Ethanol. Right. Now.

New officers for the American Coalition for Ethanol board of directors

The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) Board of Directors met today (11/12/09) and elected officers for the upcoming year, bringing even more grassroots representation and diversity to the nation’s largest ethanol advocacy association.

Lars Herseth was elected as President of the American Coalition for Ethanol by his peers on the Board.  He operates Herseth Ranch, his family farm near Houghton, SD, where he raises corn and soybeans along with a small cow/calf operation.  Herseth serves on the Board of Directors for Northern Growers LLC, the more than 900 member shareholders behind the POET Biorefining – Big Stone ethanol plant in Big Stone City, SD.  In addition to Big Stone, he is also an investor in the locally owned ethanol plants Glacial Lakes Energy LLC of Watertown, SD, Redfield Energy LLC of Redfield, SD, as well as Granite Falls Energy LLC of Granite Falls, MN.

Herseth served in the South Dakota State Legislature for many years, in the House of Representatives from 1975-1986 and in the Senate from 1989-1996.  He held various leadership positions, including House Minority Leader, Senate Minority Leader, and Senate Pro Tempore.  Lars is the father of South Dakota Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin. 

Herseth takes the reins from Brian Wilcox of Nebraska Public Power District who became Acting President earlier this year when the position was vacated by Bob Scott, whose company, POET Ethanol Products, resigned from the Board.  POET and its representative Jeff Broin also resigned from the Board at that time to devote more time to the new trade association he formed last year.

Brian Wilcox was today re-elected to serve as Vice President, a leadership position he has held for several years. Owen Jones of 4 Seasons Co-op was re-elected as Treasurer. Jones is a farmer / rancher from Britton, South Dakota. 

Duane Kristensen of Chief Ethanol in Hastings, NE was newly elected as the organization’s Secretary.  Chief Ethanol began operations in 1985 and is Nebraska’s first dry mill ethanol plant.  American Coalition for Ethanol founder and first president Merle Anderson of Climax, MN retains his seat on the Board and was granted the title Chairman Emeritus. 

In addition to this slate of officers plus Chairman Emeritus Anderson, two additional directors were given a seat on the Board’s Executive Committee: Scott Parsley of East River Electric Cooperative and Ron Alverson of Dakota Ethanol, LLC.  Alverson is a farmer from Chester, SD and Chairman of Lake Area Corn Processors, the cooperative behind South Dakota’s first farmer-owned ethanol plant.

“ACE is proud of its history as the grassroots voice for ethanol in America, and we’re confident that with the leadership represented in our slate of officers and on our executive committee, these grassroots voices will serve ethanol well in the future,” said Brian Jennings, Executive Vice President of ACE.

The entire ACE Board of Directors roster can be viewed here.

ACE is the nation’s largest ethanol advocacy association, with nearly 1,500 members nationwide, including farmers, ethanol producers, industry suppliers, rural electric co-ops, the agriculture community, and others supportive of ethanol.

A thank you to veterans, and a hope for energy security through homegrown fuels

A sincere thank you from the American Coalition for Ethanol to all veterans -- past, present, and future -- for your service and sacrifice.  Let us remember these heroes this Veterans Day and every day.

Our hope is that through the spirit and ingenuity of America's farmers and entrepreneurs, this nation can stand more self-sufficient in the face of its energy needs.  Clean, renewable, homegrown fuels like ethanol mean a future of greater energy security for all.

Survey finds strong support for corn farmers, corn ethanol

A nationwide survey conducted for the National Corn Growers Association finds broad public respect and trust for family farmers, and finds support for corn as food, feed, and fuel.  Of those polled, 95 percent said farmers were "trusted messengers" on issues such as agriculture, corn products, and ethanol.  Ethanol itself was "supported" or "strongly supported" as a good fuel alternative by 65 percent of the respondents. 

The top benefits of corn-based ethanol mentioned by those polled were reducing America's dependence on foreign oil, the creation of new jobs, and its environmental benefits.

Darrin Ihnen, a family farmer from South Dakota and current NCGA President, said, "Farming is under attack in the mainstream media because some reporters seem to have the wrong idea about modern American agriculture. One of our goals at NCGA is to help educate the media and the public about how current technology has helped family farmers do their traditional jobs more efficiently, more effectively, and more affordably."

For more details on the survey, visit www.ncga.com.

More corn, more ethanol than ever before

This headline might sound like one that ethanol critics will appreciate, but it's not the whole story.  We're using more corn to make more ethanol than ever before -- yet food prices are down.  How's that for debunking the "food vs. fuel" myth?

The '09 corn harvest is now beginning, and America's farmers are once again showing why they're the best in the world.  The most recent USDA figures forecast the second-largest corn crop, an estimated 13 billion bushels.  The average corn yield is predicted at 164.2 bushels per acre, up a full 10 bushels per acre from last year. The number of acres expected to be harvest this year (79.3 million) is 1% larger than last year, but the total crop is expected to be 8% larger than last year -- proving how farmers are making every acre count.

Recent media reports are documenting decreasing prices at the grocery store. The American Farm Bureau's "Marketbasket Survey" for the July-September period, for example, showed retail food prices under a year ago for the fourth consecutive quarter and down 10% from one year ago. A healthy corn crop this fall will provide ample supplies of corn for all important uses -- food, feed, and fuel.

Thanks to America's farmers for all they do.

Valero cites productivity of American corn growers

Valero Energy Corporation has been in the ethanol-related news lately, the nation's largest refiner and now a producer of ethanol at 7 plants purchased from VeraSun Energy.  In an August 21st article in the Ft. Dodge, Iowa Messenger, Valero cited the productivity of U.S. corn growers as reason to forget the "food vs. fuel" debate.

"The American farmer continues to increase their productivity," said Bill Day, Director of Media Relations for Valero.  "The amount of production they're getting per acre is amazing."  These increased yields translate into plenty of corn for both fuel and food, Day told the newspaper. 

Read the article "Corn stats shift Valero stance: Energy giant reverses its food vs. fuel concerns."

The Houston Chronicle also covered Valero's ethanol story in an August 24th article, "Oil refining giant finds its raw material in cornfields."  Reporter Brett Clanton writes, "Valero's major entry into the renewable fuels business marks a break with a U.S. oil and gas industry that in recent years has rarely missed an opportunity to point out flaws with corn ethanol and government policies that support it."

Another interesting note: Valero CEO Bill Klesse has recently been elected Chairman of the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA), a group that is one of ethanol's harshest critics.  How will Valero combine these roles as both ethanol producer and head of the NPRA?  Time will tell.  Stay tuned...

Leading ethanol companies are making cellulosic ethanol happen today

Three leading companies spoke at the ACE Ethanol Conference during a panel discussion on cellulosic ethanol.  Range Fuels was represented by Bill Schafer, Senior Vice President of Business Development and Government Affairs.

Range Fuels was formed in July 2006 by Khosla Ventures and broke ground in November 2007 at its cellulosic ethanol facility in Soperton, Georgia.  This month, the company expects to be 50 percent done with construction. Construction is expected to be complete during the first quarter of next year, and they will be producing cellulosic ethanol at a commercial scale in 2010.

The Soperton facility is permitted to up to 100 million gallons of ethanol per year.  Range Fuels' technology converts the biomass into syntehsis gas, and in phase two the gas is cleaned up and converted into ethanol.  They also have a module for the co-generation of power, which Schafer noted has a pretty dramatic impact on your lifecycle GHG emissions.

Range Fuels uses a thermochemical process rather than a biochemical process because it's more flexible on feedstocks, yields are better because there's no lignin separation, and it presents a lot of product options because of the syngas.  Range Fuels is using wood as its source of biomass, a commodity they believe offers superior price stability.  Their location is in the middle of the timber belt and study as shown it is a good location because it will have minimal impact on existing indutries and supplies.  In phase 1 the company will use pulpwood and mill residuals, in phase two pre-commercial thinnings and in-forest residue, and eventually in phase 3 herbaceous energy crops.

"There are a lot of moving parts out there and it's difficult to get that legislative clarity today that we'd like to get, but what isn't in doubt is that there's a huge push behind this," Schafer said.  "The benefits that can be realized through this industry are in high demand."

Doug Berven, Director of Corporate Affairs for POET, spoke about his company's efforts to integrate cellulosic technologies with existing corn-based technologies. 

"We've been making excellent progress," Berven said.  "We're very excited about the future of cellulosic biomass."

This year POET is planning 25,000 acres of corn cob harvest to meet the needs of Project Liberty, its cellulosic biorefinery being added to its existing corn-based ethanol plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa.  They are working with ag equipment companies and with farmers on adding cob collection to the farmers' annual corn harvest.  This year four cob harvesting methods will be unveiled.  Next year 100,000 acres and 70,000 tons of cobs will be collected.

POET is producing cellulosic ethanol today at its pilot plant in Scotland, South Dakota.  By June of this year they report achieving a five-fold reduction in enzyme cost, putting the current total process cost at one dollar per gallon greater than that of the company's corn-based ethanol.

"The thing that stands in the way more than anything else is market development," Berven said.  "We are in total agreement with what Brian (Jennings) said the other day that blender pumps are the future in this country.  The blend wall is holding up potential investment in cellulosic ethanol."

TMO Renewables Inc. of the United Kingdom was represented by Associate Director of Engineering Jason Robinson.  The company has designed and built the UK's first demonstration facility for cellulosic ethanol and aims to license its technology and process to the U.S. market.  TMO's platform is a flexible and scalable industrial system, low energy costs, low enzyme requirements, short process times (hours, not days), and an operational demo facility with a fully integrated process.

TMO's demonstration plant has been operational since June 2008, and it's fully staffed running 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"You can't just offer the industry a tin can of organisms or a portion of the process.  You really need to offer the client a fully integrated process," Robinson said.

They report having achieved a higher amount of dry solids, which translates into much lower energy costs.  TMO's process can fully utilize the biomass' sugars in less than 8 hours, unlike the 50-70 hours common in other processes.  The organism they use for conversion is "thermophilic" - it likes heat - and can convert the biomass to sugar quickly without contamination issues.  Also, no antiobiotics are added to the process.

Robinson says the company is looking at "captive" feedstocks like distillers grain or corn fiber, which can take harvesting and all the transportation issues out of the mix. 

 

President Obama on biofuels: "If Brazil can do it, there's no reason we can't do it"

President Obama was interviewed yesterday by Yankton, South Dakota's WNAX Farm Director Michelle Rook, speaking about the Administration's "Rural Tour" which kicks off July 1.  In the interview, the President spoke at length about biofuels and their role in the future of American agriculture.

When asked how big of a role he thought renewable fuels would play in the long-term profitability of American agriculture, President Obama replied, "I think it's going to be critical.  I think there's huge potential around biofuels... Ethanol has been a big boon to a lot of rural communities, really making the difference between profitability and not making a profit for a lot of farmers."

The President noted that next-generation biofuels will be important: "What we also are recognizing is that the key for us is going to be moving into the next generation of biofuels. How can we use wood chips, refuse, switchgrass, and the whole other set of biofuels standards, and how can we improve the efficiency of first generation biofuels.  And farmers are going to be critical to that entire process."

President Obama also cited the example of Brazil, which uses ethanol extensively to fuel its automobile fleet.  "If Brazil can do it, there's no reason we can't do it," the President said.

Listen to the radio interview in its entirety here.