It turns out it was fake news that bird droppings hit President Joe Biden on the lapel during his appearance at an Iowa ethanol plant Tuesday. Instead of being a by-product of a bird, it was a co-product of an ethanol plant, the high protein animal feed known as distillers dried grain with solubles or DDGS. Renewable Fuels Association President …
President Biden Announces Emergency Waiver for E15
President Joe Biden visited the POET Bioprocessing facility in Menlo, Iowa Tuesday to formally announce an emergency waiver to allow 15% ethanol blended gasoline (E15) to be sold this summer. President Biden was introduced by Rep. Cindy Axne (D-IA) and POET grain merchandiser Rachel Conner. (31:03) Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor held a call with reporters after the event to …
2022 Agri-Marketing Conference
The 2022 Agri-Marketing Conference is coming down the tracks April 6-8 in Kansas City with the theme “Full Steam Ahead.” This virtual ag newsroom includes links to photos and audio content available free of charge for digital or print publication or broadcast. Photos 2022 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album News NAMA Announces Annual Awards NAMA Names Next Gen Winners Audio 2022 …
Senators Press EPA Administrator on E15
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan appeared before the Environment and Public Works Committee Wednesday to talk about the agency’s budget request, but some senators wanted to know what he was going to do and when he was going to do it to make E15 (15% ethanol fuel) available in the summer months this year. Both Sens. Joni Ernst …
USDA Promises Ethanol Producers COVID Payments Coming Soon
USDA Undersecretary for Rural Development Xochitl Torres Small told a House Agriculture Committee hearing this week that $700 million in CARES Act payments for ethanol producers will be coming soon. “We’ve been working to get the money out the door, we took some time to get it right,” Small said. “We are expecting payments to go out in late spring …
Gevo Testifies at House Ag Committee Hearing
Gevo CEO Patrick Gruber presented testimony before the House Agriculture Committee this week on the future of climate smart crops and sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) with updated carbon accounting and a system that rewards farmers for sustainable practices. Gruber outlined Gevo’s concept of a Net-Zero manufacturing plant for SAF they hope to be operational by 2025 and how existing ethanol …
E15 Sales Reach Record Levels in 2021
Sales of E15 (15% ethanol fuel) hit a record 814 million gallons in 2021, according to a new analysis from the Renewable Fuels Association. The 2021 volume represents a 62 percent increase over 2020 and was nearly double pre-pandemic sales volumes in 2019. The analysis is based on recently released data for Minnesota and Iowa that show sales of E15 …
Sen. Grassley Discusses E15 and GREET Model
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) joined Sens. John Thune (R-SD) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) this week in urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to update its greenhouse gas (GHG) modeling for biofuels and adopt the Argonne National Lab’s Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy Use in Transportation (GREET) model. The senator discussed that topic and the importance of getting approval for …
Vilsack Talks Trade With Mexican Officials
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack met with his counterpart Mexico Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development Victor Villalobos this week to “continue cooperation on shared priorities including open trade, science-based policy making, and sustainable and climate-smart agricultural production.” That meeting resulted in Vilsack and Villalobos announcing that the two countries have agreed to final actions to expanded access to the …
Field Notes from Koch Agronomic Services – Episode 18
The Field Notes podcast series from Koch Agronomic Services (Koch) breaks down the science and technology behind agronomy to help growers do more with less. The experts we’ve heard from on our previous episodes have covered topics ranging from how different crops use nitrogen to the 4R’s of Nutrient Stewardship and how growers and retailers work together to choose the …
Sales of Higher Ethanol Blends Soaring in California
Sales of E85 flex fuel (85 percent ethanol blended fuel) are soaring to new heights in California as drivers of flex fuel vehicles are finding out they can pay a lot less for a fill up. E85 sales in California increased 55 percent last year over 2020 and Pearson Fuels, California’s largest provider of E85, saw an increase of over …
Reps Question Lack of Biofuels in Budget
Representatives from Iowa questioned Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shalanda Young Tuesday on the lack of biofuels in the $6 trillion White House budget unveiled this week. Reps. Randy Feenstra (R-IA) and Ashley Hinson (R-IA) both pressed Young on why there was no mention of biofuels in the budget. Listen: (5:11)
Rep. Craig Hopes EPA Will Allow Year Round E15
Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) and several of her colleagues recently introduced the bipartisan Home Front Energy Independence Act, in an effort to expand the production and availability of American biofuels and lower energy costs for working families. Rep. Craig’s bill, along with the companion bill in the Senate, would expand the availability of E15 year-round after a July 2021 D.C. …
ZimmCast 689 – Preview of 2022 Agri-Marketing Conference
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. Trips on the agriblogging highway continue with the Agri-Marketing Conference coming up next week. After that conference it will be on to Lexington, KY for the Alltech ONE Conference in May. ZimmComm will be exhibiting in the Connection Point at the Agri-Marketing Conference once again, in booth 201. The ZimmComm Golden Mic will be …
Ethanol Report on How to Lower Gas Prices
With E15 selling as much 50 cents less than regular unleaded gasoline, it seems obvious that higher blends of ethanol can help lower prices at the pump. But so far, nothing is being done on the national level to unleash the power of biofuels to ease the pain of high gas prices. In this edition of The Ethanol Report podcast, …