Ethanol Week - March 6, 2018

ICM, The Andersons to develop 70 MMgy ethanol plant in Kansas ICM Inc. and The Andersons Inc. are partnering to own and construct Element LLC, a 70 MMgy biorefinery located in Colwich, Kansas. Construction is expected to begin early this year, with the plant reaching full-scale operations in late 2019. READ MORE SHARE
Aemetis cellulosic demonstrate unit meets USDA loan requirements Aemetis Inc. has successfully built and operated an integrated demonstration unit for more than 120 days of continuous operations with 94 percent uptime, meeting the requirements for a USDA Biorefinery Assistance Program guaranteed loan. READ MORE SHARE
	Trump hosts industry meeting on RFS, no deal reached On March 1, President Trump met with a variety of stakeholders from the biofuels and refining industries to continue the discussion on the Renewable Fuel Standard and renewable identification numbers (RINs). READ MORE SHARE
USDA: Corn use for fuel ethanol up year-over-year in January USDA’s latest Grain Crushings and Co-Products Production Report shows 476 million bushels of corn went to fuel ethanol production in January, down 2 percent from December, but up 1 percent when compared to January 2017. READ MORE SHARE
UNICA: Hydrous ethanol sales up in first half of February UNICA, the Brazilian sugarcane industry association, has announced mills in the south-central region of Brazil sold 614.3 million liters (162.28 million gallons) of hydrous ethanol during the first half of February. READ MORE SHARE
Brazil: Landfill gas-based fuels eligible for RenovaBio program On Feb. 21, Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy published a notice announcing that landfill gas-based fuels will be eligible to comply with the requirements of RenovaBio, the country’s new national biofuels policy that was established in December. READ MORE SHARE
Pacific Ethanol releases 2017 results, reports improved margins On Feb. 28, Pacific Ethanol Inc. released fourth quarter and 2017 financial results. During an investor call, Neil Koehler, president and CEO of the company, provided an update of plant operations and said product margins are currently improving. READ MORE SHARE
Syngenta: Enogen premiums to growers top $100 million in 2018 Since its introduction, Enogen corn has provided corn growers the opportunity to earn a per-bushel premium. Syngenta has announced that premiums-to-date paid to Enogen corn growers are expected to surpass $100 million during 2018. READ MORE SHARE
Researchers triple the number of grains in sorghum Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have figured out how a simple genetic modification can boost the sorghum's yield. By lowering the level of a key hormone, the change allows the crop to generate more flowers and more seeds. READ MORE SHARE
RFA: Ethanol production, blending set new records in 2017 Data released March 1 by the Energy Information Administration confirms that the U.S. ethanol industry produced a record amount of high-octane, low-carbon renewable fuel in 2017, according to the Renewable Fuels Association. READ MORE SHARE
Whitefox ICE installation at Fox River exceeds expectations Fox River Valley Ethanol LLC completed the installation of its Whitefox ICE bolt-on solution at its ethanol plant in Oshkosh in December and is already seeing a positive impact at the gas meter and improvements to its operations. READ MORE SHARE
RFA: RIN price cap for E15 waiver ‘deal’ bad for ethanol, corn Any action to artificially cap renewable identification number (RIN) prices in exchange for an RVP waiver allowing year-round sale of E15 would be bad deal for rural America and the nation’s consumers, according to a new economic analysis. READ MORE SHARE
Analysis: 10-cent RIN cap would be ‘catastrophic’ for biofuels A new analysis issued by University of Illinois economist Scott Irwin finds that the impact of a 10-cent cap on RIN prices, as proposed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, would be “catastrophic” for the Renewable Fuel Standard. READ MORE SHARE
EPA unresponsive to letter on agency position on RIN prices U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has released a copy of a letter sent to the U.S. EPA in January asking the agency about its previous assessments that RIN prices do not affect the success of refiners. The EPA has not responded to the letter. READ MORE SHARE
Protein studies inform biofuels research Research at the University of Wisconsin – Madison is paving the way for the optimization of biofuel production processes by providing insights into reaction pathways and developing methods for predicting their properties. READ MORE SHARE