RFA at RFS Hearing

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)

Press Turns Out for Food Price Briefing

The media was very interested in hearing the story that agriculture and the ethanol industry had to tell about food prices during a press conference Wednesday at the National Press Club.

Former Agriculture Secretary John Block, National Corn Growers CEO Rick Tolman, National Farmers Union president Tom Buis and RFA’s own Bob Dinneen gave opening statements about the facts on food price increases and entertained about 40 minutes of questions from reporters present and on the phone. They covered nearly every topic on the ethanol waterfront and gave highly informative answers to probing and intelligent questions from the press. Hopefully this will translate into some balance in reporting about the food versus fuel issue.

It’s a big file and may take a while to load but you can listen to the entire one hour plus press conference here: Food Price Press Conference (1 Hour MP3 file)

You can see an online photo album from the press conference here: RFA Press Conference Photo Album

RFA Reaction to Current Criticism

This “Ethanol Report” podcast features comments from RFA President Bob Dinneen on a number of topics coinciding with the annual RFA board of directors meeting in St. Louis this week. He talks about the angst felt by ethanol producers seeing their product maligned in the media and why the Texas governor’s request for a waiver of the Renewable Fuels Standard is misguided. Dinneen also says the industry can support a decrease in the blender’s tax credit being discussed by farm bill negotiators and he points out that transportation costs are driving the food aid crisis.

You can subscribe to “The Ethanol Report” by following this link.

Or you can listen to it on-line here: Ethanol Report 11 (6:45 MP3 file)

Ethanol Report on Plant Efficiency and Food Prices

This “Ethanol Report” podcast features comments from RFA President Bob Dinneen on a new report from Argonne National Laboratory about the increased efficiency of U.S. ethanol plants, as well as how higher oil prices are the real cause of food price inflation.

You can subscribe to “The Ethanol Report” by following this link.

Or you can listen to it on-line here: Ethanol Report 10 (7:00 MP3 file)

Ethanol Industry Leaders Talk About the Future

This “Ethanol Report” podcast features comments from four ethanol industry leaders about the future of the ethanol industry and what role the Renewable Fuels Association will play in it.

Commentators include RFA Vice Chairman Tom Branhan of Glacial Lakes Energy in Watertown, South Dakota; Renewable Fuels Foundation chairman Bill Lee with Chippewa Valley Ethanol in Minnesota; RFA and RFF board member Dan Schwartzkopf with ICM’s LifeLine Foods; and Ryland Utlaut of Mid-Missouri Energy, a board member of RFA and past chairman of the National Corn Growers Association.

You can subscribe to “The Ethanol Report” by following this link.

Or you can listen to it on-line here: Ethanol Report 9 (6:30 MP3 file)

Closing Comments From National Ethanol Conference

This year’s National Ethanol Conference is officially over and it was the greatest one ever according to Bob Dinneen, RFA President. Here he’s leading first ever panel on “The International Biofuels Market.”

Even though it has been a long couple days he says he feels great, re-charged and energized. Although we heard a lot of talk about mis-conceptions in the public about ethanol he says the industry is getting better at dealing with correcting them. He also says that he heard the ethanol industry compared to a teenager and agrees that it is a time of transition. He also said that people were leaving here today more upbeat than when they arrived.

Bob says that if anyone was here they would see that this is not a static industry but one that’s constantly evolving and solving challenges. He says that the international panel was really good and showed how we face common challenges around the world as biofuels continue to develop.

You can listen to my closing interview with Bob here: Bob Dinneen Interview (9:00 MP3 file)

Corn Growers Meeting Production Challenges

One of the presenters here at the National Ethanol Conference was Rick Tolman, CEO of the National Corn Growers Association. Rick gave a great speech in which he provided a significant amount of data supporting the benefits of ethanol production using corn and that dispel many of the myths that seem to be lingering in the media and general public.

There are so many facts and figures in his talk that I don’t want to try to cover them all here. But for example, on one of his slides he shows that in 1944 we got 2.8 million bushels of corn off of 85 billion acres while just last year we got 13.1 billion bushels off the same number of acres. His point being that we’re getting more efficient in corn production. He also pointed out that companies like Monsanto are projecting that we’ll double the number of bushels harvested per acre in the near future as technology continues to develop.

You can listen to Rick’s speech here: Rick Tolman Speech (20:00 MP3 file)

Ethanol Industry Bright Spot in Economy

This week the RFA released the results of an economic analysis conducted by John Urbanchuk who works for LECG, LLC, a global expert services consulting firm. The report focused on the impact of the U.S. ethanol industry in 2007.

The analysis, conducted by John Urbanchuk of LECG, LLC, determined that the “increase in economic activity resulting from ongoing production and construction of new capacity supported the creation of 238,541 jobs in all sectors of the economy during 2007. These include more than 46,000 jobs in America’s manufacturing sector — American jobs making ethanol from grain produced by American farmers.â€? The goods and services required to produce the estimated 6.5 billion gallons in 2007 added $47.6 billion to the Gross Domestic Product and raised household incomes by $12.3 billion.

The resulting economic activity from the domestic production of ethanol also paid dividends in the form of lower government expenditures and higher tax revenues. In 2007, the tax incentives provided for the production and use of ethanol totaled $3.4 billion. However, the increased tax revenue collected by the Federal Treasury totaled $4.6 billion. Moreover, state and local governments saw tax revenues increase by $3.6 billion.

As John says in my interview with him, it’s really hard to find a downside to the industry and it’s economic impact. You can read the full release here (pdf).

You can hear my interview with John here: John Urbanchuk Interview (9:00 MP3 file)

Farm Bill Update

U.S. Undersecretary for Rural Development, Tom Dorr, was first up on the program here this morning at the Conference to speak about the farm bill and focus on renewable fuel policies and provisions.

He says the ethanol industry is going through some growing pains, or put another way, transitional challenges. He’s convinced these will be overcome. Like many of the speakers here he talked about the attacks on ethanol, especially of late, in terms of sustainability. He said that some of the same regulatory rhetoric being discussed in Europe in regards to biofuels is creeping up in the debate in Washington, DC. He pointed out that farmers have long been working on sustainability and the facts show that they’re increasing yields while reducing inputs.

You can hear most of Dorr’s speech here (I missed the very beginning): Tom Dorr Speech (9:00 MP3 file)

Getting Corn Fed With Shannon Brown

Ethanol plants aren’t the only thing that’s corn fed. Shannon Brown is corn fed too and she played the song for us in a great concert tonight. She’ll be doing the same later this week at the Commodity Classic which is the combined annual meetings of the National Corn Growers Association, the American Soybean Association and the National Association of Wheat Growers. But we got her first.

I asked her about the song and how it all came about and what she thinks of the ethanol business that she’s been involved in through her sponsorship by VeraSun Energy.

Shannon says the song reflects the fact that she’s a corn fed Iowa girl and the song signifies who she is and where she comes from. She says that working with VeraSun has been an eye opener and she’s fully behind the mission of the ethanol industry. She says consumers should definitely feel comfortable putting it in their car.

You can hear my interview with Shannon here: Shannon Brown Interview (2:00 MP3 file)