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June 28, 2023
By Kristen
Sindelar
Fuel and ethanol industries not exempt from industry
challenges
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Ryan Mass talks about the protein available for animal
feed within bi-products at the Fuel Ethanol Workshop and Expo (FEW)
June 12.
Submitted photo
Environmental concerns,
price points and production issues are not exclusive to agriculture.
These topics and more were covered at the 39th annual
International Fuel Ethanol Workshop and Expo (FEW), which was held
at the CHI Health Center in Omaha. Twenty-seven countries were
represented, with approximately 2,400 attending throughout the
three-day event June 12-14. Over 600 of the registrants were
biofuels producers.
Industry leaders, production professionals and
producers gathered at the world’s largest ethanol conference. Three
events were held simultaneously: the Biodiesel Summit: Sustainable
Aviation Fuel and Renewable Diesel; the Carbon Capture and Storage
Summit; and the Ethanol 101 seminar.
In the Midwest, we are familiar with corn being
processed for ethanol and converting soybeans into biodiesel.
Speakers at the Biodiesel Summit referenced other feedstock used for
creating energy, including animal fat, used cooking oil, grease and,
as Scott Vincent of Strobel Companies said, “Everything that floats
on water.” Vincent is involved in transporting these products to the
material handling systems and production plants.
The movement of fuel is under great pressure as
pipeline opponents become more active. A truck with flashing lights
sat outside the CHI Health Center on the first morning of the
conference, drawing attention to the boycott against the pipeline.
Police arrived later in the afternoon to offset tension building
within the conference.
The energy industry is facing many other global
challenges from tightening regulations. Melita Kyriakou, senior
consultant with Christianson PLPP, said that companies participating
in the mandatory markets need to have a full-time employee managing
oversight and keeping records.
“You really do need someone on your team who is
dedicated to compliance,” Kyriakou said. “It’s no longer a part-time
job for your controller or your CFO (chief financial officer).”
Christine Riedl, who works with the
European-Austrian-based company BDI-BioEnergy International GmbH,
explained the top two challenges facing her business: feedstock
availability and quality. Moreover, as fuel production becomes more
sophisticated, additional technology compounds another layer of
complexity.
“There’s now a little bit of competition between the
different technologies handling the feedstock, like UCO (used
cooking oil) and animal fat, so getting the right qualities for the
right technologies is a challenge,” Riedl said.
As a result of the new technologies used within the
energy industry, new products are constantly entering the market.
Companies are seeking innovative ways to use the products resulting
from the production of ethanol and biofuels. This is positive for
the industry as a whole, supporters said.
“Emerging distillers products bring opportunities for
value creation and environmental sustainability,” said Ryan Mass,
director of animal nutrition for ICM Inc.
In the session “Meet Your Customer: The Evolution of
Animal Protein Production,” the “customer” is the animal consuming
the bi-products from fuel production. Cattle, sheep, goats, hogs,
poultry and fish each have unique nutritional requirements, and the
energy industry is helping meet those needs. Precision feed has
emerged as ethanol and biofuel companies improve their refining
processes to extract even more concentrated products.
Rather than having one pile of distillers grains, the
components within that pile can now be fractioned out, explained ICM
vice president of animal feed development Matt Durler. Efficient
product diversification acknowledges that bi-products contain
separate components called fiber, protein, enhanced protein with
yeast, solubles and distillers corn oil.
Livestock producers and energy companies should work
together to determine the most efficient use for these feedstuffs.
Extensive research is being conducted by energy companies to
maximize fiber for dairy cattle, concentrate protein into pelleted
products, increase nutrition for plant-based pet food and ferment
fish meal for aquaculture.
Regenerative farmer and entrepreneur John Niemann
shared his insight as a former president of Cargill. Another part of
the “customer” equation are the people consuming the protein. He
said that consumers want to feel good about what they are eating
from a health standpoint and an environmental perspective. Each
product from the ethanol or biofuel plant must have value and
support sustainability, just as each aspect of animal production
must follow suit.
“Agriculture is part of the solution—we aren’t the
problem,” Niemann said.
For example, consumers must be educated about beef’s
purpose in the ecosystem. Niemann said, “It’s amazing how efficient
cattle are,” at breaking down fiber indigestible to humans, and then
using that fiber to fertilize crops or grassland.
Energy companies and livestock producers share a role
in creating more value and more sustainability in the eye of the
consumer, Niemann said. By working together, they can reduce the
carbon footprint of both industries.
People are searching for transparency, traceability
and trust within their food and energy sources. Those in the Midwest
can take for granted that consumers understand the how and why of
agriculture, just as it might be assumed they understand energy
production. The FEW made it clear that education is needed on a
broad scale.
Energy companies, feedstock manufacturers, livestock
producers and row crop farmers must come together if they are to
continue to feed and power the world, speakers said.
Reporter Kristen Sindelar has loved
agriculture her entire life, coming from a diversified farm with
three generations working side-by-side in northeastern Nebraska.
Reach her at Kristen.Sindelar@midwestmessenger.com.
Green Play Ammonia™, Yielder® NFuel Energy.
Spokane, Washington. 99212
www.exactrix.com
509 995 1879 cell, Pacific.
Nathan1@greenplayammonia.com
exactrix@exactrix.com
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