The National Corn Growers Association joined forces with a large coalition of advanced and traditional renewable fuel stakeholders that launched to defend America’s Renewable Fuel Standard and its benefits to our nation’s economy, domestic energy supply and national security. The new coalition, Fuels America, spans the full spectrum of agriculture, national security, renewable energy and other stakeholders....More
The EPA has announced an increase in the biodiesel volume requirement under the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) from 1 billion gallons in 2012 to 1.28 billion gallons in 2013, a move welcomed by the American Soybean Association (ASA)....More
There has been a great deal of interest this summer in the ethanol market, RFS mandates and corn use for ethanol production. This reflects the impact of the historic drought of 2012 in the Midwest and concerns about how reduced corn supplies will be allocated across consumption categories. The focus of this post moves from the short-term to the long-term. In particular, we are interested in analyzing the basic economic question of how high do crude oil prices have to be in order for ethanol production in the U.S. to be profitable. Sometimes this simple but important issue is lost in the blizzard of daily market data and analysis. The answer also helps provide a frame of reference for thinking about the longer-term outlook for the market demand for ethanol. ...More
The 2012 drought has brought the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) into the forefront. The RFS regulations are managed by the EPA, and those regulations are quite complicated. The RFS requires that minimum levels of renewable biofuels must be used to blend gasoline in the U.S. Corn-based ethanol is the primary fuel ingredient that is used to meet the RFS requirement. Currently ethanol makes up about 10% of the U.S. fuel supply, with just over 13 billion gallons of ethanol/year being produced in the U.S....More
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Friday ruled 2-1 in favor of the Environmental Protection Agency regulations to allow the distribution of E15 for use in newer vehicles....More
Corn prices pushed higher by the worst U.S. drought in half a century would not necessarily moderate if the federal government's corn ethanol mandate were temporarily suspended, according to a report by Purdue University agricultural economists. The report, "Potential Impacts of a Partial Waiver of the Ethanol Blending Rules," suggests that corn prices could fall under some scenarios should the U.S. EPA grant a partial waiver of the Renewable Fuel Standard's (RFS) corn ethanol provision – but only under certain market conditions....More
Just as E15 finally cleared federal regulatory hurdles, the confluence of no blender tax credits, high corn prices and widespread drought has put the ethanol market in jeopardy. And questions abound regarding possible government changes to the current Renewable Fuel Standard....More
The drought is not only causing damage to crops, but it's impacting other industries, too. Kent Thiesse, vice president, MinnStar Bank, Lake Crystal, MN, and former Extension educator, talks about the impact of the drought on livestock producers as well as the ethanol industry and export markets....More
With corn yield estimates declining daily, industries that use corn are concerned about not only the price of the commodity, but also the availability. The elephant in the room is the ethanol industry, which will consume an estimated 4.9 billion bushels of corn in the coming year, regardless whether the U.S. produces 15 billion or 10 billion bushels. But there are an increasing number of asterisks associated with ethanol’s impact on the corn market....More
National Corn Growers Association President Garry Niemeyer released the following statement in response to media coverage and Capitol briefings on the drought, food prices and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). “This is a time when farmers and ranchers are suffering the nation’s worst drought in years, covering nearly two-thirds of our country’s land mass. Like any crisis, it has led to numerous inaccuracies and exaggerations, especially when it comes to the impact on food supply and retail food prices....More
The latest USDA supply-demand report indicated that corn processing for ethanol purposes would not increase much from the 2011 crop to the 2012 crop. About 5 billion bushels would be converted to ethanol. One reason is the blend wall that serves as a maximum for the 10% fuel blend to be incorporated into the nation’s motor fuel supply. And since the demand for gasoline is declining due to the recession, the demand for ethanol is not growing....More
After three years, the American ethanol industry has finally satisfied all federal requirements for E15 commercial sales as set by the partial E15 waiver granted by the U.S. EPA. Starting April 23, 99 ethanol producers have funded a nationwide fuel survey as required by the partial waiver that represents the final federal hurdle to E15 availability....More
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the first applications for registration of ethanol for use in making gasoline that contains up to 15% ethanol – known as E15. Ethanol is a renewable fuel that can be mixed with gasoline. For over 30 years ethanol has been blended into gasoline, but the law limited it to 10% by volume for use in gasoline-fueled vehicles. Registration of ethanol to make E15 is a significant step toward its production, sale and use in model year 2001 and newer gasoline-fueled cars and light trucks....More
Gas prices are dominating the headlines and we have yet to embark on the summer driving season, the traditional kick-off to high gas prices. With Congress holding hearings this week on gas prices, the president holding a press conference today, voters taking to the polls today and the energy world gathering in Houston this week, RFA's Vice President of Research and Analysis Geoff Cooper has analyzed the data to provide background information on the downward pressure exerted by domestic ethanol production on gasoline prices. A complete download of this RFA Issue Brief in pdf form is available....More
Leasing your farmland for wind power offers another source of income — one that lets you continue farming the land. But wind agreements create complex legal and financial issues, and affect your property rights far into the future, says Jennifer Jambor-Delgado, a staff attorney at Minnesota-based Farmers’ Legal Action Group....More
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry regarding the impact of renewable energy in rural America. "Madam Chairwoman and Members of the Committee, I am pleased to have this opportunity to discuss economic development and the impact of renewable energy in America's rural communities....More
The official numbers are in and confirm what the industry has known all year: 2011 was a huge year for ethanol exports. The annual total for 2011 was 1.19 billion gallons, more than triple the 2010 export total of 396 million gallons. Brazil was the leading importer of U.S. ethanol in 2011, receiving 33% of total shipments. Exports accounted for approximately 8.6% of U.S. ethanol production in 2011, up from 3% in 2010 and 1% in 2009....More
On Jan. 23, 2012, Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill denied the California Air Resources Board's (CARB) motion to stay the decision he issued on Dec. 29, 2011, that had halted the enforcement of the California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) regulation because that regulation is unconstitutional....More
A judge in Federal District Court in Fresno, California, has sided with America's ethanol industry in ruling that the State of California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) is unconstitutional. Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill agreed with the arguments that the LCFS is in violation of the Commerce Clause the U.S. Constitution....More
Flawed carbon accounting schemes at both the federal and state level are creating a dynamic where the U.S. is importing ethanol from Brazil while simultaneously exporting greater volumes back to Brazil. This “ethanol shuffle” is occurring exclusively as the result of state and Federal fuel regulations that “treat Brazilian sugarcane ethanol as if it were the Holy Grail of biofuels,” according to Geoff Cooper, the Renewable Fuels Association’s vice president of research and analysis....More
Wind + water + air = nitrogen (N) fertilizer.
It’s a formula that could bring farmers a local, renewable supply of ammonia, more stable N prices and vast new markets for Midwest wind power – markets that would not depend on building costly new transmission lines....More
A new report from the USDA found that the animal feed produced by U.S. ethanol plants (known as dried distillers’ grains or DDGs) is replacing even more corn and soybean meal in livestock and poultry feed rations than previously thought. The report’s findings have important implications for discussions regarding ethanol’s impact on feed grains availability, feed prices, land use effects and the greenhouse gas (GHG) impacts of producing corn ethanol....More
The biofuel industry will not be able to meet the cellulosic production requirements of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) without significant advancements in technology or investment, according to a National Academy of Sciences study prepared for Congress....More
Reducing America’s consumption of renewable fuels based upon arbitrary, pre-determined thresholds for corn demand and supply ratios is unnecessary and may lead to higher prices at the pump warned leading biofuel organizations – the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), Growth Energy, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), the National Farmers Union (NFU), the National Sorghum Producers and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA)....More
In last week’s column, we looked at some of the past and current successes of the ethanol industry in the U.S.; however, public opinion of ethanol has also changed in the last decade, and public sentiment has seemed to turn quite negative toward ethanol production in many areas of the U.S. Everyone from political leaders to some who formerly supported ethanol to university professors to the national news media to local citizens are blaming ethanol for high food costs, environmental problems, damage to vehicle motors and many other issues....More
