For the second time in history, the U.S. ethanol industry's daily average production has reached 1 million barrels per day. Ethanol production averaged 1 million barrels per day the week ending Dec. 11, nearly meeting the record set in November.
Pacific Ethanol Inc. announced it is now producing cellulosic ethanol at its Stockton, California, facility using Edeniq Inc.'s pathway technology, which converts corn kernel fiber to fermentable sugars.
Chempolis Ltd. has entered into partnership with Avantha Group's research wing Avantha Centre for Industrial Research & Development to offer technology to India to extract ethanol from various agricultural residues.
Federal lawmakers have released the text of a $1.1 trillion spending bill that will fund the U.S. government through October 2016. An accompanying legislative package of tax extenders aims to extend certain bioenergy tax incentives for two years.
The Federal Trade Commission has issued its 2015 Report on Ethanol Market Concentration. As in prior years, the report concludes that any unilateral or coordinated attempt to exercise market power in the U.S. ethanol industry is highly unlikely.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has released its 2014 Data Book, showcasing increased use of renewable energy. According to the report, renewables accounted for approximately 11.1 percent of U.S. energy production in 2014.
UNICA, Brazil's sugarcane industry association, has announced rains slowed the pace of the sugarcane crush during the second half of November. The association also reported reduced demand for hydrous ethanol.
On Dec. 10, Marquis Energy celebrated reaching the milestone of 1 billion gallons of ethanol production. The total facility capacity is expected to be over 300 million gallons per year when the south unit comes online in the coming weeks.
USDA made small changes to its corn supply and demand projections in its last monthly World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates report for the calendar year, mostly due to ethanol.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration has released the December edition of its Short-Term Energy Outlook, increasing its forecast for 2015 and 2016 ethanol production to an average of approximately 960,000 barrels per day.
The final rulemaking for the 2016 renewable fuel standard (RFS) won't result in much more demand for corn, according to Darrell Good's weekly outlook, "Ethanol Production and Corn Consumption Prospects for 2016," in the FarmDocDaily.
USDA's National Agriculture Statistics Service recently released its December Grain Crushings and Coproducts Production report, noting total corn consumed for alcohol and other uses was 495.8 million bushels in October.
UNICA, the Brazilian sugarcane industry association, has announced mills in the south-central region of the country processed 25.61 million tons of sugarcane during the first half of November, up 10.71 percent from the same period of last year.
Abengoa has reportedly laid off staff at its Hugoton, Kansas, cellulosic ethanol plant and other facilities and offices worldwide. A former Abengoa employee said that the company cited financial difficulties as the reason for its actions.
Green Biologics Ltd. is moving forward with the construction of its 100 percent renewable, biobased n-butanol and acetone manufacturing facility in Little Falls, Minnesota. Commercial operations are scheduled to begin next year.
Rex American Resources Corp. has released fiscal third quarter financial results, reporting net sales and revenue of $110.6 million for the three-month period ended Oct. 31, down from $138.4 million reported for the same period of last year.
Abengoa recently announced that it is filing for preliminary creditor protection. The company, however, said it "currently intends to continue to operate its ethanol plants in a normal course of business," including the cellulosic plant in Kansas.
The U.S. EPA has released its long-anticipated final rule setting the 2014, 2015 and 2016 renewable volume requirements (RVOs) under the renewable fuel standard (RFS), along with the 2017 RVO for biomass-based diesel.
Positive aspects were found in the U.S. EPA's final rule establishing the renewable volume obligations for compliance with the renewable fuel standard, but the overall tone from associations responding immediately after the announcement was negative.
The U.S. EPA has released renewable identification number (RIN) generation data for October, reporting that 1.54 billion RINs were generated during the month, bringing the total for the first 10 months of the year to net total of 14.79 billion RINs.
There is a new look to the Redfield Energy ethanol plant, as officials with both Redfield Energy and ICM Inc. unveiled ICM's Fiber Separation Technology in a public ribbon cutting ceremony Nov. 19.
The U.S. ethanol industry set a new weekly production record the week ending Nov. 20 with production averaging 1.008 million barrels per day. This is the first time weekly production has surpassed the 1 million barrel-per-day mark.
Kansas Ethanol LLC, Lyons, Kansas, and Corn LP, Goldfield, Iowa, have received letters of notification that they have been approved as efficient ethanol producers by the U.S. EPA, bringing the total to 52 corn ethanol plants.
On Nov. 24, the Renewable Fuels Association hosted a press call featuring several experts in the field of biofuel life cycle greenhouse gas analysis and agricultural land use. The speakers addressed the flawed arguments made by ethanol opponents.
Fluid Quip Processors LLC has developed a fiber bypass system that will remove solids before ethanol fermentation. The system has already been installed in two U.S. plants, and will be installed in an additional U.S. facility and one in Brazil soon.
The December issue of EPM is now online. Tom Bryan writes in his editor's note about safety-related stories, as well as regulation and cellulosic ethanol stories, which appear in that issue.
On a press conference call Nov. 19, top executives from Fuels America announced the launch of a new ad campaign targeting President Obama and urging him to lead the world on climate by getting the renewable fuel standard (RFS) back on track.
Safety takes precedence in the ethanol industry, for producers as well as providers. This article appears in the December issue of EPM.
Pacific Ag recently completed its largest harvest of wheat straw on record. Working closely with more than 200 growers across seven states, the company harvested more than 100,000 acres of wheat straw for use in end-markets.
A start-up company in the Netherlands is working to commercialize a patented technology that it hopes significantly will increase ethanol in the fermentation processes by reducing the formation of glycerin as a byproduct.
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