Those who doubt the veracity of our industry’s drive toward net zero don’t understand our determination to get there. Goals, after all, are validated by persistence, pressing through the hard parts. We all know corn ethanol can someday attain carbon neutrality, but not without credit for low-carbon farming, and certainly not without sequestering our fermentation CO2. For the latter to happen broadly, pipelines and injection sites must be community supported, approved and built. The companies trying to get these things done aren’t alone. Hundreds of ethanol producers are on their side, and the U.S. Department of Energy is, too.       

In “Digging Deeper: Ethanol’s Role In the Carbon Age,” on page 12, we look at federal supports for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) in the context of the DOE’s overarching carbon management vision. We also report on the groundwork to develop pipelines and storage hubs in places like North Dakota—the planned destination for the CO2 that 34 Upper Midwest ethanol plants are eager to capture and deliver. As one DOE official put it, carbon management has entered an “unprecedented time,” with the 45Q tax credit for sequestration and utilization in place for a decade, hundreds of would-be CCUS projects, many in ethanol, are lining up across the country. Pipeline development remains challenging, but it’s sure nice to have the DOE offering to help iron out looming questions about infrastructure and community engagement.

Next, in our page-20 cover story, “Converting Engines, and the E85 Narrative,” we report on an E85 conversion kit that allows non-flex-fuel vehicles to run on E85, which boosts the environmental performance of plug-in electric hybrid vehicles with a lower-cost fuel. As we report, both the Renewable Fuels Association and the American Coalition for Ethanol are testing and showcasing Ford PHEVs—two different models—that have been retrofitted with affordable flex-fuel conversion kits made by a small Finnish company (we explain). 

Our page 28 feature, “Facing the Challenge of Change,” profiles a man at the forefront of the ethanol industry’s CCS movement, Bruce Rastetter, CEO of Summit Agricultural Group, parent company of Summit Carbon Solutions, one of the most high-profile proposed CO2  pipelines in North America—which, by the way, would bring CO2  to North Dakota for deep underground storage. In the piece, Rastetter reflects on his career, changes in agriculture and ethanol production, and the advent of both CCS and sustainable aviation fuel. Referring to the planned pipeline, Rastetter says, “I don’t think there’s anything that I’ve ever done in my life that will be more transformative to ag than this.”   

    
Be sure to read “Staying Up to the Test,” on page 32, a Q&A with Marquis Energy Lab Manager Lauren Aubrey, who graciously shares her thoughts on the benefits of new lab technology and practices in the context of everyday operations at America’s largest ethanol plant. Plus, it just so happens that Marquis Energy’s effort to reduce unnecessary lab clutter—paper, binders, etc.—segues nicely into our final story, “A Digital Workflow Solution,” on page 34, which looks at Golden Grain Energy’s recent adoption of a process management workflow solution for digitalizing shift logs, product logbooks and more.

Enjoy the read.