During the third week of January, the ethanol industry celebrated some uplifting news. In addition to the U.S. Senate&rsquo;s approval of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, Phase 1 of a trade deal with China was approved by both countries.
Both of those developments happened during the week of the 2020 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit in Altoona, Iowa, so there was much to discuss as the industry reflected on 2019 and looked forward to 2020. The Road Ahead Monte Shaw, IRFA executive director, began the one-day summit Jan. 16 by reflecting on 2019 and offering optimism for the coming year. He acknowledged the difficulties faced by the ethanol industry in 2019, from poor corn growing conditions across the Midwest, to demand destruction brought on by the trade war with China and the U.S. EPA&rsquo;s issuance of small refinery exemptions. &ldquo;2019 was the first year that Iowa ethanol production was lower than the year before,&rdquo; Shaw said.
But, he reminded attendees, there were reasons to celebrate in 2019. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been so focused on what we didn&rsquo;t get that we&rsquo;ve neglected to appreciate what we did,&rdquo; Shaw said, as he highlighted efforts to increase trade opportunities with Mexico and the extension of the Reid vapor pressure waiver to E15, which is often marketed as Unleaded88. &ldquo;Whether Big Oil likes it or not, we&rsquo;re well on our way to start making Unleaded88 the new normal for fuel in the U.S.,&rdquo; Shaw said.
And looking forward, Shaw said building a working relationship with EPA will be instrumental for the ethanol industry. &ldquo;Speaking for myself, I am ready to try,&rdquo; Shaw told his audience. &ldquo;I want to work with the EPA to take small steps and large steps to rebuild some of that trust.&rdquo; Cooper&rsquo;s Keynote Geoff Cooper, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, delivered the summit&rsquo;s keynote address, and echoed much of Shaw&rsquo;s frustration and optimism. &ldquo;There was a silver lining to 2019, and I could say without equivocation or hyperbole that the biofuels industry held together and circled the wagons more tightly in 2019 than we&rsquo;ve ever done before,&rdquo; Cooper said. He concluded his address by offering four predictions for the ethanol industry&rsquo;s next 10 years.
He first predicted that the Renewable Fuel Standard will continue to be a contentious program and battles over the legislation will become more intense. &ldquo;This may be the safest prediction I&rsquo;ve ever made,&rdquo; Cooper conceded. &ldquo;We know our opponents will continue to attack the RFS using every tactic available and of course, we&rsquo;ll have a counterpunch ready for every one of their jabs,&rdquo; Cooper said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ll continue to lobby congress and the administration to undermine the program. They&rsquo;ll fund junk science and run negative ads. They&rsquo;ll continue to look for clever loopholes for avoiding compliance. They&rsquo;ll spread myths and misinformation about ethanol, the RFS and (renewable identification numbers). They will continue to sue EPA at every turn, and in fact, the oil industry has already announced its intentions to take EPA to court over the just-finalized 2020 RVO rule.&rdquo;
Cooper also predicted the expansion of a low-carbon fuel standard outside of California in the coming years. &ldquo;States across the country are moving ahead with their own programs and their own plans and policies aimed at decarbonization,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;And because the transportation sector has emerged as the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, there&rsquo;s a lot of focus on fuels and vehicles and one very promising policy that they look at as a way to contain emissions from transportation is a low-carbon fuel standard.&rdquo;
Cooper&rsquo;s third prediction was tied to ethanol exports, as he said RFA expects a resolution to the trade war and new emerging export markets for U.S. ethanol to help the industry grow. &ldquo;As 2020 begins, however, there are signs of hope that things will soon improve in the export market,&rdquo; Cooper said. &ldquo;We learned just yesterday &hellip; that fuel ethanol is indeed included in the Phase 1 trade deal with China and that country remains committed to using ethanol as a way to address air quality concerns.&rdquo;
Cooper&rsquo;s final prediction was that E15 would supplant E10 as the standard fuel at U.S. gas stations. He said EPA&rsquo;s approval of year-round E15 sales was important, but further work is needed to drive adoption among more retail stations. &ldquo;If EPA actually finally enforces a 15 billion-gallon RFS in 2020 and beyond, and the RIN markets begin to show signs of life, that could create a spark,&rdquo; Cooper said. &ldquo;Approval of E15 in California could turn that spark into a flame. More LCFS programs could turn that flame into a fire and retooling of gasoline BOBs [blendstocks for oxygenate blending] for 15 percent ethanol, or a requirement for higher minimum octane ratings, could turn that fire into a blaze. And by 2030 we could be in a situation where E15 is as ubiquitous as E10 is today in the marketplace.&rdquo;
The event also featured a presentation by Erin Brockovich, an environmental advocate. Brockovich outlined her upbringing, discussed her advocacy for the town of Hinkley, California, on which the movie starring Julia Roberts was based, and her current environmental work. Brockovich said it was her hope that &ldquo;you&rsquo;re going to be able to push through and be a part of a change that not only we need but the world is going to need, and I actually get really excited by that.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what makes us think that destruction of the environment will have no destruction upon us or our health and our welfare,&rdquo; Brockovich said. &ldquo;Not only will it, it has, and we&rsquo;re seeing the fallout of some of that today.&rdquo; Trade, Policy, Infrastructure An emphasis was put on policy, and the summit featured presentations from government officials, including Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Stephen Censky.
Censky was presenting just hours after the USDA announced a request for information in regard to the biofuels infrastructure grant program, which was announced in conjunction with the 2020 RVO and rulemaking. He said the USDA was seeking input on how best to implement the program and that he expects it to be launched this year. &ldquo;We think that is needed to move forward with the industry and I think that&rsquo;s going to be very positive,&rdquo; he said.
Censky also addressed trade, including the recently approved U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and the Phase 1 trade deal with China. Censky said China has committed to purchase $36.5 billion of agricultural products this year, and $43.5 billion the following year. &ldquo;To put that in perspective, in 2017 China was our No. 1 market in the world for U.S. agricultural products and we exported $24 billion worth of agricultural products to China,&rdquo; he said, adding the USDA will help ensure China meets its commitments outlined in the agreement.
Reynolds also discussed the Phase 1 trade deal, as just the day before the summit, she attended the deal signing at the White House. The deal, she said, &ldquo;puts our farmers in a good place,&rdquo; adding that ethanol imports were included as part of the deal. Empower, Advocate, Promote The summit&rsquo;s themes were &ldquo;Empower, Advocate and Promote,&rdquo; and the program included panel discussions along each of those themes.
The first panel, titled &ldquo;Empower: Is Your Fuel Killing You and How Biofuels Can Help,&rdquo; addressed the health impacts of aromatics in gasoline and included presentations from Steffen Mueller, principal economist at the Energy Resources Center, and Carol Werner, director emeritus and senior policy fellow at the Environmental and Energy Study Institute. &ldquo;As we really look at the aromatics that are part of every gallon of gasoline, we now know much, much more about what significance those components have, what that means from a public health perspective &hellip; and the fact that biofuels can make a huge difference,&rdquo; Werner said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve already heard about biofuels making a difference in so many other ways, which are all terribly important. Public health is an area that really needs to be talked about as well.&rdquo; She added several studies have linked tailpipe emissions to developmental and chronic health conditions.
Mueller agreed. &ldquo;EPA, together with Harvard Business Center, has done a very, very interesting and, I think, very important study for this industry, where they really documented just how dangerous aromatics are,&rdquo; he said. He added that the study says removal of aromatics from gasoline &ldquo;could give a substantial public health benefit.&rdquo;
Under the &ldquo;Advocate&rdquo; banner, policy was again discussed, including in presentations by James Castensen, federal government affairs manager at DuPont; Geoff Cooper; Anne Steckel, biofuels advisor for the National Farmers Union; and Dave Cobb, director of federal affairs for the National Biodiesel Board. The discussion began by addressing small refinery waivers. &ldquo;We know that the president has said that he continues to support renewable fuels, and we&rsquo;re very thankful for that,&rdquo; Steckel said. &ldquo;We just need to make sure EPA is also going to support renewable fuels and that we&rsquo;re really working to advocate and get out there and talk about our position a lot. 2020 hopefully will be better than 2019.&rdquo; Uncertainty surrounds the reallocation and SREs, she added. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re optimistic that they will stick with at least what we came up with on the DOE average, but we&rsquo;re going to have to stay after them. It&rsquo;s going to be a consistent advocacy effort.&rdquo;
Cooper agreed that there will be work for the ethanol and biofuels industries to make sure EPA enforces the RFS. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s going to remain a struggle to ensure that the volumes that are in the law are the volumes that are enforced by EPA,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There are so many clever ways for refiners to find gimmicks and try to undermine the program and avoid their compliance obligations.&rdquo;
The final panel fell under the &ldquo;Promote&rdquo; banner and included discussion about trade and exports. Lucas Szabo, manager of global ethanol market development for the U.S. Grains Council, and Ken Isley, administrator of the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service, discussed the topic.
Despite recent declines in exports, Szabo said, &ldquo;U.S. ethanol is the fastest growing agricultural export commodity of all those that are tracked by FAS. In our analysis, this is true over a five-year, and over a 10-year time period.&rdquo;
Isley said Mexico could be a large export market for ethanol. &ldquo;We think there&rsquo;s $1 billion to $2 billion of opportunity down in Mexico,&rdquo; he said, expressing optimism that ethanol will soon be allowed in Mexico&rsquo;s three largest cities.
Szabo agreed. &ldquo;We have made tremendous strides within Mexico over the last two years,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Sixty-five percent of the country is now open up to E10 blending. In that portion of the country, there&rsquo;s a maximum blending potential of 700 million gallons.&rdquo; Should the cities of Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey allow E10, he added, there is potential for another 400 million gallons to be blended. Author: Matt Thompson Associate Editor, Ethanol Producer Magazine 701.738.4922 mthompson@bbiinternational.com

EMPOWER, ADVOCATE, PROMOTE: Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, delivers an industry overview to open the 2020 Iowa Renewable Fuels summit Jan. 16 in Altoona, Iowa. The theme of the summit was â€œEmpower, Advocate,

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GOVERNMENT SUPPORT: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds addresses attendees at the Iowa Renewable Fuels summit Jan. 16 in Altoona, Iowa.

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POLICY PREDICTIONS: The summit included several panel discussions, including this one about biofuels policy. From left: James Carstensen, federal government affairs manager for DuPont; David Cobb, director of federal affairs for the National Biodies

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KEYED IN TO THE FUTURE: Geoff Cooper, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, delivers the keynote address during the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit in Altoona, Iowa.

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INFRASTRUCTURE INPUT: Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Stephen Censky spoke at the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit. 


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FROM THE APRIL ISSUE: Industry leaders at the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit in January looked back at 2019, offered predictions for 2020, and held hope for the ethanol industry's future.

Policy,  Predictions and Positivity

For many plants, summer production slowdowns are a necessary part of doing business. Warm, humid weather means cooling towers can&rsquo;t maintain a low enough temperature in fermenters, causing production to slow. But, experts say, those slowdowns don&rsquo;t necessarily need to happen every summer. Jeff Prochaska, industry technical consultant for grains, oilseeds and biofuels at Nalco Water, says optimizing a cooling system requires a mechanical and engineering methodology. &ldquo;In the last few years, the cooling tower systems have become bottlenecks in the summer months and so the plants have been asking themselves, &lsquo;What do I do now? Do I add another pump to my cooling tower? Do I add another chiller? Should I add another cell to my cooling tower? Should I add another cooling tower, and if so, do I just make a bigger one or do I get a new cooling tower?&rsquo; So, we saw a need for helping people make decisions.&rdquo;
Prochaska says taking a mechanical and engineering approach to cooling systems involves giving plant managers and owners detailed data about their systems and how they&rsquo;re performing and evaluating the options for upgrading and optimizing the systems. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not just chemistry, it&rsquo;s an engineering evaluation where we look at how the cooling towers are performing, how the pumps are performing, how the heat exchangers are performing and how the fans on the cooling tower are performing.&rdquo;
He says the reasons a cooling system may not be operating as efficiently as it could be are varied. One issue is airflow. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re not getting enough airflow, because the fill is partially plugged or partially fouled, or deteriorating,&rdquo; Prochaska says. &ldquo;If you don&rsquo;t have air flow, you&rsquo;re not going to get cooling.&rdquo; Water flow is another issue, he adds. &ldquo;Those are two trends that we see that people should look into&mdash;how much water are they actually pumping, and how much air is actually being pulled through the tower,&rdquo; he says.
The way heat exchange valves and pumps work together affects cooling tower water flow. &ldquo;There are a lot of heat exchangers and not all of the heat exchangers are being operated at the same time,&rdquo; Prochaska says. &ldquo;So, there are valves that are not always open, and when valves are closed, they put back pressure on the pumps and then the pumps can&rsquo;t produce the flow they&rsquo;re designed to because they&rsquo;re pumping against too much pressure.&rdquo; Determining why a system may not be using as much water as it&rsquo;s designed to is part of the mechanical and engineering approach Prochaska advocates. Pipe corrosion may be another reason water flow is restricted. They get clogged with rust and tubercles, causing major friction loss, Prochaska says.
Andrew Ledlie, global director of digitization strategies for industrial water technologies at Solenis, agrees. He says Solenis often sees &ldquo;piping that&rsquo;s failing in 10 years with pinhole leaks due to pitting, and a lot of times it&rsquo;s microbiologically related.&rdquo; When a system is designed to last 25 or 30 years, &ldquo;replacing 10-year-old equipment is not factored into the financial model and investment returns of the business,&rdquo; Ledlie says. Biofilm Battles Ledlie says the industry&rsquo;s age plays a role in how cooling systems are viewed. &ldquo;This industry is still very young and so all of the efforts have been toward the process side, not on what we call utilities, which is water and steam and energy that&rsquo;s required to drive the operation,&rdquo; Ledlie says. &ldquo;So as a very young industry, it doesn&rsquo;t have a long history of operations optimization behind it.&rdquo;
Don Holt, applications team manager for Solenis, notes that the ethanol industry offers unique challenges to fighting biofilm. He says cooling towers &ldquo;[suck] in a ton of air against a fine spray of water, and [they] scrub out a lot of dirt and organics, maybe more so than in other industries where the cooling towers are not surrounded by corn fields.&rdquo; He adds the source of the water used can also impact bacterial growth.
Getting a handle on these factors to control biofilm and bacterial growth can help plants maximize their cooling capacity in warm weather, Ledlie says. He points to one of his ethanol plant customers as an example of a successful biofilm control program. &ldquo;[Biofilm] had been a problem previously until they put these new tools in place when they replaced the cooling tower,&rdquo; Ledlie says. Those tools led to a dramatic reduction in the amount of time the chillers needed to run, he adds.
And that isn&rsquo;t necessarily a common view within the ethanol industry, Ledlie says. When he talks with companies that perform maintenance on cooling towers, Ledlie says he asks them how often they see clean towers that aren&rsquo;t coated with biofilm. &ldquo;They say only the new ones,&rdquo; Ledlie says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a pervasive problem.&rdquo; Paradigm Shift Whether cooling tower operation is affected by a system that needs to be upgraded, or by biofilm buildup, Ledlie and Prochaska agree that the difficulties experienced by cooling systems in warm, humid weather is a source of lost revenue for many plants. &ldquo;If the fermenters start to get warm, or even hot, they get stressed; they don&rsquo;t produce as much alcohol, so cooling is very important in the summer months to maximize production in many plants,&rdquo; Prochaska says. He adds most U.S. corn ethanol plants experience production losses during summer months, and for some plants this could mean a loss of $500,000 to $1 million. &ldquo;If a plant could optimize their cooling system, they could reduce production losses,&rdquo; he says.
Ledlie agrees. He says many plants view a summer slowdown as part of normal operations and haven&rsquo;t explored ways to maintain production levels in warm weather. &ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s your paradigm, so you kind of have a hard time thinking, &lsquo;Maybe we could do something to prevent that,&rsquo; because it&rsquo;s not perceived as a solvable problem.&rdquo;
Cooling systems aren&rsquo;t seen as revenue generators, but as costs to the plant. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not a heavy focus because it&rsquo;s not part of the revenue, it&rsquo;s part of the cost side,&rdquo; Holt says. All industries could benefit from changing that viewpoint. &ldquo;I think it is definitely at an overall paradigm shift globally that you need to take a look at some of your costs actually as revenue generators.&rdquo;
Prochaska says he&rsquo;s seen more interest in working with cooling systems to limit production cuts. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m seeing more people trying to figure that out,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Some people are trying to do it on their own, and we get contacted to come into plants and do these studies for them. Every plant has found it extremely useful.&rdquo; Establishing a Baseline While they advocate for different approaches to maintaining and optimizing cooling systems, both Ledlie and Prochaska say measuring current cooling system performance is an important first step in determining how to best manage a system.
&ldquo;Find out how much air is going through, find out how much water you&rsquo;re pumping and find out what the efficiency of your cooling tower is,&rdquo; Prochaska says. &ldquo;That way, if there is something you need to do, you can do it before it gets hot and humid.&rdquo;
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s really important to get baseline data because you can&rsquo;t improve what you&rsquo;re not measuring,&rdquo; Ledlie says. That measurement can be relatively inexpensive. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not a huge capital investment for some instrumentation,&rdquo; Ledlie adds.
He also advises finding personnel who are interested in learning new skills and will take the time to understand the intricacies of the cooling systems, and how to control biofilm in them. &ldquo;Find some of those curious people in the plant who have enough training that they can at least hit the ground running, and encourage them to spend some time looking at the utility operations,&rdquo; Ledlie says. Author: Matt Thompson Associate Editor, Ethanol Producer Magazine 701.738.4922 mthompson@bbiinternational.com

OPTIMAL CAPABILITIES: A typical cooling tower, like this one at Chippewa Valley Ethanol Co. in Benson, Minnesota, may often be overlooked by plant staff. But experts agree there are mechanical, engineering and biological techniques to optimize this e

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ON THE LOOKOUT: Bob Jewell, energy systems chief at Chippewa Valley Ethanol Co., uses a continuous biofilm monitoring system to help manage cooling at the Minnesota plant. 

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SUMMER SLOWDOWN: During the hot and humid summer months, ethanol production often slows, as cooling systems struggle to keep fermenters at an optimal temperature for yeast.

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FROM THE APRIL ISSUE: Experts discuss different approaches to optimize cooling towers and limit summer production slowdowns. 

Cooling Considerations

Lactic acid bacteria cells grow and reproduce much more quickly than yeast cells do, consuming the nutrients meant for the yeast in fermentation and producing organic acids instead of ethanol at a molecule ratio of 1:1. That lost production can cost a plant more than $1 million per year, says Jim Steele, lactic solutions general manager at Lallemand Biofuels &amp; Distilled Spirits.
Steele is a co-author of a research paper that used modern methods to identify the bacteria species present in four U.S. ethanol plants over six months. Researchers found that microbiota in ethanol plants are not significantly diversified, with just 13 types of bacterial contaminants making up 90% of the total population, predominantly lactobacilli.
The methods used in the research allowed the identification of bacteria on a species level, even those that don&rsquo;t grow on typical lab media, offering more insight than is gained using traditional plating methods, Steele says. Bacteria species varied, sometimes widely, between plants, as well as in different parts of the processes.
&ldquo;We found that the microbiota is relatively simple and plant-specific,&rdquo; he says. Methods and Results The research was led by Fernanda Firmino, now a research scientist with lactic solutions and sales supervisor in Brazil for Lallemand, as part of her Ph.D. research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The paper, &ldquo;Characterization of Microbial Communities in Ethanol Biorefineries,&rdquo; appeared in the Journal of Industrial Microbiology &amp; Biotechnology in December 2019.
Researchers used both partial length 16S rRNA sequencing and shotgun metagenomics sequencing, as 16S rRNA sequences cannot resolve bacterial classifications beyond the genus level. Shotgun metagenomics allows the comprehensive sampling of all genes present.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re using modern molecular biology techniques to look at the organisms present,&rdquo; Steele says. &ldquo;The resolution we have is significantly better than with previous methods.&rdquo;
Samples were drawn from four Midwest biorefineries three times in six months, to obtain 77 primary samples for the study. The samples were taken from three different stages of ethanol production: cooled mash, fermentation and the beer well. Additional samples were taken two years later from one plant to evaluate stability of the microbiota.
The vast majority of operational taxonomic units (OTUs&mdash;a common measurement in gene sequencing) collected from the plants belonged to the Firmicutes (89%) and Proteobacteria (11%) phyla. Within Firmicutes, 80% of the OTUs belonged to the genus Lactobacillus, 11% to Lactococcus, 2.5% Weissella and 1.8% to Clostridium.
Per plant, the abundance of Lactobacillus ranged from 37% to 95%. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re different because the majority of organisms present during fermentation are actually organisms that live there,&rdquo; Steele says. &ldquo;That difference is critical because a lot of people think that most of the organisms in fermentation came directly from the corn, which happens, but they are a relatively minor component of those in the fermenter.&rdquo;
Within Lactobacillus, five clades were identified: Lb. delbrueckii (55%), Lb. reuteri (15%), Lb. casei (1.4%), Lb. perolens (0.5%) and Lb. brevis (0.3%).
Over the two years of research, the main contaminants in the studied communities didn&rsquo;t show significant changes, Steele says. In general, some plants&rsquo; bacterial communities will change more than others, as a result of how they&rsquo;re run or how often they change their processes, specifically antimicrobials.
&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t know for sure, but the idea is, in many of these environments, there&rsquo;s an advantage to the organism who first lands there,&rdquo; Steele says. Most competitive bacteria are going to live, but a plant with a certain species was likely contaminated by that species early on. For example, plant 2 showed samples with far more Lactococcus than any of the other plants.
Throughout the production process, the research showed bacterial diversity was richest in the mash, decreased during fermentation and decreased even further in the beer well. For example, during the return visit in 2018, the Lb. delbrueckii clade was the most abundant in the beer well sample. It increased from 10% of the population in the corn mash to 89% in the beer well. That sample showed four lactobacilli clades present in the corn mash, and two in the beer well. Lb. delbrueckii and Lb. reuteri clades commonly dominated microbiota by the end of sampled fermentations, a clear indication of their fitness for that environment, Firmino&rsquo;s paper says.
Population dynamics change throughout the process in an ethanol plant because the pH drops, the ethanol content increases, antimicrobials are added, and only the strongest can hold on and continue to grow, Steele says.
The low complexity of the bacterial community in ethanol plants is likely a reflection of the low microbial load in the cooled mash, sanitation, antimicrobials and the restrictive environment in fermentation, the research paper says. Three of the four plants had relatively stable microbiotas across the six-month and two-year time scales of the research. Firmino posits this is likely because of control measures and the fermentation restraints.
The plants studied are all clean, Steele says. &ldquo;The one we looked at over the longest period of time is one of the cleanest plants I&rsquo;ve ever been in.&rdquo; Bacterial Reproduction Typically, a very clean plant will have a lactic growth of about 0.05%, says Jayne Kalbfleisch, technical development manager for Lallemand. &ldquo;When you start seeing lactic growth climb near or above 0.1%, there&rsquo;s concern because those bacteria are all growing much faster (than yeast), and consuming the glucose meant for the yeast.&rdquo;
Under perfect conditions, bacteria can double their numbers in 20 minutes. With no yeast, perfect temperatures and glucose, it takes just six hours for 10 bacterial cells to become 2 million. Of course, fermentation doesn&rsquo;t allow those perfect conditions, but a mistake such as a forgotten antibiotic dose, or a yeast prop sent to a different fermenter can create good conditions for growth. &ldquo;Bacteria can just take over in a very fast amount of time,&rdquo; Kalbfleisch says.
Unlike yeast, bacteria reproduce through binary fission. They duplicate their DNA and then split in half. Those two daughter cells can begin splitting again immediately. &ldquo;That process is much faster than the budding of a yeast cell,&rdquo; Kalbfleisch says. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re very efficient.&rdquo;
As Steele&rsquo;s and Firmino&rsquo;s research showed, bacteria can be present throughout the ethanol-production process. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re pretty thrifty at adapting to their environment,&rdquo; Kalbfleisch says. &ldquo;Bacteria populations can take over based on the conditions they encounter, so we tend to see bacteria that are more tolerant to ethanol growing in the beer well.
&ldquo;Bacteria are everywhere where we exist,&rdquo; Kalbfleisch says. &ldquo;They support our life.&rdquo; A &ldquo;fun fact&rdquo; she shares is that humans are 10% human cells and 90% bacterial cells. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not even all human. We&rsquo;re bacteria.
&ldquo;But when we think of fermenting and making alcohol, they&rsquo;re the nasty bugs. Those are the ones we&rsquo;re trying to control,&rdquo; she says. Controlling Bugs Producers have their pick of providers when looking for bacterial control, as many products and services are on the market, including from Lallemand, Leaf, Dupont, BetaTec Hop Products, Phibro Ethanol Performance Group and many others.
At Phibro, the approach is to find where the bacteria are originating and effectively clean that area, reducing dependence on antibiotics. In the fermenters, for instance, the approach is threefold: effective clean-in-place methods, healthy yeast, and effective antimicrobial additions. &ldquo;Antibiotics are a good bacteria-control mechanism, but it shouldn&rsquo;t be your only control mechanism,&rdquo; says Jenny Forbes, vice president of products and services for Phibro.
Healthy yeast is a crucial tool for bacterial control, Forbes says. &ldquo;Having a healthy, strong and robust yeast helps competitively exclude bacteria, so we put a lot of emphasis on yeast health and ensuring that your yeast is in the right growth stage, that it&rsquo;s fast-acting and that it&rsquo;s healthy,&rdquo; she says.
When antibiotics are added, Phibro recommends dosing early in propagation or fermentation, and adding to the proper pH and temperature areas. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t ever want to add your antibiotic product to materials that are just going to denature it right away,&rdquo; Forbes says. &ldquo;So make sure where you&rsquo;re adding it is compatible for the antibiotics. You want to ensure that you get the most value from the product as possible.&rdquo;
Virginamycin and penicillin, two common classes of antibiotics used in ethanol plants, each works differently. Virginiamycin penetrates the bacterial cell wall and attaches to the ribosome, the protein factory essential to all the cell&rsquo;s functions. It binds to the ribosome, halting all the cell&rsquo;s processes. Penicillin binds to the cross linking in the cell wall, causing a rupture there.
Forbes says different species of bacteria will respond to one, the other, or both. &ldquo;Most bacteria we find in an ethanol plant respond to the common actives that everybody&rsquo;s already selling,&rdquo; she says. The dose differs from plant to plant, but depends on the bacterial load, Forbes says, adding providers have testing procedures to identify optimal actives and dosage. Like Steele, Forbes attributes that bacterial load to a few factors, including operation and CIP methods.
The ethanol industry has refined and polished its bacterial control methods, Forbes says, with effective options in place.
&ldquo;Bacteria will always be there,&rdquo; Kalbfleisch says. &ldquo;Plants will always be taking measures to keep those levels low.&rdquo; Author: Lisa Gibson Editor, Ethanol Producer Magazine 701.738.4920 lgibson@bbiinternational.com

mini MICROBIOTA: Jim Steele, lactic solutions general manager at Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled Spirits, works with small fermentations in Lallemandâ€™s lab. Steele co-authored a study that characterizes bacterial communities in ethanol plants, detai

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bacteria in blue: Phibro Ethanol Performance Group has a three-tiered system for fighting bacterial contaminations that starts with proper CIP and robust, healthy yeast. 

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reading results: The results of research to characterize bacterial communities shows variances among plants. 

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FROM THE APRIL ISSUE: Researchers use new molecular biology tools to identify inhabitants of ethanol plant bacterial communities. 

Bits of the Batch

Broin named American Biofuels Visionary
Jeff Broin, Poet Biofuels founder and CEO, was named The American Biofuels Visionary at Growth Energy&rsquo;s 11th Annual Executive Leadership Conference.
&ldquo;Jeff Broin&rsquo;s unwavering leadership and transformative vision for U.S. biofuels has touched the lives of every American, from farm families in South Dakota to New York motorists,&rdquo; said Emily Skor, Growth Energy CEO. &ldquo;As founding chair of Growth Energy, he followed in the footsteps of other great American founding fathers, building an enduring legacy that will shape the future of homegrown energy for generations to come.&rdquo;
Broin said, &ldquo;I am honored and humbled to receive this thoughtful recognition from Growth Energy. Helping to found and grow this organization has been a true labor of love for me, going back to my roots on the family farm. While we have won many battles, the war is far from over. I will continue to work with the biofuels industry and agriculture to drive biofuels to new heights in the years to come.&rdquo;
In addition to his work with Growth Energy, Broin turned Poet from a humble family business into the world&rsquo;s largest ethanol producer. His efforts have guided the industry&rsquo;s most groundbreaking victories, from smashing the blend wall to capturing global markets.
&nbsp;
SIRE receives RFA&rsquo;s 2020 Industry Award
The Renewable Fuels Association presented Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy in Council Bluffs, Iowa, with the 2020 Industry Award Feb. 12 at the National Ethanol Conference in Houston, Texas. RFA&rsquo;s Industry Award is presented annually to a member company that has provided a unique contribution to the industry&rsquo;s success through technological, marketplace, or advocacy excellence.
SIRE is being recognized this year for its critical role in hosting President Donald Trump, along with multiple cabinet officials, federal, state and local officials and national news media, for a tour of its facilities and a celebration of new regulations permitting summertime sales of E15. The event convened industry leaders and policymakers, providing an opportunity for the Trump administration to hear first-hand accounts of the positive impact of expanding the use of E15, as well as accounts of the damage being done to the renewable fuels industry by the unprecedented number of small refiner exemptions to the Renewable Fuel Standard.
&ldquo;SIRE did not just provide a tour of the facility and tell them how ethanol is made,&rdquo; Cooper said. &ldquo;They engaged these officials in a frank and honest dialogue about the devastating impact of small refiner waivers, the need to restore the integrity of the RFS, and the potential benefits of moving toward a high-octane, low-carbon future. The hard work that the men and women of SIRE put into this unforeseen leadership role is paying off&mdash;and we salute them for their strong effort.&rdquo; In addition to the E15 celebration and facility tour, SIRE hosted an April news conference on refinery waivers and a bipartisan press conference in August.
&nbsp;
USGC meeting attendees plan global trade strategy for coming year
Members of the U.S. Grains Council arrived in Tampa, Florida, for the organization&rsquo;s winter meeting in mid-February, where they concentrated on drivers of global demand and how they affect markets overseas in which USGC does business.
&ldquo;We are excited to be in Tampa as we come off a particularly challenging year for trade and begin to right our course to make something happen for U.S. corn, sorghum, barley, ethanol, distillers dried grains with solubles and other coproducts,&rdquo; said Darren Armstrong, USGC chairman and farmer from North Carolina. &ldquo;We heard from experts in their fields of policy and weather prediction to help us analyze what&rsquo;s happened recently and plan a strategy for success in the coming year.&rdquo;
USGC&rsquo;s winter meeting is the annual chance for corn, sorghum and barley farmers and members of agribusiness who make up the organization&rsquo;s membership to meet with their international staff, who work in dozens of locations globally on trade policy and market development issues.
&nbsp;
Cooperative Producers adds E15 at 2 Nebraska locations
Cooperative Producers Inc. has added E15 at its fuel sites in Axtell, Nebraska, and Red Cloud, Nebraska. These additions are CPI&rsquo;s fifth and sixth locations selling E15 in the state including locations in Clay Center, Funk, Giltner and Juniata.
&ldquo;As a farmer-owned cooperative, we need to support the folks who do business with us,&rdquo; said Gary Brandt, vice president of energy with CPI. &ldquo;CPI uses 500,000 bushels of corn in the ethanol we sell every year, so adding more ethanol to the pumps in Axtell and Red Cloud really brings a sense of ownership to our growers who work hard throughout the year to feed and fuel our country.&rdquo;
The NEB is urging more Nebraska fuel retailers to make E15 fuel more widely available to motorists. To help fuel retailers learn more about the ease of selling E15, NEB is hosting free workshops across the state. For details, visit ethanol.nebraska.gov. Some retailers have been reluctant to retrofit their pumps for E15 due to misconceptions about cost and installation.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;These locations don&rsquo;t have a flex-fuel pump, but we&rsquo;re still able to offer E15 by blending it at the pipeline terminal,&rdquo; Brandt said. &ldquo;As E15 fuel gains momentum, we believe it will become available at most fuel stations in Nebraska.&rdquo;
&nbsp;
Valero Energy Corp. announces officer promotions
Valero Energy Corp.&rsquo;s board of directors has approved promotions for Lane Riggs, Gary Simmons and Eric Fisher.
Riggs has been promoted and elected president of Valero and will also hold the title of chief operation officer, reflecting the expansion of his responsibilities to also include renewables and logistics operations. Under his leadership, Valero&rsquo;s refining organization has dramatically improved in safety, reliability, cost management, and environmental measures. In addition, Lane has extensive experience in leading Valero&rsquo;s supply optimization and crude oil and product supply groups.
Simmons has been promoted and elected executive vice president and chief commercial officer. He has led Valero&rsquo;s commercial organization since 2014. He will continue in his new role with oversight of the company&rsquo;s crude supply and products trading, wholesale marketing, transportation, and international commercial operations groups.
Fisher has been promoted and elected senior vice president wholesale marketing and international commercial operations. He will continue in his new role with oversight of Valero&rsquo;s wholesale and retail operations and the ongoing expansion of Valero&rsquo;s international commercial activities, which continue to grow.
&ldquo;Lane, Gary and Eric have done a great job for Valero,&rdquo; said Joe Gorder, Valero chairman and CEO. &ldquo;I look forward to continuing to work with them and our team in delivering excellence in operations, earnings growth, and strong shareholder returns.&rdquo;
&nbsp;
Elite Octane, Raizen join US Grains Council
Elite Octane LLC and Raizen North America Inc. are new members of the U.S. Grains Council. Elite Octane is a privately held company that operates a dry-mill ethanol plant near Atlantic, Iowa. Operating since July 2018, the plant produces more than 140 MMgy annually.
Raizen North America&rsquo;s primary responsibility is originating U.S. corn ethanol for export to overseas destinations. This ethanol is then converted into a variety of products with uses ranging from fuel and pharmaceuticals to beverages and cosmetics. In 2019, the company exported roughly 315 million gallons of ethanol, equal to 112 million bushels of corn.

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FROM THE APRIL ISSUE: Growth Energy names American Biofuels Visionary, RFA announces 2020 Industry Award, Grains Council plans trade strategy, E15 added to two Nebraska retail sites, and Valero promotes three.

Business Briefs

Octane. Mercedes called it the single most important parameter in designing engines. And guess what? Ethanol has the highest octane blending value and the lowest cost of any gasoline additive commercially available. Today&rsquo;s vehicles adjust to take advantage of octane while improving mileage and reducing emissions. So why isn&rsquo;t ethanol leading the charge toward a high-octane fuel standard? In my opinion, the Renewable Fuel Standard is strangling us. It was intended to drive domestic, conventional ethanol demand to 15 billion gallons. However, despite the ethanol industry&rsquo;s best efforts, the U.S. EPA has successfully reduced RFS-driven demand to not much more the 12 billion gallons a year, leaving our industry woefully oversupplied. Having allowed the RFS to define our value, not only does it limit our volumes, we are undeniably going backward. Plants are closing, profitability has disappeared and we are facing negative margins. And this is with the RFS in place.
With no growth driver, no end in sight to oversupply, and an industry-accepted idea that ethanol demand must be underpinned by the RFS, it is increasingly hard, if not impossible, to see a path forward to increasing industry value. Ethanol&rsquo;s overreliance on the RFS creates a hostile transportation fuels market that works against improving gasoline by keeping us from capitalizing on ethanol&rsquo;s greatest strength. Ethanol is not just an octane source, but a source that lowers carbon and reduces gasoline&rsquo;s toxic aromatics.
So just how does our industry capitalize on ethanol&rsquo;s superior octane blending value? The U.S. is one of the few countries without an octane standard, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean it can&rsquo;t be done. I believe a scenario where all liquid transportation fuel stakeholders bring a reasonable octane standard to Congress is not only doable, but more importantly, it will provide much-needed, long-term industry security. The ethanol industry has taken a position that it will accept nothing less than a 98 RON minimum octane standard. The petroleum industry has taken a position that, while they are willing to consider a higher-octane standard, a 98 RON minimum octane standard is a non-starter.
The reluctance of the ethanol industry to sit down and work with the petroleum industry to try and solve this dilemma is challenging. A 95 RON minimum octane standard raises the country&rsquo;s octane, sets a floor on which we can build, and is possible today without need for new infrastructure development or petroleum refiner investment. By some estimates, a 95 RON standard creates a yearly 20 billion-gallon or more market for ethanol. If we engage in the hard work of crafting a standard that removes barriers preventing ethanol from freely trading, I am convinced the cleanest, cheapest source of octane will prevail and ethanol will finally realize its true potential.
The time has come to take the pen out of EPA&rsquo;s hands. We must move beyond the RFS and capitalize on an octane strategy that is realistic and creates a long-term growth opportunity for ethanol. The basic pieces of a workable deal are on the table. All three main stakeholders (ag/ethanol, autos and refiners) must unite forces and together craft win-win legislation if we want to achieve success. I am asking the ethanol industry leadership to devote meaningful resources to thoroughly investigate what a 95 RON octane standard would mean for not only our industry, but also the petroleum refining industry and autos. While our team has dedicated many resources to studying and understanding 95 RON, there is much more work to be done. This work, and a serious 95 RON octane discussion, must begin now or we risk losing even more.
&nbsp;
Author: Dave VanderGriend President, Urban Air Initiative CEO, ICM Inc. 316.796.0900 davev@icminc.com

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FROM THE APRIL ISSUE: A case for moving beyond the RFS to a 95 RON minimum octane standard.

The Case for 95 RON Now

For decades, ethanol advocates have used the &ldquo;Three E&rsquo;s&rdquo; to describe the renewable fuel&rsquo;s main advantages: energy security, economic development and environmental benefits. Indeed, from conversations at the coffee shop to meetings on Capitol Hill, the &ldquo;Three Es&rdquo; have helped us successfully typify ethanol&rsquo;s benefits. They have served us well&mdash;and will continue to do so&mdash;as we share ethanol&rsquo;s good story with the public and policymakers. But as we focus more acutely on positioning ethanol in future discussions about energy and climate change, we need to play to ethanol&rsquo;s unique strengths and emphasize the &ldquo;Three C&rsquo;s:&rdquo; clean octane, carbon reduction and consumer choice.
First, it is already well-understood that ethanol has tremendous value as an octane booster. Of all the options available to refiners, ethanol unquestionably has the highest blending octane number and is available at the lowest cost. While ethanol has been used for decades to boost octane, moving forward, much higher octane will be needed to enable greater fuel economy and significantly reduce emissions.
Numerous studies have shown that the use of high-octane fuels&mdash;in the range of 98 to 100 RON&mdash;in high- compression engines can greatly improve fuel efficiency and reduce both criteria pollutants and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
But here&rsquo;s the thing: Not all octane boosters are created equal. Refiners really have just two choices: they can choose ethanol&mdash;a clean, renewable octane source&mdash;or they can choose aromatics and other hydrocarbon octane boosters, many of which endanger human health and worsen air pollution. Second, ethanol is a low-cost and readily available tool for reducing carbon emissions from the transportation sector.
As we enter a new decade, state and federal action on carbon reduction appears inevitable and imminent. Transportation has emerged as the single largest source of GHG emissions and thus lawmakers are especially interested in policy solutions that can reduce the carbon intensity of our fuels and vehicles.&nbsp;
With ethanol, we don&rsquo;t have to wait and hope for major technological or economic breakthroughs. The fuel is available now at a low cost to drive decarbonization. Studies and real-world data show grain-based ethanol reduces GHG emissions by 35 to 50 percent compared to gasoline today. Emerging technologies promise to boost that reduction to around 70 percent in the next few years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Finally, ethanol enables greater competition and consumer choice. Competition reduces costs for consumers, spurs innovation and stimulates the invention of new products and more efficient processes. In fact, the competition driven by the Renewable Fuel Standard is responsible for reducing gas prices by at least 22 cents per gallon in recent years, according to a recent study by economist Phil Verleger.
Let&rsquo;s be honest. If we had a truly &ldquo;free market,&rdquo; wouldn&rsquo;t consumers choose the lower-cost, lower-carbon, higher-octane, biodgradable, American-made option every single time? Of course they would. That&rsquo;s why we must continue to fight for policies that provide market access and tear down artificial barriers to expanded ethanol use around the globe.
So, how do we take the &ldquo;Three C&rsquo;s&rdquo; and translate them into actionable policy that truly expands the market for ethanol, reduces emissions, enables greater fuel efficiency, enhances competition and choice, and lowers prices at the pump?
As we write the next chapter of renewable fuels policy, RFA and our allies believe ethanol has a tremendous opportunity to serve as the key ingredient of a future high-octane, low-carbon fuel that delivers significant benefits to American consumers. We are advocating for the establishment of a minimum octane standard for gasoline, preferably at the 98 RON level, and a requirement that the octane boost comes from sources or processes that reduce life cycle GHG emissions compared to a hydrocarbon baseline.
We are actively engaged in discussions with lawmakers and regulators around this idea. We are doing the legal work and the economic analysis, and we are working to broaden the coalition of supporters for high-octane, low-carbon fuels. You will hear a lot more about these efforts as the year progresses.
&nbsp;
Author: Geoff Cooper President and CEO Renewable Fuels Association 202.289.3835 gcooper@ethanolrfa.org

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FROM THE APRIL ISSUE: Touting ethanol as a source of clean octane, it's ability to reduce carbon, and allowing consumer choice in the marketplace.

From the 3 E's to the 3 C's

One of my favorite things about attending ethanol industry events is the pile of story ideas that comes back to this desk with me. I&rsquo;m still pulling ideas from The Alcohol School in Montreal last September, this time about bacteria.
I don&rsquo;t know a lot about bacteria, and it turns out many ethanol producers don&rsquo;t either, beyond the required knowledge to get rid of it. Jayne Kalbfleisch, technical development manager for Lallemand Biofuels &amp; Distilled Spirits, delivered somewhat of a Bacteria 101 at The Alcohol School, including a slide representing some research by her colleagues into the characterization of bacterial communities in ethanol plants, throughout the process from cooled mash to beer well. The results are a conversation starter. They show varying diversities, both among different plants and different parts of production. I reached out to those researchers and asked them to put their findings in layman&rsquo;s terms (a gentle way of acknowledging my ignorance of bacteria).
In our first feature, starting on page 14, we detail the research and explain the reasons behind the variances. We review a little of Kalbfleisch&rsquo;s Bacteria 101, and discuss contamination control methods. Kalbfleisch told me humans are made up of 90 percent bacterial cells, by the way, and just 10 percent human cells. I want to be Spirillum. They just seem like they&rsquo;d be the bad boys of bacteria.
Next, we look at cooling towers. Many producers see that area of their plants as a cost, but that thought process could change with proper cleaning and maintenance, our sources say. Optimized cooling optimizes the entire process, and thereby, revenue. Find the details on page 22.
Finally, this issue of Ethanol Producer Magazine includes coverage of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit. Associate Editor Matt Thompson attended the January event and brings us a summary of the discussion topics. He also explains why the overall mood of the show was positive. Find it on page 30.
We try to get to as many events as we can, to keep our fingers on the pulse of our industry, to stay in touch with the people who make this industry what it is, and to bring back ideas for stories that are relevant to this industry.
If you see us at a show, say hello. And pitch a story.
&nbsp;
Author: Lisa Gibson Editor lgibson@bbiinternational.com

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FROM THE APRIL ISSUE: Editor Lisa Gibson previews the magazine, including feature articles about bacteria research, cooling tower maintenance and cleaning, coverage of IRFA's January Renewable Fuels Summit, and more.

April 2020

Business Briefs

Business Briefs

Columns

The Case for 95 RON Now

From the 3 E's to the 3 C's

Events and Ideas

Featured

Policy, Predictions and Positivity

Cooling Considerations

Bits of the Batch

April 2020.css-7jxktu{position:absolute;bottom:0px;left:0px;right:0px;height:3px;border-radius:3px;background-color:var(--chakra-colors-brandBlack);}

Business Briefs

Business Briefs

Columns

The Case for 95 RON Now

From the 3 E's to the 3 C's

Events and Ideas

Featured

Policy, Predictions and Positivity

Cooling Considerations

Bits of the Batch

April 2020