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March 2014

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Business Briefs

Jason Resler

Business Briefs

By Staff

Business

Featured

Curtailing ethanol blending this year may have a moderate effect on near-term corn prices, while broader, long-term consequences loom. Observers think the EPA will ultimately set the RVO above 13 billion gallons. How far above 13 no one knows.

Corn's value has retreated, but the costs of fertilizer, seed, land and machinery remain high. Have inflated expenses reset the break even point for American growers?

In the fall of 2012, Green Plains Renewable Energy, sold 83 percent of its grain storage capacity. The move freed up capital, enabling the company to acquire more ethanol plants and make a big move toward outdoor corn storage. It's paying off.

With improved crop science and farming practices, today's award-winning corn yields may become tomorrow's average. Increasing yields spurs innovation and new investment across the agriculture industry. In the end, 'everyone is a winner.'

The pellet industry will grow by nearly 33 percent during the next two years, as foreign demand drives investment in new capacity and distribution infrastructure.

Vermont's capitol city is readying to fire up its modernized and expanded district heating system, which includes two new biomass boilers and a new hot water distribution loop.

Departments

The DGTC board of directors has now asked me to serve as the next CEO and executive director. It is an honor to carry on this long-standing legacy. Yes, much work has been done over the past several decades, but much more work must be done.

Abengoa Biomass Energy's 25 MMgy cellulosic ethanol plant in Hugoton, Kan., also produces up to 22 MW of biomass power.

PIT TO POWER: Repurposing a spent gravel pit, Hometown BioEnergy’s anaerobic digester powers four 2 MW Cummins gensets that provide electricity to LeSueur, Minn.

Biogas Power in the Valley

By Susanne Retka Schill

The Hometown BioEnergy anaerobic digester on the south edge of LeSueur, Minn., is the largest system of its type in the U.S., rated at 8 MW of electrical power from food processing and agricultural waste.

2014 will bear witness to the commissioning of some of the first U.S. commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plants.

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