The CEO and President of the RFA, Bob Dinneen, led the last panel discussion and provided closing comments. I interviewed him to get his thought on how this year’s Conference went.
Bob says that attendance far exceeded his expectations given the state of the industry at the moment. He saw a lot of people coming in seeming to be very down because of the economy but he has reminded everyone over and over, “It’s going to get better!” He likes to point out the positives such as 31 new plants opening in 2008.
He says that one of the keys to a re-invigorated economy needs to be a new energy policy paradigm in the country. That’s going to mean not allowing petroleum to dictate the debate. He observed that people in the oil industry, including several who spoke at the Conference, see the benefits of ethanol.
You can listen my closing interview with Bob here: Bob Dinneen Interview (mp3)
“When the history books are written, 2008 most likely will go down as an anomaly year, ” began John Urbanchuck, Director of LEGC, LLC. Housing market crash. Financial market crash. Global recession. Commodity boom and bust. Wave of bankruptcies. “We slipped into a recession in December 2007, ending a seven year run of economic growth.” But, he continued, President Obama, in his address last night, brought back his primary message: hope.
Urbanchuk was one of this year’s Conference speakers and he focused comments on his latest economic report, “Contribution of the Ethanol Industry to the Economy of the United States.” Click here to download the full report.
You can listen to Urbanchuk’s comments at the conference here: John Urbanchuk Comments (mp3)
2009 National Ethanol Conference Photo Album
Our final keynote speaker was Joe Petrowski, CEO, Gulf Oil. Once again the ethanol industry was able to hear directly from a representative of the oil industry.
Joe was entertaining as well as informative. He says that he’s not a fan of high cost energy and that we should have a goal to have low cost energy. But he says that there is not unanimous agreement in Washington, DC on this issue. In fact, he says that some have global warming as their secular religion. He made a point of saying that carbon is an issue but he just doesn’t think it’s the most important issue facing our society right now. He really brought a unique perspective to the podium.
You can listen to Joe’s comments here: Joe Petrowski Comments (mp3)
Steven Wagner, Merrick & Company, is a board member of RFA who says he attended the first National Ethanol Conference in Iowa. He says it’s a lot warmer here than it was there.
He’s very encouraged about the progress that’s being made to develop ethanol, especially from the standpoint of cellulosic.
When it comes to unity in the ethanol industry he says that there needs to be good standards in the area of fuel and engine technology. He points out how important it is to have organizations around the world get together and learn from each other since different countries have taken different approaches to the development of biofuels.
You can listen to my interview with Steven here: Steven Wagner Interview (mp3)
At the Conference today, the Renewable Fuels Association, the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association and the European Bioethanol Fuel Association announced the formation of the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance. Pictured are (l-r), Bliss Baker, Executive Director, Global Renewable Fuels Alliance; Gordon Quaiattini, President, Canadian Renewable Fuels Association; Robert Veirhout, Secretary General, European Bioethanol Industry Organization; Bob Dinneen, President and CEO, Renewable Fuels Association.
Their first initiative is to reach out to the World Bank, along with other organizations, to encourage them to make investments in developing countries’ biofuels infrastructure a top priority.
While Brazil is not yet a part of this organization, Bliss Baker, Executive Director, of the Global Renewable FuelsAlliance, said that they have spoken and invited them, along with dozens of other worldwide organizations, to join the alliance. Bob Dinneen, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association followed up by saying, “Quite frankly, we expect them to join.”
The announcement of this global alliance comes on the heals of President Obama’s commitment to continued biofuels development in the States and the cooling of the “food versus fuel debate” which was proven to be a hoax this summer as commodity prices plummeted and food prices skyrocketed. There was a consensus among the group that the time was right to begin working together to help build the global energy infrastructure.
Gordon Guaiattini, President of the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association, stressed the importance of helping developing countries develop their agricultural productivity. “Agriculture productivity and poverty are directly linked.” He wants this new organization to take a similar approach that leading agricultural groups have which includes helping developing countries adopt more sustainable practices while increasing output. He said that they will ensure that biofuels are developed in a sustainable manner that will allow poverty stricken areas to significantly increase their economic condition.
As energy is a global issue, this new alliance, which represents 60 percent of the global biofuels production and 29 countries, will focus on ensuring that international biofuels policies are sustainable, and developed in a way that each countries’ best interest as the center of all decisions. To learn more, visit the Global Renewable FuelsAlliance’s website at www.globalrfa.org.
You can listen to the full press conference here: Global Renewable Fuels Alliance Press Conference (mp3)
2009 National Ethanol Conference Photo Album
I’ve had an opportunity to speak with several board members and one of them is Bernie Punt, Siouxland Energy & Livestock Coop.
Like other members he’s very optimistic about the future of the ethanol industry. Bernie says that the Conference always draws an interesting group of people in the industry who have a common set of goals and concerns. He’s currently the Chairman of the NEVC and he agrees with Bob that the industry needs to speak with one voice.
He says that the industry hit a speed bump and there is a need to smooth out the supply and demand situation for ethanol but he’s confident in the long term need of our country to produce its own fuel.
You can listen to my interview with Bernie here: Bernie Punt Interview (mp3)
A panel of three Washington public policy specialists took the stage at the National Ethanol Conference on Tuesday to talk about what is going on inside the beltway.
The panelists included Anne Steckel with the American Farm Bureau, Jim Ford with the American Petroleum Institute and Mark Maher with GM. Not present was Michael Goo, formally with the Natural Resources Defense Council, who now has a new job under the new administration.
That led Renewable Fuels Association president Bob Dinneen to ask the panel what they think about the environmental community moving into high level positions in the administration. Overall, they seem to be very positive about the new administration and are looking forward to working with them. Steckel pointed out that the Obama administration wants to “make decisions based on sound science, so that really reassures us.”
Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO was the first guest on the AgriTalk live broadcast Tuesday from the National Ethanol Conference. Bob (far right) is pictured here in a shot from the third floor level with host Mike Adams and producer John Herath.
AgriTalk will be broadcasting live from San Antonio today and tomorrow and then moving on to the Commodity Classic in Grapevine, TX. The nationally syndicated radio program has nearly 70 radio station affiliates in 16 states across the country.
National Ethanol Conference Photo Album
Representatives from five of the top companies working toward commercialization of cellulosic ethanol presented their progress during the first general session of the 2009 National Ethanol Conference Tuesday.
They were (L to R) John Howe with Verenium, Gerson Santos-Leon with Abengoa, Bill Schafer of Range Fuels, Chris Hessler of Iogen, and Larry Ward of POET.
Howe specifically discussed Verenium’s plans to develop a cellulosic ethanol plant with BP in South Florida and their strong focus on high biomass grasses and canes. “The reason for that is - at the end of the day - this is going to be a game of yield per acre,” said Howe.
Santos-Leon gave an update on the hybrid project Abengoa is developing in Kansas. “We’ve been doing process engineering on that facility for the last year, which is scheduled to be complete late March or April,” he said. “This month we are starting to sign up farmers to provide corn stover and wheat straw for the facility.”
Bill Schafer says they continue to make progress with a number of partners on the Range Fuels project in Georgia. “Last month we were able to announce that we were successful in obtaining a conditional commitment through USDA for an $80 million loan guarantee which is a very good thing for helping this project move forward.”
Chris Hessler noted that Iogen has been working to develop production technology for cellulosic ethanol since the late 1970s and has constructed the world’s first industrial-scale demonstration facility in Ottawa which has the only operating re-fueling station for E85 cellulosic ethanol. He stressed the continued need for investment to commercialize cellulosic ethanol and the support of government to that end by maintaining current goals for the RFS. “It’s really important that we stick with the policy that Congress put in place, it is succeeding and driving investment, but its equally important that we communicate about it effectively so that a misperception about that policy doesn’t create an inability to successfully commercialize,” he said.
Finally, Ward gave an update on POET’s cellulosic project. “We have completed construction of our pilot scale facility,” he said. “We can produce ethanol from about one ton of dry product a day in this facility.” He also stressed the need for continued investment to grow the industry.
National Ethanol Conference Photo Album
The first press conference here at the Conference focused on some new research that show almost no land use change impact from 15 billion gallons of U.S. corn ethanol.
Indirect land-use affects of corn-based ethanol would be “small” reported Thomas Darlington, with Air Improvement Resource, Inc. Darlington has been working with RFA to help legislators, in particular the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) better understand Land-Use Change. Indirect land use research is still in its infancy in terms of the scientific research behind the issue.
The ethanol industry is still awaiting the EPA RFS2 ruling on indirect land-use’s role in greenhouse gas effects, and CARB is scheduled to hold a hearing on their final report on April 23-24th. The industry has been working hard to work with organizations to ensure that legislation is not put into place, based on speculation, that would prohibit the growth of biofuels.
Originally, land use change impact was estimated to be large. But Darlington points out that the earlier studies don’t take into effect yield improvements and “land use credits” from the use of distillers grains. His research also lays out a “philosophical” assumption that if the U.S. exports are constant or increasing even with ethanol, no international land use effects should be assigned to corn ethanol. This was derived from reviewing past research including Argonne National Labs last Fall. In essence, Darlington’s research proves that when taking these elements into account, corn ethanol has a very small impact on land use change and GHGs.
You can listen to Darlington’s comments here: Thomas Darlington Comments (mp3)
To read the full report, go to the RFA website.
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