Growth Energy CEO Wins Inaugural Women in Ethanol Award |
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Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor was honored with the first-ever Women in Ethanol award this week at the 2023 Fuel Ethanol Workshop in Omaha, Neb.
The award was developed by BBI International—publishers of Ethanol Producer Magazine—to recognize one pioneering woman each year for their outstanding contributions to the American ethanol industry. For its inaugural award, BBI chose Skor for her track record of accomplishments as CEO of Growth Energy.
“This award is such an honor and I hope it encourages more women to pursue careers in biofuels—an industry that is thriving and poised for even greater success in the coming years,” Skor said. “Thank you to BBI and to everyone in the ethanol industry for their support and recognition. As we move into a new era for biofuels, Growth Energy and I will continue to be there every step of the way, to lead this industry into an even brighter future.”
Learn more about Skor’s background here. Watch the full video of her acceptance remarks here. Audio of her remarks is available here.
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Last week, domestic ethanol demand was 14.3 BGY, down 0.3% compared to a week ago. The EIA-reported gas demand was down 0.3% from last week, at 140.9 BGY. The 4-week average ethanol and gas demand are 14.4 and 141.6 BGY. Despite the long holiday weekend two weeks ago, data volatility has been mild during recent weeks.
Ethanol production was 15.6 BGY last week, down 1.7% versus the week before, and 5.1% less than the 4-week average in 2019. Midwest production was down 2.0% (-5.9 MG) versus a week ago, and average production in the other regions was up 3.6% (+0.6 MG). Capacity utilization of plants online was 90.1% overall, 90.9% in the Midwest, and 78.0% on average, elsewhere, excluding 1,425 MGY of capacity shutdown at 28 ethanol plants for other than maintenance (details on pg. 29). On an installed capacity basis, utilization was 84.5% overall, 88.7% in the Midwest and 47.3% in the other regions.
Exports were an estimated 30.3 MG last week based on 130 MG of exports forecast for June. The EIA reported no ethanol imports last week.
Overall inventory was down 10.2 MG last week. EIA-counted stocks decreased 30.3 MG, and regional changes were: East (-12 MG), Gulf (+2 MG) and West (-8 MG) Coasts and the Midwest (-12 MG). In-transit inventory increased 20.1 MG.
Based on the total inventory of 1,742 MG on June 9th and the 4-week avg. domestic demand, there were 44.4 days of supply, down 0.6 days versus a week ago. Including the 4-week avg. of net exports, there were 40.3 days of supply, down 0.7 days versus a week ago. |
For more information, please contact Vice President of Market Development Jake Comer. |
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Growth Energy and EPA Agree to One-Week Delay on Final RVOs
Growth Energy Leadership at Fuel Ethanol Workshop |
Sustainable Aviation Fuels Accuracy Act Introduced in the Senate Growth Energy Sponsors Congressional Baseball Game Send Us Photos of E15 Cost Savings in Your Area |
Redfield Energy LLC Announces Install of Whitefox ICE Plus Rep. LaHood Tours Member Plant CHS |
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Growth Energy Biofuels Summit Washington, DC September 11-14, 2023 |
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Growth Energy and EPA Agree to One-Week Delay on Final RVOs |
Growth Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) submitted a notice to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia of a joint stipulation that extends by one week the court-ordered consent decree deadline for EPA to issue the final “Set” 2023-2025 Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). EPA will now be required to finalize the rule by June 21, 2023.
“After discussion with EPA leadership, Growth Energy consented to this new deadline to finalize the RVOs,” said Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor. “We fully expect EPA to comply with the new deadline and look forward to a robust final rule that strengthens the RFS and enhances the biofuels industry’s ability to decarbonize the transportation sector.” Background
In July 2022, Growth Energy and EPA submitted a consent decree agreement to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that required EPA to propose the 2023 renewable fuel volume requirements no later than November 16, 2022, and to finalize those requirements no later than June 14, 2023. On November 4, 2022, EPA and Growth Energy agreed to a two-week extension of the release of EPA’s proposed rule. Similarly, today’s action extends the final rule deadline to June 21, 2023, as outlined here in the language filed with the court today:
“Please take notice that, pursuant to Paragraph 6(a) of the decree entered by this Court, the parties provide notice of their stipulated extension to and including June 21, 2023, of EPA’s deadline to sign a final rule. Based on the parties’ discussions and mutual understandings, the parties so stipulate with the understanding that EPA will not seek a further extension of any deadline established by the decree."
For 2023 and beyond under the RFS, EPA, in coordination with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), was required to set renewable fuel volume requirements through rulemaking, taking into consideration six statutory factors, including environmental, economic, and energy security. EPA was required to set the 2023 volume requirements at least 14 months prior to the calendar year in which they are to take effect. For 2023, EPA was required to finalize the 2023 renewable fuel volume requirements by November 1, 2021, and the 2024 renewable fuel volume obligations by November 1, 2022—19 months and 7 months late, respectively.
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Growth Energy Leadership at Fuel Ethanol Workshop |
This week, Growth Energy attended the 39th annual International Fuel Ethanol Workshop (FEW) in Omaha, Neb. After CEO Emily Skor accepted her Women in Ethanol award and the keynote address was delivered, our Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Chris Bliley joined a panel discussion with fellow association leadership.
The panel discussed a wide range of issues, including the lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) modeling that accurately reflects the carbon intensity (CI) of ethanol, access to tax credits, the importance of building support for the Next Generation Fuel Act, and Brazil tariffs.
The panelists also unpacked the future of the Renewable Fuel Standard post-2022 and the upcoming RFS “Set” rule. Bliley announced that Growth Energy agreed to an extension, giving EPA one more week to promulgate the final renewable volume obligations (RVOs) for 2023, 2024 and 2025, requiring the agency to issue the rule by June 21. The panelists also discussed support and challenges for E15 use at the state and national levels. “It’s really about access … we’ve run 75 billion consumer miles on E15,” Bliley said. “We’ve had a lot of critics, but we’ haven’t run into any problems.” |
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For more information, please contact Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Chris Bliley. |
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Sustainable Aviation Fuels Accuracy Act Introduced in the Senate |
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Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor issued the following statement upon the introduction of the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Accuracy Act by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE), along with Senators Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). The bill would identify the standards required to meet the definition of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
“The Department of Energy and Argonne National Laboratory have invested decades into building the world’s most accurate and sophisticated tool for modeling transportation emissions, and we should be making full use of that data to decarbonize aviation. We’re grateful to Senator Duckworth and her colleagues for elevating the importance of sound science when it comes to advancing U.S. production of SAF. The Sustainable Aviation Fuels Accuracy Act will ensure that American biofuel producers and our farm partners are not bogged down with outdated or inaccurate models as we work to meet the aviation sector’s clean fuel needs.”
Specifically, the bill would require the Federal Government to use the most up-to-date lifecycle emissions models—including the U.S. Department of Energy commissioned, Argonne National Lab’s Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Technologies Model or GREET model—that accurately considers crops, land uses, and carbon reduction practices in its definition of SAF. A summary of the legislation can be found here.
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Growth Energy Sponsors Congressional Baseball Game |
Yesterday, Growth Energy sponsored the Congressional Baseball Game, an annual Washington tradition attended by thousands, including Members of Congress, congressional and administration staff, and other industries represented in Washington. Members of Congress from each party face off at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. in a baseball game for charity.
In addition to hosting staff from both sides of the aisle to watch the game with Growth Energy at the park, we had the opportunity to showcase the benefits of biofuels at National's stadium for all to see. Our Get Biofuel Green American Roadtrip promotional video with Shawn Johnson was played several times on the jumbotron to the exact audience we work with daily to advocate for biofuels. We're thrilled with the success and impact of the event, and look forward to next year! |
Send Us Photos of E15 Cost Savings in Your Area |
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Now that we've secured a summertime waiver to keep E15 available, we can keep saving at the pump. As we continue to make our argument for year-round E15 to the EPA, on Capitol Hill, and in state legislatures around the country, we've found that a picture really is worth a thousand words. If you see an example of significant cost savings at a fuel station near you, take a picture (like the ones above) and share it with us! We'll put your photos to good use telling the story of how E15 saves drivers money.
Please email your photos to kwebster@growthenergy.org. |
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For more information, please contact Vice President of Government Affairs John Fuher. |
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Redfield Energy LLC Announces Install of Whitefox ICE Plus |
Whitefox Technologies, a Growth Energy associate member, and Redfield Energy LLC, a Growth Energy producer plant member, announced the implementation of the Whitefox ICE® Plus membrane dehydration system at the latter's ethanol plant located in Redfield, SD. This project is Whitefox’s first ICE Plus project in the U.S. It represents a major milestone towards delivering Net Zero benefits, whilst also de-bottlenecking the plant’s ability to deliver additional ethanol capacity.
Eric Baukol, CEO of Redfield Energy states “It’s an exciting time to be in the industry. If you had 10 CEOs in a room they might map out that many different versions of the future for their biorefineries as far as which markets and products they intend to compete in. All of these versions of the future start with efficiencies and a drive toward making our Net Zero pledge a reality, and we feel we’re making a great step forward in that regard with this Whitefox project.”
Virginia Andrade, Whitefox Engineering Manager commented “Whitefox ICE Plus was developed as we listened to ethanol producers who were looking for enhanced energy savings as they considered the journey towards Net Zero. The solution is ideal where the plant’s existing molecular sieves still have lifetime. ICE Plus is able to de-load the molecular sieves and provide additional lifetime to this technology, but also act as a stepping stone to finally replace molecular sieves and transition towards a sole membrane solution, Whitefox ICE XL when the time is right”.
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Rep. LaHood Tours Member Plant CHS |
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Rep. Darin LaHood (Center) visits the CHS, Inc. plant in Rochelle, Ill. |
Representative Darin LaHood (R-Ill.) visited the Rochelle, Ill. biorefinery plant location of CHS, Inc., a Growth Energy member this past week. He toured the facility and discussed year round E15 and how best to support Illinois farmers and ethanol producers. | Growth Energy at FEW 2023 |
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As mentioned above, Growth Energy attended the 39th Annual International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo in Omaha, Neb. Nearly 2,400 attendees representing 27 countries, 48 U.S. states and seven Canadian providences have gathered in Omaha for the FEW. If you were there, we hope you stopped by to say hello! |
For more information or to submit stories for your own member spotlight, please contact Vice President of Development Kelly Manning. |
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The Weekly Rundown is the weekly newsletter for Growth Energy's members. It is published weekly by the communications staff at Growth Energy. For more information, email team@growthenergy.org or visit our website GrowthEnergy.org.
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