GoodFuels

RFA Questions EPA About E15 Decision

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is seeking more clarification from EPA regarding the agency’s apparent focus on vehicles model year 2001 and newer when it comes to increasing the allowable ethanol blend level in gasoline to 15 percent. Such a limitation could potentially limit once again the market for ethanol by excluding some 40% of the vehicle market and causing both consumer confusion and retailer unwillingness to offer the product.

In this edition of “The Ethanol Report,” we hear from RFA president and CEO Bob Dinneen about the letter he has written to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson about their concerns.

Listen to “The Ethanol Report” here:

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Ethanol Report From Farm Broadcasters Meeting

Representatives of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) were in Kansas City recently for the National Association of Farm Broadcasting annual Trade Talk event, which meant they did dozens of interviews about the importance of ethanol to agriculture and the rural economy.

In this edition of “The Ethanol Report,” we hear from RFA president and CEO Bob Dinneen about some of the topics they discussed with reporters, including when the EPA decision on increasing the ethanol blend level might be made, how the industry is faring, and the great productivity of the American farmer.

Listen to “The Ethanol Report” here:

Or you can subscribe to this podcast by following this link.

Promoting Blender Pumps at NACS

BYO Ethanol was on the trade show floor at the NACS Show this week in Las Vegas.

The ethanol blender pump program was introduced as partnership between the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and the American Coalition of Ethanol (ACE) at the 22nd Ethanol Conference & Trade Show in August. Missy Ruff (pictured), RFA’s Market Development Manager, was one of several BYOEthanol representatives at the NACS booth this week telling retailers about the advantages of blender pumps. This annual convention of the Association for Convenience and Petroleum Retailing draws some 10,000 visitors and is the premier event to reach the primary marketers of fuel - convenience store owners.

This edition of “The Ethanol Report” features interviews by Domestic Fuel reporter Joanna Schroeder with Robert White of RFA and Ron Lamberty of ACE about the program, blender pumps in general, and feedback from retailers.

Listen to “The Ethanol Report” here:

Or you can subscribe to this podcast by following this link.

Fairness Needed in Indirect Land Use Analysis

Regulatory agencies and environmental groups should be considering the indirect land use impacts of ALL fuels, not just biofuels, when they look at lifecycle analysis of greenhouse gas emissions.

That is the message that Geoff Cooper with the Renewable Fuels Association took to the annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Journalists in Madison, Wisconsin last weekend.

“Every energy decision we make has indirect effects associated with those decisions and we’re not looking at any of those other fuels and their indirect impacts,” Cooper says. “If we’re going to look at indirect effects for biofuels, we need to look at indirect effects for every energy source and we need to be fair.”

Cooper says the environmental journalists he addressed seemed to be surprised that only biofuels were being subjected to indirect effects and he was happy to share some of the new studies that analyze the carbon footprint of such practices as petroleum production from the Canadian tar sands. “Most previous reports excluded emissions from land use change and exploration and development of the natural gas used in the tar sands process.”

This edition of “The Ethanol Report” features an interview with Geoff about these topics and others related to ethanol and the environment.

You can listen to “The Ethanol Report” on-line here:

Or you can subscribe to this podcast by following this link.

Food Prices Down, Ethanol Production Up

The whole theory that increased ethanol production leads to higher food prices is proving to be a total red herring this year.

The latest market basket survey from the American Farm Bureau Federation shows that retail food prices at the supermarket are about 10 percent lower than last year at this time.

Meanwhile, ethanol production is up compared to last year, according to Energy Information Administration statistics. As of June, ethanol production this year is well over 4.9 billion gallons - compared to just over 4.3 billion this time last year - which is up about 15 percent.

According to USDA’s June Agricultural Prices report, the price of corn was $3.93 per bushel, which was down $1.54 from June 2008.

I’m not an economist - I don’t even play one on the Internet - but what these numbers say to me is that there is no direct correlation between food prices and ethanol production. But, that’s just me, what do I know?