- Features
- Spot Ethanol Assessments
- Ethanol stocks fall even as production increases: U.S. EIA
- ARS scientists modify lignin for easier processing
- Energy Department to offer $200 million for biorefinery projects
- Expect more closures: Iowa Renewable Fuels Association
- Ethanol markets firm during the week
- Ethanol imports drop dramatically as ‘duty drawbacks’ end
- Industry coalition calls for EPA’s full consideration of mid-level ethanol blends
- Prices & Markets
- Report Blend Values
- Report Spreads
- Report Margins
- Report Equities
- Rack Ethanol
- Biodiesel B100
- Butanes/Natural Gas
- Co-Products
- E-85 National Assessment
- Grains
- Oxygenates
- Spot Gasoline
- Futures Corn
- Futures Ethanol
- Futures Soybeans
- Also This Week
- AgStar sues VeraSun over credit agreement
- GO Ethanol receives two week reprieve in bankruptcy court
- Think tank evaluates biochemical processes for cellulosic ethanol
- Iowa fuel infrastructure program doles out $1.5 million
- PetroAlgae raises $10 million for algae to biodiesel commercialization
- Air New Zealand flight powered by biofuel a ‘success’
- SAIC wins DARPA contract for jet fuel from algae project
- Petrobras moving into Japanese, Asian markets
Also This Week
-
AgStar sues VeraSun over credit agreement
AgStar Financial Services last week sued VeraSun energy and three of its lenders, asking the U.S. Federal Bankruptcy judge hearing VeraSun’s Chapter 11 case to uphold AgStar’s liens on ethanol transferred between VeraSun affiliates.
AgStar claims VeraSun violated its credit agreement when VeraSun transferred ethanol from its BioEnergy Corp. subsidiary to VeraSun Marketing.
-
GO Ethanol receives two week reprieve in bankruptcy court
Greater Ohio Ethanol (GOE) won a two-week extension to find a buyer, under a U.S. Federal Bankruptcy court ruling.
Attorneys for the plant and its creditors met before Bankruptcy Judge Mary Ann Whipple to ask for the extension in time.
-
Think tank evaluates biochemical processes for cellulosic ethanol
SRI Consulting, the Menlo Park, Calif.-based think tank, has just published a Biochemical Cellulosic Ethanol report that details the processes and economics for what it calls “several promising new technologies for biochemical production of ethanol from cellulosic biomass.”
-
Iowa fuel infrastructure program doles out $1.5 million
Iowa’s Renewable Fuel Infrastructure Program recently gave out $1.518 million to 43 applicants for E-85 and biofuel dispensers, biodiesel terminals and tank vehicles – the largest number of awards approved this year.
-
PetroAlgae raises $10 million for algae to biodiesel commercialization
Melbourne, Fl.-based PetroAlgae has raised $10 million by selling 3.2 million newly-issued shares and will use the proceeds to commercialize the development of biodiesel.
-
Air New Zealand flight powered by biofuel a ‘success’
Air New Zealand and refinery process vendor UOP are touting yesterday’s test flight of commercial jetliner powered by biofuel as a success.
-
SAIC wins DARPA contract for jet fuel from algae project
Science Applications International Corp. has been awarded a cost-plus fixed price contract from the Department of Defense’s Advanced Research projects Agency (DARPA) for an algae-based jet fuel program.
DARPA’s project is entitled: “An Integrated and Economic Approach to make JP-8 from Algae.”
-
Petrobras moving into Japanese, Asian markets
Petrobras will open service stations in Japan next year to promote the distribution of ethanol. The Brazilian oil giant already operates a refinery in Japan.
Japan will be the first step in a long term plan to gain market share in the Asian ethanol market, according to a report from O Estado de Sao Paulo.
Features
-
Spot Ethanol ($/gal)
12/30/08
12/15/08
Change
NY
New York Harbor
1.720
1.665
0.055
IL
Argo
1.640
1.580
0.060
GA
Doraville
1.680
1.610
0.070
MD
Baltimore
1.680
1.610
0.070
-
Ethanol stocks fall even as production increases: U.S. EIA
Ethanol stocks fell by 802,000 barrels in October compared to September, a decline of around 5%, according to data released Monday by the U.S, Energy Information Administration.Ethanol refineries, bulk terminals and blending facilities had 15.192 million barrels of ethanol on hand at the end of October, compared to a record 15.994 million barrels at the end of September, the EIA report said.The bulk of the stocks were held at bulk terminals, which accounted for 14.759 million barrels at the end of the month -
ARS scientists modify lignin for easier processing
Scientists at the U.S. Agricultural Research Service are working on genetic modifications that could make it easier to break down lignin in plants, thereby making them easier to process for their cellulose content.Plant walls contain cellulose, which is a key component in making second generation ethanol. But they also contain lignin. Cellulose is often described as the brick in a cell wall, while pectin, hemicellulose and lignin are described as the mortar that holds it all together. -
Energy Department to offer $200 million for biorefinery projects
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced Monday plans to offer up to $200 million over six years to support the research, development and execution of pilot and demonstration-scale biofuels refineries. The funding is expected to help finance between five and 12 projects, which would be expected to develop cost-effective, advanced biofuels from next-generation feedstocks like algae and create “green” fuels such as bio-butanol. -
Expect more closures: Iowa Renewable Fuels Association
“We may see a few more plants close while the market finds equilibrium,” according to Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association in an interview with the Associated Press last week.While admitting that the industry “probably overbuilt itself,” Shaw contends, however, the “the idea that ethanol is on a death spiral is ridiculous. More ethanol will be produced next year that this year and we’ll need producers to get the job done.” -
Ethanol markets firm during the week
“I definitely think we bottomed out in the early part of December,” one trader said yesterday on describing the action of the ethanol markets over the past few weeks.And the figures bear him out: Ethanol futures hit a low of $1.398/gal on December 5 the same day that spot prices hit a low of $1.41 at Argo, Ill. Since then prices have steadily if slowly been on the rise. -
Ethanol imports drop dramatically as ‘duty drawbacks’ end
As predicted, imports of Brazilian ethanol to the U.S. dropped dramatically in October when a little noticed U.S. Customs and Border Protection regulation that gave duty free status to some cargoes expire (EBN Nov.18). Overall imports fell from 2.466 million barrels in September to 615,000 barrels in October. In September, ethanol imports from Brazil reached 1.514 million barrels, but in October that figure dropped to 79,000 barrels, according to Energy Information Administration figures released Monday. -
Industry coalition calls for EPA’s full consideration of mid-level ethanol blends
The National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA) released a “coalition” letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Stephen L. Johnson urging the department’s “unbiased and comprehensive testing” of potentially “detrimental” mid-level ethanol blends before approval for commercial use. The coalition also implored the EPA to keep the issue separate from revised Renewable Fuels Standards (RFS) proposals.
