WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)–The goal of squeezing hundreds of millions of gallons
of additional renewable fuel out of the corn-based ethanol production process is
not only achievable, but inevitable, according to Rich Krablin, a vice president
for Texas company GreenShift.
Krablin, who made his case this week for the efficiency and profitability of
extracting unused corn oil to produce biodiesel to the Environmental Protection
Agency, said the government was wrong to dismiss the product as unsubstantial.
The EPA, Krablin said, believes that only about 20% of ethanol plants will
extract corn oil by the year 2022.
But that’s an estimate based on ignorance of new technology that makes the
process much more efficient and profitable, he told a panel of government
officials at a hearing on the EPA’s plan to implement Congress’ renewable fuel standard.
That got the attention of Paul Machiele, director of EPA’s Fuel
Programs Center and one of the panelists at the two-day hearing this week.
Machiele said he wanted to know more and he wanted Krablin to provide him with
data on the technology quickly.
Krablin, who agreed to an interview after he testified, said that beyond being
just a mostly untapped source for biofuel, corn oil extraction should represent
the restoration of ethanol as a much greener fuel in the eyes of the EPA.
The EPA recently decided that ethanol reduced greenhouse gas emissions by only
16% when compared to gasoline.
By GreenShift’s estimate, however, producing
biodiesel from the waste at ethanol plants means a lot more renewable fuel would
be produced at little extra cost and with no additional farm land needed.
And that means ethanol producers would reduce greenhouse gasses by 29% when compared
to gasoline.
That would be a key improvement because in order to qualify for the renewable
fuel mandate – 15 billion gallons per year by 2015 – any new ethanol plants
built would need to be seen as cutting greenhouse gasses by at least 20%.
A clause in the renewable fuels standard assures that ethanol from all plants
already built or being built as of December 2007 will qualify for the government
production mandate, regardless of the EPA greenhouse gas emission estimates.
Nathan Fields, director of biotechnology and economic analysis for the
National Corn Growers Association, agreed that if GreenShift technology can
indeed squeeze enough corn oil out of ethanol refineries, it would make the
ethanol industry a lot greener.
“It makes sense because you’re pumping out another replacement for petrochemicals,” Fields said.
“If you use that corn oil for biodiesel, then you
are directly displacing diesel fuel.”
Improving Animal Feed
Converting the unused corn oil content of the dried distiller grains and
solubles, or DDGS – an ethanol byproduct that can be used to feed livestock -
could result in about an extra 1 billion gallons of biodiesel production in the
U.S. by the year 2022, Krablin said.
Not only does the oil extraction not take away from ethanol production,
Krablin said, it enhances the value of the DDGS that ethanol refiners sell for
feed.
NCGA’s Fields agreed that the removal of the oil from the DDGS would indeed
improve the products: “What you get is a higher protein animal feed. If you’re
feeding DDGS based on protein content then there’s benefit there.”
There is no loss or substitution of one product for another, just a net gain
of more renewable fuel, Krablin said.
GreenShift installs its extraction machinery in an ethanol plant – three so
far – and then buys the oil and sells it to biodiesel plants.
The company has
about 20 customers, according to Krablin.
-By Bill Tomson, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-646-0088; bill.tomson@dowjones.com
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