American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) officers and board members are speaking and moderating this week during the Nebraska Ethanol Board’s 16th Ethanol: Emerging Issues Forum in Omaha, Neb.
Participating at the event are ACE CEO Brian Jennings and CMO Ron Lamberty, as well as ACE board members Brian Vasa, Ron Alverson, John Christianson and Scott McPheeters.
Vasa, with the Nebraska Public Power District, speaks on a panel at the event discussing the roadmap to carbon capture. Lamberty moderates a panel covering ethanol retailer market developments this year and those on the horizon. The status of E15 and efforts underway to ensure its year-round access are among topics to be covered. Jennings joins a discussion surrounding ongoing policy updates from the Hill and what to expect in the future.
Alverson, representing Dakota Ethanol on ACE’s board, is speaking to attendees about the connection between corn farming carbon intensity (CI) and ethanol production for producers. As an expert on the topic, Alverson rebutted the Lark et. al. report that misrepresented environmental outcomes of the Renewable Fuel Standard.
The Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory issued its comments on the study this week. Joining Alverson on the panel are John Christianson of Christianson PLLP, Ryan Raguse of Bushel and Mark Heckman of EcoEngineers in a discussion moderated by Scott McPheeters, a farmer on the ACE, NEB and KAAPA Ethanol boards.
“Since biofuel lifecycle GHG modeling was first developed by the (Department of Energy) more than 30 years ago, corn production and ethanol manufacture have experienced significant efficiency improvements that have greatly reduced lifecycle GHGs of corn starch ethanol,” Alverson said. “Lifecycle GHG accounting must reflect the latest science available, and as EPA accepts comments, I’ll be providing feedback to the agency on the changes needed for modeling to achieve its desired result. Fossil fuel CI is getting worse and corn ethanol CI is improving, so failure to account for these trends unfairly penalizes biofuels in low carbon markets.”
Another panel on the event agenda covers a discussion on Midwest Clean Fuels Policy, an effort that ACE cofounded with the Great Plains Institute (GPI), and resulted in the 2020 policy blueprint white paper: A Clean Fuels Policy for the Midwest.
ACE is a proud supporting sponsor of NEB’s event. The upcoming ACE Annual Conference takes place Aug. 10-12, 2022, in Omaha. Hotel rooms are currently available to book, and a formal conference announcement will be coming soon.
