Jonas Spoorendonk, global product manager for ABB&rsquo;s Ability Smart Sensors, compares his company&rsquo;s sensors for mounted bearings to a fitness tracker. &ldquo;You just put it on and then you get good monitoring of your condition, your steps and your calorie consumption and maybe your sleep patterns.&rdquo;
In the same fashion, ABB&rsquo;s sensors are easily installed and can give users data about a bearing&rsquo;s temperature and vibrations almost immediately. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not new in the sense that we&rsquo;re doing something that couldn&rsquo;t be done before,&rdquo; Spoorendonk says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s new in the sense that it&rsquo;s become a lot easier and more affordable.&rdquo; He adds that the sensors are universal. &ldquo;Generally, you can get good benefit from monitoring any type of machine, having these sensors on the bearings.&rdquo;
The sensors connect to the cloud and send data wirelessly. &ldquo;We are doing some calculations on the sensor, and then we finalize the calculations in the cloud,&rdquo; he says, adding that this method minimizes data transfer and optimizes the sensors&rsquo; battery life.
For about nine months, Commonwealth Agri-Energy&rsquo;s maintenance manager, Jeff Radford, has been using the smart sensors on the plant&rsquo;s hammer mills. Commonwealth is a 45MMgy ethanol plant in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll download what [the sensors] took for that week, and then I&rsquo;ll upload it to their cloud,&rdquo; Radford says. &ldquo;Basically, ABB&rsquo;s program looks at all the information; they&rsquo;ll give me a green, a yellow or a red indication, saying it was good, warning, or red&mdash;something&rsquo;s really, really bad.&rdquo; He adds that he can also compare data and see trends in how the equipment has been operating over a specific period.
That analysis is a key part of how the system works, Spoorendonk says. &ldquo;The analysis is a critical component because we use the equipment&rsquo;s raw data, such as vibration and temperature, to calculate meaningful information on the condition and performance of the bearing,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;By understanding the health of the asset, maintenance can be planned before a problem occurs.&rdquo;
Radford says Commonwealth first installed the sensors on the plant&rsquo;s hammer mill bearings to help monitor and diagnose vibration issues. While vibration monitoring was the primary driver, Radford says plant personnel typically monitor temperature. &ldquo;It can tell us a little bit of information if we&rsquo;re needing to change the screens in the hammer mills,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;ll pick that up, so they are pretty sensitive.&rdquo; In Control While the sensors are Bluetooth capable, they&rsquo;re not yet tied into Commonwealth&rsquo;s distributed control system (DCS), Radford says. But that could change. &ldquo;[ABB offers] a Bluetooth-type network that you can put out there and it can automatically query these things for you,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not anywhere near that right now, but if this thing works the way that it&rsquo;s supposed to, we might do that in the next couple of years.&rdquo;
Spoorendonk says connecting the sensors to the DCS is easy, as it mostly involves updating software. &ldquo;The way you do that is through a standardized cloud interface, what the software people call an API&mdash;an application and processing interface,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;This is nuts-and-bolts for the software people. You just show them where they can find it and then they can sit down and start to integrate the data.&rdquo;
Dennis Uhl of Stover Controls says that while he hasn&rsquo;t worked with ABB&rsquo;s sensors, Emmerson offers sensors that can measure temperature and vibrations as well. Connecting those sensors to a DCS can be done in a variety of ways. &ldquo;If it&rsquo;s a wireless unit, that wireless unit goes to what they call a gateway, and then that gateway can send out the information via mod bus, ethernet IP, OPCUA, there&rsquo;s a variety of different ways to pull that information, communicate it back to the DCS,&rdquo; Uhl says.
And he says using sensors on assets helps manage equipment reliability and improves safety at plants. Measuring factors like vibrations and temperature allows personnel to recognize and respond to potential equipment failures before they become catastrophic, Uhl says. &ldquo;Maybe there are corrective items you can do to extend that time before you hit functional failure and get you to a point where you have a scheduled outage or scheduled shutdown,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;By identifying that problem earlier, you drive down the cases of safety-related instances. Having that plan and schedule provides a safer work environment, plus the work gets done faster.&rdquo;
In addition to monitoring individual bearings, ABB offers sensors for pumps and motors. Those sensors go beyond just reporting and measuring temperature and vibrations, Spoorendonk says. &ldquo;Here we are monitoring an electric motor, for example, with two bearings and other things, and we are using the information we get&mdash;including the magnetic field and vibration&mdash;to analyze the health of those bearings. So, this is a slightly more sophisticated sensor in terms of the data you are getting.&rdquo; Spoorendonk adds that many customers choose to add sensors to mounted bearings, motors and pumps. &ldquo;In a lot of cases, we certainly recommend using both,&rdquo; Spoorendonk says.
Many customers also add more sensors after testing them during a pilot phase. &ldquo;Very typically, they start monitoring one type of equipment&mdash;like the bearings&mdash;and if they like the concept, then they expand into other areas,&rdquo; he says.
Being able to expand and scale up equipment monitoring is part of ABB&rsquo;s wider solution for ethanol plants and other manufacturers, Spoorendonk says. &ldquo;[Customers] buy the sensors because they see how we are helping them follow this path toward predictive maintenance. This is something our customers appreciate.&rdquo;
And that&rsquo;s true for Commonwealth, Radford says. He has plans to include four more of the Smart Sensors in other areas of the plant, including the regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO) and dryer fans. &ldquo;That&rsquo;ll give us a little bit more information,&rdquo; he says.
Uhl says Stover Controls is seeing more interest in sensors and predictive maintenance, but more plants could be using the technology. He says with the current margin environment, coupled with other capital expenditures, plants may not prioritize predictive technologies. &ldquo;PDM technologies, a lot of times, get pushed off to the side because they don&rsquo;t see the immediate benefit to it,&rdquo; he says. Predicting the Future Spoorendonk says next steps for ABB include monitoring systems, like an electric motor and two bearings that may make up a fan assembly. The grouping of those individual components into a larger system for monitoring is called a power train, Spoorendonk says. &ldquo;[These individual assets] belong together in a bigger assembly, in a bigger unit,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;So the power train is looking for anomalies: if the motor is doing this, then the bearings should be doing this. This is a very big step going forward&mdash;progressing from this stage where we are looking at individual assets to the next level where we are looking at assets that belong together.&rdquo; He says the technology is available for plants now, but further development is ongoing.
And, Spoorendonk says, while predictive maintenance is an ever-advancing area of the industry, the technology, in many cases, isn&rsquo;t up to expectations. But, he adds, sensors like ABB&rsquo;s are a step closer. &ldquo;[Customers] buy the sensors because they see how we are following this path toward predictive maintenance, and this is something people are appreciating,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;New features, new functionality are coming. And I think this is pretty important also for them because they need to adapt their ways of working.&rdquo; Author: Matt Thompson Associate Editor, Ethanol Producer Magazine 701.738.4922 mthompson@bbiinternational.com

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EASE OF INSTALLATION: ABBâ€™s smart sensor is easy to install and configure.

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CLOUD CAPTURE: The smart sensor sends data to the cloud, where it is accessible to plant personnel. 

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SIXTH SENSE: ABBâ€™s smart sensors for 
mounted bearings collect data 
on temperature and vibrations. 

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WORKING WIRELESSLY: Commonwealth Agri-Energy has been using ABBâ€™s sensors for mounted bearings, like the one pictured here, for about nine months. 

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Commonwealth Agri-Energy in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, is using bearings coupled with sensors to monitor vibrations and temperature, giving the ethanol plant yet another cloud-connected, easy-to-install predictive maintenance tool.

Ethanol Plant Puts Smart Sensors to Work 

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FRONT AND CENTER: The general session panel at FEW 2019 focused particularly on policy. From left: Tim Portz, BBI International program director; Robert White, vice president of industry relations for the Renewable Fuels Association; Chris Bliley, se

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REGISTRATION READY: Attendees of the 2019 International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo check in at the registration desk upon arrival at the show in Indianapolis. 

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READY TO LAUNCH: Tim Portz, BBI International program director, and Angus Ballard, president and general manager of Lallemand Biofuels  & Distilled Spirits, cut the ceremonial ribbon to open the welcome reception at the 2019 FEW in Indianapolis. Lall

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TRADE TALK: Attendees of FEW 2019 in Indianapolis gather and converse on the trade show floor. The expo hall featured almost 300 exhibitors.

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Speaking from SIRE: FEW 2019's keynote speaker, Geoff Cooper, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, delivered his address via video conference from Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy in Council Bluffs. President Donald Trump visited SIRE

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With the world's largest ethanol conference rescheduled from mid-May to late August, the industry prepares to move 'onward in Omaha,' and BBI International provides an early look at the 2020 International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo breakout panels.

FEW Technical Sessions Planner

It just makes sense to keep more ethanol in the Midwest, says Brendan Jordan, vice president of transportation and fuels for the Great Plains Institute. Jordan emphasizes that while California&rsquo;s Low Carbon Fuel Standard has benefited Midwestern ethanol producers who are able to transport their product to the state, a Midwestern version of the LCFS would keep that fuel&mdash;and its economic impacts&mdash;closer to where it&rsquo;s produced.
&nbsp;That&rsquo;s the mindset behind the Midwestern Clean Fuels Policy Initiative&rsquo;s push to produce a similar standard. The initiative is a coalition of groups from various industries, brought together by the Great Plains Institute, intent on promoting climate-healthy goals. It&rsquo;s this approach&mdash;collaboration among agencies with potentially disparate goals&mdash;that Jordan sees as critical to enacting such a policy. &ldquo;I think you need to build that broader coalition and I think doing it around something like a clean-fuel policy is a way that we can get more people to the table,&rdquo; he says. More organizations bring more ways to win, he adds.
In January, the Great Plains Institute and the Midwestern Clean Fuels Policy Initiative released a white paper, &ldquo;A Clean Fuels Policy for the Midwest,&rdquo; outlining recommendations for implementation. The white paper recommends including fair life cycle assessment for all fuel types, using the GREET model, and considerations for expanding clean fuels infrastructure. &ldquo;Broad consumer access to cleaner fuels should increase and accelerate the benefits of a clean-fuel policy,&rdquo; the paper says. &ldquo;States should consider allowing credit generation for underutilized infrastructure for fuels with under-served passenger car populations, including E85 and mid-level blends, [electric vehicle] charging stations, and hydrogen fueling.&rdquo;
In addition, Jordan says, the Great Plains Institute recognizes that many states and municipalities already have policies in place. &ldquo;I think this clean-fuel policy is really intended not to replace any of those things, but to build on them and keep us moving forward as a region; and continue to assert Midwestern leadership in the biofuels sector,&rdquo; he says. &lsquo;Technology-Neutral&rsquo; A key tenant of the white paper is that the policy shouldn&rsquo;t favor a specific technology or fuel, Jordan says. &ldquo;There is certainly a perception that California has picked their favorite technologies and has taken some steps to favor them in life cycle assessment and rules of the program,&rdquo; he says. That approach is something stakeholders involved in contributing to a Midwest LCFS have avoided. &ldquo;[That&rsquo;s] been really important for our stakeholders,&rdquo; Jordan says.
Donna Funk, principal at K-Coe Isom, agrees. &ldquo;CARB (California Air Resources Board) has not really necessarily made it a secret that their long-term goal is no liquid fuels, period,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think the Midwest will go to that extreme, but will look at it more from a total fuel option mix of what makes the most sense given the industry, given the economics, given just the population factor and what does that really mean from an infrastructure standpoint.&rdquo; That could include electric and hydrogen, she says. &ldquo;But what&rsquo;s the right whole blend and mix, versus 100 percent liquid fuel with a goal of zero percent liquid fuel?&rdquo;
David Ripplinger, assistant professor at North Dakota State University&rsquo;s Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics, and North Dakota&rsquo;s bioenergy and bioproducts economist, agrees. &ldquo;If your goal is lower carbon emissions, if that&rsquo;s corn ethanol, great. If that is hydrogen, great,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;If that is still gasoline to some extent, great.&rdquo;
Funk says producers are increasingly interested in taking part in California&rsquo;s LCFS in recent years, and there&rsquo;s interest in a Midwestern version, too. &ldquo;From the producers&rsquo; standpoint, I think there is support for a Midwest low-carbon standard.&rdquo; But producers want to proceed with caution, she adds, to ensure the policy is right and doesn&rsquo;t create a rush to overproduction or fail to entice the market as it&rsquo;s intended to.
A Midwest LCFS-type program could also give growers credit for their carbon reductions. Ripplinger says California and CARB are only interested in accounting for farms&rsquo; carbon if CARB has a field-level understanding of carbon sequestration or carbon release. &ldquo;And the science isn&rsquo;t there yet,&rdquo; he says. Growers&rsquo; Perspectives While Ripplinger says a Midwestern LCFS would strive to give benefits to farmers who are able to lower the carbon intensity of their operations, a standard, and the lack of a reliable way to measure carbon on farms is a barrier. Measuring diesel consumption, fertilizer and yield are straightforward, but determining metrics such as how much carbon is stored in the soil are much more difficult. &ldquo;The actual long-term sequestration or carbon release, in any particular real-world situation is tough to measure,&rdquo; Ripplinger says. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s why you&rsquo;re seeing a lot of investment and interest in this by USDA, Department of Energy, CARB&mdash;because, at least in California, they want to see the same type of precision that they get from a corn ethanol refinery, which is different.&rdquo;
Ripplinger says once a metric for agricultural carbon measurement is determined, the logistics of rewarding farmers for practices like no- or low-till, precision fertilizer application and yield increases should be decided. Research on how to do that is ongoing, he adds. &ldquo;When you introduce a low-carbon fuel standard, it&rsquo;s anything and everything that could be on the table,&rdquo; Ripplinger says. &ldquo;And again, nobody&rsquo;s dictating what that might be. You essentially add that carbon price to every input and every operation, and you&rsquo;ll see farmers will react to that.&rdquo;
Funk agrees that rewarding farmers should be a key component of Midwestern policy. She says it will be important to look at the entire transportation impact, the real indirect land-use component, and assess whether farmers are getting credit for sustainable practices they&rsquo;ve implemented. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s really more about looking at what I would call the total picture of what really all plays into that.&rdquo;
Ripplinger says tillage practices and fertilizer applications are areas where farmers stand to benefit the most under clean-fuels policies and carbon reduction. &ldquo;Farmers are already incentivized to efficiently use nitrogen because it&rsquo;s expensive,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Tillage is by far the biggest opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. You can sequester a massive amount of carbon over time by having those practices, and so that&rsquo;s clearly the biggest opportunity.&rdquo;
 &lsquo;Education and Outreach&rsquo; Following the release of the white paper, Jordan says reaching out to other stakeholders and policy makers will be the next step. &ldquo;The real key right now is education and outreach,&rdquo; Ripplinger says. &ldquo;Not everybody&rsquo;s well-informed on this policy, so we&rsquo;re going to have a lot of work to do just on the stakeholder side, but also starting to educate policy makers and build support. And we&rsquo;re going to be working in multiple states and at the federal level to just create more awareness about this approach.&rdquo;
Part of that outreach will be releasing modeling information, Jordan says. When Jordan spoke with Ethanol Producer Magazine in February, modeling information hadn&rsquo;t been released yet, but he offered a preview. &ldquo;We modeled a 20 percent carbon intensity reduction over a 10-year period in the Midwestern states, and that resulted in an average ethanol blend in 10 years reaching 20 percent,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I just think it&rsquo;s really notable that increasing blending has been a goal for the industry for a long time, but we&rsquo;ve demonstrated that if you achieve those blending increases through a clean-fuels policy, you can build strong environmental community support.&rdquo;
While farms stand to benefit from a Midwestern LCFS, Ripplinger says biofuels policy in general isn&rsquo;t top of mind for growers right now. &ldquo;I would say most are probably unfamiliar with California&rsquo;s LCFS, as important as it is to the corn ethanol industry as a whole,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;In general, they&rsquo;re not familiar with what its impacts are on fuel markets, and then pushing back to them.&rdquo; He adds that factors such as trade disputes, as well as poor growing, planting and harvesting conditions are the important issues for farmers in the near-term.
But, he says, farmers&rsquo; knowledge of biofuels policy isn&rsquo;t a roadblock for a Midwestern LCFS. &ldquo;I frame it as an opportunity,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I think that farmers can and will be assembled and educated on this and when they are, I think they&rsquo;ll be a powerful force and will complement other stakeholders in getting policy enacted at the state level in the Midwest.&rdquo;
He also adds that there are many farmers who have ownership in ethanol plants and those groups likely recognize how important the LCFS is for some plants, and what a Midwestern version could mean for others. &ldquo;The ethanol industry&rsquo;s clearly under a bit of financial duress with overcapacity, and for those folks who can supply that California market, it&rsquo;s a really great opportunity,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Adding that extra incentive might be the thing that keeps their corn ethanol refinery continuing to produce.&rdquo;
Jordan says the ethanol industry has already provided crucial support for a Midwestern policy, and he expects it will continue to do so. &ldquo;I think there&rsquo;s been so much leadership in the ethanol industry and so much innovation on technologies that lower the carbon intensity of ethanol and there&rsquo;s just a lot of great ideas out there,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;So, it&rsquo;s just really clear to me that if we set up the right policy signals, this industry will deliver.&rdquo; Author: Matt Thompson Associate Editor, Ethanol Produce Magazine 701.738.4922 mthompson@bbiinternational.com

MAPPING A MIDWESTERN LCFS: Using Californiaâ€™s Low Carbon Fuel Standard as a model, a coalition is planning a similar policy for the Midwest. Such a policy would differ from Californiaâ€™s in a few key areas.

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COUNTING CARBON: This figure depicts a series of representative, modeled fuel carbon intensity scores. These are example theoretical values, as the potential policy would not assign but instead accept certified LCAs on each facility.

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SPREADING THE MESSAGE: Brendan Jordan, vice president of transportation and fuels for the Great Plains Institute, speaks about a Midwestern clean fuels policy at the 2020 National Ethanol Conference in Houston, Texas, earlier this year.

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ENVIRONMENTAL OPPORTUNITY: This figure shows the gradual reduction of the fossil standard (gasoline or diesel depending on the substitute fuel) as compared to two example low-carbon fuel pathways. The space below the standard creates an â€œopportunit

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A coalition assembled by the Great Plains Institute is working to bring a policy like California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard to the Midwest. With an inclusive approach, the group asks states to support credit generation for an array of clean fuels.

Midwest Low-Carbon Biofuels Standard Pitched

Ace Ethanol receives Part 80 registration for D3MAX plant
Ace Ethanol in Stanley, Wisconsin, has been granted Part 80 registration by the U.S. EPA for its D3MAX facility. With the EPA approval, Ace Ethanol can now produce cellulosic ethanol from corn kernel fiber and generate D3 renewable identification numbers (RINs).
&ldquo;Receiving Part 80 registration approval from EPA for the D3MAX plant at Ace Ethanol in Stanley, Wisconsin, is the last major hurdle for the first commercial D3MAX plant,&rdquo; said Mark Yancey, chief technology officer for D3MAX. &ldquo;With this EPA approval, Ace can now begin to sell cellulosic ethanol and generate D3 RINs by converting their corn kernel fiber to ethanol.&rdquo;
Ace Ethanol owns and operates the plant, which utilizes D3MAX technology under license. Construction of the plant was completed earlier this year and the facility has been successfully operating for several months.
&ldquo;Ace Ethanol has done a tremendous job in commissioning and starting up the first commercial D3MAX plant,&rdquo; Yancey said. &ldquo;January is not the best time to start up a new process in Wisconsin as the brutally cold weather froze lines and made start up more difficult. The Ace startup team worked very long hours and did a fantastic job. Within weeks, the D3MAX plant was operating at 80 percent of design capacity and 70 percent of design yield, which is quite the achievement for the startup of a new cellulosic ethanol process.&rdquo;
USGC announces new global programs coordinator
Sadie Marks joined the U.S. Grains Council as the global programs coordinator in the organization&rsquo;s Washington, D.C., headquarters.
In this role, Marks will provide administrative support to the global programs team as well as USGC&rsquo;s overseas offices, handling details, logistics and follow-up needs associated with USGC programs and consultants.
&ldquo;We are excited to have Sadie join the global programs team,&rdquo; said Cary Sifferath, USGC senior director of global programs. &ldquo;Her addition brings us to a fully-staffed department as we ramp up programming globally in 2020.&rdquo;
Before joining USGC, Marks worked in the dean&rsquo;s office of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois while she finished her bachelor&rsquo;s degree in agricultural and consumer economics and minor in international development.
She also worked as an intern at the National Association of Conservation Districts in Washington, D.C., last summer and has studied and worked abroad in Kenya, Ireland, Israel and the Dominican Republic.
ERI Solutions acquires Bloc Environmental Solutions
ERI Solutions LLC acquired Bloc Environmental Solutions LP, a San Antonio, Texas-based health, safety and environmental compliance services provider. &ldquo;Bloc&rsquo;s great industry reputation, service offerings, top-notch team and better-than-average service delivery made them a top target for ERI,&rdquo; said Nathan VanderGriend, president and CEO of ERI. &ldquo;We believe that with this integration that 1 + 1 = 3+ and the acquisition will lead to business growth providing opportunities for the members of the team to grow professionally and for our shareholders&rsquo; value to increase.&rdquo;&nbsp;
&ldquo;We are excited about our future together with ERI,&rdquo; said Colin K. Sheffield, president and CEO of Bloc. &ldquo;Our customers can still expect excellent service as we strengthen our companies with a more diverse service line.&rdquo; The two companies have shared values and a vision to bring the best risk control and compliance services to the market as they combine their product lines.
ERI will maintain its headquarters in Colwich, Kansas, and continue to operate remotely out of multiple locations, including those acquired with Bloc. All Bloc owners and team members will come over to ERI as part of the transaction. Bloc will continue under the current brand as a division of ERI for the immediate future.

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Ethanol industry business announcements from the May issue of Ethanol Producer Magazine, including news from ACE Ethanol LLC and D3MAX, the U.S. Grains Council, and ERI Solutions. 

Business Briefs

Remember being optimistic this year would be better than 2019? Before COVID-19 and an oil price war entered the fray?
Hopefully we can salvage 2020, but as I pen this column on March 24, the new reality for millions of Americans is to work from home and do their part to &ldquo;flatten&rdquo; the coronavirus curve, slow its transmission, and avoid overwhelming hospitals. About one-third of the U.S. population is under a shelter-in-place order. This social distancing means millions of people in the retail, restaurant, entertainment and travel industries are currently unemployed.
As our economy grinds to a halt, prices for oil, gasoline and ethanol have cratered&mdash;ethanol prices fell to all-time lows in March, leading plants to either slow down or shut down. All by itself, coronavirus is destroying demand for ethanol, but just to make matters worse, Russia and Saudi Arabia are fighting to see who can flood the market with cheaper oil.
Demand destruction could be on steroids for several weeks. Some forecasts estimate the lack of gasoline consumption caused by COVID-19 could reduce ethanol demand by billions of gallons and cut corn grind by hundreds of millions of bushels, taking money from the pockets of farmers and ethanol producers. For ethanol producers already harmed by trade wars and the U.S. EPA&rsquo;s abuse of small refinery exemptions under the Renewable Fuel Standard, the new crisis is yet another headwind. The big unknown: How long will it last?
While conditions seem grim, I encourage us to consider something Winston Churchill said during World War II that has resonance now. &ldquo;It would be foolish to disguise the gravity of the hour. It would be still more foolish to lose heart and courage.&rdquo;
Let&rsquo;s not lose heart. Ethanol&rsquo;s octane value means refiners will still need it to make sub-octane v-grade base fuel useable in cars. Those in the industry who have experience with industrial ethanol can pivot and supply the growing demand for hand sanitizer in response to coronavirus. What&rsquo;s more, ethanol producers have diversified, enabling them to adjust and produce for low-carbon fuel markets or increase coproduct output in response to market signals. Now more than ever, we need to exploit any advantage we have in a market. Nevertheless, none of these advantages offset the demand destruction we will experience on the sale of fuel ethanol across the U.S. and abroad, and we will undoubtedly see a rash of plant closures unless we are able to get emergency assistance from the federal government.
Let&rsquo;s not lose courage. The American Coalition for Ethanol is working hard, urging our elected leaders to act and mitigate the staggering impacts these unprecedented conditions will place on our industry.
When the Trump administration was quick to buoy Big Oil&rsquo;s concern about low crude prices by pledging federal purchases to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, we immediately told the president and Congress they will also need to take action to help ethanol producers, and the farmers supplying them corn, who are suffering a proportional economic disaster.
We are helping key congressional allies advance emergency legislation to provide financial assistance to our industry, including a provision to increase funding for the USDA&rsquo;s Commodity Credit Corporation and make dollars available to ethanol producers.
We have heard from many producers who are concerned about keeping their workforce in the face of shutdowns, which is a common concern from other sectors of the economy dealing with COVID-19, so we are also talking to Congress about making certain that renewable fuel producers qualify for the kind of financial and unemployment assistance that other industries are likely to receive during this unprecedented time. These are but first steps. As the crisis unfolds, ACE will pursue other actions to support the industry.
All we ask from you is to be safe and don&rsquo;t lose heart or courage.
&nbsp;
Author: Brian Jennings Executive Vice President, American Coalition for Ethanol 605.334.3381 bjennings@ethanol.org

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In the wake of COVID-19, ACE leader asks producers to find courage and confidence in the unabated value of octane, coproducts, low-carbon markets, and the strength of a more diversified business model. 

Don't Lose Heart  or Courage 

The European Union&rsquo;s Green Deal, an ambitious plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, has put emissions reduction at the forefront of Brussels policymaking. The coming months will see a significant rethinking of EU energy and environment legislation&mdash;and offer opportunities to right some wrongs when it comes to biofuels.
But by reopening debate on issues like the sustainability of certain biofuels and on which low- and zero-carbon technologies should be favored in transport, the Green Deal could risk slowing down progress.
It&rsquo;s important for policymakers to consider what has been successful at reducing dependence on fossil fuel&mdash;such as renewable ethanol&mdash;and find ways to build on that progress in the coming months and years.
Through the Green Deal, over the next couple years, several major pieces of EU legislation will be revisited&mdash;and, presumably, heavily tweaked. The measures most directly related to biofuels policy include a revision of the recently adopted (and still being implemented) Renewable Energy Directive II, Energy Union Governance, the carbon dioxide (CO2) for cars and vans regulation, the CO2 for trucks regulation, the Clean Vehicles Directive and the Alternative Fuels Directive.
Throughout this process, the urgency of the climate crisis and the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic will make it challenging for EU policymakers to chart a course and stick to it.
Here are some guiding principles the EU should follow as it drives the Green Deal forward:
&bull; Increase ambitions for greenhouse gas (GHG) savings from transport fuels and renewable energy use in transport. Crop-based biofuels have been the main source of renewable energy in transport. The current RED artificially inflates the contribution of other renewable energy sources through the use of multipliers&mdash;&ldquo;virtual&rdquo; renewables. Such multiple counting should be eliminated.
&bull; Ensure policy continuity. After several years of debate over the sustainability of various feedstocks, RED II has given biofuels producers in the EU a moderate level of certainty. But the sustainability question keeps getting raised again. As the Green Deal moves forward, it should commit to meeting the 2020 and recently agreed upon 2030 renewable energy targets, including the dedicated subtarget for advanced biofuels.
&bull; Unleash the potential of sustainable crop-based biofuels by promoting their use beyond the current caps. Crop-based biofuels are an immediate and cost-effective tool to decarbonize the existing and future light- and heavy-duty vehicles. Their use should not be limited to transport modes that cannot be electrified.
&bull; Continue the progressive deployment of advanced biofuels. Policies to promote advanced biofuels should build on existing legislation and industry, to secure the investor confidence required for any new investment into renewable fuels. Advanced biofuels should be seen as a complement and not simply a replacement for crop-based biofuels.
&bull; Make it easier to deploy biofuels blends. In recent months, several member states have adopted E10 to reduce emissions, bringing the total number of EU countries using the petrol standard to 13. Rolling out E10 across the EU would bring instant results and incentivize higher blends.
&bull; Incentivize better fuels by correcting the restrictive tailpipe emissions approach. The current CO2 standards for vehicles only account for tailpipe emissions (tank to wheel). The EU should progressively consider an approach that accounts for the nature of the energy powering vehicles (well to wheel), as well as the production and end-of-life emissions.
Biofuels continue to be the predominant renewable energy source in transport in Europe. We still need low-carbon liquid fuels such as ethanol as a main part of the energy mix, even beyond 2030.
Policymakers need to keep that in perspective to make sure the Green Deal does not backtrack on biofuels. Author: Emmanuel Desplechin Secretary General ePURE, the European Renewable Ethanol Association desplechin@epure.co

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In Europe, biofuels continue to be the predominant source of clean transportation fuels, and we will still need low-carbon fuels like ethanol beyond 2030. Policymakers need to make sure the Green Deal does not backtrack on this vision and progress. 

How to Make Sure the EU Doesn't Backtrack on Biofuels

We are living in unprecedented times. In February, industry leaders convened at Growth Energy&rsquo;s Executive Leadership Conference, coming together to share ideas on how we can innovate and drive the ethanol industry forward. Today, however, looks a little different because of the global pandemic: Our same colleagues are coming together virtually to share best practices and innovation in managing decreases in demand and infectious disease scenarios in their plants. It&rsquo;s a trying time for all, but one thing I have learned from this experience is that no matter the hurdle, the ethanol industry adapts and pulls together to overcome.
Given the recent turn of events, we are all forced to ask ourselves: What choices can we make today to better prepare ourselves for the future, and how can we come out of this stronger than before? A proven approach to innovative solutions for our industry is the &ldquo;Now, Near and Next&rdquo; approach. It&rsquo;s an understanding that innovation is not as simple as investing in a technology or choosing a vendor for a known need; rather, to truly innovate, companies must take into account both the larger industry market and the wealth of resources in our own facilities. Those resources include our feedstock, products and, importantly, our people. But the real value comes from knowing how to maximize them. That&rsquo;s where the &ldquo;Now, Near and Next&rdquo; approach thrives&mdash;in understanding the mission and vision for our industry, we can design strategies that steer our plants to the right path.
First is recognizing the &ldquo;Now&rdquo; need: What can we do now to drive revenue? This does not always mean investing in new technologies. It can be revamping employee management. For example, supporting the workforce through changes in work-life balance scenarios can help retain critical team members. In the long-term, this drives revenue through avoiding lost production resulting from untrained staff.&nbsp; Identifying the &ldquo;Near&rdquo; involves planning how we manage our plants to overcome short-term margin loss with declining fuel demand. What decisions can be made in the near-term to decrease operational costs, maintaining safe and efficient operations?
The &ldquo;Next&rdquo; is, &ldquo;What can we do now that will position us to be stronger when the crisis passes?&rdquo; For example, can we focus on diversification of revenue streams through investing in technologies when margins get stronger? Can we look for other applications of our products in the market, thereby growing the market demand? Asking these questions now can help drive stability in the years ahead.
As an innovator, we follow a strategic system for identifying the best opportunities to commercialize new technologies, called the Technology Readiness Scale. For example, if technology has only been demonstrated in a lab, it&rsquo;s a level one or two. If it has been demonstrated to be economically feasible and technologically sound at pilot scale, it&rsquo;s moved to level four or five. If it has been installed at one plant and is running full-scale semi-continuously, we would rank that at a seven or eight. Once it is operational at multiple plants, there is clearly less risk with a commercialized technology.
In these uncertain times, employing the &ldquo;Now, Near and Next&rdquo; approach can help companies prioritize investments in technology and innovation. Diversifying revenue &ldquo;Now&rdquo; translates to investing in commercialized technology that can offer proven returns. Partnering with vendors and innovators in investment and risk in &ldquo;Near&rdquo; and &ldquo;Next&rdquo; technologies is critical to the long-term success of our industry.
Using these techniques to better plan for our future, the biofuels industry can not only get through this crisis together, but also continue to support our rural economies, producing a clean-burning fuel, and driving the renewable fuels industry forward.
&nbsp;
Author: Jennifer Aurandt-Pilgrim Director of Technology Marquis Energy jenniferaurandt@marquisenergy.com

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In these uncertain times, employing the â€œNow, Near and Nextâ€� approach can help companies prioritize investments in technology and innovation. Partnering with vendors and innovators to share in the investment and risk is critical.  

Ethanol: Innovation Through the Now, Near and Next

This ed note comes to you from a makeshift workspace I&rsquo;ve set up in the guest room of my home. I&rsquo;m writing it during a break from calling producers to verify data for Ethanol Producer Magazine&rsquo;s upcoming plant map, but the discussions I&rsquo;m having don&rsquo;t focus on RINs or nameplate capacity.
We&rsquo;re in the midst of a pandemic and the latest figures show 41 plants idled and 66 more reducing production, for a total reduction of about 4 billion gallons. The country is being encouraged to stay home, many of us are working remotely and many others have lost their jobs. I don&rsquo;t like to throw around the word &ldquo;unprecedented,&rdquo; but...
Most of you report to me that you&rsquo;re &ldquo;hangin&rsquo; in there,&rdquo; and attitudes are positive. You&rsquo;re telling me you&rsquo;re trying everything to keep your employees on staff, even if your plant has temporarily idled. You&rsquo;re donating or selling alcohol to help meet the soaring need for hand sanitizer. You&rsquo;re finding new markets in distilleries. You&rsquo;re persevering.
We&rsquo;re hangin&rsquo; in there with you and delivering the industry news you need to know. Check our website, ethanolproducer.com, for daily updates. We&rsquo;ve kept up with all the relevant COVID-19 news, and other industry news that gets a bit buried by it.
And, of course, we&rsquo;re printing our magazine and sending it out to you. This month, we&rsquo;ve focused on the potential of a Midwest low-carbon fuel standard. The Great Plains Institute recently released a paper that explores what would be needed for implementation, and what it could include. One area where it would differ significantly from California&rsquo;s legislation is in credit for farmers&rsquo; low-carbon practices. Find out more on page 16.
Next, we preview the International Fuel Ethanol Workshop &amp; Expo. Originally scheduled for mid-June in Minneapolis, the show has been moved to late August in Omaha as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. But while the date and location of the 2020 FEW have changed, the selected presentations have not. Read all about it, starting on page 24.
Last, we take a detailed look at bearing sensors that wade through temperature and vibration data, and send it in a readable form to mobile devices via Bluetooth. Turn to page 34 to find out how they work.
Our industry still churns on, with innovations and developments unrelated to COVID-19. This issue of Ethanol Producer Magazine illustrates that. Hang in there.
&nbsp;
Author: Lisa Gibson Editor lgibson@bbiinternational.com

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We are in the midst of a pandemic and the latest figures show 41 ethanol plants idled and 66 more reducing production, for a total reduction of about 4 billion gallons. Still, our industry churns on with innovation and forward thinking. 

May 2020

Business Briefs

Business Briefs

Columns

Don't Lose Heart or Courage

How to Make Sure the EU Doesn't Backtrack on Biofuels

Ethanol: Innovation Through the Now, Near and Next

Ethanol Industry Is “Hangin” in There”

Featured

Ethanol Plant Puts Smart Sensors to Work

FEW Technical Sessions Planner

Midwest Low-Carbon Biofuels Standard Pitched

May 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

Don't Lose Heart or Courage

How to Make Sure the EU Doesn't Backtrack on Biofuels

Ethanol: Innovation Through the Now, Near and Next

Ethanol Industry Is “Hangin” in There”

Featured

Ethanol Plant Puts Smart Sensors to Work

FEW Technical Sessions Planner

Midwest Low-Carbon Biofuels Standard Pitched

May 2020