Huge FEW Expo

Some 700 exhibitors filled the floor of the America’s Center trade show arena this week for the 23rd Annual Fuel Ethanol Workshop, representing everything from industry organizations like RFA, to plants, design/builders, materials suppliers, consultants, and much more. As the expo was winding down on Wednesday evening, I did a walk-through with Kathy Bryan, who is the president and co-founder of BBI International, the company responsible for FEW.

“The people who are coming don’t come just to see the ethanol producers,” Bryan told me. “They come to meet the other vendors so they can team up and work together for a client.”

Bryan says the expo portion of the show is was started in 1996. “When the Fuel Ethanol Workshop started 23 years ago, we just had the workshop. There was no trade show, no exhibitors, nothing like that. And there were probably between 25 and 40 people who came to the first few years.”

This year there were over 5,000 in attendance at the FEW, an increase of over 60 percent just compared to last year.

Watch the video walk-through of the expo, which is posted on YouTube, here:

Or you can listen to the just the audio portion of the interview with Kathy here: Kathy Bryan (5 min MP3)

News From FEW

A couple of major announcements relating to ethanol production were made this week at the 23rd Annual Fuel Ethanol Workshop and Expo in St. Louis.

First, POET announced the successful production of cellulosic ethanol from corn cobs.

At a press conference, POET CEO Jeff Broin said, “Along with corn fiber, cobs will be the primary feedstock we will use to make cellulosic ethanol at our proudction facillity in Iowa. For a host of reasons, POET is focused on corn fiber and cobs as the first cellulosic feedstock for our production facilities. First, the fiber that comes from our fractionation process will provide 40 percent of our cellulosic feedstock from the corn kernels that we are already processing in our facility. That means that nearly half of our cellulosic feedstock comes with no additional planting, harvest, storage or transportation needs.”

The other announcement came from DuPont, which has entered into an agreement with FOSS North America to help farmers and ethanol producers better understand ethanol yield potential of grain corn being delivered to ethanol plants.

Under terms of the agreement, DuPont business Pioneer Hi-Bred is providing to FOSS proprietary Ethanol Yield Potential calibration technology for use in FOSS grain analyzers. The technology provides estimated ethanol yield in terms of gallons per bushel.

Listen to audio from the press conference announcements by clicking on the links provided.

POET Announcement (20 min MP3)

Pioneer Announcement (20 min MP3)

EPA at FEW

The Environmental Protection Agency handed out Energy Star awards to two Midwest ethanol plants at the Fuel Ethanol Workshop in St. Louis, recognizing their efforts to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions that equal the amount of pollution from nearly 6,000 cars a year.

During the FEW General Session, John Askew, EPA Region 7 Administrator, presented the awards to Macon Municipal Utilities in Macon, Missouri and Adkins Energy, LLC in Lena, Illinois. The two plants were honored for using Combined Heat and Power (CHP) to reduce energy usage.

“CHP technology is a cost-effective way to provide both steam and power for ethanol production,” said Askew. “By utilizing CHP systems, ethanol facilities can reduce production costs by achieving approximately 15 percent reduction of energy.” The systems can use a variety of fuels - natural gas, coal, biomass - and improve the overall environmental benefits of greenhouse gases associated with ethanol production.

Prior to presenting the awards, Askew addressed the general session on a variety of topics, including the Renewable Fuels Standard, air and water quality regulations, and the partnership between EPA and agriculture to find solutions to environmental challenges.

You can listen to Askew’s remarks here: EPA Speech (15 min MP3)

Value Added for Rural America

The chairman of the National Corn Growers Association and the Undersecretary for Rural Development with USDA were two of the main speakers at the 2007 Fuel Ethanol Conference in St. Louis Wednesday.

Gerald Tumbleson, a Minnesota farmer and hog producer, made four points. “Number one, supply creates demand in agriculture. In everything else, demand creates supply,” he said. Second, he says, “The world is short on two things: protein and energy.” Thirdly, he said, “The sun is brand new money every time it shines on a green leaf.” Finally, he asks, “What is the premium for security?’

USDA Undersecretary Tom Dorr told attendees that they are building a future of incredible, even stunning, promise for agriculture. “Renewable energy is for the most part rural energy,” he said. “Americans last year spent more on imported oil then they did for every bushel of wheat, ear of corn, bag of cotton, every hog, every steer, every apple, every tomato, everything produced. Imbed this in your mind. The cost of oil imports today exceeds the total value of agricultural production in the United States and every drop of imported oil is potentially a take-away opportunity for each and every one of you.”

You can listen to both of these entire speeches here: Speeches (26 min MP3)

How FEW Grew

Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dinneen kicked off the 2007 Fuel Ethanol Workshop in St. Louis June 27 with a salute to the ethanol pioneers who were present at the very first Fuel Ethanol Workshop in St. Louis some 23 years ago. According to BBI International CEO Mike Bryan, there were maybe 35-40 people there at the time and no exhibitors. This year there are over 5200 participants and 700 exhibitors.

“When I started in this industry some 20 years ago, we were producing just 600 million gallons,” said Dinneen. “How many in this audience were here at that very first one?” he asked. “You ought to stand up.” Not very many people were standing, but Dinneen noted that they are the true pioneers of the ethanol industry. “Those are the people that deserve a lot of credit for where our industry has come.”

Dinneen impressed upon the participants who filled the arena floor of the America’s Center in St. Louis that 20 years from now they will fill the entire arena. “Each of you will have some measure of pride to take in what we are building,” he said.

He stressed the need to address the food versus feed issue head on and to make sure that people have all the facts. He also stressed the need for quality and safety issues to be addressed.

You can listen to Bob’s entire speech here: Bob Dinneen Speech (18 min MP3)

RFA On Stage At Iowa Corn Indy 250

RFA’s very own Bob Dinneen was on stage at the inaugural Iowa Corn Indy 250 held Sunday at the Iowa Speedway in Newton, IA.

This first time race on the Indy Racing League schedule once again put ethanol on a national stage to showcase the performance value of the fuel in these high powered race cars.

I was on the scene and conducted a short interview with Bob on the track in front of the stage here before the driver introductions and the race. Before talking about the race he provides a brief summary of the legislative happenings in Washington, DC during the past week.

The race was won by Dario Franchitti who also won this year’s Indy 500. Once again though ethanol was the winner as all the cars are running on 100% ethanol.

You can listen to that interview here: Bob Dinneen Interview (2 min MP3)

Energy Prices, Not Corn, Chief Reason for Rising Food Costs

Critics of ethanol are charging that the rising price of corn due to increased production of ethanol is the major culprit behind rising food prices.  What many have failed to acknowledge is that escalating energy prices are the primary cause of increasing food costs. 

In a recently completed report entitled “The Relative Impact of Corn and Energy Prices in the Grocery Aisle,” agricultural economist, Dr. John Urbanchuk, found that “rising energy prices had a more significant impact on food prices than did corn.”

In fact, rising energy prices have twice the impact on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for food than does the price of corn, according to the report.

In a media conference call on June 14, Dr. Urbanchuk, Bob Dinneen, President of the RFA, and Ken McCauley, President of the National Corn Growers Association discussed the topic and the study’s results.

“Energy costs have a much greater impact on consumer food costs as they impact every single food product on the shelf,” said Urbanchuk.  “Energy is required to produce, process, package and ship each food item. Conversely, corn prices impact just a small segment of the food market as not all products rely on corn for production.  While it may be more sensational to lay the blame for rising food costs on corn prices, the facts don’t support that conclusion.  By a factor of two-to-one, energy prices are the chief factor determining what American families pay at the grocery store.” 

According to the study, “Increasing petroleum prices have about twice the impact on consumer food prices as equivalent increases in corn prices. A 33 percent increase in crude oil prices – the equivalent of $1.00 per gallon over current levels of retail gasoline prices – would increase retail food prices measured by the CPI for food by 0.6 to 0.9 percent. An equivalent increase in corn prices – about $1.00 per bushel over current levels – would increase consumer food prices only 0.3 percent.”

“Critics of ethanol, including those in the animal feeding and oil industries, are engaging in baseless scare tactics to convince Americans that ethanol production will irreversibly increase their grocery bills,” said Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dinneen.  “While it is true increased ethanol production is creating a real market-driven price for corn, this report clearly presents the undeniable facts:  energy prices, not ethanol, are responsible for much of the increase in the price of food.  Further, our industry is rapidly developing next generation cellulosic ethanol technology that will allow us to meet the growing demand for renewable fuels from wood chips, switch grass and other materials in addition to corn.  Ultimately, the market will adjust and all those in the food, fuel and fiber industry will be able to prosper.” 

Much of the debate has been centered on the notion that the U.S. will not be able to produce enough corn to satisfy all markets, creating shortages and intensifying competition that will continuously drive the price of corn higher.  However, recent advancements in seed, farming and ethanol technologies are allowing our farmers to continue feeding the world while helping to fuel our nation. 

“There is no conflict between food and fuel—we can produce both,” said Ken McCauley, president of the National Corn Growers Association. “Demand for corn is at unprecedented levels, and we fully expect unprecedented levels of supply as well. This spring U.S. corn growers planted the largest crop this country has seen since the 1940s. Given normal weather conditions this summer, we’ll produce the largest corn crop in history, and that will allow us to readily satisfy demand for livestock feed, human food processing, exports and fuel ethanol.”

April 2007: Ethanol Production and Demand

Continuing the trend of strong production figures, the
U.S. ethanol industry produced 391,000 barrels per day (b/d) in April.  That is an annualized rate of nearly 6 billion gallons.  In addition, it is an increase of 102,000 b/d over April 2006.

Ethanol demand remained constant at 410,000 b/d in April as did
U.S. fuel ethanol imports, at 35 million gallons for the month.

The RFA released the following statistics:

April 2007 Statistics(mg = million gallons; b/d = barrels per day) 

*Source: 
U.S. International Trade Commission
Jim Jordan and Associates