Digest/Lee Enterprises Consulting) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has opened a comment period for the registration of the use of Isobutanol in gasoline. Why is this important? Because since the states banning of the use of MTBE
April 30, 2018 Read Full Article
Partners in Production--Chemical Companies Are Developing Technologies that Would Create New Market Opportunities for the Ethanol Industry
by Tim Albrecht (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The ethanol industry has polished its coproduction of distillers grains. Now, a handful of companies have found different uses for DDGS, or ethanol itself, that can provide new value-added coproducts for the industry. Ethanol is flexible
April 20, 2018 Read Full Article
Ethanol Market Development Organizations Applaud Japan Policy Shift To Allow Use Of U.S. Ethanol
(U.S. Grains Council) The U.S. Grains Council (USGC), the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), Growth Energy and their member organizations welcome the news Tuesday that the Japanese government’s new biofuel policy will allow imports of ETBE made from U.S. corn-based ethanol. “The U.S.
April 18, 2018 Read Full Article
Enerkem Makes a Major Breakthrough by Producing a New High-Octane Biofuel
(Enerkem/Oil and Gas 360/PR Newswire) Enerkem Inc., a world-leading waste-to-biofuels and chemicals producer, announced today during the 255th American Chemical Society national meeting being held in New Orleans, that it had succeeded in producing a new high-performance biofuel that could improve the octane rating
March 22, 2018 Read Full Article
Council Assesses Ethanol Market Potential In UAE, Pakistan
(U.S. Grains Council) The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) recently undertook a market assessment mission to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Pakistan to analyze the ethanol demand potential in both countries and engage with policymakers and industrial officials. This in-country assessment followed
February 17, 2018 Read Full Article
Top Trends in 7 Key Latin America Hotspots
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In a striking pledge made in the latter part of 2016. 20 Latin American countries promised to promote biofuel production and use, with the support of development finance institutions. That was then, this is now. What’s happening towards
December 28, 2017 Read Full Article
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"If our gasoline composition is right then ethanol can work," said Alfonso Martinez, undersecretary of protection of the environment and natural resources in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, in a phone interview with S&P Global Platts. "We have nothing against ethanol, we
November 28, 2017 Read Full Article
Feature: Mexican Ethanol Optimism Returns after States Ask for Ban Repeal
by Josh Pedrick (Platts) The Mexican ethanol market could have more room to grow as the states of Nuevo Leon and Jalisco have asked for a repeal of a ban on ethanol blending in their principal cities of Monterrey and Guadalajara, respectively. ... Mexico
November 28, 2017 Read Full Article
Feature: Mexican Ethanol Blending Faces Legal Hurdles Following Injunction
by Josh Pedrick and Silvia Struthers (Platts) A future that once looked rosy for climbing ethanol blends with gasoline in Mexico could be in jeopardy as legal challenges to a new fuel regulation have found traction in court. A Mexican federal judge has issued
October 24, 2017 Read Full Article
Can The Corn Ethanol Lobby Win In Mexico, Too?
by David Blackmon (Forbes) ... The elimination in the U.S. of the use of MTBE as a gasoline oxygenation agent by the EPA was a big factor in the initial turn to ethanol .... ... Taking advantage of major changes to the country’s energy
September 26, 2017 Read Full Article
EPA Extends a Waiver on Motor Fuel Contents to Apply Nationwide, Not Just to Texas
by Steven Mufson (The Washington Post) Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt on Wednesday expanded the scope of an emergency waiver of Clean Air Act restrictions on motor fuel requirements, saying the waiver would apply not only to Texas but
August 31, 2017 Read Full Article
Behind the Battle for Octane
by Denton Cinquegrana (Oil Price Information Service(OPIS)) What you need to know as the refining, agricultural and auto industries gear up to vie for their piece of a multi-billion-dollar market -- Premium gasoline has clearly become a sought-after commodity for U.S.
August 22, 2017 Read Full Article
Corn Farmers, Biofuels Have More to Offer
by Mark Sponsler (Colorado Corn/Journal-Advocate) ... Oxygenating gasoline is required under Clean Air Act amendments, and ethanol — with its clean-burning qualities — has long been regarded as the best additive for that. For years, adding 10 percent ethanol to gasoline
July 20, 2017 Read Full Article
Mexico Biofuel Regs Favor US Imports: Industry
(Argus Media) Mexico's recently approved increase in allowable ethanol content in gasoline to 10pc could boost US gasoline imports over domestic ethanol production, some Mexican companies say. The increase initiated last month in the allowable ethanol blend from 5.8pc seemed good news
July 07, 2017 Read Full Article
Nano-Scale Encapsulation: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to Sylvatex
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Sylvatex has the potential to be a breakout star. One application of its technology splash blends a fuel additive called MicroX into diesel or biodiesel, at blend rates expected to be around 10 percent (although it
July 04, 2017 Read Full Article
E15 Biofuel in NASCAR and Spreading across the Country
by Erin Kidd (Independent Tribune) When Austin Dillon crossed the finish line and made his way to Victory Lane at the Coca-Cola 600, there were smiles from all of his supporters and probably from Dr. Andy Randolph, technical director of
June 30, 2017 Read Full Article
E10 Triumphs in France, Ethanol Demand Rises
(Argus Media) E10 is about to be crowned the biggest selling gasoline grade in France in early 2017, following an imminent data revision by the industry. French ethanol consumption rose in the first quarter of this year, compared with the same
May 09, 2017 Read Full Article
Is Ethanol Worth the Fight?
by Tim Snyder (Equities.com/Crudefunders) ... With that in mind, we decided to break down the question of, “Is it worth it?” into four parts: price benefits, reduction of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), oxygenate replacement and green fuel alternatives. ... Ethanol was introduced in 2006, into
May 01, 2017 Read Full Article
GUEST COLUMN: Corn Farmers Deserve to Be a Part of Earth Day's Celebrations
by Mike Lefever (The Gazette) ... Corn producers belong at the table of these discussions and have much to be proud of, in that they - along with the rest of agriculture - are continually meeting the world's demands for more food,
April 25, 2017 Read Full Article
Economists: Octane Premium Offsets Ethanol Energy Penalty
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Ethanol critics bash the fuel for its lower energy value than gasoline, while ethanol supporters point to its octane-boosting properties. University of Illinois ag economists Scott Irwin and Darrel Good analyze the value
March 20, 2017 Read Full Article
A California Company Develops Nanotechnology Combining Ethanol with Corn Oil for a New Blendstock that Reduces Diesel Emissions
by Debbie Sniderman (Ethanol Producer Magazine/VI Ventures LLC) One of the biggest technology upgrades for the ethanol industry in the past decade has been corn oil extraction. If Virginia Klausmeier and the team she leads at Sylvatex have their way, the
November 21, 2016 Read Full Article
Q&A: Alcogroup Says Ethanol Is Key to GHG Targets
(Argus Media) Belgium-based ethanol producer Alcogroup's chief executive Charles-Albert Peers spoke to Argus about near-term prospects for the European ethanol market following the introduction of gasoline with a maximum blended volume of 10pc ethanol (E10) in Belgium in 2017, and
November 18, 2016 Read Full Article
USGC Study: U.S. Corn Ethanol Can Assist Japan In Reaching Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets
(U.S. Grains Council) A recently released U.S. Grains Council (USGC) study finds that a significant portion of U.S.-produced corn ethanol will likely meet Japan's 50 percent greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction threshold over gasoline, supporting the case for that fuel's competitiveness
October 21, 2016 Read Full Article
Isobutanol: A New Product from Revamped Ethanol Plants
by Jess Hewitt and KSL (Lee Enterprises Consulting/Biofuels Digest) ... Now, there is also competition for production between renewable fuels. Ethanol plants can produce fuel ethanol but they can also be retrofitted or become the host facility to produce
September 29, 2016 Read Full Article
Export Exchange 2016 Presents Great Opportunity
by Bob Dinneen (Renewable Fuels Association) The Export Exchange 2016 is essential. It brings together international buyers and end users of coarse grains and other products, including DDGS, with U.S. suppliers and agribusiness representatives. -- The export market continues to
September 21, 2016 Read Full Article
Mexico to Ban Gasoline Oxygenated with Ethanol in Three Urban Centers
By Ana Isabel Martinez (Reuters Africa) Mexico will ban the sale of gasoline oxygenated with ethanol beginning in late October in three major urban centers as part of a push to combat the worst pollution in over a decade due
August 25, 2016 Read Full Article
Vertically-Integrated Ethanol Producer, and More: The Digest’s 2016 Multi-Slide Guide to Green Plains
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Green Plains is a vertically-integrated ethanol producer based in Omaha, Nebraska. They currently have an ethanol production capacity of approximately 1.5 billion gallons per year with 17 plants located in Nebraska; Indiana; Minnesota; Iowa; Tennessee;
August 24, 2016 Read Full Article
Reflections on What Could Have Been
by Ray Defenbaugh (Urban Air Initiative/Big River Resources/Ethanol Producer Magazine) Ah, summertime ..., and the livin' is easy, as the song says. But if not for the U.S. EPA, it could have been even easier. Easier on our customers, easier on
August 16, 2016 Read Full Article
Renewable Gasoline, Solvents, and Fuel Additives from 2,3-Butanediol: New Research
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In California, a US Navy research team at China Lake led by Ben Harvey reported that 2,3-Butanediol, which has received a significant amount of interest based on the ability to generate it at much higher titer
August 15, 2016 Read Full Article
Letter: Don’t Believe Scare Tactics against Vehicular Use of Ethanol
by Robert Miller (TC Palm) ... The oil industry doesn't want ethanol to go away, but it doesn't want to give up any more market. It needs the low-cost oxygenate as refineries have been retooled to run more profitably by producing a
June 27, 2016 Read Full Article
Guest Opinion: Misinformation Hurts Ethanol's Place at Pump
by Mike Lefever (Post Independent/Citizen Telegram) ... In the end, though, I hope your take away is the same as mine; there’s a place at the pump for ethanol, petroleum and other fuels. We just don’t want ethanol to lose its place
June 06, 2016 Read Full Article
Why Ethanol in Gasoline Remains a Good Idea
by John M. Urbanchuk (The Intelligencer) I am writing in response to Andrew Mikula's May 13 letter ("With oil now plentiful, why the need for ethanol in gasoline?"). Several points come to mind. Ethanol has several characteristics that make it an ideal
May 19, 2016 Read Full Article
BREAKING: High Court Turns Away Exxon's Challenge To $236M MTBE Verdict
by Keith Goldberg (Law 360) The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to review a $236 million trial judgment against ExxonMobil Corp. in a groundwater contamination case in New Hampshire, leaving in place a verdict the energy giant claims is a violation
May 16, 2016 Read Full Article
ECO:nomics: Koch Industries' Ethanol Business
(Wall Street Journal) Koch Industries’ Director of Environmental, Health and Safety Sheryl Corrigan talks about Koch’s involvement in the ethanol business and its’ campaign against some of the subsidies that it benefits from. She speaks at the 2016 ECO:nomics conference.
April 11, 2016 Read Full Article
Ethanol Keeps Gasoline Prices Down
by Fred Yoder (The Columbus Dispatch/Ohio Corn and Wheat Growers Association) When the original renewable fuel standard was passed in 2005, gasoline manufacturers were under heavy pressure to do something about the contamination of thousands of groundwater sources from using methyl
February 29, 2016 Read Full Article
Let's Give Credit Where It's Due
by Kenneth Riffle (Salina Journal) Opinion: ... Ethanol utilized as an oxygenate in blended gasoline helps control carbon monoxide emissions. As an economic driver, ethanol has strengthened rural communities by adding value to agricultural production. If adhered to, the ethanol incentive model
January 25, 2016 Read Full Article
Export Markets for ‘Liquid Corn’
by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Global trade for U.S. ethanol has been trending up in the past decade, becoming an important part of the industry’s growth strategy. -- Looking at the numbers, it doesn’t take long to conclude that
January 22, 2016 Read Full Article
Solvents, Plasticizers, Coalescers, Emollients: The Digest’s 2015 8-Slide Guide to xF Technologies
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) xF Technologies Inc. is an Albuquerque, NM based company that has developed a thermochemical process to convert biomass into an advanced oxygenate that is compatible with gasoline, diesel and heating oil. xF Technologies plans to
December 15, 2015 Read Full Article
EPA Review Raises Alarm in Maine over Potential Increase of Ethanol in Gasoline
by Whit Richardson (Portland Press Herald) Critics say the change would cost drivers, farmers, fuel sellers and small-engine equipment owners. ... But that report is clearly politically motivated to sway the EPA’s decision and its conclusions are unreliable, said Jonathan
November 23, 2015 Read Full Article
EPA More Enemy than Ally to Ethanol
by Mike Bryan (Ethanol Producer Magazine) There is a long history of antagonism and sometimes outward hostility by the EPA toward ethanol, writes Mike Bryan. -- Most of us find it strange and frustrating that we are continually at loggerheads with
August 20, 2015 Read Full Article
Shedding Light on U.S. Biofuels: The 'Food versus Fuel' Debate
by Stephanie Mercier (Ag Web) The U.S. biofuels sector marks its birth back in 1979, when Congress established a blender’s credit for ethanol as the earliest piece of federal biofuel policy as part of the Energy Tax Act of 1978 as
August 17, 2015 Read Full Article
Celebrating a Decade of Success: The RFS Turns 10!
(Renewable Fuels Association) This Saturday marks 10 years since the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) containing the original Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) was signed into law by President George W. Bush. The first RFS set America on a path
August 10, 2015 Read Full Article
USGC: Ethanol Can Improve China’s Air, Water Quality
(U.S. Grains Council/Ethanol Producer Magazine) A U.S. Grains Council mission including U.S. environmental and public health specialists recently traveled to China to discuss how air and water quality in that country could be improved through the use of ethanol in the
August 03, 2015 Read Full Article
Up with Octane and Down with Aromatics: Continuing Health Risks with Petroleum Fuels and the Need for Engine Efficiency
by Bill Brandon (Leaders in Energy) Our country has seen many transitions in travel technologies and fuels. In the first installment I reviewed our transition from 1) barley and oats for our horses and mules to high carbohydrate corn for
June 25, 2015 Read Full Article
Building Markets for Ethanol Exports
by Cindy Zimmerman (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Expanding export markets for U.S. ethanol was the focus last month as a group of industry representatives to Mexico and Japan on trade missions coordinated through a partnership between the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA),
June 19, 2015 Read Full Article
Cellulosic Ethanol Is Getting a Big Boost from Corn, for Now
by Ryan Fitzpatrick (Third Way) Cellulosic fuels offer economic, environmental, and national security benefits, but scaling-up the technology has proven difficult and costly. Companies with an extensive background in the corn ethanol industry are cracking the cellulosic code, with projects that
April 06, 2015 Read Full Article
Visalia-Based Edeniq Engineering Ethanol’s Future
by George Lurie (The Business Journal NOW) ... Lower oil prices, (Brian) Thome (president and CEO of Edeniq) said, translate into “lower prices for ethanol too. That means margins for ethanol producers will be squeezed” — a scenario that plays right into
March 03, 2015 Read Full Article
The Big Move: The Leap from First-Gen to Next-Gen Biofuels Companies, How Does It Happen?
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) How does the biofuels industry move from its roots in first-gen corn starch or cane sugar fermentation towards diversified products, more capacity and distribution, and new inputs like cellulosics? How are the economics now — and
February 09, 2015 Read Full Article
Fuel Summit Reflects on Lack of RFS, Options for Expansion
by Gene Lucht (Iowa Farmer Today) Government uncertainty and low oil prices pose the biggest challenges to the ethanol and biodiesel markets in 2015, according to speakers at last week’s Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit. ... The 10 percent ethanol blend known as
February 08, 2015 Read Full Article
Biofuel Facts for the Road: The Energy Department and Your Gasoline Pump
by Alicia Moulton (US Department of Energy) Going “over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house” this holiday season could require a significant amount of gasoline if you’re traveling by car. Before you hit the road to visit relatives
December 18, 2014 Read Full Article
Report: Increased Ethanol Drops Energy Content of Gas
by Christopher Doering (Des Moines Register) The growing use of ethanol in the country's gasoline supply has reduced the average energy content of a gallon of gasoline by about 3 percent during the last two decades, the government said Monday. The
October 29, 2014 Read Full Article
The Economic Competitiveness of U.S. Ethanol
by John M. Urbanchuk (ABF Economics/Renewable Fuels Association) ... Reflecting this enhanced competitiveness and maturation, ethanol prices (both FOB plant and delivered at key U.S. markets) have declined, while crude oil and conventional gasoline prices remained stable or increased. Consequently: 1. U.S.-produced ethanol continues to improve
July 23, 2014 Read Full Article
Why Are Ethanol Prices and Production Profits So High?
by Scott Irwin and Darrel Good (FarmDocDaily/University of Illinois) The ethanol production industry is in the midst of a long "winning streak" in terms of profits. The current run of historically high profits began in March 2013 and was punctuated
June 12, 2014 Read Full Article
Will the EPA Reverse Itself on the Write Down of the Renewable Mandate for 2014? The Message from the RINs Market
by Scott Irwin (FarmDocDaily/University of Illinois) ... The purpose of today's post is to show that the recent behavior of prices in the RINs market suggests the odds of the EPA reversing the proposed write down of the renewable mandate for
March 04, 2014 Read Full Article
AFPM, RFA Trade Charges after Verdict in MTBE Case
by Jordan Godwin (Platts) ...(American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers President Charles T.) Drevna responded Wednesday to a New Hampshire verdict earlier that day in a case where ExxonMobil was found negligent for putting MTBE in gasoline without warning the state of its risks.
April 12, 2013 Read Full Article
Ethanol--Does the RFS Matter?
by Scott Irwin and Darrel Good (University of Illinois/FarmDocDaily) ...The suggestion to waive the mandate assumes that ethanol production and blending is motivated only by the RFS and that a lower mandate would result in less ethanol production and blending and