In January, USDA launched www.USDA.gov/energy to serve as a one-stop shop for data and information about energy efficiency and renewable energy programs. This site allows individuals to learn more about USDA’s programs and see how their community can get involved in an expanding renewable energy and bio-based economy that is creating jobs and driving economic growth across rural America. To learn more about USDA’s accomplishments in renewable energy, read the results document HERE.

Remember to tune in online by following @USDA and using #askUSDA and #energy.

The amendments include one by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) which will exempt drivers of farm vehicles from having to acquire a commercial driver’s license, and another by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) which will waive hours of service restrictions during harvest seasons.

These were among 2012 priority issues for the National Cattlemen’s Association (NCBA). “Farmers and ranchers are not professional truck drivers and shouldn’t be treated as such,” said NCBA Associate Director of Legislative Affairs Kent Bacus. “Hauling livestock to market two times a year is hardly the same as hauling goods across the country on a daily basis. Subjecting family farmers and ranchers to costly and requirements is an unnecessary burden we cannot afford.”

Meanwhile, amendments to the bill related to biodiesel and advanced ethanol tax incentives failed to make it in the final bill. An amendment offered by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and another by Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) would have extended the $1 per gallon biodiesel tax incentive, which expired at the end of last year, through the end of this year. “We thank Sen. Stabenow and Sen. Roberts for including biodiesel in their amendments, and we urge Congress to break this partisan gridlock and find a way to enact policies like the biodiesel tax credit that have strong bipartisan support,” said Anne Steckel, vice president of federal affairs for the National Biodiesel Board.

The Senate bill now moves to the House for consideration.

I spoke with Paul Sr. just prior to his entry into the exhibit hall and he says the bike was a tough one to build. He says it’s not a speed demon but it won’t break down, “It’s just made to go.” The bike has affectionately been named Susie, btw.

Listen to my interview with Paul Sr. here: Interview with Paul Sr.

Listen to Paul Sr. describe the biodiesel bike here: Paul Sr. Remarks

Here’s video of Paul, Sr. driving into the exhibit hall.

Remember that you can follow what the Twitterverse is saying about the conference using the hashtag #NBB12.

2012 National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

Joe spent some time talking about the RFS.

The RFS demonstrated last year that effective energy policy can be carried out by actual energy policy. After the first year of implementation it has its wrinkles to iron out and we are going to talk about those in depth. But 2011 demonstrated that the RFS can work at doing what Congress intended, which is to draw renewable fuels into the market. I want to commend the EPA for their work in bringing this program together. They have had a very difficult job to take a brand new complex law and a wide range of stakeholders, and build a workable program.

The RFS has created a clear, predictable, stable and sustainable future for this industry.

Listen to or download Joe’s speech here: Joe Jobe Speech

2012 National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

The 2012 National Biodiesel Conference is taking place in Orlando, FL. Once again New Holland is sponsoring the media room and the blog and we thank them!

I’ll be posting mostly on the conference blog and Domestic Fuel during the next several days. Just in case you wondered, I will be posting photos too: 2012 National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

Today’s 6th Annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit kicked off in Des Moines on Tuesday on a very positive note, considering that 2011 was a record year in the state for both ethanol and biodiesel.

In his annual address to the summit, Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Executive Director Monte Shaw noted that the state’s 41 ethanol plants produced 3.7 billion gallons of ethanol. “If Iowa were a country, it would be the third largest ethanol producer in the world, behind only the rest of the United States and Brazil,” said Shaw.

He also noted that with the return of the biodiesel tax credit in 2011 helped most of Iowa’s biodiesel plants return to production. “Ten Iowa biodiesel plants operated during 2011 produced a record 169 million gallons,” said Shaw.

However, Shaw noted that the challenges facing biofuels are just as strong as ever. “I know it’s hard to believe, but not everyone in America enjoys the renewable fuels success story,” he said, outlining the attacks against ethanol in particular by the food and oil industries. “Today the oil industry enjoys billions of dollars in tax subsidies while the renewable fuels industry has none,” said Shaw, proceeding to name off all of the subsides unique to the oil industry.

Shaw outlined the priority issues for the renewable fuels industry in 2012 as getting the biodiesel tax credit reinstated, keeping the Renewable Fuel Standard in place, and getting E15 commercially available.

Listen to Shaw’s address to the 6th annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit here: IRFA Executive Director Monte Shaw address

2012 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit Photos

Christina Connelly with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Ag Marketing and Development Division attended the grand re-opening Monday of the 30 million gallon a year plant, which was shut down in 2008 due to the economic situation in the biofuels industry at the time. Christina manages the bioenergy programs within the division. “We’ve had the bioenergy programs at the department since back in the ’80s when corn and soybean prices were real low and biofuels were seen as an additional market,” she says. “So we’ve had it housed in the marketing department ever since and we’ve done a lot with ethanol and biodiesel over the years to help jump start both those industries.”

Christina says they are very excited to see the biodiesel plant re-open to get production back on track in the state since getting capacity back to where it was a few years ago means about 6800 direct and indirect jobs for the state.

Listen to or download interview with Christina here. Christina Connelly with Minnesota Department of Agriculture

REG Albert Lea biodiesel plant photo album

At the opening celebration of the Renewable Energy Group (REG) REG Albert Lea facility on Monday, Minnesota state representative Rich Murray (left) and local Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Randy Kehr (right) both congratulated REG president Dan Oh (center) on fueling the economy by creating new jobs.

“They’re great green collar jobs,” said Kehr, who noted the importance of the agriculture industry to the region. “If you take the value-added in soybeans here in Freeborn county on the seven million bushels that were harvested last year, that represents nearly $1,750,000 into our community.”

Listen to the opening ceremony comments here. REG biodiesel plant opening ceremony

Rep. Murray said that job creation is the number one priority for lawmakers. “I’m excited about the jobs, that’s why I’m here today,” he told me. “It’s a great value add for agriculture and agriculture is the back bone of southern Minnesota and of the whole state.”

Minnesota has had an increasing biodiesel blend requirement since 2002, which is slated to go to 20 percent by 2015. “And this plant’s going to help us get there,” said Murray.

Listen to my interview with Rep. Murray here. Minnesota state representative Rich Murray

REG Albert Lea biodiesel plant photo album

REG President and COO Dan Oh (right) says the plant was shut down in 2008 when economic woes hit the biodiesel industry, but REG felt it was a significant plant that needed to get back in operation. “Think of a gallon of biodiesel in roughly every bushel of soybeans, this is a 30 million gallon biodiesel facility, so that really adds value back to a bean bushel,” Dan told me.

Listen to or download my interview with Dan here. REG President Dan Oh

Pictured here with Dan is Jim Willers, a Minnesota farmer who is a director on the United Soybean Board and a member of the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council. Jim says he’s proud of Minnesota’s support of biodiesel and how it in turn supports the local economy. “This plant’s put almost 25-30 people back to work, there’s usually 50 trucks that go through here and the spin off effect from this plant creates almost 2,000 jobs,” he said.

Listen to or download my interview with Jim here. Minnesota soybean farmer Jim Willers

Watch the ribbon cutting below and see photos in the REG Albert Lea biodiesel plant photo album

The Renewable Energy Group (REG) acquired the former SoyMor production facility earlier this year, which is now known as REG Albert Lea, LLC. The company will be celebrating the grand re-opening of the plant with members of the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council, as well as state and local dignitaries, on Monday morning.

Minnesota is a leader in the biodiesel industry, being the first state to require that all diesel fuel contain a two percent blend in 2005, and has since increased to a five percent blend. “Increasing the amount of biodiesel in our fuel allows us to take advantage of a renewable fuel made right here in Minnesota,” said Ed Hegland, former National Biodiesel Board Chairman and Minnesota farmer. “I’m proud to live in a state that is leading energy innovations and taking part in valuable solutions like biodiesel.”

“With nationwide demand for biodiesel growing steadily through implementation of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) and Minnesota’s continued biodiesel consumption leadership, we expect to quickly ramp up production at REG Albert Lea, LLC,” said REG’s CEO Jeff Stroburg when the purchase of the plant was finalized. “With a foundation in agriculture and expertise in domestically-produced, renewable energy, REG is proud to bring green-collar jobs to this rural economy while supporting ag producers in Minnesota and across the Midwest.”

REG was already the largest biodiesel producer in the United States and the acquisition of REG Albert Lea brings the REG owned/operated total to more than 210 million gallons per year. REG was the general contractor and manager for the 30 mmgy refined vegetable oil feedstock biodiesel plant which originally began production in April 2005. Distribution of biodiesel at the facility started late last month. REG filed for filed an initial public offering in July.

The latest report from the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri shows there will be good farm incomes in the U.S. this year … a record $99 billion in 2011 … but it won’t be the biggest driver in an expected 4 percent increase in consumer prices. FAPRI’s director, Pat Westhoff, that distinction belongs energy costs.

“[High oil prices] are probably the biggest reason for the year-to-year changes. The higher energy costs we’ve seen in recent months do increase the cost of transporting and processing the food. And those are a big share of the overall consumer food dollar.”

Westhoff points out that while the amount of money American farmers will be making this year will increase, still only about 20 cents of every food dollar goes back to the people who grow and raise that food.

Westhoff says crop producers should have a good 2011, with livestock producers getting more of a mixed bag. “The positive is we have seen higher prices for cattle and hogs. But they’re also facing much higher feed costs this year.”

He adds that strong international demand for U.S. farm products will buoy the ag sector with cattle prices expected to go up and tightening corn stocks, helped by advancements for the ethanol and biofuels sectors, will keep those prices higher as well.

Westhoff cautions farmers that FAPRI doesn’t have some kind of crystal ball, and producers should expect some volatility.

“If you’re a producer or someone using agricultural products, you’re going to want to be very active in risk management these days to make sure that you’re able to handle different contingencies that might come up over the course of the next couple of months.”

Listen to my entire conversation with Westhoff here: Pat Westhoff, Director, MU FAPRI

Kent Bioenergy has its roots in aquaculture. The company was a pioneer in fish farms and needed a way to clean the water. Enter algae. Over time, the company has discovered how to harvest the algae and the co-products can be used for a variety of things depending on where the nutrients came from to grow the algae.

For example, Barry Toyonaga, Ph.D. who is the Chief Business Officer for the company, explained that they have been working with growers and livestock, dairy and hog producers to use algae as a way to reduce normal agricultural run-off.

Most of the waste is unused fertilizer coming straight off farm land and so if our algae is just recapturing the used fertilizer, and we’re harvesting that algae, its really a renewable resource for fertilizer,” explained Toyonaga.

What is especially interesting about using algae to capture run-off is that the agriculture industry is being criticized for causing “Dead Zones” in the ocean, areas where marine life cannot be supported due to depleted oxygen levels. Integrating algae can reduce this run-off, and help to remove the criticism that agriculture is causing this problem. It’s also beneficial for the grower because once the algae is harvested, it can be “reused” on the farm as an organic fertilizer, reducing costs and reducing another common criticism launched against agriculture – using fossil-fuel based inputs.

Toyonaga truly believes that his company is on to something and they are trying to interest both the agricultural community and the USDA in the technology. So if you’re a grower who is open to trying something new, considering reaching out to Kent Bioenergy.

To learn more about how integrating algae into your farm or livestock operations, listen to my interview with Barry here. Barry Toyonaga interview

You can also view photos from my San Diego Algae Tour here.

Former speaker of the U.S. House Newt Gingrich spoke to a full house of more than 700 at the summit in Des Moines on Tuesday. Gingrich supports all types of energy and strongly believes in the ability of modern agricultural technology to grow enough crops for all purposes. “The people who talk about food versus fuel are just plain flat wrong,” he said. He said if anyone is to blame for any food shortages, it is the European opposition to using genetically engineered crops.

Probably the biggest applause came when Gingrich gave his opinions on the U.S. EPA. “One of the things we are working on at (his action network) American Solutions is to develop an Environmental Solutions Agency to replace the Environmental Protection Agency,” he said.

Listen to or download Newt’s entire speech at IRFA here: Newt Gingrich at Iowa RFA Summit

Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, a conservative Republican who served two terms in the U.S. House and two terms in the Senate, closed out the summit by telling his story of being a biofuels convert.

“I looked at this issue differently, until 9/11,” Santorum said. “Post 9/11, I went from someone who was skeptical at best of developing domestic sources of energy, to being a grand proponent of such things,” he said. “My pledge to you is to work with this industry to create a bigger and bigger place in the market for domestically produced ethanol and biodiesel.”

Santorum served on the Senate Agriculture Committee during his time in office. “I was the first Pennsylvanian to serve on the agriculture committee in the United States Senate in over 100 years,” he said.

Listen to or download Santorum’s address at IRFA here: Rick Santorum at Iowa RFA Summit

More photos from the IOWA RENEWABLE FUELS SUMMIT

Securing meaningful estate tax reform for farm and ranch families has been a top priority for the American Farm Bureau Federation. “We commend President Obama and congressional leaders for being committed to securing passage of this tax bill. It offers considerable relief that will help farmers, ranchers and rural communities in these difficult economic times,” said AFBF in a statement.

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) President Steve Foglesong says they are pleased to get the estate tax at 35 percent with a $5 million exemption, at least for two years. “I speak for all cattlemen and women when I express my gratitude to those members of Congress who understand the importance of keeping small businesses, including farmers and ranchers, from receiving a financially devastating death sentence on New Year’s day,” he said.

The National Corn Growers Association is grateful for both the death tax relief and extension of the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit. “We are very happy to see the one-year extension of the ethanol blender’s credit and a two year reformed estate tax move,” said NCGA President Bart Schott of North Dakota. “These extensions were among the top priorities for our organization in 2010; failure to renew both would have done much to harm our nation’s rural economy and the future of America’s farms.”

Among those in attendance at the signing today were some 150 members of Congress, administration officials and key stakeholder and advocates who worked to pass the bill, including representatives from the ethanol industry. Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen and Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis were both in the audience at the bill signing.

The biodiesel industry is especially pleased with passage of the new bill, which retroactively renews the biodiesel tax credit that expired at the end of 2009. “Reinstatement of this proven incentive helps provide the policy framework needed to meet the nation’s renewable goals, and the NBB sincerely appreciates the bipartisan cooperation and support that made extension of this worthwhile incentive possible,” said Joe Jobe, National Biodiesel Board CEO.

The best of the best clips will be used during the 2011 National Biodiesel Conference & Expo, Feb. 6 – 9 in Phoenix, showcased on the National Biodiesel Board’s web site, Facebook Fan Page, and other communications where biodiesel is at work.

The statements must be submitted in the following format: “I believe in biodiesel because….”

You can check out the National Biodiesel Board’s site and see how some of the NBB’s staffs’ examples to get you started. My personal favorite is my friend Jessica Robinson’s video, where she mentions her best friend’s husband, who is in the Marine Corps serving overseas.

In addition to uniting with other agriculture groups urging Congress to fix the “death tax,” American Soybean Association (ASA) farmer-leaders are participating in a biodiesel fly-in to discuss renewing the biodiesel tax incentive that expired at the end of last year.

Participating from ASA are grower-leaders Joe Steiner of Ohio, Bob Henry of Kansas and Darryl Brinkmann of Illinois. These ASA leaders are joining with farmers from state soybean associations, biodiesel producers and others in the biodiesel industry to push for passage of legislation to extend the biodiesel tax incentive during the lame duck session.

“I know there’s people in the press who have said, ‘Oh gosh, [incoming Speaker of the House Republican] John Boehner’s gonna kill farm programs.’ I think that’s far from the truth. He’s a very smart guy, and he’s going to recognize a lot of the new people coming in are rural Republicans, and the Farm Bill’s going to mean a lot to those folks,” Mary Kay Thatcher, Director of Public Policy at AFBF, told our own Cindy Zimmerman during the Trade Talk session at the recent National Association of Farm Broadcasters meeting in Kansas City. While she believes farm programs will take some cuts, it won’t be more than what other programs are asked to give up.

She says members of Congress during the lame duck session will kick the budget to the next Congress coming in after the first of the year by passing a continuing resolution and will at least temporarily extend some of the Bush tax cuts before they expire on January 1st. But she’s not as optimistic that the ethanol and biodiesel tax breaks will be extended. Thatcher says they could be renewed on a temporary basis, but she’s not sure after that.

“It’ll be short term … six months, maybe a year … and then the new Congress will have to figure out where do you get the money to pay for that stuff.”

Thatcher says new advocacy groups, such as the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA), will be very important to keep the voice of the American farmer alive, despite there being fewer and fewer farmers and fewer and fewer farmers represented in Congress each year.

“I think we’ve got to do everything to try to put that simple message about what farmers do out there. Make sure people know you don’t get milk from a grocery store; you get it from a cow. We’ve probably got to do some advertising, [which] we didn’t have to do in the past,” says Thatcher.

Thatcher says the Farm Bill and biofuels tax credits will be big topics of discussion when the AFBF holds its 92nd Annual Meeting, Jan. 9-12, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia … just as the new Congress comes into session in Washington. She admits the ethanol tax credit could end up taking a hit from some of the new fiscal hawks elected this year. Thatcher does believe that farmers will be helped by the fact that Republicans have taken control of Congress, and thus, taken control of the purse strings of the Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies that have put up roadblocks. And that could ease some of the restrictions the government has put on the agribusiness sector in the past few years.

Listen to more of Cindy’s interview with Mary Kay here: Mary Kay Thatcher, AFBF

I spoke with Jason Stauffer, Energy Management Specialist/Area Sales Manager for Star Energy about why this sponsorship was so important to his company. He said that there is no better way to demonstrate the benefits of biodiesel than people seeing it in action.

One benefit of biodiesel is its ability to reduce emissions, which in diesel vehicles often present themselves in the form of an unpleasant odor emanating from black smoke. You only have to add a B2 blend to begin to see these issues disappear and when you fuel with B20, you get nothing but clean air as Stauffer noted that many people who stopped by their booth said they didn’t see or small a thing.

Although this particular sponsorship is focused on biodiesel, the company also provides E10, E85 and propane to farmers around Iowa. They have 23 retail locations where farmers can fill up their equipment or an operation can sign up to have the fuel delivered right to their farm.

“We made the choice years ago not to use regular unleaded,” said Stauffer who continued by saying its been a great move for them.

Just like selling renewable fuels to the agriculture market is a no-brainer for them, so is their fuel sponsorship for the Farm Progress Show in 2011.

You can learn more about Star Energy and its Farm Progress Show fuel sponsorship in my interview with Jason. Star Energy Official Fuel Sponsor of Farm Progress

Todd Gibson, the director of the USB and a soybean farmer from Western Missouri’s Carroll County, says this will be his first professional tractor pull he’s attended, and he’s satisfied to leave his own equipment back home. “I’ll let the big boys take care of it.”

The pullers, many of whom are associated with agriculture, will be available for the public to meet and talk to about the performance of soy biodiesel.

The video below is from last year’s event in Jeff City.

NOTE: This version of the story corrects an error that said the tractors will be running on soybean-based biodiesel. While the pullers MAY use biodiesel, they are not REQUIRED to do so. Much of the support equipment in the tractor pull will be using biodiesel.

One such farmer is Steve Camp, whose farm is located in Lacrosse, Washington. He is working with researchers from Washington State University (WSU) to test the viability of camelina for biodiesel. This program is one element of a recent initiative known as the “Sustainable Aviation Fuels Northwest” project, a large scale effort to create biodiesel for use in aviation applications. Camp was featured in an article focusing on WSU’s research.

Camp began growing the crop in 2007 after visiting an oilseed rep who was encouraging farmers to test the crop. Last year, he crushed the camelina commercially and used it to run his tractor and pick-up. This past winter, he also pressed some of the camelina using a press from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and the result is waiting in storage to be converted to fuel.

Camp’s initial outlook is sunny on crop. “I feel good about the possibilities for camelina,” he said. “I am excited about this endeavor. I really see potential. I’ve got enough experience now to know that it does work.”

As part of Camp’s contribution to the research, he is testing when to plant and harvest the crop. Last year he planted it as a winter crop and got a better yield than his usual winter wheat. In response to his success, he has expanded his camelina acres from 50 to 200. On average, in 90 days, he yields between 1,100 to 1,200 pounds per acre as compare to an average yield of 900 pounds per acre of mustard or canola. He also uses less outputs then what he needs to use on a traditional crop, and he notes camelina’s sustainability benefits.

According to Camp, every 100 pounds of seed produces about 40 pounds or between 5 and 6 gallons of oil and about 63 gallons of biodiesel per acre. Although the economic benefits are still under review, many organizations and programs are paying farmers a guaranteed price for their camelina.

Regardless, Camp notes that growing camelina provides value beyond monetary profit.

“We need to look at more than just the bottom line,” he said. “It has to pay, yes, but even if you broke even, you’d be able to guarantee yourself your own fuel every year. You’d be your own supplier.”

At the National Farm Machinery Show, most of the New Holland equipment on display proudly displayed soybean biodiesel signage, and company representatives wore buttons proclaiming their support for the domestically-produced fuel. “New Holland has a strong commitment to not only be a part of biodiesel, but also to be a leader in the industry as far as future fuel usage is concerned,” New Holland regional service manager Phil Cobb said at the farm show. He says it was natural for their company to take the lead. “Mainly because our customers are in the soybean areas and grow soybeans,” said Cobb. “Not only does it support farming, we also use the fuel. It’s important for the ag industry to be on the leading edge.”

Cobb says all New Holland equipment is approved for a minimum of five percent biodiesel, with the large combines approved for 100 percent and many of the tractors approved for up to 20 percent.

Listen to my interview with Phil from NFMS here:

Emily announced that she and Jason have been working on a music project since last year’s conference. They’re using a service called CCMixster and have published the first of three albums. This first one is available for a free download right now. It’s already on my iPhone.

Emily says they wanted to create an album of music on biodiesel. They created a project called, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Remix” or R4. They had about 50 musical contributions from the CCMixter community. The Brown album is the first of what will now be 3 albums. You can learn more about how the R4 project worked with this link.

After the final general session concluded I interviewed Emily and Jason along with CCMixster member Bob Nunnally. Jason describes the CCMixster community and how it fits in well with the biodiesel community. This week’s program contains that interview as well as a song from the Brown album called, “Biodiesel Family.”

National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsors, Novus International, and Leica Geosytems for their support.

You can listen to this week’s ZimmCast below.

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired. Subscribe so you can listen when and where you want. Just go to our a Subscribe page.

He started his comments by reminding everyone that today is the anniversary of daylight savings time which was created to conserve on our energy supply during World War I. It was an innovative idea then and when it comes to the innovative work the industry is doing today he says, “We’re here to fuel change.”

Ed pointed out that there are members of all segments of the petroleum industry here today and they participated in a panel discussion after his comments. I’ll post that shortly. He presented some of the findings from a research study done by NBB on consumers and their awareness and perceptions of biodiesel. He says the study finds that consumers who are aware of biodiesel have a favorable opinion of it. He also talks about being a soybean farmer and the incredible technology that is allowing him to grow more with less.

You can listen to Ed’s speech below.

National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

Like my session with Chicago Farmers last Saturday I found that most of the almost 100 attendees in our session are on Facebook and a number of them are on Twitter. If you’d like to see how the tweets are going for the conference then just search the #NBB10 hashtag.

That is me on the left tweeting away.

National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

I’ll also be posting onto the National Biodiesel Conference Blog for the 5th year. That will be my main posting location as well as Domestic Fuel but I’ll be including stories for you here as well. I know. Just like I have Multiple Twitter Personality Disorder (MTPD), I also have a similar affliction called Multiple Blog Posting Disease (MBPD).

This afternoon we’ll be partying Super Bowl/Biodiesel style so go team (insert your favorite).

I’d like to thank New Holland for their sponsorship of the National Biodiesel Conference Blog this year and their support for the biodiesel industry.

You can subscribe to the Biodiesel Conference Blog using the RSS Feed Link. We’ll also be podcasting our audio interviews again and that subscription link is here.

In addition to my posts on the NBC Blog I’ll also be posting onto our DomesticFuel.com website and even right here on AgWired.

“We’re pleased the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognizes that corn ethanol provides a distinct advantage over conventional gasoline when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, with a reduction of more than 21 percent in some cases,” said National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) President Darrin Ihnen. “This means that all corn ethanol including existing grandfathered capacity and new production will qualify to meet the conventional biofuels targets in the RFS.”

American Farm Bureau Federation president Bob Stallman says that they are encouraged by the rule because it “will help keep the nation’s renewable fuel standards on a path toward greater energy independence. By raising the volume of biofuels available for our nation’s transportation fuel supply, the administration is building on the strong bipartisan efforts that began years ago to provide a home-grown solution to the energy challenges facing our nation.”

Ethanol and biodiesel organizations were also pleased with the rule, which was changed from the initial proposal to be more favorable to first generation biofuels. See all their reactions on our sister site Domestic Fuel.com including a podcast with details from administration officials and comments from major biofuels groups.

However, while overall reaction has been favorable, all organizations are expressing concern about EPA’s continued reliance on the unproven theory of indirect land use change, which penalizes domestic biofuels production on the basis that it results in more land put into production globally in areas like the Amazon rain forest. “Removing the impacts from the international indirect land use theory means that corn ethanol actually provides a 52 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, compared to gasoline,” said NCGA’s Ihnen. “The EPA is not considering similar indirect impacts of petroleum-based fuels, so why are they so stringent when it comes to green, renewable corn ethanol?”

Read the EPA announcement here.

Dr. Tom Richard, Associate Professor with Pennsylvania State University, kicked off the session discussing the agricultural value of adding winter crops or double crops to a farmer’s rotation. An example of a winter crop that would be suitable for Pennsylvania is winter rye. Once harvested, the crop could be used for cellulosic ethanol. An example of a double crop would be planning a grain such as barley in the spring followed by a summer crop such as corn or soybean. Richard noted that when most people do a biomass potential study, they don’t factor in winter crops and double crops, thus reducing the amount of biofuels that could be produced on the same amount of land currently in production.

Dr. John Erickson, Associate Professor from the University of Florida, is an expert in studying perennial grasses for their potential as energy crops. These can include sugarcane, energycane, elephant grasses, miscanthus, giant reed, switchgrass and sorghum. In early trials, energycane and elephant grasses are doing well. Erickson also noted that the grasses tend to help improve soil quality and water use (they use less) and that the Southeast is likely to be the epicenter of cellulosic development.

Of particular note during Antonio Bento’s presentation, who is an Associate Professor at Cornell University is that through his economic studies of biofuels, found that corn-ethanol is in insignificant cause of higher food prices. The true cause is the country’s dependence on foreign oil. He also found that corn-ethanol is not a good indicator of increased carbon dioxide through indirect land use. He also stressed that market price will be the utlimate indicator of the success of biofuels.

Ultimately, the session can be summed up with this key thought shared by all the speakers, “Biofuels may offer advantages but the magnitude depends on how they are grown,” said Bento.

AG CONNECT Expo Photo Album