Two RFA members are holding ethanol plant celebrations this week.
Officials with Verenium Corporation is holding a dedication ceremony Thursday for a new demonstration-scale cellulosic ethanol facility in Jennings, Louisiana.
Verenium president Carlos Riva says, “This is a first for the U.S. and as we take the next step toward commercialization, we are breaking new ground and setting new standards for our industry.”
RFA president Bob Dinneen says the opening is significant for the nation. “By opening the first cellulosic ethanol R&D facility, Louisianans and Verenium are taking a leading role in providing America with a more sustainable alternative to increasingly expensive petroleum.
Also on Thursday, VeraSun Energy will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house for its 110 million-gallon-per year biorefinery in Albion, Nebraska.
The plant began operation in October 2007 and VeraSun announced it would acquire the facility from ASAlliances in July 2007. The plant is one of 11 VeraSun ethanol production facilities currently in operation.
According to VeraSun officials, the ribbon cutting, which will be held at the Boone County Fairgrounds, “will focus on the power of partnership™, recognizing those who contributed to the success of project and are leaving a legacy of creating energy diversity and economic benefits for the communities of Boone County.” Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman will be making the keynote address at the event.
“Nebraska’s residents have long understood the economic, environmental and security benefits of a strong domestic ethanol industry, and their legislators have helped set the stage for ethanol and other biofuels to contribute to our nation’s energy security,” said Dinneen.
RFA is working hard to combat the campaign against ethanol by food manufacturers and petroleum companies which continues to increase. In this Ethanol Report podcast, President and CEO Bob Dinneen says they have hired new staff and opened a new office and he believes that in the end the facts will prevail.
You can subscribe to “The Ethanol Report” by following this link.
Or you can listen to it on-line here: 
Ethanol Report 13 (8:29 MP3 file)
Some senators got an early start on summer grilling season Wednesday by putting the heat on Big Oil.
As crude oil prices jumped over $4 to settle at more than $133 a barrel, oil company executives faced tough questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee on why prices continue to climb.
The oil executives defended their profits and the price increases with statements such as, “The fundamental laws of supply and demand are at work,” made by John Hofmeister, chairman of Shell Oil.
They also brought up biofuels and restrictions on drilling for oil in the United States. Peter Robertson with Chevron Corporation said, “Congress has recently made some hard policy choices on renewables and energy efficiency. We hope you can also make the equally hard choices to open up more federal lands and allow us to responsibly produce more American oil and natural gas, which can supply us for decades to come.”
When asked directly about their own personal income last year, most of the five Big Oil execs were vague and evasive. Only J. Stephen Simon, executive vice president of Exxon Mobil, was specific and direct - $12.5 million. No doubt he has no worries about spending $60 to fill up his tank.
This Memorial Day weekend many motorists may be wistfully remembering the days of $2 a gallon gasoline as prices at the pump may hit $4 average nationwide by the holiday.
The American Automobile Association (AAA) predicts that nearly 32 million drivers will hit the road for the long holiday weekend. However, RFA has some good news. Because ethanol is keeping gasoline prices about 15% lower than they otherwise might be, RFA says the gasoline price savings this weekend alone will amount to over $200 million – enough for 133 million cups of Starbucks coffee.
According to the president’s Council of Economic Advisors, the total global increase in corn-based ethanol production accounts for only about three percent of the recent increase in global food prices.
That was the main summary point of a USDA press briefing held Monday in Washington DC to present their case for producing both food and fuel in the United States.
Presenting the data was USDA chief economist Dr. Joe Glauber, who pointed out all the factors that have contributed to higher food prices in the last year including economic growth, weather, export restrictions, higher food marketing and transportation costs, and finally, increases in biofuels.
Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said, “It’s clear that while bioenergy generation does have some effect on prices, it is not a major effect. It’s not even a big effect.”
Schafer said he had talked to the people who have “initiated these underground things that have been going on” to influence public opinion about ethanol incentives and found that while they understand that higher energy and transportation costs are the driving factor for increased food prices, they think “it’s easier” to target corn and ethanol.
“The change in the Renewable Fuels Standard, the change in the (ethanol) tariff or duty, isn’t going to effect food prices,” Schafer said. “We need to focus on things that will actually have an effect, instead of a short-term political solution we need to look long-term, because we have a long-term problem here.”
When asked directly if he was referring to the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) campaign against ethanol that was revealed last week by the Capitol Hill publication Roll Call and publicized by Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) and others, Schafer said yes.
“Clearly, we have a difference of opinion with GMA,” said Schafer. “They are a trade organization driven by their membership and evidently that is the course they chose to take, not one that I would take.”
Link to USDA power point presentation slides
Read transcript of press briefing here.
The Capitol Hill publication Roll Call has revealed that the nation’s largest food corporations have been waging war on ethanol over the past few month.
Roll Call, which obtained confidential documentation of the effort, reported Wednesday, “Rising food and fuel prices have led the biofuels industry to take a beating on Capitol Hill the past few weeks. But the pummeling hasn’t been by chance — it’s part of a concerted effort spearheaded by the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Glover Park Group. GMA has been leading an ‘aggressive’ public relations campaign for the past two months in an effort to roll back ethanol mandates that passed in last year’s energy bill.”
Among the documents obtained by Roll Call was the GMA’s proposal request “to build a groundswell in support of freezing or reversing some provisions of the 2007 Energy Bill and for the elimination/reform of ethanol subsidies and import restrictions.”
Glover Park Group’s proposal response included the number one objective to “obliterate whatever intellectual justification might still exist for corn-based ethanol among policy elites.”
These documents should be viewed with outrage by every farmer and ethanol producer in the country.
GMA’s Request for Proposal
Glover Park Group’s Media Campaign Proposal
Biofuels have become an essential component of the world’s motor fuel supply, according to a report released today by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
IEA estimates that biofuels will account for nearly two-thirds of the non-OPEC oil supply growth this year, or more than 1.5 million gallons per day.
“While it seems unlikely that biofuel targets will be reversed in the near future, it is sobering to realize the amount of oil that would be needed to replace them,” the IEA report said.
According to the report, replacing the global supply of ethanol and biodiesel-based biofuels added to the U.S. and European markets since 2005 would require an additional 1 million barrels of crude oil to be processed per day.
Read stories from Bloomberg and Dow Jones.
RFA President Bob Dinneen says the report points out the importance of ethanol production. “In the face of record oil, gasoline and diesel prices, it might seem pennywise but would be pound foolish to walk away from our commitment to biofuels and a diversified energy future,” he said.
Sen. John Thune (R-SD) plans to introduce a bill this week that would let buyers of cars or trucks capable of running on up to 85 percent ethanol enriched fuel claim a $1,000 tax credit.
Thune says we can’t conserve our way out of our dependence on foreign oil, “We’ve got to start taking steps to diversify our fuel supply.”
According to an AP story out of Sioux Falls, Thune’s bill would allow consumers purchasing an optimum flexible fuel vehicle - which runs on E-85 with an improved fuel economy similar to that of a gasoline-powered ride - to claim a $1,500 tax credit.
Thune, who was among a bipartisan group of Senators that sent a letter last week to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson supporting the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), says his legislation would encourage consumers to buy more flex-fuel vehicles, which would in turn increase demand for E-85 and blender pumps.
In case you don’t have time to the entire one hour press conference from last week, here’s a six minute summary. This “Ethanol Report” podcast features comments from the four agriculture and ethanol industry leaders who participated in a press conference on April 30 about the role of biofuels in food price increases. Featured are former Agriculture Secretary John Block, National Corn Growers Association CEO Rick Tolman, National Farmers Union president Tom Buis and RFA president Bob Dinneen.
You can subscribe to “The Ethanol Report” by following this link.
Or you can listen to it on-line here: Ethanol Report 12 (5:45 MP3 file)
As the House Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality heard testimony regarding the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) on Tuesday, oil hit yet another record high of $122 a barrel.
RFA president Bob Dinneen reminded the committee of that several times during the hearing, having to correct his own pre-prepared remarks. “Mr. Chairman, the RFS made sense when you passed it in December and prices were $90 a barrel,” Dinneen said. “It makes more sense today with crude oil prices at $120 a barrel. I’m sorry, just while this hearing has been going on, the market has increased and we’re now looking at $122 a barrel oil.”
“Ethanol is the only tool we have today that can address the nation’s most serious economic issue – our dependence on imported oil and the rising price of gasoline and crude oil,” he said.
Listen to Bob’s testimony here: Dinneen Hearing Testimony (6:00 MP3 file)
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