2020 August - Ethanol Producer Magazine

AUGUST 2020

REALITY CHECK Truing Up the Roles of Ethanol and EVs PAGE 36

ALSO

E15 Sales Up Despite Pandemic PAGE 20

High-Octane Award Winner Doug Durante PAGE 28

www.ethanolproducer.com

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ADVERTISER INDEX EDITORIAL

2020 Int'l Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo

50-51

ACE American Coalition for Ethanol

55

AgCountry Farm Credit Services

45

Apache Stainless Equipment Corp.

17

BASF Enzymes LLC

7

Battelle

8

Vice President of Production & Design Jaci Satterlund | jsatterlund@bbiinternational.com

BetaTec Hop Products

16

Graphic Designer Raquel Boushee | rboushee@bbiinternational.com

CTE Global, Inc.

3

D3MAX LLC

33

DSM Bio-based Products & Services

56

CEO Joe Bryan | jbryan@bbiinternational.com

DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences

49

President Tom Bryan | tbryan@bbiinternational.com

EISENMANN Corporation

34

Fagen Inc.

23

Fluid Quip Technologies, LLC

38

Growth Energy

2

Hengye, Inc.

9

Hoffmann, Inc.

24

Hydro-Thermal Corporation

35

ICM, Inc.

18

Interra Global Corporation

40

Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled Spirits

11

McC Inc.

31

MoistTech

25

NLB Corp.

48

Phibro Ethanol Performance Group

15

POET LLC

13

Premium Plant Services, Inc.

46

RPMG, Inc.

47

Solar Turbines Incorporated

19

Solenis LLC

27

Trislot USA, Inc.

41

Victory Energy Operations, LLC

26

Visionary Fiber Technologies

30

WINBCO

39

Editor Lisa Gibson | lgibson@bbiinternational.com Associate Editor Matt Thompson | mthompson@bbiinternational.com Associate Editor Luke Geiver | lgeiver@bbiinternational.com

DESIGN

PUBLISHING & SALES

Vice President of Operations/Marketing & Sales John Nelson | jnelson@bbiinternational.com Business Development Director Howard Brockhouse | hbrockhouse@bbiinternational.com Senior Account Manager/Bioenergy Team Leader Chip Shereck | cshereck@bbiinternational.com Jr. Account Manager Josh Bergrud | jbergrud@bbiinternational.com Circulation Manager Jessica Tiller | jtiller@bbiinternational.com Marketing & Advertising Manager Marla DeFoe | mdefoe@bbiinternational.com Marketing & Social Media Coordinator Dayna Bastian | dbastian@bbiinternational.com

EDITORIAL BOARD Ringneck Energy Walter Wendland Little Sioux Corn Processors Steve Roe Commonwealth Agri-Energy Mick Henderson Aemetis Advanced Fuels Eric McAfee Western Plains Energy Derek Peine Front Range Energy Dan Sanders Jr. Customer Service Please call 1-866-746-8385 or email us at service@bbiinternational.com. Subscriptions Subscriptions to Ethanol Producer Magazine are free of charge to everyone with the exception of a shipping and handling charge for anyone outside the United States. To subscribe, visit www.

EthanolProducer.com or you can send your mailing address and payment (checks made out to BBI International) to: Ethanol Producer Magazine Subscriptions, 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203. You can also fax a subscription form to 701-746-5367. Back Issues, Reprints and Permissions Select back issues are available for $3.95 each, plus shipping. Article reprints are also available for a fee. For more information, contact us at 866-746-8385 or service@bbiinternational. com. Advertising Ethanol Producer Magazine provides a specific topic delivered to a highly targeted audience. We are committed to editorial excellence and high-quality print production. To find out more about Ethanol Producer Magazine advertising opportunities, please contact us at 866-746-8385 or service@bbiinternational.com. Letters to the Editor We welcome letters to the editor. Send to Ethanol Producer Magazine Letters to the Editor, 308 2nd Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203 or email to lgibson@bbiinternational.com. Please include your name, address and phone number. Letters may be edited for clarity and/or space.

TM

Please recycle this magazine and remove inserts or samples before recycling

COPYRIGHT Š 2020 by BBI International

4 | ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2020

Contents

20

GROWTH ENERGY

AUGUST 2020 VOLUME 26

DEPARTMENTS 4

AD INDEX

6

PUBLISHER'S NOTE Ethanol’s Realistic Role EVENTS CALENDAR

10

VIEW FROM THE HILL The Folly and Cynicism of Gap-Year Waivers

FEATURES 20 E15

Climbing Through Chaos

Despite the pandemic, E15 use— and its presence—is rising

By Lisa Gibson

28

GLOBAL SCENE Improving Air Quality Can Help Reduce COVID-19 Fatalities CLEARING THE AIR We Don’t Need a Lockdown to Clear the Air

By Dave VanderGriend

16

BUSINESS BRIEFS

53

MARKETPLACE

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

PROFILE

Clean Calling

CONTRIBUTION 52 TECHNOLOGY

Cutting Through the CMMS Clutter

Debunking the myths of computerized maintenance management systems

By Heather Wilkerson

By Tom Bryan

36

MARKET

Reality Check

CFDC brief predicts more sensible path for electric vehicles and ethanol

By Letica Phillips

14

42

The illustrious career of High-Octane Award Winner Doug Durante

By Geoff Cooper

12

ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE

ISSUE 8

By Tom Bryan

9

36

By Matt Thompson

42

ENVIRONMENT

Biogenic Emissions: Credit Where It’s Due

Efforts to correctly account for ag-based C02 may finally be gaining critical mass

By Luke Geiver

Ethanol Producer Magazine: (USPS No. 023-974) August 2020, Vol. 26, Issue 8. Ethanol Producer Magazine is published monthly by BBI International. Principal Office: 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203. Periodicals Postage Paid at Grand Forks, North Dakota and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Ethanol Producer Magazine/Subscriptions, 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, North Dakota 58203.

ON THE COVER

At a Casey's filling station in Fargo, North Dakota, a Tesla electric vehicle charging station stands at the ready while a consumer in the background fuels up with gas at the same location.

PHOTO: MATT THOMPSON, ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE

ETHANOLPRODUCER.COM | 5

Publisher's Note

Ethanol’s Realistic Role Few regulatory actions over the past decade have been as momentous—and overdue—as the Trump administration’s 2019 decision to allow E15 to be sold year-round. And while the promise of ubiquitous E15 use is an enticing vision, achieving the omnipresence of E10 will be a long time coming. The higher blend’s market growth is on a nice, gradual ascent—buttressed by independent retailer support—but its adoption will be hard to rush.

In “Climbing Through Chaos,” on page 20, Lisa Gibson reports that, since E15 received its Reid vapor pressure waiver last year, more retailers and terminals have adopted the blend. In fact, sales of E15 are up 46 percent postwaiver, with 400 new retail locations and 40 terminals getting set up to handle the blend in the past year. So while fuel use is down, E15’s lower price—and its year-round presence—is spurring growth. Branded retailers are, of course, still resisting, but USDA grant money for higher blend infrastructure has, in the words of one market observer, “kept the conversation going” with retailers willing to listen.

Ethanol’s market expansion will require continuous technical work and persistent advocacy. The subject of our page-28 feature, “Clean Calling,” is no stranger to either. With the 2020 International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo being carried out as a virtual event this year—the conference will take place online in mid-September—we decided to spotlight the distinguished career of Doug Durante, winner of this year’s High-Octane Award. It was a pleasure to speak with Durante and Award of Excellence winner Doug Tiffany, who we'll feature next month.

Coincidentally, our High-Octane Award winner shows up in the ensuing feature, “Reality Check,” on page 36, which explores a new issue brief by Durante’s organization, the Clean Fuels Development Coalition. In that story, Matt Thompson reports that the CFDC makes a compelling case for increased ethanol use amidst seemingly blind support for electric vehicles (EVs). Durante and others are essentially calling for a more honest examination of the role EVs can and should play in decarbonization.

Indeed, the emissions reductions necessary to set decarbonization in motion is not only a matter of transforming energy production and use, but altering how we understand and account for biogenic CO2. As Luke Geiver reports in “Biogenic Emissions: Credit Where It’s Due,” on page 42, American farmers and biofuels producers alike would experience a significant boost—at a time when they really need it—if biogenic CO2 emissions were finally deemed de minimis, or neutral. Changing the way those emissions are regulated would create a glidepath for farmers to participate in market-based climate change solutions and reinvigorate the U.S. bioeconomy. Jumpstarting any sector starting in “bio” sure sounds nice right now.

Enjoy the reading. See you at the virtual FEW next month.

Tom Bryan President BBI International

FOR INDUSTRY NEWS: WWW.ETHANOLPRODUCER.COM OR FOLLOW US: 6 | ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2020

TWITTER.COM/ETHANOLMAGAZINE

presents Women in the Ethanol Industry 2020

ANDREA VANDERHOFF

Senior Engineer, Fermentation Manufacturing Technology Cargill, Eddyville, IOWA

Corn-based fermentation was a big focus of Andrea’s masters program in industrial microbiology at South Dakota State University, making her job at Cargill a good fit. After a decade with the R&D team, 2.5 years ago she began working more closely with the company’s ethanol channel, as well as with other fermentation product lines.

On working in ethanol I grew up on a ranch in South Dakota and wanted to be a vet for the longest time.

However, when I took microbiology in college, I enjoyed the hands-on aspect of the lab work. And that’s what I like about my job. The majority of my time is spent in the office working on projects and reports, but every once in a while, when we aren’t impacted by the Covid virus, I’m able to go into plants, talk with the operators and see what’s going on first hand. Working together with the specialists, engineers and scientists in the plant, we are able to identify ways to run our process more efficiently.

I work with our three sites in Blair, Nebraska, and Eddyville and Fort Dodge, Iowa. Each has unique challenges. One of my main roles is looking at the different enzyme combinations for saccharification and fermentation. One combination doesn’t necessarily apply to all three, or even two, facilities, plus there are unique challenges in wet-corn milling processes.

As a woman in ethanol The majority of my team is composed of men, but it’s never been an issue for me. I work with some of the smartest and greatest people in our company. It’s a fantastic team to be part of and I love the collaborative nature of my work.

Women continue to lead in so many areas in our industry and across Cargill, especially in areas where they haven’t led previously. I’m a mom of two teen girls (plus three teen boys) and I want to be able to show my children, my daughters in particular, that they can do whatever they want, even if it’s in a more commonly male-dominated field.

On working with industry partners BASF has been wonderful partner. They are innovation driven, just like Cargill. They have a strong technical team who can answer our fermentation and refinery-related questions. I work most often with Tami Fraser, BASF technical sales rep. She’s been very responsive and she understands the needs of each of our facilities and product lines.

We work with a lot of different partners for yeast screening, contamination remediation and enzymes. We are facing some truly challenging times in the ethanol industry right now, but having partners that are driven to innovate and rise above is refreshing. We all need each other to succeed through this tumultuous season.

Monetize your CO2 emissions and increase the value of your fuel with carbon capture, utilization and storage.

battelle.org/ccus

Upcoming Events Int'l Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo Septembr 15-17, 2020 VIRTUAL EVENT

From its inception, the mission of this event has remained constant: The FEW delivers timely presentations with a strong focus on commercialscale ethanol production—from quality control and yield maximization to regulatory compliance and fiscal management. FEW is the ethanol industry’s premier forum for unveiling new technologies and research findings. The program is primarily focused on optimizing grain ethanol operations while also covering cellulosic and advanced ethanol technologies.

866-746-8385 | FuelEthanolWorkshop.com

Biodiesel Production Technology Summit Septembr 15-17, 2020 VIRTUAL EVENT

The Biodiesel Production Technology Summit is a new forum designed for biodiesel and renewable diesel producers to learn about cuttingedge process technologies, new techniques and equipment to optimize existing production, and efficiencies to save money while increasing throughput and fuel quality.

866-746-8385 | BiodieselTechnologySummit.com

ACE Ethanol Conference Septembr 16, 2020 VIRTUAL EVENT

The ACE Conference is a must-attend event for industry leadership.

Relaying timely updates on public policy, market development, board of director training, and much more, this event combines the detail of high-level training courses with all the fun of a family reunion.

605-334-3381 | Ethanol.org/events/conference

UAS Summit & Expo October 13-14, 2020

Alerus Center, Grand Forks, ND The UAS Summit & Expo started as a small gathering of regional stakeholders. Now, 14 years later, the event in the Northern Plains of North Dakota has become a yearly major event for UAS experts from around the world. It’s the original epicenter of drone research, earned its place as the Silicon Valley of Drones and as you’ll see from the commercial, government and military flight activity filling the sky of the Northern Plains and beyond every day, it has truly become America’s UAS proving grounds.

866-746-8385 | TheUASsummit.com

Please check our website for upcoming webinars www.ethanolproducer.com/pages/webinar ETHANOLPRODUCER.COM | 9

View From The Hill

The Folly and Cynicism of Gap-Year Waivers

Geoff Cooper

President and CEO Renewable Fuels Association 202.289.3835

gcooper@ethanolrfa.org

When in mid-June the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revealed it was considering 52 new small refinery exemption requests from oil refiners, going as far back as the 2011 compliance year, many of us reacted with anger, but not necessarily with surprise. And few of us would be shocked if the EPA actually tried to grant some of these new petitions, as our faith in the agency’s ability to properly implement the Renewable Fuel Standard is highly diminished.

But we cannot give up. We have to keep fighting to protect the RFS and holding EPA’s feet to the fire, using whatever means necessary to ensure the agency follows the law.

Two days after Administrator Andrew Wheeler hinted publicly that EPA was receiving these gap-year waiver requests, we sent a letter calling on him to “clarify that small refinery exemption extension petitions for past compliance years are inconsistent with the RFS and will not be entertained by the agency,” and to “expeditiously deny any petitions that have already been received, or that are received going forward, for past compliance years.”

The same day Wheeler spilled the beans, U.S. Department of Energy Under Secretary Mark Menezes testified in the Senate about these prior-year exemption petitions. He called the petitions “gap filings” intended to establish, without regard to merit, a continuous string of exemptions “to be consistent with the Tenth Circuit decision,” which came about when RFA, the National Corn Growers Association, National Farmers Union and the American Coalition for Ethanol challenged waivers EPA granted that were not extensions of prior ones, as required by law.

In its decision, the Tenth Circuit actually anticipated that refiners might try to skirt the ruling with gap-year filings and noted the absurdity of such an approach. The court explained the irrationality of allowing refiners to send in retroactive waiver requests: “by that logic, the EPA could grant a 2019 petition seeking a small refinery exemption for calendar year 2009—more than a decade after the fact.” And this is exactly what refineries are doing—pretending there could have been a hardship years ago that could justify the granting of an exemption today.

RFA is also aware of refineries resubmitting previously rejected petitions for prior compliance years. The Tenth Circuit likewise addressed this possibility, noting that it would not support a misreading of the statute under which “EPA would also be empowered to grant a re-submitted extension petition for an earlier year even though the agency had previously denied that very petition.”

Historically, EPA has recognized the importance of processing exemption petitions before the annual compliance deadline to ensure that parties have adequate time either to comply with the program or, if they receive an exemption, to sell their RINs to other parties. Even in arguments defending its authority to receive and consider exemption petitions “at any time,” EPA has only contemplated that petitions will be received within the compliance year for which an exemption is sought, or shortly thereafter.

More generally, granting petitions for past compliance years flatly contradicts EPA’s position that, once annual volume standards have been set and compliance has occurred, modifying those standards “would inappropriately render the standards a moving target.”

And that is precisely what the Renewable Fuel Standard has become under this current administration: a moving target. As the Tenth Circuit court put it in its decision, “EPA data show that the approach followed by the agency from 2016-forward has opened up a gaping and ever-widening hole in the statute.” Eighty-five petitions have been granted by this EPA for the compliance years 2016-2018, and only eight have been rejected. For 2019 there are 27 pending, and one for 2020. Now, we have 52 more pending for earlier years as refiners try to rig the system.

If EPA were to finally adhere to its 90-day deadline for reviewing exemption petitions, we would expect to learn more about the outcome of these petitions in September. As a decision against renewable fuels would have an impact on many rural voters’ decisions a few months later, we can only expect EPA to ignore the deadline and kick the can down the road a little further. Either way, EPA and the administration need to be held accountable.

10 | ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2020

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Global Scene

Improving Air Quality Can Help Reduce COVID-19 Fatalities

Leticia Phillips

North American Representative Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association, UNICA 202.506.5299

leticia@unica.com.br

The novel coronavirus has forced us to adapt to practices that would have been unthinkable just a few months ago. The handshake is out, masks are in and social distancing is here to stay. While inconvenient, these new habits will soon become second nature to protect ourselves from a ruthless virus.

These simple steps can help, but what if the air we breathe is conspiring with the coronavirus?

A recent Harvard University study concludes that air pollution is linked to significantly higher rates of death in those with disease caused by the coronavirus. The researchers contend that even slightly cleaner air in New York City could have saved hundreds of lives at the height of the pandemic.

The bottom line is that people breathing dirty air day in and day out are far more likely to die from the virus than those in rural areas or metropolitan areas with cleaner air.

“This information can help us prepare by encouraging populations [in polluted areas] to take extra precautions and allocate extra resources to reduce the risk of poor outcomes from COVID-19,” said Xiao Wu, one of the Harvard researchers. “It is likely that COVID-19 will be a part of our lives for quite a long time, despite our hope for a vaccine or treatment. In light of this, we should consider additional measures to protect ourselves from pollution exposure to reduce the COVID-19 death toll.”

The Harvard experts identified the problem. Now it is up to us in the energy and environmental communities to do our part. A good place to start is by speeding up the transition to cleaner fuels. Brazil, with its extensive use of sugarcane ethanol in the transportation sector, can be part of the solution.

Flex-fuel vehicles have long thrived in Brazil, and the country boasts the largest such fleet in the world. Nearly 78 percent of all cars and light-duty trucks run on pure ethanol or an ethanol-gas blend.

The ethanol of choice in Brazil is, of course, made from its own sugarcane.

Comparing Brazilian megacities like São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro with their counterparts in China or India, for example, the benefits of ethanol are hard to miss. One is that sugarcane ethanol provides up to a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. When compared to gasoline and diesel, sugarcane ethanol significantly reduces the emissions of various pollutants, like sulfur oxides (by about 90% compared to gasoline, about 99% compared to S500 diesel and 50% compared to S10 diesel), particulate matter (by more than 98% compared to gasoline and diesel), and toxic hydrocarbons.

Research conducted by University of São Paulo’s Faculty of Medicine confirmed ethanol’s health benefits by looking closely at that city’s vehicle fleet. São Paulo, South America’s largest and most densely populated city, is already a leader in use of flex-fuel vehicles, but if it depended exclusively on ethanol, the health benefits would be overwhelming: save more than 1,400 lives per year; prevent more than 9,000 hospital admissions per year; save the taxpayers more than $190 million annually.

Brazilian sugarcane ethanol enjoys the distinction of being one of the least carbon-intensive biofuels currently available at commercial scale. The country has bigger plans, as demonstrated by its National Biofuels Policy (RenovaBio) that aims to increase the participation of biofuels, including biodiesel and ethanol made from different raw materials, in the transport matrix with the goal of reducing GHG emissions by 100 million tons in 10 years.

We can—and must—do more. The current process to make sugarcane ethanol taps only one-third of the energy the plant can offer. The remaining two-thirds of energy is locked in leftover fiber and straw. Engineers and scientists are hard at work to use these valuable scraps to produce cellulosic ethanol at an affordable price. Once this happens, cellulosic ethanol has the potential to double the yield of fuel coming from the same amount of land.

Because of COVID-19 and future respiratory epidemics, we now have another urgent reason to decrease air pollution and improve the quality of our environment by looking past fossil fuels.

12 | ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2020

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open doors to big solutions POET.COM

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Clearing the Air

We Don’t Need a Lockdown to Clear the Air

Dave VanderGriend

President, Urban Air Initiative CEO, ICM Inc. 316.796.0900

davev@icminc.com

If we learned anything during the COVID-19 lockdown, it was that parking our cars helped clear the air. For the first time in decades, skylines were visible in major cities across the globe. And while we know this was not a sustainable situation, it has brought the world’s attention to air pollution, tailpipe emissions and the need to find a solution to improve air quality.

This is where ethanol can shine. Ethanol is an available solution right now that when added to gasoline, reduces toxic tailpipe emissions and clears the air.

The reason ethanol is so beneficial in gasoline is because it reduces the need for the most toxic fuel additives called aromatics. Aromatics are hydrocarbons that include benzene, toluene and xylene, which are often referred to as the BTX group. Aromatics are the most energy-inefficient, carbonintensive, and expensive components of gasoline. They often don’t fully combust in the engine, which is why aromatics are the primary source for creating ultra-fine particulates. According to a study by Carnegie Mellon, 40% of ultra-fine particulates in urban areas come from gasoline vehicles.

No wonder the skies were clearer when we were no longer commuting. Staying home meant we were less exposed to the dangers of aromatics and ultra-fine particulates. But we don’t need to take this extreme these extremes to improve the air we breathe.

Aromatics are added to fuel to boost octane. Ethanol is the only other commercially viable octane source, plus it has the highest octane rating and is a homegrown fuel. Right now, aromatics make up an average of 25% of a gallon of gasoline. That number was closer to 35% before E10 became the standard choice for consumers. With the expansion of E15 and higher blends, the additional ethanol continues to dilute the amount of aromatics added at the refinery. The bottom line: the higher the ethanol blend, the fewer the aromatics and the cleaner the fuel.

This is a story we’ve been telling since 2012. Right before COVID-19, we shifted our focus to not only educate the industry, but also share this story with the general public. The Urban Air Initiative launched an educational campaign dedicated to the aromatic and emission reductions of ethanol, along with its many other benefits. It’s called Let’s Clear the Air and it was designed for each one of you to take the information and share ethanol’s story with your friends and family.

Now more than ever, people are paying attention. We all saw the pictures of blue skies in Los Angeles and the headlines acknowledging that improved air quality was one of the few benefits of the COVID-19 lockdowns. Let’s take this moment and promote the importance of ethanol. It’s important that when given the choice, consumers choose higher blends. And it’s equally important that we continue to push for more access to blender pumps across the U.S., especially in urban areas that can truly benefit from a reduction in aromatics and an increase in homegrown ethanol. It’s time to Clear the Air with ethanol.

14 | ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2020

ETHANOLPRODUCER.COM | 15

BUSINESS BRIEFS PEOPLE, PARTNERSHIPS & PROJECTS

EPA approves efficient producer pathway for Indiana plant The U.S. EPA has approved an efficient producer pathway under the Renewable Fuel Standard for Poet Biorefining – Shelbyville, an 80 MMgy corn ethanol plant awaiting commissioning in Shelbyville, Indiana. Ethanol plants that have approved efficient producer pathways are able to generate RINs for production volumes above those grandfathered under current RFS

regulations if they are able to meet a 20 percent greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction threshold when compared to the program’s gasoline baseline.

In its pathway approval document, the EPA said ethanol produced at the Shelbyville plant will achieve a 25.8 percent reduction in GHG emissions when compared to baseline gasoline. The facility was expected to

TM

start up this spring but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and industry downturn. It’s expected to start up when market conditions improve.

4 more ethanol plants join Harvestone marketing group Harvestone Group has announced that four more ethanol plants have joined its marketing, logistics and trading platform.

The newly added facilities are owned by Glacial Lakes Energy of South Dakota and represent over 360 million gallons of annualized production capacity. This adds a meaningful increase to Harvestone’s marketing volume and broadens its strategic

16 | ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2020

footprint, now over 850 million gallons of ethanol production in only its second year of commercial operations. All four of the plants transitioned to Harvestone’s platform July 1.

“Harvestone’s team and shareholders are excited for the volumes to begin flowing through the platform,” said Kevin Stewart, director of marketing and trade for Harvest-

one. “These gallons are accretive to our existing domestic and export footprint … and these strategic facilities give us an opening to the rest of the global markets.”

Business Briefs

Zimmerman joins USGC as director of industry relations

Zimmerman

Ellen Zimmerman joined the U.S. Grains Council in July as director of industry relations. In this role, Zimmerman will direct the USGC’s industry relations team and provide direction to, and management of, the organization’s engagement with domestic industry, agribusiness, checkoff and other members

in support of the council’s global market development program.

“Ellen brings with her a solid connection with and great knowledge of the checkoff system so important to the council's daily work,” said Ryan LeGrand, USGC president and chief executive officer. “She comes to us with an

abundance of positivity and creativity and will quickly incorporate her skills into what is already a very solid and trusted team at the council.”

Before joining the USGC, Zimmerman worked for the American Seed Trade Association as the director of internal communication and membership engagement.

RFA’s Ed Hubbard appointed to key USDA trade advisory committee

Hubbard

Renewable Fuels Association General Counsel Ed Hubbard has been appointed to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service’s Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for trade in grains, feed, oilseeds and planting seeds. Hubbard is the only appointee to any of the USDA-FAS advisory committees who represents renewable fuels.

The ATAC advises the U.S. secretary of agriculture and the U.S. trade representative on matters related to grains, feed, oilseeds and planting seeds.

“RFA is proud to congratulate Ed on his appointment to this highly respected committee,” said RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper.

“Ed brings a wealth of knowledge

and experience on global trade issues to the committee, along with excellent collaboration and problemsolving skills. We know Ed will make many valuable contributions to the committee, and he will certainly represent RFA’s members and the entire renewable fuels industry well.”

ETHANOLPRODUCER.COM | 17

18 | ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2020

LOWER CARBON INTENSITY SCORES FOR ETHANOL PLANTS Solar Turbines has been helping to reduce utility bills in the ethanol industry for nearly 20 years and more recently has been lowering plants’ carbon intensity scores. Operating a Solar gas turbine-based CHP system allows plant managers to efficiently and reliably produce steam while offsetting electricity from a heavily carbon-based local grid. CHP systems can also help a site achieve EP3 Program acceptance.

Solar Turbines has installed and continues to service over a dozen gas turbines in the ethanol market and more than 16,000 units worldwide with over 3 billion operating hours. Headquartered and manufactured in the USA, Solar Turbines, a subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc., is a leading manufacturer of industrial gas turbines and compressors in the 1-25 MW size range.

Visit us at www.solarturbines.com, call +1-619-544-5352 or email infocorp@solarturbines.com for more information.

ETHANOLPRODUCER.COM | 19

E15

20 | ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2020

CLIMBING THROUGH CHAOS In the year since E15 got its Reid vapor pressure waiver, more retailers and terminals have offered the blend, despite major market setbacks that included a global pandemic and fuel market crash.

By Lisa Gibson

Summer E15 sales in the U.S. increased 46% on a perstore basis in 2019 from summer sales the year before. Since May 2019, 40 terminals have added the blend to their offerings, as have 400 retail locations. The growth is due, in large part, to the Reid vapor pressure waiver finally granted to E15 in May of 2019, but it’s also despite significant setbacks in the market.

COVID-19 has been an obvious barrier, reducing fuel demand in general by about half. The ethanol industry felt that crunch, but has rebounded to about 85% of pre-COVID-19 production. The waiver will help sales bounce back further as the country recovers, says Chris Bliley, Growth Energy’s vice president of regulatory affairs. “We have a ways to go, but just having year-round access to E15 gives consumers more awareness of the fuel,” he says.

Beyond the pandemic, small refinery waivers, RIN prices and ethanol prices have slowed E15’s potential. Still, retailers are increasingly interested in the product, now free of RVP restrictions. “It’s been a tremendous positive, and we’ve received a lot of outreach from retailers, far more than in advance of [the waiver], asking how their markets can participate,” says Cassie Mullen, director of business development for the Renewable Fuels Association. “It’s been extremely positive.”

PUMP PROGRESS: E15, branded Unleaded88 by Growth Energy’s Prime the Pump initiative, saw a 46% increase in 2019 summer sales over 2018. The number of terminals and retailers offering the blend have increased, too.

PHOTO: GROWTH ENERGY

ETHANOLPRODUCER.COM | 21

E15

Minnesota and Iowa report E15 sale data, and both saw an increase of about one-third in the past year, says Scott Richman, RFA’s chief economist. “A lot of that had to do with the expansion in the number of stations, and the fact that we didn’t get the typical dip in summertime consumption. So the year-round rule helped both in terms of sales in existing stations and the expansion of stations.”

Not surprisingly, Minnesota’s E15 sales did dip in April, when the country stayed home, according to Minnesota Department of Commerce data. May sales were up 25% over April, but still down about 25% from May 2019. “In rough terms, they kind of matched what was going on with overall gasoline sales,” Richman says. “What happened with the oil prices at the same time—futures going negative—it looks like E15 is following the general fuel sales trend.”

The Iowa Department of Revenue 2019 Retailers Fuel Gallons Annual Report released in April shows a 38% increase of E15 sales across Iowa in 2019, totaling a record high 47.4 million gallons

22 | ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2020

800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100

Nov-2019

Dec-2019

July-2019

Sept-2019

Mar-2019

May-2019

Jan-2019

Nov-2018

July-2018

Sept-2018

Mar-2018

May-2018

Nov-2017

Jan-2018

July-2017

Sept-2017

Mar-2017

May-2017

Jan-2017

Nov-2016

July-2016

Sept-2016

Mar-2016

0 May-2016

‘The Proof is in the Pudding’

900

Jan-2016

Chris Bliley Growth Energy

Minnesota E15 Sales per Station per Day (through Dec. 2019)

SOURCE: MINNESOTA DEPT. OF COMMERCE (DATA), RENEWABLE FUELS ASSOCIATION (ANALYSIS)

Gallons / Station / Day

'Year-round sales was an important milestone for E15, and we saw some of that success last year … when EPA restores integrity to the [Renewable Fuels Standard], I think that’ll also help continue to drive demand as well. '

U.S. Stations and Terminals Offering E15

SOURCE: RENEWABLE FUELS ASSOCIATION

STATIONS WITH E15

TERMINALS WITH E15

MAY 2019

1,800 IN 31 STATES

150

MAY 2020

2,100 IN 30 STATES

190

purchased by Iowa motorists. E15 is now offered at 10 percent of all reported Iowa locations, amounting to well over 200, with E85 at 350 stations, both record highs, according to the Iowa Corn Promotion Board. Iowa does not report monthly E15 sales data.

Nationwide, state- and local-level barriers to full adoption remain, such as regulations limiting the use of one hose to dispense more than one blend, Mullen says.

But none of those blocks are major. Mullen’s work was crucial in overcoming barriers in New York State, which approved year-round sale of E15 in November.

“The proof is in the pudding,” she says.

“We just have to get into their good graces and get a chance to convince them.”

The California Air Resource Board has yet to approve the blend year-round, but that’s mostly a result of the lengthy process, Mullen says. “Nothing that we have proposed to California has been shot down,” she says. “They’ve accepted a tremendous amount of our data and we’re moving to the next step. In California, it’s simply a matter of time at this point.

They’re not arguing with us, they just have a protocol that is very lengthy. We’ve made it through major hurdles with their regulators.”

Waiting for the Waiver

Many retailers waited for the waiver before offering E15, says Dan Sanders, vice president of Front Range Energy in

Windsor, Colorado. “That certainly had to Estimated U.S. E15 Sales (million gallons) SOUCE: RENEWABLE FUELS ASSOCIATION do with the ability for retailers to offer that product year-round and not have to deal YEAR 2018 with confusing consumers and changing pumps out and not having to deal with obYEAR 2019 structions,” he says.

Mullen agrees. “They don’t want to put out to their consumers that there’s anything wrong with this during a certain time. [The prises. “Anyone who’s branded by one of waiver] made the conversation a whole lot the big oil companies is not going to be easier. Market development became a lot selling E15,” he says, adding that Bosselman Enterprises unbranded years ago and simpler.”

Sanders sites one large Colorado re- he sees no benefit to branding. Those retailer that was primarily selling E15 in mar- tailers get their information from their jobkets not affected by RVP, such as Colorado bers and the oil companies, missing crucial Springs. With the waiver in place, it’s now details about ethanol, RINs, biodiesel and expanding E15 into the northern front its tax credit, and more, he says. “People in range, Denver, and into the mountains, he the industry should be educated about this, but they know nothing about it. It boggles says.

Branded retailers will be an exception my mind.”

But plenty of unbranded stations reto E15 adoption, says Charlie Bosselman, chairman and CEO of Bosselman Enter- main. Sanders says Growth Energy’s Prime

289 430

the Pump initiative is working with over 375 new locations in its latest push to offer E15. “That shows there’s still interest,” he adds. “I think consumers ultimately are going to drive this. Consumers like choice at the pump—they like when they have a less expensive choice at the pump. They’re starting to get more in tune with cleaner air, with climate issues. People are paying more attention now than they ever have. And that goes all the way down to the fuel they’re choosing.”

Mike O’Brien, vice president of market development for Growth Energy, says Prime the Pump is on track to have a total of 3,500 retail sites selling E15 in the next couple years.

Price at the Pump

Bosselman Enterprises has been able to sell E15 for a nickel cheaper than E10 at its locations, except in the past few months

continued on page 44

ETHANOLPRODUCER.COM | 23

E15

Minnesota E15 Sales per Station per Day (through May 2020)

SOURCE: MINNESOTA DEPT. OF COMMERCE (DATA), RENEWABLE FUELS ASSOCIATION (ANALYSIS)

900 800 700

Gallons / Station / Day

600 500 400 300 200 100

Mar-2020

May-2020

Nov-2019

Jan-2020

July-2019

Sept-2019

Mar-2019

May-2019

Jan-2019

Nov-2018

July-2018

Sept-2018

Mar-2018

May-2018

Nov-2017

rather than have all these restrictions out there.

“E15 was still trending up, but the sideways market skews things, because retail price had to be adjusted to the same

Jan-2018

July-2017

Sept-2017

Mar-2017

May-2017

Jan-2017

Nov-2016

July-2016

Sept-2016

Mar-2016

May-2016

0 Jan-2016

of the pandemic, Bosselman says. “We’ve seen a dramatic increase in the amount of E15 we’ve been selling,” he says. “Of course, the last several months the market has been a little out of sorts with the price of oil, the price of ethanol and everything in our market is driven by price, of course.”

But E15 is a better octane and the choice for consumers is obvious when it’s cheaper, too. “It was an easy sell to our customers,” Bosselman says. “Our sales went through the roof on that product.”

Bosselman Enterprises has been selling E15 since before the waiver, and purchased its blender pumps with the help of grants. “We worked tirelessly for grants to develop infrastructure money to help with blender pumps. At the first locations we were splash blending, but we wanted locations where we could have E85 and E15.

Having that option was critical.”

Before the waiver, E10 made up the largest segment of product mix sales for Bosselman Enterprises, but that share has now split about evenly with E15, Bosselman says. “Having that waiver made it a whole lot easier to market a product

price as E10,” he adds. “We’re kind of back to the nickel price difference now, but for several months we didn’t have that, so it skewed our gallons.”

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24 | ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2020

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HBIIP Help

Higher Blend Infrastructure

During COVID-19, retailers have certainly put the brakes on any new investments, Mullen says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;That includes growth of infrastructure for E15 at their locations.

Based on the market, nobody is making any moves, it seems. The addition of [the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program] has kept the conversation going, which is nice.â&#x20AC;?

USDAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s HBIIP has up to $86 million available for retailers looking into offering higher blends such as E15 and E85. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Grants for up to 50 percent of total eligible project costs, but not more than $5 million, are available to vehicle fueling facilities, including, but not limited to, local fueling stations/locations, convenience stores, hypermarket fueling stations, fleet facilities, fuel terminal operations, midstream partners and/or distribution facilities,â&#x20AC;? USDA says.

An additional $14 million is available for implementation activities related to higher blends of biodiesel. Applications for both funding groups are available through Aug. 13.

SOURCE: GROWTH ENERGY

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HBIIP has been a positive during the pandemic, Mullen says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It spurred a lot of interest and that was hard to do when everyone was shut down and frightened. So, we have reached out to thousands of retailers and have a ton of people in the application process right now.â&#x20AC;? Retailers are still striving to expand and move their businesses forward, even through a pandemic, she adds. â&#x20AC;&#x153;HBIIP has been a huge shot in the arm for them. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re grateful to have a light there in the midst of all the darkness.â&#x20AC;?

2017

2018

2019

2020

Continued Recovery

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought more attention to cleaner air and skies. Mountain ranges and skylines popped back into view as people stayed home and pollution reduced. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a timely opportunity for ethanol to tout its benefits. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re trying to lead on that narrative, just to make people more aware that even as we come back after this crisis, and people get to driving again, ethanol is available today and can clean up carbon tailpipe

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E15

emissions,â&#x20AC;? Sanders says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Everyone realizes that we are going to see pollution increase from stationary and mobile sources as the economy comes back online. But weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re making people aware that, where E15 is offered, they can make a cleaner fuel choice.â&#x20AC;?

Sanders predicts the recovery will be long, but adds producers are prepared. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll see overall production numbers being lower through recovery,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We might not even recover fully in 2021.â&#x20AC;? E15, with its year-round sales, will help the ethanol industry bounce back faster than it would without the waiver, he adds, though it couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have helped the pandemic-related crash. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think anything could have stopped that,â&#x20AC;? he says.

Bliley says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Unfortunately, COVID-19 certainly hindered things in 2020, but I think E15 is poised for strong growth continually, because consumers are becoming more comfortable with the fuel. They know itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more affordable, a little bit better on octane and ethanol is certainly cleaner than fossil fuels. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re bullish for the future,â&#x20AC;? he adds. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen over the past really three years, from five terminals that sold E15 to nearly 200 today, more than 2,100 retailers across the country. These are larger retailers that sell high volumes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Year-round sales was an important milestone for E15, and we saw some of that success last year â&#x20AC;Ś when EPA restores in-

tegrity to the [Renewable Fuels Standard], I think thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll also help continue to drive demand as well. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As we rebound from COVID, I think weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in a good position,â&#x20AC;? Bliley adds. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is the second summer that E15 will be sold.â&#x20AC;?

Prime the Pump will keep plugging away, Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re on track for about 2,600, 2,700 new sites offering E15.â&#x20AC;?

Retailers currently working with Prime the Pump have about 10,000 sites and 19 billion gallons of gasoline demand. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So we definitely have room to grow with the retailers that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re partnering with already,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Now that RVP is out of the way, I think weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll see more prospects come into the fold here with USDA grant money. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our goal is to keep growing; keep going.â&#x20AC;?

Author: Lisa Gibson Editor, Ethanol Producer Magazine 701.738.4920 lgibson@bbiinternational.com

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Profile

28 | ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2020

CLEAN CALLING 2020 High-Octane Award winner Doug Durante has spent much of his 40-year career advocating and advancing policy for ethanol.

By Tom Bryan

As Doug Durante leans back in his office chair and looks at a framed newspaper clipping on the wall, a keepsake three decades old and fading, he’s taken back to a time when corn ethanol was the favorite son of alternative energy and riding a wave of enigmatic political momentum.

The April 1, 1990, article in The New York Times—a double-page spread inside the Sunday edition—aptly titled “The High-Octane Ethanol Lobby” shows a young Durante talking to a congressman in the Longworth House Office Building. It’s a dramatic, long-view hallway shot that frames a moment in history when ethanol was capturing attention like never before. And there was Doug, a 34-year-old journalism major from Maryland, right in the middle of it.

“It’s surreal, looking back,” says Durante, recipient of the International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo’s 2020 High-Octane Award for championing ethanol interests. “It’s hard to believe how long it’s been, and how far we’ve come.”

While Durante’s career was, in many ways, just budding when that memorable Times story ran, he had already spent a decade working on renewable fuels policy—and he’d been around the Hill even longer. Growing up in Montgomery County, Maryland, the son of a Westinghouse nuclear engineer, Durante spent much of his young life close to the capital. As a teenager, he ran manual elevators in the Capitol Building, giving him fly-onthe-wall access to the passing chatter of lawmakers and their staffers in his formative years. He attended college in North Carolina, graduating from Elon University, before landing an internship in the office of Pennsylvania

ETHANOLPRODUCER.COM | 29

Profile Rep. Bud Shuster who chaired a commission on transportation policy.

“It was a Pennsylvania connection that got me the elevator job, and that relationship helped,” Durante says. “But the reason they hired me had more to do with the fact that I was a pretty good baseball player and they wanted me on their softball team.”

It wouldn’t be long before Durante proved his worth, both on and off the field. In 1978, while working on Shuster’s transportation policy team, the “oil shock” hit America following the Iranian Revolution and a young Durante found himself at the center of discussions about alternative fuels, including ethanol. “Someone said, ‘Give it to the kid. Have him dig into it,’” Durante remembers.

“I was basically put in the corner to figure it out, make calls and learn evDurante erything I could about ethanol, which was in its infancy.”

In 1979, as Durante continued to diligently study renewable fuels for Shuster, the U.S. levied sanctions, including an embargo on oil, against Iran in the wake of the American embassy being seized in Tehran. The tension and widespread national concern over oil supply shortages spurred Indiana Sen. Birch Bayh to suggest the creation of a commission for “fuel alcohol.” A bipartisan group of lawmakers from the House and Senate backed the idea, and the National Alcohol Fuels Commission was born. “They said, ‘Do you have anyone who knows much about fuel alcohol?’” Durante recalls, “And someone said, ‘Yeah, take this guy.’ Which, of course, was me.”

Durante found himself not just on the alcohol commission team, but running the outreach and communications programs as director of public affairs. “Marilyn Herman, who remains very involved in the industry, was heading up much of the technical work, but we had to communicate what we were doing. I was very lucky to be in the center of all of that,” Durante says. “You know, right time, right place, when all of this was getting started. It’s almost dumb luck the way it all happened. I am very fortunate.”

Durante says the alcohol commission included several “heavy hitters” of the day including Bayh, Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas, Sen. Frank Church of Idaho, and freshmen Reps. Al Gore of Tennessee and Dan Glickman of Kansas. “We were able to get a lot done,” he says. “It was an exciting time to be involved with biofuels because, remember, that was at a time when everyone in the country was focused on oil supply.

There were rallies and marches, even Tractorcades, and we were there, right in it.”

When the National Alcohol Fuels Commission wound down in the early ’80s under Regan-era budget cuts, Durante moved over to the DOE as a special assistant within the former Office of Alcohol Fuels.

His energy department stint, while relatively short, helped him better understand the nature—and promise—of the fledgling ethanol industry, which he says “barely existed” at the time. “It was basically ADM and everyone else, a lot of small alcohol plants,” Durante says. “We’re talking farm-scale stuff. I think a 1-million-gallon plant would have been considered ambitious back then.”

It wasn’t long before the DOE’s alcohol office was also wound down, and Durante describes the years that followed—the mid-’80s— as the lost years of biofuels. “Everything just leveled off,” he says. “The marches and rallies, it all stopped. Everything died off for a while.”

Durante worked as a consultant for a stretch, collaborating with

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30 | ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2020

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biofuels stalwarts like Fred Potter, editor of the Oxy-Fuel News and former executive vice president of Hart Energy. “Fred was not only a consulting partner, but a close friend,” Durante says. “In fact, he was the godfather of one of my daughters.” Durante also collaborated frequently with Renewable Fuels Association founder Dave Hallberg, who he credits for establishing ethanol’s early foothold on the Hill. He also credits Burl Haigwood, CFDC director of program development, who he says has been his right-hand man for the past 30 years.

By 1987, with the ethanol industry fighting not for growth but relevancy, the precursor to the 1990 Clean Air Act passed the House with a 3.7% oxygenate requirement. “That would have been E10,” Durante says, still astounded by the House bill’s passage 33 years later. “Even though it didn’t pass in the Senate, it was like, ‘Wow, we’re closer than we thought to making this happen.’”

With another attempt to get the Clean Air Act passed in 1988, Durante recalls himself, Potter, Hallberg and others discussing their shared frustration over the political inertia holding ethanol back. “It was clear that if we were going to start making things happen, we needed to get the automakers—and even some of the oil guys—working with us,” he says. “We didn’t need another ethanol group. We had the RFA. We needed to figure out who didn’t like us and how we could change that.”

Understanding that play, and with a new Clean Air Act coming, Durante formed the CFDC in 1988 with the help of key advisors and friends like Todd Sneller of the Nebraska Ethanol Board, now retired.

“We weren’t trying to be an ethanol association, but I still needed a flagship ethanol guy,” Durante says. “Todd was that person. He served as chairman of the CFDC for many years and was absolutely instrumental, not just to the organization but as one of the most influential and respected people in the entire industry.”

Within months, the membership Durante envisioned began to

manifest. “Texaco was a member. Sunoco was a member. And they both sold ethanol,” he says. “We got Ford, Chrysler and General Motors to be dues-paying members. We got GM to put the first language in their owner’s manuals that they were okay with ethanol blends. Sure, they capped it at 2.7%, but it was still a huge achievement.”

Indeed, the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments passed, and even more companies joined the CFDC. Renewable fuels were hot—everyone wanted a seat somewhere—but joining an ethanol association wasn’t politically practical for some companies. The orientation of the CFDC was a nice fit for those tangential players. “I look back at the early days when we had 25 companies around our board table and think, ‘Wow, that was really cool,’” Durante says. “We had oil people, auto guys, five ethanol producers, financial companies. It was very diverse, and quite a thing to be a part of.”

Over the years, the CFDC’s membership morphed with each wave of industry change. Durante says members have come and gone over time, while the organization has remained adaptive but true to its original mission to be a conduit for companies engaging in the renewable fuels space from peripheral positions. “We were, and probably still are, perceived as a more neutral organization, which is effective for us,” Durante says. “Through it all, our core message has always been about growth and inclusivity.”

Durante credits his longtime supporters, including Sneller, Phil Madsen of Katzen Engineering and Dave VanderGriend of ICM Inc. “I’m very grateful for guys like that who have stood with me over the years,” he says, explaining the CFDC’s close support and alignment with VanderGriend’s organization, the Urban Air Initiative. “We obviously work very closely with UAI on a lot of issues.”

VanderGriend tells Ethanol Producer Magazine that Durante always understood the importance of working with the auto industry and pro-

ETHANOLPRODUCER.COM | 31

ADVOCATES IN ACTION: Durante, shown here with various U.S. political figures, has for decades collaborated with CFDC Director of Program Development Burl Haigwood (lower left, standing right of Durante).

moting ethanol’s clean, high-octane benefits.

“The name of his organization—Clean Fuels Development Coalition—says a lot about where his head has been all along,” VanderGriend says. “Finally, the industry is taking his message to heart.”

Origins of the RFS

Durante explains that former Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota, widely considered to be the principal designer of the Renewable Fuels Standard, was also a key architect of the fuel provisions of the 1990 Clean Air Act. “He and Bob Dole basically made that happen,” Durante says. “That’s back when people from two different parties could actually work together.”

Many of the western, high-elevation cities like Denver, Albuquerque, Phoenix, and even Boise, Idaho, had experienced great success using ethanol blends to reduce carbon monoxide, which was primarily a wintertime pollutant. In Denver, specifically, with its infamous “brown cloud,” ethanol was credited for turning the sky blue again.

Using the Denver oxy-fuel rule as a model for the wintertime provisions of the Clean Air Act, Durante says, the industry was able to effectively argue for year-round ethanol use, which was a game-changer in the sense 32 | ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2020

that it provided continuous, rather than seasonal, demand.

“Daschle said, ‘If it works in the winter, it should be good in the summer. Let’s make it year-round,’” Durante recalls. “And that’s how the whole reformulated gasoline (RFG) program came about. Daschle put that amendment in—and I still have the original paperwork—that was ultimately cosponsored

by Bill Richardson (then a congressman from a New Mexico district with a fledgling ethanol plant in the town of Portales). I met with Richardson … and subsequent to that conversation, we landed an amendment on the House side that matched the Daschle-Dole amendment in the Senate. That was how yearround oxygen got done.”

Durante says CFDC’s diversity was, and still is, a vital asset. In the early ’90s, as statelevel pollution control commissions were looking for input and participation from independent organizations, the group’s multiplicity served it well. Because the Clean Air Act defined areas of the country as being in violation, to varying degrees, of air quality standards, they were required to create plans to regain compliance. “In the case of ozone, they looked at fuel programs and the choices were to adopt federal RFG which, importantly, required an oxygen content, or to simply lower vapor pressure, which we argued was not nearly as effective as RFG,” Durante says. “Of course, the vapor pressure option was favored by the oil guys because it was all

petroleum. Adding ethanol was a loss of market share to them.”

In Phoenix, for example, the CFDC was on the negotiating committee and successfully made the technical case, along with making the performance and cost arguments, that fuels with oxygenates like ethanol were good. “We did this all over the country as states had to adopt mitigation measures,” Durante says.

With the Clean Air Act in action— and MTBE soon to be phased out—ethanol plant construction experienced a decade-long boom. By the late 90s, however, that stage of ethanol production growth leveled off, and it became clear that a new policy vehicle was needed. “I remember being with Hallberg, Sneller and some others in Daschle’s office and talking about the limitations of the then 2% oxygenate requirement, which was essentially 5% ethanol, or about 5 billion gallons. It wasn’t enough,” Durante says. “We all agreed that what was needed was some sort of renewable requirement—and what we were talking about was basically an RFS.” Daschle and Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana formed a powerful bipartisan team to champion an RFS. They originally floated the concept in 2002 and it eventually passed in 2005. It was so wildly successful that it was expanded in less than two years, in 2007. “It required an amendment to the Clean Air Act to eliminate the oxygen requirement,” Durante says, “but the upside of a guaranteed market—double or triple that of the RFG program—was clearly a trade worth making.” Durante would serve as an advisor on the ad hoc Senate committee that created the RFS in 2005 and RFS2 in 2007.

Advocate Communicator

While Durante’s professional legacy is indelibly linked to biofuels policy development, his ancillary roles as a communicator

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Profile and industry advisor are important. In addition to serving on numerous state advisory committees, Durante has also had various federal-level board seats, including on the Federal Biomass Advisory Committee, the Governors’ Ethanol Coalition Biomass Advisory Committee, the U.S. EPA Clean Fuels Advisory Committee, and the DOE’s Business Roundtable Group.

He has also authored a broad array of educational tools through the CFDC’s Ethanol Across America Campaign, which at one time enjoyed the advisory of Nebraska Gov. Ben Nelson, South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson and Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar. He and his team authored the Ethanol Fact Book, produced the Ethanol Minute Radio Program, The FlexFuel Awareness Program, guidebooks on ethanol and biodiesel plants, the Blender Pump Handbook, and an ongoing series of issue briefs (like the one featured in our page-36 feature, “Reality Check”).

“We were really the first to come out with

an Ethanol Fact Book and, say, ‘Look, here are the issues,’” Durante says. “Net energy, food versus fuel, water usage—we put it all in there, so the facts were clear.”

Durante and his team also built preliminary feasibility studies for would-be ethanol plants in the mid-2000s, assisting developers with business plans and marketing strategies.

“Helping people understand the issues so they could make good decisions is what it’s always been about,” Durante says. “Whether it’s a fact book, an issue brief or project assistance, helping people make informed decisions is what drives us.”

Next Big Change

As the ethanol industry continues to fight for E15 market growth, and against the rampant abuse of small refinery exemptions, Durante believes bold decisions are needed to ensure ethanol has a clear path to future growth. “We are at a definite crossroads,” he says. “I’m obviously a huge supporter of the

RFS, and have believed in it wholeheartedly, but I also wonder if it’s time to accept that we’ve run our course with it.”

Durante says it’s clear that the biofuels industry needs some kind of assurance, some mechanism for growth, to prevent the oil industry from “stamping it out” in the possibility of an RFS sunset. “There has to be some sense of security that, if you make the product, you can sell it,” he says. “That’s why the oxy-fuel programs and the RFS were so important. It made financing possible. You could go to the bank with that assurance.”

Policy-dependent industries, however, can be both defined and limited by programs built to foster and support them. “It can be an albatross,” Durante says. “It can totally define your limits as an industry. Just look at the time, effort and money we’ve spent defending, year after year after year, the 15-billion-gallon market ethanol was entitled to under the RFS. At some point, you really have to ask yourself if it is worth it when you could be using that

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time and money to build a market for something like E30.”

Durante says “the forces working against” biofuels are more committed than ever to getting rid of the RFS, and he believes the EPA is inclined to sunset the law. “I am terribly afraid that, if they set the next set of renewable volume obligations, or RVOs, based on this year’s numbers, and for who knows how long, we’re in real trouble,” he says. “If we’re looking at a reset in the 10-billion-gallon range, and given all the uncertainty we have right now, you have to wonder if there is a better way forward, a different path.”

Durante says the CFDC is open to new plans that ensure industry growth. He was severely disappointed that the Trump administration did not take the opportunity last year to grant a Reid vapor pressure (RVP) waiver for all ethanol blends, not just E15, but E20, E30 and beyond. “They knew that once you get past E15, the RVP just keeps going down, so there was no reason not to allow a blan-

ket RVP waiver,” he says. “Those senseless regulations are really our primary obstacle to growth. If we had an unblocked path, we could maybe stop relying completely on the on the RFS—which is essentially a government quota and, let’s be honest, more of a celling than a floor.”

In the same light, Durante says, the Trump administration squandered an opportunity to get more octane into American fuel with the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient Vehicles (SAFE) rule, which set corporate average fuel economy and emission standards through 2026. “We could have easily increased octane and, at the same time, achieved some serious fuel-economy increases,” Durante says. “All they had to do is raise the base octane. The auto industry would have been on board. Believe me, I know the automakers well. If they knew there would be an unlimited amount of ethanol available, they would make cars to use it. But you can’t do it the other way around.

They’re not going to put high-octane engine

vehicles on the road that require premium if there’s not enough ethanol and ethanol infrastructure out there. The oil guys would raise the price to anything they want.”

Durante says change is always scary, but the industry has to be prepared for it. “We need to figure out some hybrid policy approach—almost like ag supports, with a backstop—so we know we can make ethanol without losing our shirts. And at the same time, we’d have to be willing to give up some parts of the current policy in exchange for an unfettered pathway to the future.

“Before I turn it in and go fishing, I would like to see the ethanol industry leverage the most powerful thing it has—it’s voice.

We have to be in lockstep on our plan, like we have been with E15. Just like each thing we did in the past provided a segue to something else, we’re at that point again. We’re at the precipice. So, we need to control the message and shape what’s next.”

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Market

REALITY CHECK

A new issue brief by the Clean Fuels Development Coalition advocates for increased ethanol use and a realistic look at the role electric vehicles can play in decarbonization.

By Matt Thompson

Doug Durante, executive director of the Clean long as they keep holding on to this notion that somewhere, not even Fuels Development Coalition, says he was taken in the next 20 years, EVs are going to make a dent in all of the goals we want to accomplish,” Haigwood says. “What we need to do is get aback during a recent congressional hearing on the rid of the EV silver bullet. It doesn’t exist. It’s a fallacy.”

Renewable Fuels Standard, Indeed, research by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as a freshman legislator ques- Global short-term EV share of new passenger which CFDC’s brief references, inditioned the need for biofuels. vehicle sales by region cates that EVs attaining a 50 percent Note: Europe includes EU, U.K. and EFTA.

16% He says a congresswoman “raised her market share of light-duty vehicles in — China 14% hand and said, ‘Excuse me, why are we the U.S. by 2050 would be a result of — Europe 12% having this conversation about renew“aggressive climate policy.” And even - - Global 10% able biofuels? I thought we were all if that were to happen, the research — S. Korea 8% going to electric?’ It’s such a naïve and says global oil consumption will be — U.S. ill-informed way to look at it, and we 6% higher in 2050 than it was in 2015.

— Japan said, ‘OK. Let’s step back here a little 4% Research by BloombergNEF also — RoW bit and really dig into this,’” Durante 2% shows electrification of the U.S. light — Indiana says.

0% duty fleet is a long-term proposition.

2015 2017 2019 2021 2023 That digging resulted in an issue According to its Electric Vehicle Outbrief released earlier this year titled, UPWARD TREND: Research by BloombergNEF indicates look 2020 Executive Summary, EVs that EVs will account for less than 10 percent of the new “Reality EV: Why Everyone Needs to will account for 60 percent of new vevehicles sold in the U.S. by 2023. That figure is expected to grow to 60 percent by 2040.

Take Another Look at Biofuels.” The hicle sales in the U.S. in 2040. Despite SOURCE: BLOOMBERGNEF brief ’s lead author, Burl Haigwood, arthose numbers, the report says, “In gues that electric vehicles (EVs) are far 2040, there are still more kilometers from being an immediate solution to driven globally by internal combustion passenger vehicles than EVs.” the climate and public health crisis. Haigwood, who is a member of The research also says that by 2040, EVs will make up 31 percent of the CFDC advisory board, says further development of biofuels de- the global passenger vehicle fleet, with some regions—like parts of pends on showing that EVs can’t combat climate change in the near- Europe and China—over 50 percent. term. “We’re never going to get the political support that we need as

36 | ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2020

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Debunking the EV ‘Silver Bullet’

Durante says California can be used as a current case study. He says the state sells approximately 2 to 3 million cars per year. The state’s goal is to have EVs account for 40 percent of the light duty fleet by 2030. “So, each year, even if you add 300,000, 200,000, 400,000, you’re still putting out 1.5 million conventional vehicles,” Durante says. “If you really are serious about reducing carbon and reducing petroleum consumption, then you ought to focus on the internal combustion engine. That’s where ethanol can shine.”

Geoff Cooper, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, believes the ethanol industry recognizes that widespread adoption of EVs is several years—if not decades—away. But agrees there are others outside the industry who see EVs as a near-term solution to climate issues. “I think there are those that hold the opinion that we can transition the fleet to electric vehicles overnight and that that’s going to be a silver bullet for our climate issues, and we just don’t see the transition unfolding that way,” Cooper says.

While such a changeover to EVs won’t be immediate, Cooper says they do have a role to play. “We’re not trying to go against EVs or necessarily compete with EVs,” he says. “We think electric vehicles and internal combustion engines that are using liquid fuels will both have a role and should coexist moving forward.” He adds that ethanol “just wants a fair shake and we want consumers to also have the choice to choose higher ethanol blends, whether that’s E30 high-octane, low-carbon fuel, or whether that’s E85 in a flex-fuel vehicle.”

Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor agrees that EVs can and should coexist with ethanol to fight climate issues. “There is no one-size-fits-all path toward decarbonization, which is why renewable biofuels remain vital to any effective transition away from fossil fuels,” she says. “Biofuels and EVs both play a role in reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, and if we are to attain meaningful climate goals, then we need to be open to both. Even with more electric vehicles, the vast majority of cars on the road will continue to be powered by liquid fuels for years to come.”

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PHOTO: MATT THOMPSON/ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE

The ’Hidden’ Costs

In addition to market penetration of EVs, there are other factors to consider, including the environmental cost of producing batteries and generating electricity to charge them, the availability of charging stations for those who don’t live in single-family homes, and the fact that EV infrastructure build-out will likely require federal and state subsidies, according CFDC’s brief. Not all EV owners can charge their vehicles at home, the brief says, because 30% of the U.S. population doesn’t live in a single-family house.

They’re also expensive. CFDC cites research that 66% of EV owners make more than $100,00 per year. “Of the 163.5 million employed workers in the U.S., just 14.8 million individuals earn more than $100,000, or 9 percent. Therefore, about 5.4 million people would be potential purchasers of an EV. Compare that number to the 267 million registered vehicles on the road.”

In addition, Durante says the subsidies necessary for wider EV adoption may no longer be an option or will be severely reduced. “COVID is really going to hit state budgets hard,” Durante says. “And the state incentives are really important to complement the federal incentives, which are already under great strain.”

And despite their appeal to environmentalists, EVs also come with an environmental cost. Cooper says the carbon intensity of EVs is increased when electricity generated from coal is used to charge them. “The climate benefits or carbon benefits of electric vehicles are highly variable, depending on the source of electricity,” he says. “Electric vehicles are going to be attractive in some areas and some situations and low-carbon liquid fuels are going to be more attractive, or better, in other areas and situations. And I think the market will figure out how that’s all going to fit together.”

Those are issues that need to be tackled, Durante says. “How do you address the subsidy issue? How do you address the cost issue? How do you address the recharging issue?

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Market

need to continue to work on as an industry. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m thinking of people who arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ethanol supporters, would have to look at [the issue brief] and say, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Wow, you raise a lot of issues that need to be addressed before we assume this is going to be our savior,â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? Durante says.

Cleanup Time

FLEXIBLE FUELING: Ethanol is a better nearterm solution for combating climate issues, as flex-fuel vehicles, like this one, have a lower carbon intensity than EVs charged with electricity generated from coal.

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not saying I wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t accept that, but Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never heard a good answer.â&#x20AC;?

And Cooper says that while EVs arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t an immediate solution, ethanol is. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ethanol is available here and now,â&#x20AC;? Cooper says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is available at large scale at significant volumes, and it would be a lower cost and quicker transition to move to higher ethanol blends in optimized, high-compression ratio engines that take advantage of ethanolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s octane properties, and its low-carbon properties. You could have a situation where a high-compression ratio engine is using a 100 RON or 98 RON blend of E30 and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re getting very good carbon reductions from that system that would rival electric vehicles, even when theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re using cleaner grids on the East and West Coast,â&#x20AC;? he says.

Cooper says ethanol needs a fair chance to compete with other fuels, including electricity, and Durante agrees. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am a firm believer when it comes to environmental performance, corn ethanol can do everything that an electric vehicle can do, if not more,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I just think thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a message we need to do a better job of getting out. Of course the key is, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got to be given the opportunity to demonstrate that and show that, and consumers have to be given the choice and opportunity to take advantage of those properties. And so those are things we

Haigwood and Durante say ethanol trade groups havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t embraced CFDCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s message as theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re busy with other regulatory issues. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is nobodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fault, but thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always some crisis,â&#x20AC;? Durante says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Whether it was getting E15, now the waivers from the RFS, the RFS is constantly under attack,â&#x20AC;?

Durante says.

And Cooper agrees that much of the industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s focus has been on promoting growth. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are constantly on guard and playing defense to ensure that those regulations arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t administered in a way by EPA that undermines the industry and constrains growth,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Many of these regulations and policies were designed to grow the industry and grow the consumption of renewable fuels, and unfortunately EPA has administered them and enforced them in ways that havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t done that. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an ongoing battle,â&#x20AC;? Cooper says.

But, given the global pandemic, both Cooper and Durante say now is the time to focus on air quality. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to be tons of gasoline out there, and it is aromatic laden, and we are finding a direct connection to the COVID rates,â&#x20AC;? Durante says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We do think this moment provides an opportunity to revisit ethanolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s benefits to air quality,â&#x20AC;? Cooper says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Much of the focus has been on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change in recent years, but COVID-19 has really brought criteria pollutants and air quality and human health impacts back to the fore, and ethanol absolutely has a good story to tell there. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re reducing particulate matter emissions, reducing carbon monoxide, reducing NOX emissions and all those other pollutants that lead to asthma and respiratory illness, and in fact cancer and other health problems as well. So, ethanol is

to demand the environmental community get transition to electric vehicles? Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s do what their head out of the sand and recognize that, we can to clean up the remaining liquid fuel youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re right, this is only part of the problem,â&#x20AC;? use in the rest of the fleet.â&#x20AC;?

Durante says.

Author: Matt Thompson Cooper agrees. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t turn over a Associate Editor, Ethanol Producer Magazine 701.738.4922 fleet of 240 million vehicles overnight,â&#x20AC;? he mthompson@bbiinternational.com says. â&#x20AC;?And so, why not focus on doing everything we can to decarbonize the liquid fuels that are going to be used in the next few decades as an increasing share of the fleet does

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a solution to those problems and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one more reason that we should be looking at policy solutions that facilitate increased levels of ethanol in the blend and not limiting or constraining the amount of ethanol that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re using.â&#x20AC;?

Haigwood agrees. He says the content of benzene in gasoline is a public health issue, and that recently, ethanol groups have started to address it. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I would say, in the last three months, you are beginning to hear the ethanol industry respond to this octane thing, this stuff in gasoline, because they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really have anywhere else to go,â&#x20AC;?

Haigwood says, adding that the fact that ethanol replaces benzine in gasoline is â&#x20AC;&#x153;indefensible.â&#x20AC;?

And Durante says that even if EVs replace some of the light-duty vehicle fleet, gasolineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s effect on air quality will still need to be addressed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What about the other 60 percent of the fuel thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gasoline? What are you going to do about that? And thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what the ethanol industry needs to do. It needs

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Environment

BIOGENIC EMISSIONS: CREDIT WHERE ITâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S DUE The push to alter biogenic emissions regulations could boost corn farming and ethanol production while cementing the role of biobased solutions in the fight against climate change.

By Luke Geiver

THE BIG VIEW: Changing the way the U.S. regulates biogenic emissions from agricultural crops will help define the importance of ag-based production in climate change mitigation.

PHOTO: UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

42 | ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2020

An improved understanding of biogenic emissions from agricultural crops could change the economics of biobased product manufacturing and biofuel production. A major

advocacy group, private industry players, and congressional members from both sides of the aisle are all pushing the U.S. EPA for updates to the classification of the de minimis character of annual emissions from corn, soybeans and other crops. The entire bioeconomy, they all believe, stands to benefit if EPA reclassifies the qualities of biogenic emissions so the quantifiable value of ag production for energy, bioproducts, feed and food includes both what goes into feedstock production and harvest, and what comes out.

Victim of Inertia

According to the Biogenic CO2 Coalition, federal regulation currently ignores the life-cycle carbon benefits from crop-based feedstocks and instead treats carbon dioxide emissions from fermentation, agricultural processing, wastewater treatment and biomass combustion the same as fossil fuels. “This puts America’s farmers and rural economies at a severe disadvantage,” says John Bode, president and CEO of the Corn Refiners Association, an affiliate organization helping to lead the Biogenic CO2 Coalition.

Thomas Parks, senior communications manager for CRA and a spokesperson for the Biogenic CO2 Coalition, says no other country in the world regulates its ag-based emissions as if they are the same as fossil-based emissions.

The federal regulations administered through the EPA regarding biogenic

ETHANOLPRODUCER.COM | 43

Environment

REPETITIVE PROCESS: The creation of worthy, trusted and verifiable data collection and processing systems for farm and ranch GHG emissions is crucial. Several systems already exist.

PHOTO: UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

emissions are not popular with the current administration, Bode says. And the Obama administration also did not believe regulations that placed agbased emissions on the same level as fossil-based emissions were appropriate. Still, nothing changed.

Bode Monahan Robin Bowen, vice president of external affairs for the Biogenic CO2 Coalition, says bureaucratic governors and six senators also wrote letinertia is to blame for the government’s in- ters or publicly called on EPA to address the action on the issue. “There is no scientific same biogenic emissions regulations. Soon, or political reason for EPA’s current policy,” EPA is expected to change its stance on the Bowen says. “It’s nothing more than an emissions specifically from woody biomass, oversight that has taken far too long to ad- differentiating them from fossil-based emisdress, and we have an opportunity to get ac- sions, a move that Bode says is welcome but tion on it now.” not enough for the ag sector.

Bowen, along with coalition members Senator Mike Braun, R-Ind., along and a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers, is with Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.; Lindsey working for change this year. In early June, Graham, R-S.C.; and Sheldon Whitehouse, the coalition wrote a letter to EPA, calling D-R.I., introduced the Growing Climate for the agency to allow public comment Solutions Act in early June to make sure on the regulations of biogenic emissions EPA doesn’t forget about the ag sector. The for annual agricultural crops. Last year, five bill aims to break down barriers for farm44 | ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2020

ers and foresters interested in participating in carbon markets so they can be rewarded for climate-smart practices.

Bowen says the Growing Climate Solutions Act is an important step toward recognizing agriculture as Bowen a critical tool in the fight against climate change.

That is part of the main focus of Bowen and her team: Help illuminate the potential for agriculture as a tool and resource in the fight against climate change. “This bill seeks to reward the continuous efforts of farmers to improve the sustainability and greenhouse gas sequestration abilities of their operations.

CRA stands firmly in support of this critical step toward removing the serious technical and logistical barriers preventing American farmers from participating fully in marketbased solutions to climate change.”

The results from multiple scientific studies shows why so many groups are working in unison with members of Congress to change

'Multiple scientific studies have stated that biogenic carbon emissions from facilities that process agricultural feedstocks do not contribute to long-term increases in atmospheric greenhouse gases' Eamon Monahan Corn Refiners Association

the way biogenic emissions are viewed and regulated. “Multiple scientific studies have stated that biogenic carbon emissions from facilities that process agricultural feedstocks do not contribute to long-term increases in atmospheric greenhouse gases,” says Eamon Monahan, senior director of environmental affairs and workplace safety for CRA. Whereas fossil fuels pull carbon deep in the ground that is millions of years old and releases it into the atmosphere, agricultural crops absorb carbon during the growing process, and release it back into the atmosphere six to 12 months later as part of a relatively rapid natural cycle, Monahan adds.

“Everybody gets it,” Bode says bluntly, “now we just need to get that recognized.”

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Immediate Impact

American agriculture has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. “With crop prices and farm incomes in freefall, EPA has a critical opportunity to act swiftly to unleash more than a billion dollars in new investments and return the focus to job growth in the American heartland,” Bowen says. It would also enable U.S. businesses to compete in the international marketplace for renewable products, he adds.

America’s bioeconomy currently contributes $459 billion in economic activity, provides 4.6 million American jobs and is the leading source of domestic renewable energy in the U.S., Bowen points out. “Yet, we are falling behind in the international marketplace for renewable products and materials.”

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Environment The value of the bioeconomy in the EU, by comparison, is $671 billion and it employs 18 million people.

Bode says ethanol can be a significant feedstock for advanced bioproducts. “So, correcting EPA’s biogenic CO2 policy, which only is concerned with stationary sources and has no bearing on the RFS,” he says, “could provide flexibility for ethanol producers to better serve emerging markets.”

The regulatory burden currently associated with biogenic emissions in the U.S. can be tough on corn wet mills and other cornbased processing facilities, Bode says. In some cases, the regulations can deter expansion or new project buildouts by one to two years. “That can be a major burden. Elimination of that regulatory obstacle would improve investment in the bioeconomy here,” he says. The elimination of the regulation would help investment move faster as the

TRUST, EXPERIENCE & DEDICATION

emissions from an annual biogenic crop source wouldn’t have to be monitored or accounted for in the same costly way as fossil-based emissions.

Bowen and Bode agree that there is also a larger benefit to changing the way the U.S. regulates, and views, biogenic emissions from annual agriculture crops.

For the last four years, the CRA and some of its members from the Biogenic CO2 Coalition have attended global summits on climate change. According to Bode, the goal is to understand how the global community, along with the biobased industry, views agriculture as a positive force in the fight against climate change—as opposed to a hurdle. Bowen believes the U.S. agriculture industry is gaining more recognition for the role it plays in addressing climate change, but Bode says there is more to be done.

'There is significant value on a larger scale in changing the way we view or regulate biogenic emissions from ag products.'

John Bode Corn Refiners Association

Advancing the environmental profile and usefulness of ag-based products is important, Bode says. Creating a better image of corn is important. “The consumer is becoming increasingly distant from agribusiness,” he says. “There is significant value on a larger scale in changing the way we view or regulate biogenic emissions from ag products.”

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One of the main elements of the Growing Climate Solutions Act was its focus on rewarding climate-smart practices.

The bill is trying to create a USDA certification program to help solve issues for farmers and ranchers trying to participate

in carbon credit markets. That program, the Greenhouse Gas Technical Assistance Provider and Third-Party Verifier Certification Program, would enable the USDA to provide transparency, legitimacy and information endorsement of third-party verifiers and technical service providers that help private landowners generate carbon credits through a variety of agriculture- and forestry-related practices. The USDA certification program would aim to ensure that these assistance providers have agriculture and forestry experience. The agency would also administer a new website that would serve as a one-stop shop of information and resources for producers and foresters who are interested in participating in carbon markets.

Jason Weller, vice president of Truterra LLC, spoke to the senators during the Growing Climate Solutions Act hearing. Weller said the legislation would help biofuels producers in the same way it would help biobased product producers.

Those in the energy supply chain need to have the necessary data to demonstrate GHG savings in order to generate credits under those programs. With a system in place that established the value of carbon credits—and the practices needed to create them—farmers or biofuel producers could move to adopt a new suite of technologies, conservation practices or new machinery needed to create GHG reductions that meet marketplace objectives.

Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation (the AFBF is also a member of the Biogenic CO2 Coalition), also told senators that it is vital for the greater ag industry to have greenhouse gas emissions modeling that can be trusted and depended on.

The USDA has also created its own unique GHG modeling and tracking system that will help American farmers participate in a market that values its biogenic emissions. Developed in part by Colorado State University, the COMET Farm system is a whole farm and ranch carbon and greenhouse gas accounting platform. The system includes a tool that helps users de-

scribe their property management practices while also allowing for future management change scenarios. A report can be generated showing the carbon and GHG emissions profile and potential from current or future scenarios. This past November, the team behind COMET updated its system.

The platform’s newest version (2.3) has an enhanced method for calculating a farm’s soil N2O level. The system also has new and improved modules that track and calculate

synthetic fertilizer, organic fertilizer and the impacts of manure. The only information needed to use the COMET system is related to field or livestock management practices.

The field module will ask for crop practices starting from roughly the year 2000, including cropping sequence, approximate planting and harvest dates, tillage systems, fertilizer application information, irrigation methods and residue managements.

An additional energy module is avail-

ETHANOLPRODUCER.COM | 47

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able that applies to the use of renewable energy at a facility or farm. According to the USDA, the system uses information on management practices together with spatially explicit information on climate and soil conditions from USDA databases—provided automatically in the tool—to run a series of models for each potential source of greenhouse gas emissions.

Regardless of the biogenic emission tracker or data organization system used, Bode and his team believe the focus should remain on two areas: understanding and accuracy. With the support of the current administration (along with the previous administration), congressional leaders and multiple ag-sector leaders, the Biogenic CO2 Coalition will continue to seek changes to how biogenic emissions are regulated. Annual crop production efforts, and the emissions generated, should not be regulated the same as the fossil fuel industry. The science proves it, Bode says. And, as the efforts to push the EPA to change its stance on biogenic emissions continue pushing upstream against the bureaucratic inertial Bowen points to, there's a notable overall theme. The ag sector and the biofuel production sector should be seen as a positive asset in the climate change conundrum, he says. This year, the CRA adopted a set of climate change policy principles to guide the industry’s advocacy to ensure a more sustainable future for corn refining, agriculture and consumers. “The principles include undertaking initiatives to reduce the overall carbon footprint of corn refining products and processes, an embrace of GHG reduction goals that are both achievable and science-based and recognizing agricultural feedstocks in industrial processes as a key element in advancing GHG reductions,” he says.

Moving ahead, Bode says, he hopes consumers embrace, rather than discredit, the full value of ag in food, feed, fuel and other biobased products.

Author: Luke Geiver Associate Editor, Ethanol Producer Magazine 701.738.4944 lgeiver@bbiinternational.com

ETHANOLPRODUCER.COM | 49

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Technology

Cutting Through the CMMS Clutter Mapcon debunks the many myths surrounding computerized maintenance management systems.

By Heather Wilkerson Making the decision to purchase and implement a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) in an ethanol plant can be a challenge. Many things should be considered, including the needs of the company, but also the plantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s financials.

A few myths will likely pop up during research. Here are a handful, followed by some clarification and correction: Myth: A CMMS costs too much. Upon doing initial research, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s common for maintenance professionals to see the cost of a CMMS as an unnecessary expenditure that is not in the budget.

Truth: Many times, a CMMS actually saves ethanol plants money. While there is, of course, a cost associated with having a CMMS, many companies (such as Mapcon Technologies Inc.) allow users to purchase add-ons as needed instead of buying huge systems, keeping the cost down.

In addition, the features included within a CMMS can save plants money. For example, preventive maintenance scheduling en-

ables users to see issues and make repairs before a machine breaks, thus decreasing costly downtime. This feature also helps prevent emergency repairs, which can be costly.

Myth: A CMMS is difficult to set up, especially for someone who has never done it before. Many believe it is not worth the time upfront.

Truth: Many CMMS companies offer extensive training options to help with the initial setup process. Some even offer complete courses. If needed, many can also send employees on-site to assist. In addition, online training webinars and video tutorials often are offered, allowing users to learn about their new system from the comfort of their own office. Check for a free trial of the software. It can help users become familiar with it before purchasing, making the transition even easier. Systems can also be set up using the Cloud, which makes things even easier.

Myth: Spreadsheets work just as well as a CMMS.

CONTRIBUTION: The claims and statements made in this article belong exclusively to the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ethanol Producer Magazine or its advertisers. All questions pertaining to this article should be directed to the author(s).

52 | ETHANOL PRODUCER MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2020

MAPCON MAINTENANCE: Big River Resources in Boyceville, Wisconsin, has used Mapcon Technologies Inc. computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) since 2006.

PHOTO: MAPCON TECHNOLOGIES INC.

Truth: Spreadsheets have many faults when it comes to maintenance planning and control. First, valuable historical data is either not kept at all, or easily overwritten. In a spreadsheet, it is incredibly easy to inadvertently overwrite data. Simply click in the wrong box and begin typing, and information is gone. A CMMS, however, automatically keeps historical data, such as repair and cost history.

This can be useful when making important business intelligence decisions, such as whether to repair or replace a piece of equipment.

One can simply look at its repair history and do a cost comparison to determine the best course of action.

Also, spreadsheets generally do not disclose who made changes to them. This can make it difficult to determine who did a certain repair on an asset if a question comes up. CMMS software automatically tracks and displays who has made changes to a record.

The addition of a mobile application is another huge advantage of a CMMS over a spreadsheet. Spreadsheets can be difficult to use and read on phones and tablets. A mobile CMMS eliminates this issue.

Myth: Paperwork orders are good enough. Writing down the repairs that are needed and handing it to a technician works well, so a CMMS is not needed.

Truth: Paperwork orders have many faults. First, a piece of paper can be easily lost or destroyed. Inadvertently losing or destroying a work order could lead to important repairs or preventive maintenance tasks not being completed. Paper forms also make tracking historical data more cumbersome, whereas a CMMS keeps that information all in one easy-to-locate place.

Myth: A CMMS is only for preventive maintenance, nothing else. Therefore, it is not worth the cost.

Truth: While preventive maintenance is definitely a primary feature, a robust CMMS will offer a number of features that can be beneficial to the plant’s operations. Purchasing, for example, may be added to the system. Purchasing allows users to create purchase re-

quests for spare parts or tools, right from the maintenance software.

Automatic reorder can also be set up, which ensures critical spares are always on hand when needed.

Myth: It is time-consuming to use. It’s quicker to just do things manually.

Truth: While a CMMS may seem time-consuming during setup and implementation, it’s actually usually more time-consuming to not use a CMMS. First and foremost, a CMMS provides a one-stop-shop for everything maintenance-related, from preventive maintenance tasks to important historical data. Workers save time by going directly to their software system to locate this information, rather than going through spreadsheets and paper files.

In addition, checklists within a CMMS can save time. For example, a checklist can be added to a preventive maintenance task, detailing the steps and questions right on the work order and ensuring all necessary items are completed at that stop. Adding a mobile application saves even more time because the checklists can be brought up easily while workers are on the plant floor, near the equipment being serviced.

Myth: Only large plants need a CMMS. Small- or mediumsized plants can track things more easily, so the software is not beneficial.

Truth: Any size plant can benefit from the main features of a CMMS—work orders, preventive maintenance, inventory tracking, and maintenance planning. Many CMMS companies offer add-on modules so the system can be adjusted to fit the individual plant.

When considering whether to purchase a CMMS, it is important to differentiate fact from fiction. When the truth has been identified, the search for maintenance management software can begin.

Author: Heather Wilkerson Marketing Coordinator Mapcon Technologies Inc. 800.922.4336 ext. 115 heather@mapcon.com

ETHANOLPRODUCER.COM | 53

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