World Grain - February 2012 - 73

BIOFUELS BUSINESS QUARTERLY: BIOFUELS NEWS REVIEW

U.S. biodiesel production breaks 1-billion-gallon mark
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S. — According to year-end numbers released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Jan. 27, the U.S. biodiesel industry reached a key milestone by producing more than 1 billion gallons of fuel in 2011. The total volume of nearly 1.1 billion gallons is by far a record for the industry and easily exceeded the 800 million gallon target required under the EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The previous record for biodiesel production was about 690 million gallons in 2008. “We’ve been seeing a lot of stories about setbacks in the renewable energy sector recently, and I think our success in 2011 reﬂects the bigger picture reality, which is that strong energy policy is working to stimulate production of clean, American-made energy,” said Anne Steckel, vice-president of federal affairs for the National Biodiesel Board (NBB). “Speciﬁcally, our success clearly demonstrates that the biodiesel tax incentive and the Renewable Fuel Standard are working just as Congress envisioned,” Steckel added. “Our industry is creating jobs, reducing our dependence on imported fuel, and improving the environment.” The biodiesel industry’s success in 2011 comes after Congress reinstated the fuel’s $1-per-gallon tax credit in December 2010 and as the EPA’s RFS program for biodiesel completed its ﬁrst full year of implementation. Without those policies in place in 2010, production dropped dramatically as dozens of plants shuttered and thousands of people lost jobs. The tax incentive has since expired again, on Dec. 31, 2011, and the biodiesel industry is urging Congress to reinstate it. In addition, the industry is calling on the EPA and the Obama Administration to ﬁnalize the EPA’s proposal to boost the biodiesel volume requirement under the RFS to 1.28 billion gallons in 2013.

Lufthansa completes biofuel tests
FRANKFURT, GERMANY — After a six-month practical trial involving biosynthetic fuel, Lufthansa announced on Jan. 9 the ﬁrst positive results of the trial. In all, 1,187 biofuel ﬂights were operated between Hamburg and Frankfurt. According to initial calculations, carbon dioxide emissions were reduced by 1,471 tonnes. Total consumption of the biokerosene mix amounted to 1,556 tonnes. “Our burnFAIR project went off smoothly and to our fullest satisfaction. As expected, biofuel proved its worth in daily ﬂight operations,” said Joachim Buse, vice-president aviation biofuel at Lufthansa. The highlight of the biofuel trial was the ﬁrst scheduled transatlantic ﬂight to the U.S., which was Jan. 12. A Boeing 747-400, carrying about 40 tonnes of a biosynthetic fuel mix, will ﬂy from Frankfurt to Washington, D.C., U.S. With this ﬂight alone, Lufthansa expects to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 38 tonnes, equivalent to the carbon dioxide emissions of six scheduled ﬂights between Frankfurt and Berlin. Biosynthetic kerosene is just as reliable as conventional jet fuel but the environmental effects are more positive, the company said. “As a next step, we will focus on the suitability, availability, sustainability and certiﬁcation of raw materials. But ﬁrst we must tap into this market. However, Lufthansa will only continue the practical trial if we are able to secure the volume of sustainable, certiﬁed raw materials required in order to maintain routine operations,” Buse said.

Gevo, Land O’Lakes Purina Feed sign marketing agreement
ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO, U.S. — Gevo, Inc. announced on Jan. 10 that it has signed an off-take and marketing agreement with Land O’Lakes Purina Feed LLC for the sale of distillers grains from Gevo’s isobutanol production facility at Luverne, Minnesota, U.S. Land O’Lakes Purina Feed will be the exclusive marketer of Gevo’s isobutanol dried and modiﬁed wet distillers grains for the animal feed market. Further, the companies plan to work together to explore opportunities to upgrade the material for special value-added applications in feed markets. “Corn is interesting as a feedstock because it has both protein and carbohydrates. Producing protein and animal feed from agriculture is extremely important, and selling the protein for feed, and using the excess carbohydrate for chemicals and fuels makes great sense given the fact that almost all of the nutritional value of corn can be captured in the animal feed product,” said Patrick Gruber, Ph.D., chief executive ofﬁcer of Gevo. “We are looking forward to working with Land O’Lakes Purina Feed, the country’s leading brand and largest producer of animal feed, to establish a market for and explore ways to add nutritional value to our iDGs.” “When a partnership is developed between the technological expertise of Gevo and the research capabilities and customer networks of Land O’Lakes Purina Feed, it presents another opportunity to add value to grain farmers and livestock producers alike,” said John Hany, director, direct ship merchandising and DDG marketing for Land O’Lakes Purina Feed. “We are very excited about our future together and the potential gains that may be had by all involved.”

Argentine biodiesel exports soar to $1.9 billion
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA — The Argentine Biofuels Chamber (CARBIO) announced on Dec. 28 that Argentine biodiesel exports rose more than 58% to $1.9 billion in 2011 compared with the year before. In volume terms, biodiesel exports from Argentina increased 18.5% to 1.6 million tonnes. “In 2011, new plants were built and expansion projects were begun, which will bring Argentine production capacity to close to 3.2 million tonnes in 2012,” CARBIO said. It said the country will have produced 2.4 million tonnes of biodiesel in 2011. All regular diesel sold in Argentina must contain 7% biodiesel, a level that industry leaders want the government to increase to 10%.

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World Grain - February 2012

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