Looking ahead to the future and setting plants up for success were the primary subjects addressed at the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) and Fuel Ethanol Workshop (FEW) virtual meetings.
“Rising Up” was the theme of ACE’s annual meeting, with guest speakers from OPIS, Casey’s General Stores, Pump & Pantry, and a keynote address from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Steve Censky.
ACE CEO Brian Jennings addressed conference attendees saying, “These are extraordinary times. Merely playing defense on the RFS and hoping trade wars subside does not constitute a plan to increase ethanol use. At some point in the future, we will look back at 2020, knowing it was the year that defeated us, or the year we took control and got ahead. I hope you join ACE in Rising Up and going on offense to develop these new clean fuel markets to increase ethanol demand.”
You can learn more about ACE’s virtual conference here.
FEW included a pre-workshop on low carbon fuel production, where speakers discussed best practices for validation and verification for ethanol producers, strategic carbon intensity reduction and how decarbonization aims are transforming domestic and foreign transportation fuels policy.
The rest of the conference included a panel of industry representatives discussing sector challenges and the need to drive toward long-term goals, risk management and the policy environment, opportunities for co-products within the global food and feed markets, and more.
Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor was the keynote speaker at FEW this year, talking about the challenges the industry has been facing and the road to future success for the biofuels industry. “When E15, or Unleaded 88, is our new standard fuel, that is 7 billion new gallons of ethanol demand annually,” Skor said. “And make no mistake, successful E15 market adoption paves the way for even higher blends. We scored a major victory last year with regulatory approval for year-round E15. In our very first summer after the change, E15 sales jumped 46 percent on a per-store basis from the previous year. In that same period, nearly 400 new E15 locations were added. And retailer demand is expanding the wholesale terminals offering pre-blended E15 — from only five in 2017 to more than 200 today.”
You can learn more about FEW’s virtual event here.