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CFDC Executive Director Doug Durante spoke at the Annual Agriculture Chairs Summit in Washington, D.C. in early January and told the group that the demand for advanced biofuels that would be produced in response to the RFS was as important to American Agriculture as the first 15 billion gallons of corn ethanol has been. In addition, the states can play a key role in helping biofuels gain access to the market so that motorists have a choice of fuels. The Agriculture Chairs Summit is a gathering of state legislative Agriculture Committee Chairs from 48 states and Eight Canadian provinces.
Click here to download.
The Clean Fuels Foundation is one of the partners in a new grant awarded to the Nebraska Ethanol Industry Coalition to increase awareness relating to FlexFuel Vehicles, high level ethanol blends, and FlexFuel pumps. The project will utilize elements of the FlexFuel Vehicle Awareness Campaign as they work with other industry and government partners.
Click here to download.
CFDC is one of the sponsors of a new Ethanol Across America White paper that reveals the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard unfairly penalizes domestic ethanol and could effectively ban Midwest product from that market over the next several years.
Bill Roddy, Director of Environmental Compliance with CFDC Member Company ERI Solutions, and the former Director of Kern Air Pollution Control District in California, warns of dire consequences resulting from indirect land use change (ILUC) penalties incorporated into both federal and California modeling. Carbon Modeling and ILUC—Separating Fact From Fiction is a new White Paper authored by Roddy in which he explains the process under which ethanol must meet a "carbon intensity" standard.
Often overlooked in the debate over alternative fuels is the significant role they play in improving air quality. Priority tends to be given to biofuels like ethanol in terms of its role in reducing imported oil and also to its contribution to the economy. Both are important characteristics to be sure, but ethanol's role in air quality and actually saving lives cannot be forgotten. This issue brief looks at several areas where ethanol can continue its impressive track record as a true clean fuel.
Click here to download.
Wes Bolsen of CFDC member company Coskata offers some common sense suggestions on how the biofuels and cellulose sectors can move forward in the latest in the Ethanol Across America White Paper Series.
With significant volumes of cellulosic ethanol required under the Renewable Fuel Standard, the US has the opportunity, means, and motive to produce these fuels. This paper makes the case for the US to stay the course and reap the benefits of producing homegrown biofuels.
Click here to download.
FlexFuel Pumps and Vehicles Key in Reducing Maryland Fuel Costs
May 19, 2011, Annapolis Maryland: The National FlexFuel Vehicle Awareness Campaign and the Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), will be holding a workshop for gasoline retailers interested in funding assistance for the installation of FlexFuel/Gasoline Blender pumps on May 24 in Annapolis.FlexFuel Pumps and Vehicles Key in Reducing Maryland Fuel Costs. For more information…
The Clean Fuels Foundation announced it has published a new document supporting current efforts to expand refueling infrastructure for high level ethanol blends.
E85 and Blender Pumps: A Resource Guide to Ethanol Refueling Infrastructure was developed in cooperation with the Nebraska Ethanol Board, the US Department of Agriculture, and the FlexFuel Vehicle Awareness Campaign. The guide was created to help fuel marketers and other interested parties learn more about options available to them to market ethanol blends.
The guide provides technical details regarding dispensers and vehicles as well as information covering such areas as financial assistance, construction, and permitting .
Copies of the Guide may be obtained by contacting the Clean Fuels Foundation at cfdcinc@aol.com, the Nebraska Ethanol Board at Billy.Defrain@nebraska.gov, or downloading a copy here.
The Clean Fuels Development Coalition is a supporting organization to the highly successful Process Optimization Seminar series sponsored by Fermentis, Novozymes, Freemont Industries, and Phibro which will be held in Houston, Texas April 27-29. CFDC Executive Director Doug Durante will be giving a special presentation on legislative and regulatory developments impacting the ethanol industry.
As part of a successful series of plant seminars, this Process Optimization Seminar is directed more towards management personnel whose day to day job is to ensure the plant is doing all that it can to maximize the profitability of the operation. The curriculum that will be presented by Fermentis, Fremont, Novozymes and Phibro Ethanol Performance Group will focus on techniques in each of their areas of expertise to insure maximum efficiency. For more information and to register for this event log on to www.processoptimizationseminar.com
CFDC is pleased to be among the supporting organizations for the REFF-Latin America & Caribbean (REFF-LAC ) which will be held in Miami, Florida February 22-24. Sponsored by the American Council for Renewable Energy (ACORE), REFF-LAC builds on the already hugely successful REFF-Wall Street, the premier renewable energy financing event on the US held annually each June and REFF-West, the West Coast’s largest gathering of renewable energy financiers held annually each September. ACORE is partnering with the Latin American and Caribbean Council on Renewable Energy (LAC-CORE) for this event.
The event will address the rapidly changing state of renewable energy finance, and insights about the path ahead, with a specific focus on the Central, Latin American and Caribbean markets and how they are interacting with the broader global markets. In the face of tremendous long-term growth potential and new political support, the renewable energy markets are today suffering from the credit crisis, withdrawal of major lenders, loss of tax equity capacity, economic recession, and new legislative initiatives.
For further information on the conference and for registration information log on to http://www.refflac.com
CFDC will again be partnering with the Nebraska Ethanol Board for the 6th annual Ethanol Marketing Forum to be held at the Magnolia Hotel in Omaha on April 7-8. This intimate gathering has been a sellout every year and features experts from the Nebraska ethanol industry as well as national leaders such as last year's keynote speaker, USDA UnderSecretary Dallas Tonsager. The unique format of beginning in the afternoon of April 7th and concluding by the afternoon of April 8th includes an evening reception and allows easy travel in and out of Omaha. For more information log on to www.ne-ethanol.org or call the NEB at 402-471-2941.
Grain producers from the state of Maryland announced today they have awarded a grant to the Clean Fuels Foundation for a statewide program to increase the sale of high level ethanol blends and support local E85 stations. The Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board (MGPUB) will be supporting the National FlexFuel Vehicle Awareness Campaign in a statewide program to increase awareness among owners of flexible fuel vehicles that are capable of utilizing ethanol blends up to 85%.
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CFDC Executive Director Doug Durante responded to a recent article in Time Magazine that Durante said was so far off base it simply had to be addressed. The article repeatedly referred to ethanol as a "dirty" fuel in an attempt to justify their position that the lower tax rate on ethanol should be increased. Not only is it no time to be raising taxes, Durante says, it is also no time to turn away from a fuel that is replacing a range of harmful components of gasoline, many of which are carcinogenic aromatic compounds. He noted that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has determined ethanol is 20% better than gasoline in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and can range as high as 80% when different products are used to produce the fuel.
For the full response to Time click here.....
CFDC Executive Director Doug Durante was a guest writer in the December issue of Pioneers’ Growing Point Magazine. In the article he talks about challenges facing ethanol and biofuels and the need to extend tax credits in order to continue the impressive progress of the industry to date. He also talks about the importance of gaining access to the market that would be facilitated by an expanded refueling infrastructure and a tax system that provides funds for that purpose. Durante says given access to the market and with flex fuel vehicles to put the fuel in, ethanol can compete with petroleum and give consumers a choice.
Click here for more information…
CFDC is a supporting organization for ACORE’s annual Phase II policy forum December 8-9, 2010. Education and outreach has never been more important as a new Congress will convene and a slate of new Governors will take office in January. The Phase II National Policy Forum will gather stakeholders to help lay the groundwork for U.S. renewable energy policies and markets for 2011. For more details go to the event website at Phase II of Renewable Energy in America.
CFDC is a supporting organization of The 4th Annual The Ethanol Industry Summit, December 7-8 in Houston Texas. Green Plains Renewable Energy, BP Biofuels, Morgan Stanley, General Motors, and others will discuss logistics, FFVs, tax credits, sustainability criteria, E15 implementation and international trade opportunities
CFDC's Executive Director Douglas A. Durante presented at the Cellulosic Biofuels Summit 2010. The Summit brought together the major players from across the biofuels value chain to report on their projects, research activities, and try to determine the next steps forward towards reaching commercial production of cellulosic biofuels. The Summit was held in Washington, D.C. Nov. 15-18, 2010.
Click here for more info…
Click here for the complete press release.
Washington, D.C., September 29, 2010: C. Boyden Gray, one of the architects of the historic 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments that established the nation's reformulated gasoline program, called for increased regulation of air toxics by the Environmental Protection Agency and in so doing, increasing the market for ethanol.
Writing in an Ethanol Across America White Paper, Mr. Gray notes that ethanol's high octane value allows it to replace a number of harmful components of gasoline and saves tens of thousands of lives annually. He further states that increasing the use of ethanol would result in less toxic aromatics being used in gasoline and a direct reduction in fine particle, or particulate matter (PM) pollution. Mr. Gray calls on EPA to use their existing authority for stricter enforcement of toxic aromatics which can achieve comparable reductions to current measures imposed on stationary sources for a fraction of the cost.
To obtain copies of the White Paper, please contact cfdcinc@aol.com. Copies can be downloaded from the Ethanol Across America website at www.ethanolacrossamerica.net.
The Flagship publication of the Clean Fuels Development Coalition and the Ethanol Across America program for nearly 15 years has been the Ethanol Fact Book. This unique document provides hundreds of sourced facts relating to ethanol and addresses issues regarding the ethanol tax incentive, energy security and oil import reductions, economic impacts and benefits to the U.S. Treasury, greenhouse gas reduction and environmental benefits, and advancements in cellulose conversion technologies. In addition, developments in flexible fuel vehicle production and high level blends are addressed.
U.S. Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) Co-Chair of the Ethanol Across America campaign said, "As Congress continues its work on an energy bill it is essential that it will continue to support and enhance our nation’s use of renewable fuels. Ethanol supports our efforts to create jobs, stimulate the economy, reduce the use of oil, and improve the environment. Through the Ethanol Across America education program, we are getting the facts out and believe when people understand the wide range of benefits ethanol provides they will continue to support it. The Clean Fuels Development Coalition has done a tremendous job in educating the public about this issue through this fact book.”
U.S. Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), co-chair of the Ethanol Across America campaign, said, "Energy is a vitally strategic national security issue for our country. The real cost of petroleum includes the use of our military to defend shipping lanes and maintain geopolitical stability in oil producing regions. Increasing the development and production of renewable fuels such as ethanol will help ensure national and economic security. As the Ethanol Fact Book illustrates, with high oil prices ethanol production becomes even more important and farmers growing corn, and other energy crops, will add to our nation’s energy security while helping our communities prosper."
You can download the Ethanol Fact Book or contact us at cfdcinc@aol.com to receive a copy.
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Meeting Our Mission
THE CLEAN FUELS DEVELOPMENT COALITION
(CFDC) is a non-profit organization that actively supports the increased
production and use of fuels that can improve air quality, reduce oil
imports, and provide economic benefits to the U.S. Through four administrations and eight different Congressional delegations, CFDC has been building bi-partisan support in industry and government to foster a healthy
national energy policy. CFDC works with all interested parties to support
clean fuel regulations and new technologies that will help our country
meet the ever changing and complex demands of our society. Our goal
is to drive the demand for clean low-carbon fuels, like ethanol, through
a combination of efforts that include collaborating with industry, educating
and communicating with the media and other strategic influencers, and supporting
new legislative initiatives that will help us achieve our mission.
Seeing Our Vision
For over 20 years, CFDC has been coordinating and guiding a coalition of like-minded leaders committed to developing cleaner-burning domestic fuels. We help leverage our member’s time, resources and talent to take a leadership role in the development of new national energy strategies to improve clean fuel legislation and regulations. These efforts have already fostered new fuel technologies, improved manufacturing processes, created new jobs, reduced oil imports and improved air quality through reduced emissions. The results are a cleaner, safer, healthier, and prosperous United States.
About the Coalition
CFDC is not your typical narrow-mission trade association. Individually
our member’s missions are very diverse. Collectively, CFDC provides
its members with a common ground to support their over arching desire
to improve the “national interest,” and work together outside
the bounds of “special interest.” CFDC and its members
are always finding new and innovative ways to expand the market
for cleaner-burning domestic fuels. We achieve our goals by educating
the media, industry and government leaders, and the public about the
dangers of dependence on oil and the benefits of developing renewable
fuels like ethanol. If you have an idea to help our mission we would
like to hear about it.
Our Coalition Continues to Broaden and Grow
Having a true broad-based coalition is not easy – but it keeps
the mission focused and the debate honest. As a result, CFDC continues
to draw a broad range of members that share a common goal. Our
members include alternative fuel technology developers, ethanol producers,
project developers, state affiliated organizations, automakers, and financial/legal/accounting
organizations. We have provided examples of our membership base
and links to their websites to provide you with additional information
about their goals, special projects and current events and news within
their organizations.
CFDC members include 1st generation biofuel producers as well as cellulosic and advanced biofuel technology development firms. CFDC members like BlueFire Renewables recently started construction for their waste-to-ethanol plant in Fulton, Mississippi after receiving an award from the U.S. Department of Energy and announcing a long term offtake agreement for their ethanol. Another fully permitted and shovel-ready facility in Lancaster, Calif. will use post-sorted cellulosic wastes diverted from Southern California’s landfills. CFDC member Novozymes North America is on the cutting edge of developing new enzymes to accelerate the deployment of cellulosic ethanol technologies. Coskata is developing a process utilizing several different technologies that will combine to produce ethanol from virtually any renewable material. Iogen has been a global leader in cellulosic ethanol development and Verenium is nearing groundbreaking on a commercial cellulose facility in Florida. Most of CFDC’s member companies involved in conventional ethanol production are also working to develop cellulosic ethanol, butanol, or other bio crude based products.
CFDC members like ICM, Burns & McDonnell, Fagen, Inc., KATZEN International and Vogelbusch U.S.A., Inc. are leading the way in the design and construction of the ethanol industry in the United States and around the globe. NEDAK Ethanol, LLC recently completed its 44-MM gpy facility in Atkinson, Nebraska while Reeve Agri-Energy has been making ethanol and supporting CFDC for 21 years. US Bioenergy Corporation, US Bio Platte Valley, LLC, Renova Energy ID, Inc., ETH BioEnergy Inc., ESE Alcohol, Inc., E3 Biofuels are all forward thinking and innovative ethanol producers and other members like Empire State Ethanol & Energy, LLC and Clear Fuels Hawaii are in the process of developing new ethanol projects.
Once produced, 1st and 2nd generation ethanol still need to get to end user. CFDC members Protec and Propel are working with hundreds of gasoline retailers to build the refueling infrastructure get higher level blends of ethanol into the marketplace so the nation can reap the benefits of the national renewable fuels standard.
U.S. automakers have produced 8.5 million FFVs and nearly 500,000 are filling up with higher blends of ethanol like E85. CFDC member companies and Chrysler, General Motors, and Ford have been working together for 17 years to develop cleaner fuels and expand the biofuels/ethanol market and refueling infrastructure. They have also reached their goal that by 2012 50% of their new vehicles would be FlexFuel Vehicles (FFVs), capable of operating on ethanol blends of up to 85%.
CFDC also supports the broader vision and mission of a diverse base of companies and organizations such as The Clean Fuels Foundation, The Nebraska Ethanol Board, Avalon Capital Group, Klamath County Economic Development Association, Nebraska Public Power District, Ethanol Market, LLC, ED&F Man Biofuels, and Andrews Kurth.
The Nebraska Ethanol Board, one of the founding members of the Clean Fuels
Development Coalition, is celebrating its 35th Anniversary this month.
CFDC's first Chairman and a fellow founding Member James Glancey of Renova
Energy, hailed the NEB as one of the driving forces behind the modern U.S.
Ethanol industry. "The NEB has led this industry with its vision, leadership, and insight," said Glancey. "Their
Board members and staff have shaped not just the state program but had
a direct impact on programs at the national level that have created opportunities
for all of us." (click here for full story)
Clean Fuels: Everyone is a Winner!
Find your state and get a free poster! Show
your support for Ethanol Across all of America by displaying the Award Winning
poster of vanity tags from all 50 states supporting ethanol. CFDC's design
firm David & Associates of Hastings, Nebraska recently received an award
from the National Agri-Marketing Association for this unique promotional
item.
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