Happy Labor Day Weekend; Biofuels Buzz August 2019

E15 REWARDS FOR HOPKINS DRIVERS

MN Biofuels & KS95 FM at Hopkins Express Minnoco

MN Biofuels and KS95 FM teamed up on Aug 28 to reward consumers who fueled up with Unleaded Plus (E15) at Hopkins Express Minnoco. During the promotion, KS95’s personality, Bangs (Tiffany Norton), and MN Biofuels staff were at the station promoting E15. “Today’s event was the 10th time we’ve teamed up with KS95 this year at a fuel station in the Twin Cities metro to educate consumers on the benefits of using Minnesota-produced E15,” said Tim Rudnicki, executive director at MN Biofuels. Read More

MOISTTECH JOINS MN BIOFUELS

Moisture technology provider, MoistTech Corp, has joined MN Biofuels as a vendor member. Headquartered in Sarasota, FL, MoistTech specializes in NIR technology and manufactures non-contact online sensors with hundreds of measurements per second for thousands of applications in the animal and human food, chemical, mineral, paper, renewable energy, textile, tobacco and wood industries. In the ethanol industry, MoistTech has provided its technology for dried distillers grain (DDG) production where moisture measurement and control are important to ensure product quality and reduce waste. Read More

6.29 MILLION GALLONS OF E15 SOLD IN JUNE

Sales of E15 in Minnesota totaled 6.29 million gallons in June, according to data from the Minnesota Department of Commerce.

That volume is the highest ever recorded for the month of June following the end of the EPA's summertime ban on E15. With a volume of 6.29 million gallons, the total volume of E15 sold in the first half of 2019 amounted to 36.6 million gallons. Read More

SUMMER E15 REWARDS FOR COLUMBIA HEIGHTS DRIVERS

MN Biofuels & KS95 FM at Bobby & Steve's Columbia Heights

MN Biofuels and KS95 FM teamed up on Aug 16 at the Bobby & Steve’s on Central Avenue in Columbia Heights to promote E15. D rivers who chose E15 were rewarded with prizes that included tickets to the MN Twins, St Paul Saints, $20 in cash, tickets to the Crayola Experience, gift cards to Seven Steakhouse and gift cards to Applebee’s. Read More

NEWS IN AUGUST

Senators Smith, Klobuchar, Stabenow, Durbin, Peters, Baldwin, and Brown Call for Stronger Renewable Fuel Standard Minnesota Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar and their senate colleagues wrote to the EPA, "EPA continues to undercut the integrity of the RFS by misusing its waiver authority, which in turn has a direct adverse impact on farmers and jobs in rural communities." Read More

Trump Orders Biofuel Boost in Bid to Temper Farm State Anger Bloomberg reports that President Trump and top Cabinet leaders decided they will not rescind any of the recent refinery waivers but instead will give a 500 million-gallon boost to the 2020 RFS RVOs and will increase biofuel quotas to make up for the exemptions starting in 2021. Read More

U.S. Farmers, Lawmakers Dial Up Pressure on Trump Over Biofuel Policy Farmers, trade groups, and lawmakers have been infuriated at the EPA’s decision to grant waivers exempting 31 oil refineries from blending renewable fuel, and have all delivered letters detailing the damage the waivers have caused the biofuel industry. Read More

Farmers Stung by EPA's Waivers Randy Doyal, CEO of Al-Corn Clean Fuel, voices concern that the EPA is not reallocating waived and lost ethanol gallons. "That's incredible to me, from an administration that says it's on the side of the farmers and is looking out for them," he said. Read More

Environmental Advocates Should Take Another Look at Biofuels When there is a green solution on which many Republicans and Democrats see eye-to-eye, it’s worth paying attention. A recent op-ed by Sen.Chuck Grassley and former Sen.Tim Wirth ask environmental groups to take another look at the many benefits of biofuels. Read More

EPA's Waivers Undermine The RFS, Corn Market Rep.Collin Peterson said the EPA's decision to grant 31 RFS waivers to the oil industry will significantly undermine the RFS. As a co-Chair of the Congressional Biofuels Caucus, Peterson has worked to stop the EPA from approving waivers to the RFS that have hurt ethanol producers and the farm economy. Read More

Finnair Flies First Biofuel-Powered Flight From San Francisco To Helsinki On Aug 5, a Finnair flight departing from San Francisco Airport to Helsinki in Finland was fueled with a 12% biofuel blend. Another flight departed on Aug 7. Total CO2 emissions from the two flights were reduced by around 32 tons. Read More

Brazil Considers Dropping Barriers to U.S. Ethanol Brazilian authorities are considering eliminating the current 20% tariff on US ethanol shipments that exceed 158 million gallons. Brazil was the top destination for US ethanol last year, taking 30% of 2018 ethanol exports. Read More

Performance Matters Our v endor member, HRST Inc, speaks to how operators and plant management can make data-driven decisions when facing the choices to maintain, upgrade or replace their boiler operations. Read More