Posted By Cindy February 1, 2012
It is possible for ethanol and livestock to live and work and play nicely together in the same state – and the main reason is the ethanol livestock feed co-product of distillers grains (DDGS).
A great discussion at the 6th Annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit featured corn and cattle organizations on the same panel talking about the “Synergies of Livestock and Ethanol.”
Moderator Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey opened the discussion by noting that sales of crops and livestock have risen as ethanol production has increased from $12 billion in 2002 – 6 billion in crop and 6 billion in livestock – to $24 billion in 2010, and 2011 is expected to be about $30 billion with at least $13 billion of that for livestock. “$13 billion on the livestock side versus $6 billion nine years ago,” Northey said. “Has ethanol been good for livestock agriculture in Iowa? I think very clearly.”
Listen to a brief interview with Secretary Northey here: Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey
The livestock industry has traditionally been the most important market for corn, noted Iowa Corn Growers CEO Craig Floss, although use for ethanol has increased significantly in the past decade. “But a third of every one of those bushels that goes into an ethanol plant goes into DDGS,” he said, noting that Iowa corn farmers will continue to meet the growing demand for all markets – feed, fuel, food and exports.
Listen to Craig’s part of the panel discussion here: Craig Floss on IRFA panel
Iowa Cattlemen’s Association Executive Director Matt Deppe says it’s easy to see the benefits that distillers grains (DDGS) have brought to especially cattle feeders. “We look at it as a corn replacement,” Deppe says about DDGS. “It means that they (feedlot operators) have another option that’s cost effective to put into their rations.”
Listen to an interview with Matt Deppe here: Matt Deppe Interview
Photos from 2012 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit
Posted By Cindy January 26, 2012
Earlier this week, the federal district court judge who ruled California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) to be unconstitutional denied a motion to continue implementation of the law.
In response, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) decided to appeal to a new court in the 9th Circuit in hopes of a different outcome.
You may remember that the district court last month ruled that the LCFS “discriminates against out-of-state corn-derived ethanol and impermissibly regulates extraterritorial conduct” and that the CARB failed to establish that there are no alternative methods to advance its goals of reducing GHG emissions to combat global warming.
To make an analogy, the California LCFS is like Iowa deciding to ban California wine because they determined through some model that it has a higher carbon footprint than wines produced in Italy or France or Spain, which are the three countries that rank higher than California in wine production. (The United States ranks fourth in terms of countries, but California produces 90% of U.S. wine)
No doubt California would be up in arms if that were to happen.
The ethanol industry has led the challenge against the California LCFS, but it has an unlikely ally in a diverse multi-state coalition that is primarily concerned with the rule’s impact on oil and gas. The Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA), a coalition of over 170 energy consumer groups and 300,000 individual members across the United States, is also one of the plaintiffs opposing the regulation.
“Not only is an LCFS unconstitutional, but it would also hurt the California economy, farmers, consumers and truckers by raising fuel prices sharply and burdening consumers,” said CEA Executive Vice President Michael Whatley. The CEA’s main concern about the California LCFS is the potential for it to be used to prevent certain sources of petroleum from being converted into fuels such as gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene and heating oil and that it could adopted nationwide, resulting in lost jobs and declining household revenue.
“The decision by CARB to appeal the decision by the District Court is disappointing, but unfortunately not surprising. We look forward to a decision by the Ninth Circuit upholding the District Court and confirming the unconstitutional nature of California’s low carbon fuel standard,” said Whatley, urging CARB to “scrap this faulty program” instead of appealing the decision.
We concur.
Posted By Cindy January 25, 2012
I was sitting at the airport Tuesday night, waiting on a delayed flight back from the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit in Des Moines and desperately trying to ignore the tired and whiny two-year-old at the gate, as well as the live broadcast of the State of the Union address on the TV monitor.
When President Obama mentioned clean energy, however, I started paying attention to him, in spite of the 2-year-old. “We have subsidized oil companies for a century. That’s long enough,” the president said. “It’s time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that’s rarely been more profitable, and double-down on a clean energy industry that’s never been more promising.”
My jaw hit the ground. It was a theme I had heard repeatedly at the summit during the day, starting with the opening address by Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) executive director Monte Shaw. “Today the oil industry enjoys billions of dollars in tax subsidies while the renewable fuels industry has none,” said Shaw, proceeding to name off all of the subsides unique to the oil industry.
It’s a long list that requires a high-price accountant to understand – not a problem for the oil industry! Percentage depletion allowance, marginal oil well incentives, enhanced oil recovery credits, intangible drilling costs expensing, deduction for tertiary injectants, exception from passive loss limitations for oil and gas, etc. According to a DTN analysis, the total comes to about $17.9 billion a year.
All of it goes back to the inception of the tax code in 1913. What that means is simply that these subsidies, unlike the meager tax credit that helped the ethanol industry for a fraction of that time, are EMBEDDED in our tax code. They are never going to expire.
So, that begs the question of whether Congress will ever do anything to get rid of those subsidies. It will not be an easy process. But, like the president said, a century is long enough. If the ethanol industry is now mature enough after about 20 years to stand on its own, surely the oil industry can do so.
Posted By Cindy January 23, 2012
Big plans have been announced for American Ethanol‘s second NASCAR season.
The announcements were made at the NASCAR Preview 2012 event over the weekend in Charlotte, N.C. First of all, American Ethanol announced that it will continue relationships with Richard Childress Racing (RCR) and RAB Racing for the 2012 season. Pictured here are the American Ethanol drivers for the teams. Kenny Wallace (left) will drive the No. 09 Toyota Camry in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for RAB Racing. Austin Dillon, 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion, will drive the No. 3 Chevrolet during the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series season for RCR.
That No. 3 Chevrolet is the same one that carried Dale Earnhardt Jr. to four NASCAR Nationwide series championships and it will feature a new American Ethanol paint scheme that was unveiled during the preview event. American Ethanol will serve as the primary sponsor for six Nationwide series races as well as one race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2012.
Both drivers are excited about being able to represent homegrown fuel in the NASCAR races. “I’m proud to carry the American Ethanol colors in NASCAR,” said Dillon, who is one of team owner Richard Childress’ grandsons. “I am looking forward to representing American Ethanol, Growth Energy and the National Corn Growers Association.”
Wallace has already been a strong promoter of corn growers and ethanol during the 2011 NASCAR season. “I not only talk about American Ethanol, I truly believe in it,” Wallace said. “I’ve been to the farms, I’ve met the families, I’ve been to the ethanol plants, and I’ve been in the hallways of the U.S. Senate in Washington, D.C., in support of it.” (Listen to a prior interviews with both Wallace and Richard Childress from Farm Progress Show.)
American Ethanol was established by National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and Growth Energy with NASCAR starting with the 2011 racing season, the same year that NASCAR switched its fuel to Sunoco Green E15. “American Ethanol is getting a lot of positive attention because it’s a good fit for NASCAR’s green initiative, and because of the increased horsepower on the track,” said NCGA President Garry Niemeyer. “Our partnership with RCR and RAB Racing will assure continued success in letting the American public know that if ethanol can stand the stress these drivers put it through, it’s good for the family car, too.” Niemeyer says that research for the first year of American Ethanol found an amazing 71% acceptance rate for ethanol within NASCAR’s 75 million fans.
American Ethanol is looking forward to another big year with NASCAR!
Posted By Cindy January 20, 2012
A syndicated kid’s show that explores the outdoors will feature the life of a corn kernel in an episode airing this week.
An episode of the Into the Outdoors series titled, “Big Things from Small Stuff” will be shown this weekend, January 21-22, on local channels in Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota.
Wisconsin Farmers Mark Schroeder and Bill Hoffman and Cambria-based Didion Milling are featured as the episode follows the life of a corn kernel from planting to harvest. Production of corn kernels into products is displayed in the balance of the episode, which features Didion Milling’s innovative fractionation process at its dry corn mill and the company’s line of HarvestGold Family of Corn Products. The episode also features Didion Ethanol and their co-product dried distillers grains.
Find out more here.
Posted By Cindy January 4, 2012
Corn growers and the grain-based ethanol industry got a late Christmas present last week when a Federal District Court judge in Fresno, California sided with America’s ethanol industry in ruling that the State of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution and is therefore unconstitutional. The ruling is in response to a suit filed in December 2009 by the Renewable Fuels Association and Growth Energy asserting that the LCFS violates the Commerce Clause by seeking to regulate farming and ethanol production practices in other states.
“This ruling reaffirms our position that the state of California violated the U.S. Constitution when it created a low carbon fuel standard punitive to farmers and ethanol producers outside of the state’s border,” said National Corn Growers Association President Garry Niemeyer. “We hope that this ruling will lead to an inclusive discussion where regulators join other stakeholders to find effective renewable energy solutions.”
The Commerce Clause specifically forbids state laws that discriminate against out-of-state goods and that regulate out-of-state conduct. The original filing notes that “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.”
On this claim the Court found that the LCFS discriminates against out-of-state corn-derived ethanol and impermissibly regulates extraterritorial conduct. As a result, the Court issued an injunction. The judge also ruled that CARB failed to establish that there are no alternative methods to advance its goals of reducing GHG emissions to combat global warming.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is expected to automatically appeal the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit and the industry is prepared to continue the fight to provide clean corn ethanol for all Americans.
Posted By Cindy January 4, 2012
The two Republican presidential candidates who topped the Iowa Caucus in a virtual dead heat Tuesday night are both considered to be supporters of ethanol, according to the Iowans Fueled with Pride Iowa Caucus Voters Guide.
Both former Governor Mitt Romney and former Senator Rick Santorum expressed their support for the federal renewable fuels standard while campaigning in Iowa. In addition, both candidates were 4-for-4 on other important ethanol issues, including a fair and equitable energy tax policy; the attempt to ban E15; and consumer fueling choice through programs to increase the number flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs)and blender pumps in the nation. The other two candidates who scored well in all those categories were Newt Gingrich and President Obama.
“Despite scant attention on agriculture issues by the national media, both Governor Romney and Senator Santorum prioritized rural and ag issues,” said Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Past President Walt Wendland, CEO of Golden Grain Energy near Mason City. “It came as no surprise to us that friends of ethanol fared well in the Iowa Caucus.”
Ron Paul, Michelle Bachman and Rick Perry all were opposed to the RFS and increasing FFVs and blender pumps, while only Rick Perry was against E15 and a “fair and equitable energy tax policy” that would “create a level playing field for energy taxes” by revising the permanent tax benefits enjoyed by the petroleum industry.
The voter guide was mailed to approximately 10,000 Iowa households with residents who are directly involved in Iowa ethanol refineries and was also promoted to all of Iowa’s 250,000 agricultural households via email, the Internet and social media. An electronic version of the guide can be viewed at: www.IowansFueledwithPride.com.
Posted By Cindy January 3, 2012
There’s nothing indirect about the land use changes reported in the most recent summary from USDA, which shows that the only land use in the United States that is declining is cropland.
According to the report, “Major Uses of Land in the United States 2007,” the amount of land in the United States devoted to growing crops declined by 34 million acres – or nearly 8 percent – between 2002 and 2007. At 408 million acres, total cropland was at its lowest level since records were started in 1945.
Cropland accounted for 18 percent of the total land area in the country – the third largest land use behind forest (30%) and grassland (27%) – both of which increased over the same five-year period while cropland declined.
The smallest total use of land in the U.S. is urban, at 61 million or 3 percent. However, while urban land use accounts for the smallest percentage, the USDA report shows that it accounts for the biggest increase in land use, quadrupling between 1945 and 2007, increasing at about twice the rate of population growth over the period. Urban land use increased almost 2 percent from 2002 to 2007.
The report is significant because it shows with actual data that cropland acres declined at the same time ethanol production was increasing – which means no direct or indirect land use change as a result of corn being used for ethanol. Instead, Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) president Bob Dinneen said what the report does show is how farmers are producing more on less land, while urban land uses increase.
“It is ironic that the land use debate has fixated on biofuels, when the actual culprit of land conversion has clearly been urban and suburban sprawl,” Dinneen said. “Subdivisions full of mini-mansions, big box stores, shopping malls, and parking lots are encroaching on productive farmland across the country.”
Read the USDA report here.
Posted By Cindy December 22, 2011
There’s a hot new craze called the “Ethanol Shuffle” sweeping seaports from Sao Paulo to Los Angeles as tankers carrying Brazilian sugarcane ethanol bound for California pass those carrying corn ethanol bound for Brazil.
Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) Vice President of Research and Analysis Geoff Cooper wrote about the “Ethanol Shuffle” last week on the RFA E-xchange Blog. Basically, we are shuffling sugarcane ethanol from Brazil to California to meet that state’s Low Carbon Fuels Standard (LCFS) – while at the same time, Brazil is importing lower priced corn ethanol from the United States to make up for not only the ethanol it is exporting to California, but the shortfall that country has experienced in ethanol production recently.
So, that’s how the “Ethanol Shuffle” works. California imports sugarcane ethanol from Brazil rather than corn ethanol from Nebraska or Kansas; and in turn, corn ethanol from the Midwest travels to Houston or Galveston via rail, then is shipped to Brazil via tanker to “backfill” the volumes they sent to the U.S. Picture the irony of a tanker full of U.S. corn ethanol bound for Brazil passing a tanker full of cane ethanol bound for Los Angeles or Miami along a Caribbean shipping route.
This is more than ironic, it’s just plain ignorant. First of all, sugarcane ethanol costs more than corn ethanol. According to Cooper, the ethanol California has been importing from Brazil has been an average of $1.56 per gallon MORE than corn ethanol from the Midwest. “As far as E10 goes, that’s about a 16 cent per gallon differential,” said Cooper.
The reason California prefers sugarcane ethanol over corn is because they claim it is better for the environment, a claim which can be disputed, depending on how the life cycle analysis is determined (see previous post). But, even if sugarcane ethanol actually does have a better carbon footprint than corn ethanol, that advantage is lost in the transportation shuffle. “If we were serving the California market with corn ethanol from Nebraska and the Brazilians were satisfying their own demands with their own fuel, the emissions related with moving that fuel are about half of what we’re seeing with this shuffling dynamic,” said Cooper.
Listen to an interview with Cooper about the Ethanol Shuffle here: Geoff Cooper on the Ethanol Shuffle
Posted By Cindy December 21, 2011
A new study shows that sugarcane ethanol may be dirtier than some believe.
A research team from universities in California, Iowa and Chile have found that sugarcane ethanol production creates up to seven times more air pollutants than previously estimated, according to news from the University of Iowa.
The researchers used agricultural survey data from Brazil to calculate emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases from the entire production, distribution, and lifecycle of sugarcane ethanol from 2000 to 2008. They determined that estimated pollutants were 1.5 to 7.3 times higher than those from satellite-based methods.
Greg Carmichael, Karl Kammermeyer Professor of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering in the UI College of Engineering and co-director of the Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research (CGRER), and UI assistant professor Scott Spak note that the findings reflect continued practices and trends that are a part of the production of sugarcane ethanol. These include the practice of burning sugarcane fields before harvest, as well as the fact that sugarcane production in Brazil continues to grow.
“We found that the vast majority of emissions come from burning the sugarcane fields prior to harvesting, a practice the Brazilian government has been moving to end,” says Spak. “However, the sugarcane industry has been expanding rapidly and moving into more remote areas, which makes it much more difficult to enforce new regulations over this growing source of air pollution and greenhouse gases.
“As people try to determine how to integrate biofuels into the global economy, Brazilian sugarcane ethanol has often been considered a more environmentally friendly fuel source than U.S. corn ethanol. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers sugarcane ethanol an ‘advanced biofuel’ with fewer greenhouse gas emissions than conventional biofuels like corn ethanol. These new findings help us refine those estimates and move closer to making more informed comparisons between different fuel sources, and ultimately make better decisions about how to grow and use biofuels,” Spak says.
The study, titled “Increased estimates of air-pollution emissions from Brazilian sugarcane ethanol,” is featured in the Nature Highlights section and published in the Dec. 11 Advance Online Publication of the journal Nature Climate Change.
