Ethanol Producer Magazine - June 2013

June 2013
Gen 1.5
to
Gen
2
Cellulosic R&D at ICM
Page 58
ALSO
Salary Survey
Shows High Job
Satisfaction Rates
Page 36
Attracting and
Retaining a
Talented Team
Page 48
www.ethanolproducer.com
contents
JUNE issue 2013 VOL. 19 ISSUE 6
features
36
34 Q & A
Practicing the
Golden Rule
Big River Resources makes

employee morale a priority
By Tim Portz
48 Human Resources
More Than Just Staff
The right team can positively

influence profitability
By Holly Jessen
58 PROFILE
Gen 1 + 1.5 + 2
Equals Process
Progress
ICM Inc. steps up testing for

cellulosic ethanol
By Susanne Retka Schill
36 Personnel
2013 US Ethanol Industry

Salary Survey
From job satisfaction to payroll, ethanol

plant employees share their views
By Holly Jessen
66 Efficiency
Ethanol Industry
Snapshot
2008 ethanol plant survey

updated with positive results
By chris hanson
DEPARTMENTS
6

Editors Note
Take Care of Your People

and Your People will
Take Care of You

By TOM BRYAN
Ad Index
10 The Way I See It

CO2 Levels Rising ... Big Deal!

By MIKE BRYAN
11 Events Calendar

Upcoming Conferences
& Trade Shows
12 View From the Hill

Eat This!

By bob dinneen
14 Drive
Biofuels, Light Bulbs and Why

Quitting is Not an Option

By retired Gen.
Wesley Clark
16 Grassroots Voice

Required Reading (Youre
Already Taking the Test)

By Ron Lamberty
18 Europe Calling

Rocking the Biofuels Boat with
a Publicity Stunt
By Rob Vierhout
20 Business Matters

CONTRIBUTIONS
74
Finance
Lessons Learned From

Past Downturns
Applying wisdom gained to

maneuver through current tough
markets
By Scott McDermott
80
sustainability
Instrumentation,
Control Systems
Contribute to
Sustainability
Efficient water, energy use

achieved with effective process
control
By Leigh Parnell
84
OPTIMIZATION
Absolute Energy
Tackles Evaporator
Fouling
Problematic mineral deposits
successfully treated
Get on the Bus: Human
Resource Strategies Essential

to Success
By Rob Southern
22 Business Briefs
24 Commodities Report
28 Distilled
86 Marketplace
By Jerry Tegels and

Kevin Mundell
CORRECTION
The Corn Oil Makes the Grade article in the May issue incorrectly identified
corn oil as the No. 3 feedstock for biodiesel production. It was actually No. 4.
Ethanol Producer Magazine: (USPS No. 023-974) June 2013, Vol. 19, Issue 6. Ethanol Producer Magazine is published monthly by BBI International.
Principal Office: 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, ND 58203. Periodicals Postage Paid at Grand Forks, North Dakota and additional mailing offices.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Ethanol Producer Magazine/Subscriptions, 308 Second Ave. N., Suite 304, Grand Forks, North Dakota 58203.
ON THE COVER
ICM research team members in

the pilot plant in St. Joseph, Mo.
PHOTO: SAIT SERKAN GURBUZ
4 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | June 2013
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With good chemistry great things happen.
editors note
Years ago I read a book called 12: The Elements

of Great Managing. I cant say it transformed my
professional life but its core takeaways stuck with
me. The books premise is that, through extensive polling, it had been discovered that
Take Care of Your People

and Your People will
Take Care of You
Tom Bryan, PRESIDENT & EDITOR IN CHIEF
tbryan@bbiinternational.com
12 simple questions universally determine employee job satisfaction. Question No. 1 is

elemental: Do I know what is expected of me at work? The other 11 questions address
praise, clarity of mission, voice, sentiments about co-workers, workplace friendships and
opportunities for professional development. The collective essence of the questions is
reflected in the managerial insight offered in this issue of Ethanol Producer Magazine, both
anecdotally and in the form of hard data about ethanol plant employee salaries and job
satisfaction.
This months cover story profiles ICMs disciplined, stepwise quest for cellulosic
ethanol, but our theme is different topic altogether: personnel recruiting, training and
compensation. Its brought to life in an ambitious 20-page section anchored by Holly
Jessens infographic-dense reveal of our 2013 U.S. Ethanol Plant Personnel Compensation
& Job Satisfaction Survey. The detailed results of the survey, starting on page 36, provide
a snapshot of an industry that employs a satisfied, well-compensated and increasingly
experienced workforce. It also depicts a workforce that is loyal, well-trained, highly
educated and hard-working.
Once again our survey reveals that money isnt everything. Americas ethanol plant
employees, while appreciative of their salaries, rate job security as the most important
determinant of their professional happiness, followed by a positive workplace atmosphere,
good benefits and, finally, competitive pay. Ethanol producers have known this for years,
and as we discover in this months Q&A with Big River Resources Deb Green, maintaining
a positive workplace environment starts with the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you
would have them do unto you. Cultivating a thoughtful, supportive work environment,
along with great training, competitive pay and good benefits, has enabled Big River to
achieve an extremely low turnover rate, and because of it, industry-leading financial and
operational performance.
Jessens other feature in this issue, More than Just Staff, on page 48, delivers
additional insight about attracting and retaining employees. In it, Ascendant Partners Scott
McDermott advises producers to offer competitive compensation programs even when
margins are tight. Our salary survey indicates that most producers agree with him. Despite
difficult times facing the ethanol industry, 68 percent of survey respondents said they
received a raise in the past 12 months; 69 percent of respondents also received monetary
bonuses in the same time period. The bottom line: The U.S. ethanol industry is providing
high-paying, rewarding careers to thousands of men and women who, in return, make
American ethanol plants run efficiently, safely and profitably.
For industry news: www.ethanolproducer.com or Follow Us:

twitter.com/EthanolMagazine
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EDITORIAL
56-57 2013 International Fuel Ethanol

Workshop & Expo
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Conference & Expo
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Conference & Expo
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Workshop & Expo
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PRESIDENT & EDITOR IN CHIEF

Tom Bryan tbryan@bbiinternational.com
Vice President of Content & EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Tim Portz tportz@bbiinternational.com
MANAGING EDITOR
Holly Jessen hjessen@bbiinternational.com
SENIOR EDITOR
Susanne Retka Schill sretkaschill@bbiinternational.com
NEWS EDITOR
Erin Voegele evoegele@bbiinternational.com
STAFF WRITER
50 Aggreko
Chris Hanson chanson@bbiinternational.com
COPY EDITOR
5 Ashland Hercules Water

Technologies
78 BBI Consulting Services
Jan Tellmann jtellmann@bbiinternational.com
ART
ART DIRECTOR
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
PUBLISHING
88 CHS Renewable Fuels

Marketing
86 Clariant Produckte (Deutchland)
Gmbh
39 Cloud/Sellers Cleaning Systems
CHAIRMAN
Mike Bryan mbryan@bbiinternational.com
CEO
Joe Bryan jbryan@bbiinternational.com
SALES
VICE PRESIDENT, SALES & MARKETING
Matthew Spoor mspoor@bbiinternational.com
Business Development Director

Howard Brockhouse hbrockhouse@bbiinternational.com
ACCOUNT MANAGERS
Marty Steen msteen@bbiinternational.com
Andrea Anderson aanderson@bbiinternational.com
Kelsi Brorby kbrorby@bbiinternational.com
Tami Pearson tpearson@bbiinternational.com
Senior Marketing Manager

CIRCULATION MANAGER
Jessica Beaudry jbeaudry@bbiinternational.com
ADVERTISING COORDINATOR
Marla DeFoe mdefoe@bbiinternational.com
EDITORIAL BOARD
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Please recycle this magazine and remove

inserts or samples before recycling
13 Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled

Spirits
61 Louis Dreyfus
46 Natwick Associates Appraisal

Services
17 Novozymes
15 Phibro Ethanol Performance
Group
47 POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels
43 Premium Plant Services, Inc.
52 Crown Iron Works Company
29 ProQuip, Inc.
87 DuPont Fermasure
68 Protectoseal Company, The

41 QUALSPEC
21 DuPont Pioneer
89 Renewable Fuels Association
95 Eco-Energy
69 RPMG, Inc.
51 ETS Laboratories
28 Salco Products, Inc.
19 Fagen Inc.
82 Sulzer Process Pumps (US) Inc.
63 Ferm Solutions
Mike Jerke, Chippewa Valley Ethanol Co. LLLP

Jeremy Wilhelm, Cilion Inc.
Mick Henderson, Commonwealth Agri-Energy LLC
Keith Kor, Pinal Energy LLC
Walter Wendland, Golden Grain Energy LLC
Neal Jakel Illinois River Energy LLC
Eric Mosebey Lincolnland Agri-Energy LLC
Steve Roe Little Sioux Corn Processors LP
53 INTL FCStone Inc.
81 CPM Roskamp Champion
3, 96 DuPont Industrial Biosciences
John Nelson jnelson@bbiinternational.com
44 Interra Global Corporation
62 Mist Chemical & Supply

Company
38 Nalco, an Ecolab Company
30 Buckman
Lindsey Noble lnoble@bbiinternational.com
54 Indeck Power Equipment Co.
70 Methes Energies
26-27 BetaTec Hop Products
Jaci Satterlund jsatterlund@bbiinternational.com
8-9 Inbicon
72-73 Syngenta: Enogen
55 Fermentis - Division of S.I.

Lesaffre
40 Freez-it-Cleen
22 Tower Performance Inc.
83 Fuel Ethanol Industry Directory
77 U.S. Water Services
45 Gamajet Cleaning Systems, Inc.
71 United Sorghum Checkoff

Program
65 Verenium
2 Growth Energy
64 Tranter Phe
42 Hengye USA
76 Vogelbusch USA Inc.
75 Himark bioGas
23 Wabash Power Equipment Co.
60 Hydro-Klean LLC
31 WINBCO
11 ICM Inc.
85 Zeochem
COPYRIGHT 2013 by BBI International

TM
june 2013 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | 7
6 high-alpha
producers
wanted for
6 New Ethanol
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the way i see it
CO2 Levels Rising

Big Deal!
By Mike Bryan
Last week, the parts per

million level of CO2 in the world's
atmosphere reached nearly 400
parts per million for the first time in
15 million years. Whats the big deal?
Come on, thats only .0004 of one percent.

I mean, how bad can that be?
Unfortunately, thats the way many
people think about CO2. Look, there are
clearly multiple positions on the impact CO2
levels have on our global climate change.
But there is one inescapable fact. Despite
all the background noise, 97 precent of
scientists agree the increase in the levels of
CO2 is primarily manmade.
One could argue, so what? Besides,
CO2 is a global issue and anything we
do to combat global warming is nullified
by China, India and others. We see the
smog-ridden cities in other countries where
people are literally choking on pollution and
often think: whats the use? Its like trying to
counter a hurricane with fans.
Interestingly only about 50 percent
of Americans believe global warming
is manmade and will have much of an
impact on our world. In the U.K., only 1 in
20 believe global warming is something
that they should be overly concerned
about. While Australians might have a bit
more concern about global warming, they
continue to ship millions of tons of coal to
China and other parts of the world, while
boasting about their tax on carbon.
In truth, global warming is probably not
going to be an issue that drives renewable

energy. At least not until we are staring an
environmental Armageddon in the face,
by which time it may be too late. What will
drive renewable energy will still be price,
rural economic development and energy
independence. Not that those are bad
things, they are clearly important drivers,
but the clock is ticking on our environment.
We have the capability to make great
strides with renewable energy. Make
no mistake, China, India and others are
working hard to build renewable energy
projects. Coal is just a tool to get them
from point A to point B. I am convinced that
in the years ahead, China and India will
become world leaders in renewable energy.
We dont have to worry about saving
the planet as some suggest, it will go back
to default very quickly when we are no
longer here. So you can be the judge of
whether reaching 400 parts per million of
CO2 in the atmosphere is a big deal, but
for me, Im going with the science and the
majority of science says: Take action and
take it now!
Thats the way I see it.
Author: Mike Bryan

Chairman, BBI International
mbryan@bbiinternational.com
EVENTS CALENDAR
National Advanced Biofuels
Conference & Expo
September 10 -12, 2013
CenturyLink Center Omaha
Omaha, Nebraska
Proving Pathways. Building Capacity.

Produced by BBI International, this national event will
feature the world of advanced biofuels and biobased
chemicalstechnology scale-up, project finance,
policy, national markets and morewith a core focus
on the industrial, petroleum and agribusiness alliances
defining the national advanced biofuels industry.
866-746-8385 | www.advancedbiofuelsconference.com
Algae Biomass Summit

September 30 - October 3, 2013
Hilton Orlando
Orlando, Florida
This dynamic event unites industry professionals from

all sectors of the worlds algae utilization industries
including, but not limited to, financing, algal ecology,
genetic systems, carbon partitioning, engineering and
analysis, biofuels, animal feeds, fertilizers, bioplastics,
supplements and foods.
866-746-8385 | www.algaebiomasssummit.org
International Biomass
Conference & Expo
March 24-26, 2014
Orlando Convention Center
Orlando, Florida
Organized by BBI International and coproduced

by Biomass Magazine, the International Biomass
Conference & Expo program will include 30-plus
panels and more than 100 speakers, including
90 technical presentations on topics ranging from
anaerobic digestion and gasification to pyrolysis
and combined heat and power. This dynamic event
unites industry professionals from all sectors of the
worlds interconnected biomass utilization industries
biobased power, thermal energy, fuels and chemicals.
866-746-8385 | www.biomassconference.com
International Fuel Ethanol

Workshop & Expo
June 9-12, 2014
Indiana Convention Center
Indianapolis, Indiana
Celebrating its 30th year, the FEW provides the

global ethanol industry with cutting-edge content and
unparalleled networking opportunities in a dynamic
business-to-business environment. The FEW is
the largest, longest running ethanol conference in
the worldand the only event powered by Ethanol
Producer Magazine.
866-746-8385 | www.fuelethanolworkshop.com
view from the hill
Eat This!
By Bob Dinneen
Through more than a quarter

century proudly advocating for U.S.
ethanol producers, the one issue
that seems impervious to logic
and just will not go away is the
pernicious food vs. fuel canard. It
simmers like a hot ember awaiting Big Oils

windbags to blow it into a raging fire as their
political agenda demands. It resonates among
Washingtons elite, who think their food
comes from the Safeway and dont know the
difference between sweet corn and No. 2 feed
corn. The facts are too difficult to grasp.
Make no mistake, despite decades of
educating urban policy makers that ethanol
simply uses the starch component of corn,
and that a very high-value, high-protein feed
remains to be consumed by poultry and
livestock, the food vs. fuel debate continues to
be the single biggest obstacle to the continued
growth of the industry. We have to do an even
better job of conveying our message.
The first accompanying chart
emphatically demonstrates what should be
the most important message, i.e., oil drives
food prices, not corn and not ethanol! Every
step of the food supply chain is reliant on
petroleum productsfrom diesel fuel used
in farm machinery, natural gas used in food
processing plants, plastics used in food
packaging, to gasoline or diesel used to
transport the food to the restaurant or grocery
store. In fact, the correlation coefficient
between global food prices and global oil
prices since 2000 is 0.92, a near-perfect
relationship.
The second chart underscores that,
contrary to what our opponents say, food
price inflation has been falling while ethanol
production has been increasing over the

past decade. Food price inflation has been
lower (2.9 percent) since the renewable fuel
standard (RFS) passed than in the 20 years
prior (3.02 percent). And two of the lowest
food-inflation rates in the past 50 years have
occurred since the passage of RFS2 in 2007.
Facts can be nettlesome to our
opponents. But facts are the only thing I know
to keep the cynics at bay. Use them. Respond

to the media and public officials who willingly
or unwittingly ignore reality. Do it and we will
prevail. And the RFS will be preserved.
Author: Bob Dinneen
President and CEO,
Renewable Fuels Association
202-289-3835
ITS A DONE DEAL.

IF THERES ONE BUSINESS CARD YOU PICK UP AT THIS YEARS FEW, ITS THIS ONE.
VISIT US AT BOOTH 1013 TO MEET THE NEWEST ADDITION TO OUR TEAM

OF PERFORMANCE-DRIVEN YEAST.
DRIVE
Biofuels, Light Bulbs

and Why Quitting is
Not an Option
By retired Gen. Wesley Clark
News reports have shown that

in recent years major oil companies
like Chevron and Exxon have
given up on biofuels. The consensus
is that the work to develop biofuels is too

difficult for them to figure out and that it would
be too costly and not profitable enough.
Really, are they serious? Moreover, do they
expect Americans to believe quitting is the
best option for our future?
After just a few years of effort and little
commitment to research and development,
they just decide that, well, its not easy, so
lets just give up. What if Thomas Edison had
given up on the light bulb? Where would we
be now? Sitting in the dark.
Persistence and the understanding that
there was a better way to provide light drove
Edison to make an inspired thought a reality.
It may have taken years and many others to
perfect the light bulb, but persistence led the
way to progress. Neither Edison, nor those
who followed his footsteps, decided to give
up.
It took years and countless trials to
develop the bulb and filament technology.
There were certainly critics and I am sure that
the whale oil industry, who then supplied the
fuel to oil lamps, was adamantly opposed
to the idea. They didnt want to become
irrelevant, so they opposed it. But they
could not stop ittoday there is electric light
everywhere.
Americans pride themselves on hard
work and ingenuity. There is little doubt that
we believe that the collective strength of our

great nation is derived from the amazing
people it is comprised of, like Edison and
other great visionaries and inventors. We
have always been a forward-thinking country
that plays the long game, looking for solutions
to the problems we currently face and also
ones we anticipate will arise in the future.
Enter 21st century energy. While we are
dangerously dependent on fossil fuels, many
pioneers have recognized there are many
viable components to a more diverse energy
portfolio, and one answer that can play a
significant role is renewable fuels. They are
sustainable, unlike the current carbon-based
fossil fuels we rely on today.
This industry started small, with a few
pioneers and has grown tremendously
over the past few decades. It has grown
to become self-sufficient from government
subsidies and more efficient in terms of water
usage and power output. And it is infinitely
renewablejust some sun and rain to
perpetually grow the feedstock.
However, the success of renewable
fuels threatens the bottom line and market
share of oil companies, such as Exxon and
Chevron. While these companies initially
promoted these fuels, they could not make
the same profits and also found that drilling
for oil was easier than advancing technology
of biofuels and new infrastructure for them to
secure our energy future.
So, not only have these companies
given up on their research into renewable
biofuels, but they have actively engaged
in public affairs campaigns and legal and
regulatory hurdles to block any future
progress. According to one new report,
a return of 5 percent wasn't enough for
companies used to margins triple that. They
are putting corporate profits ahead of energy

security and they simply do not care.
Just imagine where we would be if
a 19th century inventor were as timid as
a 21st century corporation. Biofuels are
sustainable and are cleaner and better for
our environment. As we continue to learn of
the harmful emissions that traditional fossil
fuels generate while being burned to fuel our
vehicles, we must reaffirm our dedication
to producing cleaner fuels that are better
for the air we breathe and also protect the
environment for both current and future
generations.
If great inventors, such as Edison,
could see the progress we have made, they
would be amazed. Furthermore, they would
be inspired by the current pioneersthose
perfecting first-generation biofuels and
developing next-generation fuels from diverse
feedstocks to secure our energy needs
for the future while serving a critical role in
preserving our environment.
On the other hand, companies like
Exxon and Chevronthose who not only
gave up on biofuels production and research
but fought against progresswould certainly
disappoint the great inventors. Their stubborn
actions to accept a failed status quo goes
against the very spirit of American ingenuity
and progress.
It truly is a shame that 21st century
corporations give up on meaningful
advancements and fight against progress just
to keep those deep pockets full of excessive
profits at the expense of progress and our
nation.
Author: retired Gen. Wesley Clark

Co-chair of the Growth Energy Board of Directors
202-545-4000
info@growthenergy.org
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*5-year study by USDA-ARS National Center for Agricultural Research, Peoria, IL

2010, Phibro Animal Health Corporation. LACTROL is a registered trademark of Phibro Animal Health Corporation and its affiliates.
GRASSROOTS vOICE
Required Reading
(Youre Already
Taking the Test)
By Ron Lamberty
Much of the discussion

about fuels that will be used by
the automobiles of the future to
reach the federal targets for higher
mileage and lower greenhouse
gas emissions has centered on
higher octane fuel and higher
compression engines. Thats great
news for ethanol, since those happen to
both be areas where ethanol holds a distinct
advantage over gasoline. Ironically, its
also an area where automakers and the oil
industry have a great deal of information and
history, apparently.
An article by Jamie Lincoln Kitman
in The Nation magazine tells about
General Motors experience with higher
blends of ethanol, and mentions the
work of a GM engineer named Thomas
Midgley, who applied for a patent on an
alcohol-gasoline blend as an anti-knock
fuel. According to article, Midgley drove a
car with a high compression engine to a
Society of Automotive Engineers meeting
in Indianapolis, using a gasoline-ethanol
blended fuel containing 30 percent alcohol.
Midgeley told the group that Because of
the possible high compression, the available
horsepower is much greater with alcohol
than with gasoline."
Why havent we heard this before?
The Nation article also talks about two
brands of gas sold in England, Cleveland
Discoll and Kool Motor(which contained)

30 percent and 16 percent alcohol,
respectively. Those fuels were the products
of two U.S. oil companies, and the article
points out that the companies advertised the
E30 and E16 as the most perfect motor fuel
the world has ever known, providing extra
power, extra economy, and extra efficiency.
Meanwhile, back in the United States, the
same big oil companies were savaging
alcohol fuels in the halls of Congress, saying
it would destroy engines.
Now that sounds more familiar.
Heres the really interesting part
the article Im referencing actually ran 13
years ago in the March 20, 2000, issue of
The Nation, and was entitled The Secret
History of Lead. The incidents above all
took place in the 1920s. And while it is
fascinating to learn that the worlds largest
automaker determined E30 was a fantastic
fuel in the 1920s, and that the forerunners
to ExxonMobil and Citgo sold E30 and E15
in England almost a hundred years ago,
what may be more instructive and relevant
to our current situation is the rest of the
article, which documents the dishonesty
and callousness that GM, Standard Oil of
New Jersey (now ExxonMobil) and DuPont
displayed as they fought to keep alcohol out
of the U.S. fuel supply.
They fought to keep it out, to keep
tetraethyl lead in. Lead isnt something that
exists in oil before they take it out to make
unleaded gas. It was added to reduce
knock. And these three companies owned
ethyl and stood to make a fortune by
adding it to gasoline.
The refiners knew about the health

hazards of leaded gasoline and so did
the U.S. public health officialsbut oil
companies just said the claims werent
true, and bought-and-paid-for regulators
and elected officials believed those claims.
Ethanol was safer and more effective
than lead, but oil companies fought court
battles, encouraged laws to keep any other
additives out of the market, and when all of
that failed, they simply mounted a smear
campaign against other fuel alternatives
and additives, complete with phony studies
paid for and controlled by the original lead
partners.
It took more than 60 years to get lead
out of the fuel supply, even as thousands of
people literally died every year as a result of
contact with lead. Maybe we should be more
encouraged by ethanols progress? The
Secret History of Lead should be required
reading for all ethanol supporters. It is a
sobering view of the lengths some industries
have gone to, to protect enormous profits in
the past. And those who forget the past (or
dont even know about it) are condemned to
repeat it.
Author: Ron Lamberty

Senior Vice President,
American Coalition for Ethanol
605-334-3381
rlamberty@ethanol.org
Novozymes is the world leader in bioinnovation. Together

with customers across a broad array of industries we create
tomorrows industrial biosolutions, improving our customers
business and the use of our planets resources.
Rethink Tomorrow
Europe Calling
Rocking the
Biofuels Boat with
a Publicity Stunt
By Robert Vierhout
After being accused of

driving up food prices, grabbing
land in Africa, nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) are now
claiming that biofuels are costing
society too much money.
A group of green NGOs recently hired

the services of the International Institute
for Sustainable Development to trigger a
debate on the economics of EU biofuels.
It is not the first time that IISD published
such a report. IISD has been hitting at
biofuels for several years. The process is
strongly influenced by people close to the
Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development and funded by those
who don't like us. Last year a similar
report was issued then financed by food
company Nestle. Now it is the NGOs. Is this
coincidence? Is there some sort of unholy
alliance here?
The latest report, BiofuelsAt What
Cost?, claims that in 2011 EU governments
provided around 10 billion euros ($13
billion) to the biofuels industry. A relatively
high number compared to the 2012 IEA
World Energy Outlook, which said that in
2011 total global biofuels subsidies were
$24 billion, or less than 10 percent of global
oil subsidies. Whether the 10 billion euro
figure is correct is neither here nor there
as long as there is a high figure, easy to
remember. It is all about easy publicity.
Those taking the trouble to study the

report can only conclude that the number is
the creation of researchers and reviewers
with an imaginative mindset but no practical
knowledge of the subject matter. The report
has severe methodological errors, often
contradicting IISD's own methodology and/
or previous research, next to the array of
material factual errors.
Maybe it's a predictable result knowing
that the report was peer reviewed by those
with the same ideological biases and no
academic qualifications in industrial and
agricultural sciences. The authors expressly
prevented review by industry experts with
appropriate academic credentials, on the
pretext that industry reviewers would have
leaked the report to the press. So much for
an honest peer-review process.
The major flaw with the IISD report
is that it is almost entirely about excise tax
exemptions, a subsidy paid to fuel suppliers.
With the introduction of the renewable
energy directive, known as RED, member
states now overwhelmingly use mandates
to achieve their binding renewable transport
energy obligations. Interestingly enough,
those mandates did not result in higher fuel
prices at filling stations.
So, if EU member states decide to pay
fuel suppliers to buy biofuels through excise
tax exemptions (such exemptions being
a policy tool appropriate for the voluntary
biofuels blending policies of the past and
simply redundant in the face of a binding
mandate) then it's fuel suppliers who are
skinning governments and consumers.
Thats why only a minority of member states
have such excise tax exemptions today
and why those exemptions are quickly
disappearing, facts conveniently omitted

from IISDs report. Indeed, if all excise tax
exemptions disappeared tomorrow, the EU
biofuels industry would see its market stay
the same as it is today.
But do tax exemptions result in the
high costs as pictured by this report? It
doesn't seem to be in line with a very recent
study carried out by Price Waterhouse
Coopers (PwC) that looked into the socioeconomic impact of the fuel ethanol sector
in France. The study found that jobs were
created directly and indirectly and that
in 2010 the value added to the French
economy was 815 million euros. In addition,
the French government made a net profit
of 305 million euros thanks to additional
tax income as a direct and indirect result of
158 million euros of tax exemption to the oil
industry for using biofuels.
The PwC study is in sharp contrast
to the IISD study. Even though the PwC
study is limited to ethanol and France, the
numbers are so distinct from what IISD is
claiming that I consider the latter a cheap
publicity stunt, carefully planned and timed
to rock the biofuel boat once more.
Author: Robert Vierhout
Secretary-general, ePURE
Vierhout@epure.org
business matters
Get on the Bus:

Human Resource
Strategies Essential
to Success
By Rob Southern
An ethanol plant manager is
typically focused on running the
daily operations and producing
a quality end product. In addition to
ensuring the equipment and people inside
the plant are running correctly, human
resource needs must also be met.
When it comes to finding and hiring
the right employees, a little community
involvement goes a long way. Be active in
local and school job fairs and career days.
This provides personal interaction with
people who are eager to work. When your
plant has an open position, a person who
has already heard about the plant or met a
plant recruitment manager will be more likely
to apply. It also pays to sponsor community
events. This ensures local visibility and name
recognition, which is a key recruitment tool.
Be sure to recruit for open positions
using the latest technology. Placing an ad
in the newspaper used to be enough but
todays employees are scanning job boards,
social media and LinkedIn to find work. The
local Chamber of Commerce may also have
a job board that can help reach candidates
with specific skills and put together a pool of
qualified candidates.
Interviewing potential employees
also takes preparation. Ask candidates the
right questions, check their references and
conduct appropriate background checks and
drug screenings. The extra effort ensures
you utilized all resources available to get the
best people on board.
If you question your abilityand

timeto post an effective job description or
whether you are asking the right interview
questions, call on a human resources
consultant for the best approach. Think
about what you need to do to get the best
candidates in the door. Experience counts
and thats why companies utilize consultants
who work in human resources on a regular
basis.
Training new and current employees
is a vital step in maintaining an efficient and
happy workplace. When a new person starts
work, dont assume they know what theyre
doing based on previous experience. Offer a
thorough orientation of the plant and provide
knowledge they can use now and in the
future. Giving them the time up front pays
dividends later.
The first 90 days on the job are vital
and the initial training can make a new
employee feel they are valued by the
company, which contributes to positive
morale. Excellent new hire training also
gives them the confidence to hit the ground
running.
For current employees, training has to
be relevant and apply to what theyre doing
today and in the future. Make it engaging
by avoiding a lecture-style classroom and
get participants involved. Training is costly
if employees do not grasp or remember
the concepts because they were bored
or uninterested. Make it worth the time by
showing them the connection of how their
daily work impacts the future of the company.
Dealing with employee compensation
issues can be a sensitive subject but
an employer who is prepared can avoid

having an awkward conversation. Do your
homework to be sure pay is competitive
in the marketplace, which can be
accomplished using salary survey data.
Also, remind employees about the value of
their benefits, not just the salary numbers.
Pay your folks based on performance and
provide incentives for quality work. Having
a systematic plan, including pay ranges
for compensating staff is much better than
winging it.
Salaries are one of the largest
expenditures for a company and an HR
consultant can help companies review what
each employee is compensated to ensure
the company is effectively managing this
cost. In this economy a 3 to 4 percent raise
should not be expected every year but
its also important to reward people who
continue to do great work. Other options
are to give a lump sum payment, or bonus,
instead of a raise.
Getting the right employees on the
bus is essential and keeping them is critical.
Thus, providing positive and strong human
resource strategies is key to driving that bus,
or company, down the road.
Author: Rob Southern
Kennedy and Coe LLC consultant
specializing in human resources
rsouther@kcoe.com or
316-691-3736
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Learn how getting the right product on the right acre can mean increased profits for you.
www.pioneer.com/biofuels
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business
briefs
People, Partnerships & Deals
The Renewable Fuels Association

has added three new members: Monroe,
Wis.-based Badger State Ethanol, Plainview, Neb.-based Husker Ag, and Redfield,
S.D.-based Redfield Energy LLC. Redfield
Energy is a 55 MMgy facility with 43 fulltime employees. The dry mill plant became
operational in April 2007 and produced its
300 millionth gallon of ethanol in February.
In addition to ethanol, the plant also produces
approximately 162,000 tons of modified wet
and dried distillers grains each year. The 70
MMgy Husker Ag plant is a farmer-owned
cooperative with more than 600 members.
The facility employs 50 full-time employees
and produces 450,000 tons of modified wet
distillers grains each year. The 57 MMgy Badger State Ethanol plant employs 47 people.
In addition to ethanol, the facility produces
128,000 tons of dried distillers grains annually, along with 50 percent corn protein and
corn oil. Carbon dioxide captured at the plant
is used in the food industry.
CSX Corp. has announced winners of
its 19th annual Chemical Safety Excellence
Awards, which recognize customers for their
commitment to the safe transportation of
hazardous materials by rail. The awards are
presented to customers that ship more than
600 car loads of hazardous materials during
the year without a release due to factors such
as not securing valves or closures properly.
Several companies active in the ethanol industry were recognized with the award this year,
including Buffalo Lake Energy Corp., Cardinal Ethanol LLC, Cargill, Eco-Energy
Inc., Flint Hill Resources LLC, Granite
Falls Energy LLC, Patriot Renewable Fuels LLC, Pioneer Trail Energy Corp., and
Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy.
The Biotechnology Industry Organization has named Jay Keasling as the recipient of its 2013 George Washington Carver
Award for innovation in industrial biotechnology. Keasling is a professor of biochemical engineering at the University of California,
Berkeley, an associate
laboratory director at
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, CEO
of the Joint BioEnergy
Institute, and director
of the Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center. He was Jay Keasling was
recognized for his
selected for the award contributions to
due to its contributions synthetic biology.
to the field of synthetic
biology promoting the use of engineering
microbes to produce biofuels, medicines and
cosmetic compounds from biomass, such
as sugarcane and grasses. Past recipients of
the award include Gevo Inc. CEO Patrick
Gruber; Charles O. Holliday, Jr., chairman
of DuPonts board in 2009; Gregory Stephanopoulos, the Willard Henry Dow professor
of chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology in 2010; Feike Sijbesma, CEO of Royal DSM in 2011 and Steen
Riisgaard, president and CEO of Novozymes
in 2012.
LanzaTech has appointed Ken C. Lai

as vice president of its Asia Pacific operations.
Based in Shanghai, he
will oversee the development and commercialization of the companys gas-to-advanced
biofuel facilities and
continued
development of LanzaTechs
value chain partners
Ken C. Lai will
in the region. Prior to
help LanzaTech
joining LanzaTech, Lai
accelerate growth in
China.
served as general manager of licensing and
sales for the Asia Pacific region at Shell Global
Solutions International B.V. He has more than
30 years of experience in technology licensing, sales, account management and business
development in the petroleum refining and
petrochemcials industry.
BUSINESS BRIEFS
Share your industry briefs To be included in Business
Sponsored by
Royal DSM, the

global Life Sciences
and Materials Sciences
company, has appointed Christian Koolloos
as business manager of
bioethanol with DSMs
biobased
products
Christian Koolloos
and services business
has experience with
unit. In his new posinew technology rollout activities.
tion, Koolloos will be
responsible for DSMs
involvement in cellulosic ethanol production
outside of the Poet-DSM Advanced Biofuels
joint venture. His responsibilities include developing and managing DSMs enzymes and
yeast business in the field of cellulosic biomass-to-ethanol and other renewables. Koolloos joined DSM as the commercial manager
of yeast in 2011 through the acquisition of C5
Yeast Co., which was created as a spin-off of
Royal Nedalco.
RINAlliance, a cloud-based software
utilized by renewable fuel blenders across the
U.S., has won the 2013 Prometheus Clean
Energy Innovation award. The award is
sponsored by the Technology Association
of Iowa and recognizes the states top technology innovators and entrepreneurs. Criteria
for the award include market position, business impact, growth and positive impact on
the environment. The RIN Alliance had a record year in 2012, experiencing a 104 percent
increase in revenue, a 63 percent increase in
the number of subscribers, and, in response
to a satisfaction survey, 83 percent of respondents saying the organization exceeded
expectations and 17 percent saying it met expectations. To date, RINAlliance subscribers
have blended more than 1.5 billion gallons of
renewable fuel.
Abengoa Bioenergy S.A. has joined the
Fuels America coalition, a broad group of
stakeholders representing the biofuels industry, national security interests, agriculture and
Briefs, send information (including photos and logos if available) to:

Business Briefs, Ethanol Producer Magazine, 308 Second Ave. N., Suite
304, Grand Forks ND 58203. You may also fax information to 701-7468385, or email it to evoegele@bbiinternational.com. Please include your
name and telephone number in all correspondence.
other sectors. The group is focused on educating the both the public and policy makers
on the benefits of renewable fuel. The group
supports the continued implementation of
the renewable fuel standard and the economic
development and savings to consumers that
result from its implementation.
John Hofmeister,
former president of
Shell Oil Co. and CEO
of Citizens for Affordable Energy, has joined
the Fuel Freedom
Foundations board
of advisors. Fuel Freebrings a
dom is a nonpartisan, Hofmeister
unique perspective
nonprofit organization on the oil industry to
dedicated to breaking the board.
Americas oil addiction
by opening the fuel
market to allow replacement fuels, such as
ethanol, methanol, and others to fairly complete with gasoline.
Propel Fuels has been named the 2013
Green Innovator of the Year by the San
Mateo County Economic Development
Association in California. Propel was recognized for its pioneering approach to providing consumers with better access to renewable fuels and clean mobility options.
The U.S. DOE has announced the selection of BioProcess Algae LLC to receive
a grant of up to $6.4 million as part of a
project related to the production of biobased hydrocarbon fuels that meet military
specifications. The project will use renewable
carbon dioxide, lignocellulosic sugars and
waste heat through BioProcess Algaes Grower Harvester technology platform, which is
collocated with the Green Plains Renewable
Energy Inc. ethanol plant in Shenandoah,
Iowa.
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Natural Gas Report
Has the supply boom come to an end?

April 29Natural gas prices have dropped over the past several years as the market increasingly recognized that natural gas supply was growing at a much more rapid pace than demand. In 2008,
prices were above $8 per MMBtu and the experts thought prices
would continue to go up, but shale drilling dramatically changed market expectations. Not surprisingly, as prices dropped, drilling activity
directed at natural gas dropped as well. However, production continued to grow in spite of diminished drilling for natural gas. That may
be changing.
As the chart shows, monthly production numbers are certainly
flattening and may be starting to drop. This may be the beginning of
a sustained drop in natural gas production or perhaps just a lull in
production increases. At this time, the answer isnt known for certain.
After all, production dropped in the first quarter of 2012 but then
rebounded to hit historic high levels. Certainly the answer matters to
natural gas consumers since natural gas prices are highly responsive
to natural gas supply. If natural gas production is dropping, prices are
likely to be well above $5 per MMBtu as the market recognizes movement into a supply short position. If, on the other hand, production
By Casey Whelan
remains steady or increases, prices likely will remain at $4 per MMBtu

or lower. For consumers who believe the downtrend will continue, it
may be a good time to get long. For those who believe the downtrend is transitory, maintaining a short position is the best strategy.
Corn Report
Corn demand picture a moving target
BY JASON SAGEBIEL
2012
Mar 13 Change
April 29The corn market has been under pressure for most
U.S. acres 97,155 97,282 +127
of the year as money exits agriculture type commodities. In addition,
follow-through selling came as the USDA placed a bearish undertone
in the March stocks report. However, the market will shift to the
fundmental perspective. First, old crop supplies are tight or in tight
hands reflected by the very firm basis levels exhibited throughout
the U.S. Secondly, new crop prices will be under pressure with even
below trend line yields but planting delays could cause some immediate concern.
Corn movement from the producer has been vitually nonexistent since the March stocks report. With lower prices, producers have
been less excited about moving corn as their attention focuses on the
next crop, therefore, cash markets have been historically tight. This
should keep old crop supported at values observed in April.
With recent moisture, the new crop outlook is more optimistic The March corn planting intentions compared to the 2012 acreage numbers, showing
change up or down in each state in thousands of acres.
but one would not assume trend line yields are achievable. With more
acreage slated in areas that are historically less productive the national SOURCE: USDA
yield curve will see a drag. However, without a drought at the magni- termined by price throughout the 2013-14 marketing campaign. New
tude of last year, new crop production is much more promising this crop corn will hold $5.20 support levels until better yield prospects
year. The demand picture will be a moving target and that will be de- are more defined.
report
Regional Ethanol Prices

Front Month Futures (AC) $2.440
($/gallon)
REGION
SPOT
RACK
West Coast
2.695
2.750
Midwest
2.480
2.650
East Coast
2.650
2.841
SOURCE: DTN
Regional Gasoline Prices
DDGS Report
DDGS price drops as percentage of

corn BY SEAN BRODERICK
April 29As May begins, the
DDGS market is paying close attention
to planting delays and the impact on corn
availability for the rest of the summer, until harvest. The rapid futures price drops,
as seen after last months report, enabled
ethanol plants to lock in margins through
May, and ensured sufficient DDGS supplies through the month. Since then, announcements of restarting idled ethanol
plants pushed the DDGS-as-a-percentage
of corn number from 99 percent down
into the low 90s, as buyers assumed more
production coming.
Demand, which traditionally starts to
drop off with the warmer spring weather,
has been steady, but prices have dropped
since the end of March. Wet/modified
distillers grains demand has started to
drop off and plants that shipped their
product locally for the winter are now

loading cars and pressuring the destination markets. Export container demand
from the Chicago area, which is usually the
premium market, has seen product being
shipped into it from as far away as western
Iowa. Barge shipments, which were dicey
because of low water in March, were being shelved because of high water. That
tonnage is needed in other destinations,
namely trucks into Chicago.
Looking ahead, plant margins are
going to be affected by the availability of
old crop corn, which will influence their
production, and the DDGS supply. As of
late April, it was still profitable to make
ethanol and the resulting DDGS supply
is expected to depress the percentage of
corn calculation. A spike in corn prices
will reverse that process.
($/gallon)
Front Month Futures Price (RBOB) $2.8349
REGION
SPOT
RACK
West Coast
2.911
3.068
Midwest
3.325
3.083
East Coast
2.692
3.216
SOURCE: DTN
DDGS Prices ($/ton)

location
MAY 2013
JUN 2013
Minnesota
235
220
JUN 2012
210
Chicago
270
238
226
Buffalo, N.Y.
258
230
229
Central Calif.
305
280
258
Central Fla.
296
258
236
SOURCE: CHS Inc.
Corn Futures Prices

Date
(May Futures, $/bushel)
High
Low
Close
APR 30, 2013
6.69
6.47 3/4
6.50
MAR 28, 2013
7.16 1/4
6.76
6.76
APR 30, 2012
6.34 3/4
6.20 1/2
6.34 1/4
SOURCE: FCStone
Cash Sorghum Prices ($/bushel)

LOCATION
APR 20,
2013
MAR 28,
2013
APR 25,
2012
Superior, Neb.
5.48
6.71
6.21
Beatrice, Neb.
5.69
6.65
6.17
Gasoline demand: Better late than never
Sublette, Kan.
5.88
6.76
6.22
Salina, Kan.
5.48
6.75
6.22
BY RICK KMENT
Triangle, Texas
6.01
6.77
6.27
April 29Despite the pressure in the

corn market seen over the past couple of
weeks, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. Both gasoline and ethanol
prices are starting to rebound as demand
for fuel starts to pick up speed in front
of the summer driving season. Despite a
35 cent per gallon price erosion over the
past months, in late April in just one week
implied demand for gasoline rebounded
and inventory levels started to fall. The
outlook for ethanol demand has also improved over the past couple of weeks with
inventory levels falling below year-ago levels.
Gulf, Texas
6.96
7.30
6.80
Ethanol Report
For ethanol to maintain demand

growth, gasoline demand needs to improve significantly. Ethanol usage throughout the country is directly correlated with
overall demand for gasoline. There are still
a lot of questions concerning economic
strength that need to be answered over the
coming weeks. But smaller inventory levels and increased implied demand in the
latest U.S. Energy Information Administration report is creating hope that overall
gasoline and ethanol demand may not be
as sluggish as previously thought.
SOURCE: Sorghum Synergies
Natural Gas Prices
($/MMBtu)
LOCATION
APR 26, 2013
APR 1, 2013
MAY 1, 2012
NYMEX
4.25
3.98
2.04
NNG Ventura
4.12
4.26
2.07
CA Citygate
4.25
4.34
2.13
SOURCE: U.S. Energy Services Inc.
U.S. Ethanol Production
(1,000 barrels)
Per day
Month
End stocks
FEB 2013
809
22,645
19,580
JAN 2013
804
24,935
20,558
FEB 2012
919
26,653
22,572
SOURCE: U.S. Energy Information Administration
distilled
Ethanol News & Trends
IEA calls for accelerated biofuel development
Billion liters
The
International 3.20 Global biofuels production
Energy Agency recently
Projections
2DS target
Advanced
250
made its annual report to
Other
Biodiesel
the Clean Energy Minis200
Ethanol
terial, which is comprised
150
of representatives of
100
countries responsible for
Conventional
50
approximately 80 percent
Biodiesel
Ethanol
0
of the worlds greenhouse
2000
2005
2010
2015
2020
gas (GHG) emissions.
The IEA reported that renewable technologies are one of the few bright fuels and government funding for research and
spots in an otherwise bleak assessment of global production is needed.
Under the scenario, 6 percent of global
progress towards clean energy.
transportation
fuel demand would be met by
Regarding biofuels, the IEA said that calow-carbon
fuels
by 2020. Nearly 80 percent of
pacity must more than double by 2020 to meet
that
demand
would
be met by 240 billion liters of
the 2 degree Celsius scenario (2DS) targets. The
biofuel.
Currently,
biofuels
meet only 2.3 percent
2DS describes an energy system that is projected
of
global
liquid
fuel
demand.
to give an 80 percent chance of limiting average
global temperature increases to 2 degrees Celsius.
To reach the prescribed biofuel target, the IEA
said more dedicated support for advanced bio-
Calif. plant to produce

advanced biofuel
The Aemetis Advancced Fuels Keyes Inc.
facility in Keyes, Calif., is preparing to produce
advanced biofuel. The plant was idled in January for planned maintenance and to prepare to
produce grain sorghum ethanol. Startup commenced in April with corn feedstock, with the
plan to move towards grain sorghum or a blend
of the two inputs to maximize operating income.
About $5 million of capital investment
and new working capital has been invested since
mid-January for maintenance and to enable the
plant to produce advanced biofuel in a flexible configuration that enables the use of multiple feedstocks and energy sources, said Eric
McAfee, chairman and CEO of Aemetis.
Additional plant improvements are expected to be made soon. Late last year, the company
announced it would install Edeniqs Cellunator
technology. According to Aemetis, a schedule
for that installation should be in place soon.
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ICE and CME launch

futures contracts for RINs
EIA reveals final 2012 ethanol data
IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) has announced the introduction of new North American environmental futures contracts for
three categories of renewable identification numbers (RINs): D4
biomass-based diesel RINs, D5 advanced biofuel RINs and D6 renewable fuel RINs.
The decision to introduce the RIN contracts was based on discussions with ICE customers and in response to the risk management needs they face, according to Brookly McLaughlin, ICE communications director. The ability to hedge positions in a transparent
and regulated futures market will enable market participants, such as
those with exposure to renewable fuel compliance obligation, to better manage price moves in the market, she said. ICE is currently focused on D4, D5 and D6 RINs, but would consider adding contracts
for D3 cellulosic biofuel and D7 cellulosic diesel RINs in the future,
based on market demand and consumer feedback.
CME Group has also announced the launch of future contracts
for D4, D5 and D6 RINs. "With the recent increase in volatility in
RINs prices, we've seen strong interest from our customers and other
market participants for cost-effective ways to manage their risk in this
market," said Gary Morsches, managing director of global energy at
CME.
Ethanol consumption, use and imports

Production (in million gallons)
Net imports (in thousand barrels)
Consumption (in million gallons)
2008
9,309
12,610
9,683
2009
10,938
4,720
11,037
2010
13,298
-9,115
12,858
2011
13,929
-24,365
12,893
2012
13,300
-6,002
12,946
The U.S. Energy Information Administration published ethanol production, use and export data for the entire 12 months of last year in a recent issue
of its Monthly Energy Review. While production was down slightly from 2011,
the data revealed a slight increase in consumption from 2011 to 2012.
The U.S. ethanol industry produced approximately 13.3 billion gallons of
ethanol in 2012, a slight reduction compared to the 13.93 billion gallons produced in the prior year.
Consumption, however, increased from 12.89 billion gallons in 2011
to 12.95 billion gallons in 2012. According to EIA data, the net import level
for 2012 was -6 million barrels. In comparison, the net import level for 2011
reached -24.93 million barrels.
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EIA reports increase in E85 consumption

Estimated quantity of alternatively
fueled vehicles made avaible in 2012
Compressed natural gas
11,664
Electricity
79,082
E85
2,466,743
Hydrogen
100
Liquified natural gas
284
Liquified petroleum gas
1,812
Diesel-electric hybrid
1,264
Gasoline-electric hybrid
416,542
The U.S. Energy Information Administration released updated data on alternative

fuels and vehicles in April, noting that E85
consumption increased 52 percent from
2010 through 2011. Overall consumption of
all alternative fuels, including E85, hydrogen,
electricity, natural gas and propane, increased

only 13 percent over the same time frame.
In 2011, approximately 515.62 million
gasoline-equivalent gallons of alternative
transportation fuels were consumed in the
U.S. E85 accounted for nearly 137.17 gasoline-equivalent gallons of that amount, trailing only natural gas in volume.
The EIA reported that the consumption
of E10 remained flat between 2010 and 2011
due to the blend wall. This limitation shifted
more ethanol into the E85 market in 2011.
More E85-capable vehicles were available in the U.S. during 2011 than any other
alternatively fueled vehicle. For 2012, the EIA
projected there would be nearly 2.47 million
E85-capable vehicles on the road, including
623,191 automobiles, 363,115 vans and minivans, and 717,795 light duty trucks and SUVs.
Sweet sorghum plant

project advances
Preparation activities for the first sweet sorghum
ethanol plant in the U.S. are well-underway. The 20
MMgy plant is under development by Southeast Renewable Fuels LLC in Hendry County, Fla.
According to Aaron Pepper, CEO of Southeast Renewable Fuels, the process technology for
the plant is being supplied by Uni-Systems do Brasil
Ltda, which is also building the plant. Financing for
the project was arranged through the Bank of Brazil.
The plant has been under development for
several years. The project was awarded a $2.5 million
Florida Department of Energy grant in March 2009.
Financing and permitting activities were underway
when a third-party issue halted process on the project.
The project is once again active, with groundwork having begun in April. The first equipment is
expected to arrive in October, with expected startup
in January 2015.
The complete facility will include a 25 MW combined-heat-and-power plant that takes in bagasse as
feedstock. The project also includes carbon dioxide
capture.
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UK consumed record
amounts of ethanol in 2012
Fertilizer plant to
co-locate with ND
ethanol producer
UK ethanol consumption
Q1 2010 Q2 2010 Q3 2010 Q4 2010 Q1 2011 Q2 2011 Q3 2011 Q4 2011 Q1 2012 Q2 2012 Q3 2012 Q4 2012
Volume (in million liters)
Percent of gasoline
167
149
161
153
148
154
162
188
178
197
169
203
3.40%
2.80%
3.10%
3.00%
3.10%
3.10%
3.30%
3.80%
3.90%
4.10%
4.20%
4.30%
SOURCE: U.K. Department of Energy & Climate Change
The United Kingdom experienced a record year for ethanol consumption in 2012.
The U.K. Department of Energy & Climate
Change recently released updated energy
statistics, noting that ethanol accounted for
55 percent of the biofuels consumed in the
U.K. last year. Following six years of trailing
biodiesel consumption, 2012 marked the
first time the U.K. consumed more ethanol
than biodiesel.
According to the DECC, ethanol consumption increased by approximately 19
percent in 2012, from 652 million liters

(172.24 million gallons) in 2011 to an alltime high of 774 million liters last year.
The share of ethanol was even higher
during the fourth quarter of 2012 than it
averaged the rest of the year. Ethanol consumption increased 8.2 percent during the
quarter, from 188 million liters to a record
203 million liters. During the quarter, ethanol accounted for 64 percent of the U.K.s
biofuel consumption.
Colorado-based Agrebon Inc. is preparing to co-locate a nitrogen fertilizer production facility at the 153 MMgy Tharaldson Ethanol Inc. plant in Casselton, N.D. The project
is currently in the financing stage.
Once complete, the new facility would
produce urea, anhydrous ammonia and urea
ammonium nitrate from biogas produced
from ethanol stillage.
According to Scott Dyer, chief science officer and co-owner of Agrebon, an agreement
with business development partner Progressive Nutrient Systems is already in place. The
agreement with Tharaldson Ethanol is also
near completion.
North Dakota-based Leading Edge Angel
Fund LLC is raising equity funds for the project to supplement local investment. The fertilizer plant could break ground midsummer and
be operational within six months.
SARY
R
E
V
A N NI
y

Q&A
Practicing the Golden Rule

Employees are the No.1 asset of Big River Resources LLC and Deb Green
is tasked with seeing to it they are well-trained, safe and happy.
Interview by Tim Portz
Maintaining the roster of full-time
employees at Big River Resources falls to
Deb Green, human resources manager.
Staffing four ethanol production facilities
and two grain handling terminals,
Green relies heavily upon her existing
team to welcome new employees into
the company, pass along vital skills and
assure employee safety. Recognizing that
these critical initiatives are widely varied,
the company keeps things simple by
distilling all of them down to a companywide focus on the Golden Rule to help
boost company morale.
How many people are employed

across the organization and what
percentage of those folks have to
be replaced each year because of
retirement or attrition?
Big River Resources employs and is
a management company for 237 full-time
employees. The company also employs some
part-time and seasonal help with the grain
elevator facilities. The turnover rate per year is
about 11 percent.
Most of the jobs at an operating

ethanol plant are relatively
technical in nature. Is it difficult
to find candidates with the right
technical background?
Big River Resources performs on-thejob training, which provides process-related
employees the skill sets needed to operate
efficiently. The position that we have recently
had a difficult time filling was qualified
instrumentation/electrician. This varies per
site or territory.
What have you found works best

from a recruiting standpoint? Are
you always in an active state of
recruiting, or do you only begin
looking when there is a specific
job opening or need?
When there is a job opening, Big River
Resources posts the position internally first.
Several of our managers have been promoted
from entry level positions. Many excellent
employees have been found from employee
referrals. Big River Resources also has an
online application website. Newspaper helpwanted ads are also used to find applicants.
Big River Resources is able to keep an
applicant listing for some positions. This
accelerates the hiring process. There are other
positions that recruiting begins upon a job
opening.
Can you talk a little bit about the

training program youve developed
for new employees?
Training is ongoing at Big River
Resources. For most positions, employees are
trained through on-the-job training by the site
employees. Once an employee is hired, the
second itemafter new hire paperworkis
harassment and violence training. After this
training, the new hire has an extensive safety
training program to complete. This program
is coordinated through the safety manager and
the site safety/environmental coordinator.
Once safety training is completed, the
employee begins on-the-job training.
Throughout the year for all employees,
additional formal safety and vendor training is
performed. Key personnel also use their skills
for operational training. Supervisor training,
team building, and other performance
enhancement training are available throughout
the year.
New employees receive an introductory

period review evaluation at 45 and 90 days.
This allows the manager to concentrate
specifically on the new hire. If the review
shows the new hire is having an issue in
a specific performance area, a different
training strategy may be implemented to
assist the employee. In the past, we have
found significant improvement in the next
evaluation. This is thanks to recognizing there
was an issue early and addressing it by another
method that worked better for the employee.
The state of Iowa has an excellent
training grant program that is available for
new, existing, and expanding facilities. This
grant was used at our two Iowa facilities and
was instrumental in helping with the initial
bulk cost of getting new staff trained.
How has it evolved as the

organization has grown?
The training process has become more
streamlined. As everyone gets familiar with
their jobs, they can focus and adjust to what
works well and what does not work well.
For example, the introductory period
review evaluation form was implemented
after a few new hires were not performing at
90 days. We wanted to make certain the new
hires were given the chance to be successful at
Big River Resources. This chance begins with
a successful training time frame.
Are you finding more and more

applicants with industry-specific
experience now that the industry
is mature?
Yes, for the exempt (salaried) positions,
as these employees are more likely to relocate.
However, the turnover rate for exempt
positions is very low at Big River Resources.
Occasionally applicants with previous ethanol
experience apply for nonexempt (hourly)
positions.
Q&A
How important is employee morale

for the organization?
Enormous, ginormous, astronomic,
gigantic. A negative attitude is not tolerated at
Big River Resources. If an employee possesses
a toxic attitude, the attitude can quickly infect
other employees, and be detrimental to
morale. Regardless of the skill sets the
employee may possess, the employee has a
choice to correct their attitude or be relieved
[to pursue] other opportunities.
How does Big River positively

affect employee morale?
Do you think it is an advantage

from a staffing perspective to
have multiple production facilities?
After all, ethanol producers with
only one facility cant reach out to
another lab manager or general
manager if they get stuck, have
turnover or other issues.
PHOTO: PHIL POOL, OMNI PHOTOGRAPHY
Big River Resources believes employees

are its most important asset. Therefore, we
take every opportunity to shine, polish, and
protect our most important asset.
The company is diligent to train, careful
to coach and counsel, and thoughtful through
difficult personal life events. Managers have
been given the leeway to care for employees
and be considerate during unexpected life
events. Do unto others as you would have
them do unto you is the company culture. It
starts with the board of directors and senior
managers and gets absorbed into the entire
staff. Positive morale can be difficult to keep
at times, but the company culture definitely
helps with morale and, ultimately, retention.
The advantage of multiple production

facilities is administrative staff. For example,
one senior manager (general manager,
financial director, etc.) for four facilities is
more cost effective than one for each.
In regard to one facility not being able
to be reach out to another, quite the contrary.
One facility can and does reach out to other
facilities within the industry. A company does
not need to own multiple facilities for this to
happen. While this is common within the
industry, it is not universal. It does depend
on the culture of the company.
The ethanol industry requires a
marketplace to survive. One production
facility is not capable of supplying the entire
marketplace and government-mandated
usage. This tends to aid the ethanol industry
in functioning with a collaborated effort. It
is not uncommon for one facility to contact
another facility within any department. The
relationships are built through organizations
and previous experiences and the opportunity
to assist another facility, if needed, is
welcomed. Big River Resources participates
in this, both within and outside of its own
organization.
Big River Resources has contacted other
ethanol companies for parts in an emergency
breakdown and has eagerly assisted other
companies in the same situation. The industry
benchmarks wages and company stats,
assisting facilities in finding the strengths and
potential weaker areas. When a new project is
being considered, it is not uncommon for a
company to seek advice from another facility.
In a unique way, certain companies within
the ethanol industry function as a team. If one
team member needs something, the others
are eager to oblige within the constraints of
potential confidentiality agreements.
PERSONNEL
PERSONNEL
67%
say they are happy
with their jobs
2013 US
Ethanol Industry
Salary Survey
The latest salary survey
includes data on everything
from total plant payroll,
previous job experience
of employees, the most
important factors in job
satisfaction and more.
By Holly Jessen
In the years since Ethanol Producer Magazine conducted its last salary survey, which was carried out in
2009 and published in early 2010, readers have repeatedly asked when it would be updated. Wait no longer. The
results of the 2013 U.S. Ethanol Plant Personnel Compensation & Job Satisfaction Survey are in.
More than 2,000 emails were sent out to U.S. ethanol plant employees
and 367 responded, a nearly 20 percent increase from the number of respondents in 2009. The online survey, which was open for about two and
a half weeks, closed April 10. The survey was comprised of 38 questions.
Respondents who said they are corporate management or general managers
PERSONNEL
were directed to a separate set of questions

regarding the plant as a whole, such as total
payroll for the plant and the best methods
for filling open positions at the facility.
The data was self-reported without random sampling techniques. While this means
the results may not be representative of the
ethanol industry as a whole it does provide
an interesting snapshot of the ethanol plant
employees who answered the survey.
Who Are They?
The survey reveals some basic demographic data about respondents. Nearly 39
percentthe highest percentage reported
work at midsize facilities with capacities of
40 to 59 MMgy. Another 37 percent work
at 100 MMgy or larger plants. In contrast,
the 2009 survey showed 47 percent were at
midsize plants while only 28 percent were at
100 MMgy or larger plants.
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PERSONNEL
The highest percentage of respondents, or 77 percent, report that the ethanol plants they work at are operating at
90 to 100 percent of capacity. Only 5 percent, or a total of 17 survey takers, say the
plant they work at is currently idle. Another 3 percent, or just nine people, say
the plant is shut down.
A full 97 percent of the respondents
work full time at a U.S. ethanol plant.
Male employees are much more prevalent,
coming in at 77 percent of the total. The
23 percent of women respondents holds
fairly steady from the 24 percent of women in the 2009 survey. Of current women
respondents, 62 percent are lab managers, lab techs or environment health and
safety workers. No female maintenance
managers, plant managers, lead operators,
operators or maintenance technicians responded to the survey.
More respondents, or a total of 41
percent, are college graduates than any
other education category. More than 14
percent went on to do post-graduate work
or completed post-graduate degrees. Another 30 percent have post-high school
vocational/technical training or have taken some college courses and 13 percent
have completed a high school degree or
GED. Just four survey takers, or 1 percent
of the total, had completed only some
high school education.
Looking at years
worked in the ethanol
industry, the categories
theyve worked in
of 7 to 9 years and 5 to say
the ethanol industry
for
5-9
years
6 years are tied for first
place, with 27 percent
of the total reporting each one. Another
17 percent have worked in the ethanol
industry 10 to 14 years. Only 3 percent
have worked in the industry 20 to 29 years
and 1 percent 30 years or more. On the
other end of the spectrum, 1 percent have
worked in the industry less than one year.
The majority of respondents, or 68
percent, say they have only worked at one
ethanol plant. Another 18 percent say they
have worked at two ethanol plants in the
past 10 years. In answer to a question about

in what industry they had received the majority of their experience, more respondents
(36 percent) say the ethanol industry than
any other category. The agriculture industry
comes in behind ethanol, at 19 percent of
the total. When management answers that
question for the plant as a whole, the agriculture industry is the clear winner, with 66
percent saying their employees received the
majority of their experience in the ag industry before taking a job at an ethanol plant.
Lets Talk Dollars
Undoubtedly, information on salary,

benefits and bonuses draws a lot of attention. This year, for the first time, EPM asked
survey takers with positions in management
to report on total plant payroll, including
benefits. Of the 29 corporate or general
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PERSONNEL
Twenty-nine ethanol plant managers were asked to select salary ranges for 15 positions.
The highest percentage in each salary category is highlighted for emphasis.
37%
Corporate management
(owner, partner, president, CEO, COO, etc.)
General manager
30%
Controller/CFO
4%
Commodities manager
26%
16%
25%
4%
45%
23%
16%
31%
32%
Lab manager
20%
12%
Operations manager
Plant manager
8%
27%
28%
4%
Maintenance manager
11%
20%
42%
29%
21%
33%
8%
38%
33%
4%
27%
40%
13%
7%
13%
Boiler technician
18%
9%
4%
Environmental health and safety

Lead operator
4%
Operator
Lab technician
00
-$150,00
Maintenance technician
ore
,000 or m
$200
31%
4%
Plant engineer
$199,999
-$100,0
$149,999
$99,99
0
9-$75,00
40%
18%
23%
4%
,000
60
$74,999-$
PERSONNEL
11%
8%
4%
4%
28%
8%
8%
4%
4%
8%
4%
4%
4%
13%
7%
27%
47%
41%
50%
22%
11%
44%
0,000
5
$59,000-$
14%
23%
7%
59%
52%
41%
0
9-$40,00
9
,9
9
4
$
19%
33%
11%
$40,000
Less than
managers who answered, all but

one report payrolls in the millions,
with 20 of them saying it is in the
$2 million to $3.8 million range.
Two say total payroll is $10 million
or $10.5 million. The lowest total
payroll is $125,000. Its unknown
if that figure is for an idled plant
with a limited staff or perhaps a
mistaken entry in the survey. The
next lowest number is $1.5 million.
Managers reporting for the
plant as a whole also gave salary
ranges for 15 job titles. For some
positions, there is a salary range
that came out as a clear winner,
with at least 40 percent or more
managers reporting the same salary
range for the job and the remaining answers spread out among the
other categories at much lower
percentage totals. The numbers
show most managers report that
boiler technicians, operators and

lab technicians are paid between
$40,000 and $49,999. Most environmental health/safety employees and lead operators are in the
$50,000 to $59,999 category. Lab
managers are most often put in the
salary range of $60,000 to $74,999.
Maintenance managers and plant
engineers are most often in the
$75,000 to $99,999 range. General
managers fell into the $100,000 to
$149,999 salary range.
The remaining job titles fell
into more than one category of
salary ranges. For instance, the salary of maintenance technicians is
fairly evenly split between two categories, ranging from $40,000 to
$59,999. Controllers/chief financial officers and operation managers also dont fall into a clear salary
range, instead the majority of man-
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PERSONNEL
agers report salary ranges for both

jobs are spread across three categories, starting at $60,000 and topping
out at $149,999. Finally, the most
common salary ranges of commodities managers and plant managers lie
across two categories, ranging from
$75,000 to $149,999.
Going back to questions asked
of all survey takers, 22 percent of
respondents say their salary ranges
from $100,000 to $149,999, the
highest percentage total of all the
categories. The ranges of $75,000
to $99,999 and $60,000 to $74,999
follow at 21 and 18 percent, respectively. Only 9 percent, or a total of
28 survey takers, have salaries of less
than $40,000 and only 3 percent, or
10 survey takers, have salaries of
$200,000 or more. The 2009 survey
takers report somewhat lower sala-
Hours in a typical work week
6%
11%
55-59 hours
20%
50-54 hours
60-69 hours
33%
1%
70 hours
45-49 hours
or more
71%
not compensated for overtime
78%
of plant managers
work 50+ hours
per week
19%
19%
41-44 hours
paid time and a half
8%
40 hours
2%
Less than
40 hours
ries overall. At that time, the largest percentage of respondents were paid between
$60,000 and $74,000 and another 17 percent were paid less than $40,000.
The majority of this years survey takers work between 41 and 54 hours a week.
The categories with the two highest percentages are 33 percent working between
45 and 49 hours and 20 percent working
between 50 and 54 hours. Only 12 percent
work between 55 and 59 hours and another
6 percent work 60 and 69 hours a week.
Notably, 71 percent of survey takers say
they are not compensated for overtime.
Only 19 percent say they are paid time and
a half for overtime.
Overall, the survey shows that 64 percent of respondents feel they are compensated about right for their work. In comparison, 32 percent feel they are compensated
PERSONNEL
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is deserved or not. The results of the 2009

salary survey also show that ethanol plant
employees are receiving raises. At that time,
51 percent received a raise in the previous
12 months.
The most recent survey also shows
that 69 percent of respondents received
monetary bonuses in the past 12 months.
About 40 percent say their bonus was between $1,000 and $4,900. Another 13 percent say they got bonuses between $5,000
and $7,499. Interestingly, the next highest
category is a tie, with exactly 11.61 percent
receiving a bonus of less than $1,000 and
another 11.61 percent getting $10,000 to
$14,999.
On the benefits side, the majority of respondents report receiving health insurance
(96 percent), 401(k) packages (92 percent),
dental insurance (89 percent) and life insurance (88 percent). Another 75 percent are
offered disability insurance and 60 percent
cell phones. The least commonly offered benefits are

company vehicles, stock
say promoting within
options and incentive pay, the plant is most
way to fill
ranging from 11 percent to effective
positions
6 percent.
When it comes to hiring, 59 percent of
plant management answering for the plant
as a whole say promoting from within is the
most effective method of filling positions at
their facilities. Another 34 percent say promoting from within is sometimes effective.
Next in the lineup comes word of mouth,
which 24 percent say is very effective and 62
percent say is sometimes effective. Managers had the lowest confidence in job fairs,
with none considering them very effective, 7
percent considering them sometimes effective, 10 percent neutral and 3 percent usually
ineffective.
59%

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too little. Notably, 2 percent, or 7 people,

admit they are compensated too much.
Despite difficult times facing the ethanol industry, 68 percent say they have received a raise in the last 12 months. Of
those receiving raises, most, or 31 percent,
received a 3 percent raise. Between 9 and
11 percent received raises of 4 percent, 5
percent or 6 to 9 percent. Only 6 percent
received raises of 10 to 14 percent while
another 5 percent received a raise of 15
percent or more. Notably, 85 percent received their raises without being promoted
or any change in responsibility. The vast
majority (79 percent) say salary reviews are
offered annually. Another 13 percent say
there is no regular schedule for salary reviews. One person, who checked the other
category, comments that all workers get the
same 2 percent raise once a year, whether it
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june 2013 | Ethanol Producer Magazine

C
PERSONNEL
69%
received a raise in
68% the past 12 months
received a bonus in
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100%
64%
73%
of those who received

a bonus were not
compensated for
overtime
say they are paid

about right
of lab techs say

they got raises
and bonuses
40%
of bonuses were
$1,000-$5,000
90%
of those who worked

at a plant running
80%+ capacity,
received a
bonus
85%
say the raise is not

a result of a
promotion or
change in
responsibility
PERSONNEL
Compensation aside, how satisfied are

you with your current position?
17%
Extremely
Satisfied
51% Very
Satisfied
22%
Somewhat
Satisfied
4% Unsatisfied
6%
Very Unsatisfied
= One person
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Job Satisfaction
51%
Setting the issue of

compensation aside, the said they were
majority of survey tak- satisfied with the jobs
ers report being happy
with their jobs at ethanol
plants. In all, 51 percent say they are very
satisfied with their jobs and 17 percent are
extremely satisfied. Another 23 percent
are somewhat satisfied. The last two categories, very unsatisfied and unsatisfied,
are made up of only 6 and 4 percent of
the total.
Looking at what factors are most important in job satisfaction reveals that the
No. 1 most important thing is job security, with 60 percent of the total rating it
as very important. A positive atmosphere
(49 percent rates this as very important),
good benefits package (48 percent) and
competitive salary (47 percent), follows

close behind. A challenging work environment is also important, with 40 percent of respondents rating this category
as very important. A short commute is at
the bottom, with only 14.8 percent rating
this as very important to job satisfaction.
In all, 42 percent say they arent considering a new job, presently. Another 40
percent say they arent currently looking
for a new job but would consider it, if a
good opportunity came along. Only 11
percent are actively looking for a new job
and 6 percent are strongly considering
starting a job search.
Author: Holly Jessen
Managing Editor, Ethanol Producer Magazine
701-738-4946
hjessen@bbiinternational.com
Human Resources
Human Resources
More Than
Just Staff
Attracting and retaining
a team of dedicated and
motivated employees is
integral to company success.
By hollyjessen
Like any industry, ethanol production

companies face hiring challenges. For facilities
located in rural areas, it can prove difficult to find experienced workers willing to relocate to small-town America.
Another potential frustration is putting time and company
resources into training employees who can be lured away
into industries who may be able to offer more competitive
Human Resources
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I get excited talking about our team.

We have a really good team and I could go
on for a really long time.
Tom Griffin,
Chief Technology Officer for Edeniq Inc.
compensation packages. We have been a

heck of a training ground for industries
that can pay far more than we can, says
Tom Willis, CEO of Conestoga Energy
Partners LLC, which operates three ethanol plants in Kansas and Texas.
The importance of hiring the right
person for the right position adds another
layer. Scott McDermott, a partner at Ascendant Partners Inc., puts it this way. In
the end you want to select the best talent
not necessarily just staff, he says.
Neal Jakel, general manager of Illinois River Energy LLC, tells Ethanol Producer Magazine that strong teams and employees arent created overnight. It takes
time and patience to find and develop a
great team, he says. He also points out
that ethanol plants are highly technical
businesses that require optimization, adding that its essential that the workforce
has strong technical skills. If you dont
have a technical work force from the information technology to the maintenance
department, a facility will be leaving opportunity, i.e. money, on the table, which
in these very tough economic times is not
a prudent business practice.
Brian Thome, CEO of Edeniq Inc.,
said developing the right team is of paramount importance to the development
companysecond only to safety. Edeniq, which is working on technologies for
corn-ethanol facilities as well as secondgeneration cellulosic ethanol, doubled its
workforce from 50 to 100 employees in
2012. The No. 1 focus during the hiring

process is finding people who are a good
fit for the team, he says. For Edeniq that
means idea generators who work well in a
team structure.
Tom Griffin, Edeniqs chief technology officer, is passionate about the topic
of finding the right employees and then
keeping them motivated. For Edeniq,
one make-or-break interview question is
whether the applicant has a passion for
biofuels, because those people are more
likely to become sustained long-term employees. Asked to talk about an employee
success story, Griffin said he started with
a list of 15 employees and whittled it
down to six coming from diverse backgrounds, experience and educational levels. I get excited talking about our team,
he says, adding that he found it difficult
to narrow the list down. We have a really
good team and I could go on for a really
long time.
Company Culture
One of the biggest difficulties facing employers is employees who come to

work, punch a time clock and do as little
as they can get away with until its time
to go home, says Betsey Upchurch, CEO
of P4 Consulting. They have complaints
about the things their managers do but
they, and often their managers, dont have
the skills or ability to create resolution.
So they just kind of grumble, grumble,
grumble and resist, she says, in her soft
Human resources
In every
company
that we
work with
in any
industry, people leave
because of their boss
most often. If you dont
want your good people
to leave then you
have to have talented
management.
Betsey Upchurch, CEO of P4 Consulting
Southern drawl. With margins like they

are, you cant afford that. Youve got to
have people there, working hard, paying
attention and bringing things that are
a problembefore they are a big problemto your attention.
P4 Consulting works with companies, including ethanol plants, on improving company culture for better success
and profitability. Basically, it boils down
to helping leaders lead and firing up employees so they are excited and engaged,
rather than just punching a time clock,
she says. The first step is assessing current
company culture in four areas and identifying what it does well and in what areas it needs to do some growing. The list
starts with evaluating the companys mission or vision. Do people know where
they are going and why its important?
she asks. Clear policies and procedures allow a company to be consistent in execution. The next key point is empowering
employees to work, grow and develop.
Finally, theres adaptability, which allows
companies to move quickly in response to
market signals and produce consistently
quality products.
Improvement in weak areas starts
with the leaders because the company
culture, good or bad, is a direct reflection
of what those at the top are doing. In every company that we work with in any industry, people leave because of their boss
most often, she says. If you dont want
your good people to leave then you have
to have talented management. In her line
of work, Upchurch has encountered managers who run the gamut from terrible to
marvelous. Some dont have good management skills but they do have potential.
With a little development work, they end
up being great, she says.
Changing company culture is about
creating a senior team who know what
the company values are and understand
what they are asking of employees. The
next step is helping middle management
catch that vision and know their place in
it. Its about shifting power down, which
ultimately gives senior leaders more power, although it can be a difficult transition.
Upchurch describes it as asking leaders
to quit being in the doing end of things
and be in the inspiring, directing, creating,
strategic end of things, and leave the execution and tactical stuff to supervisors,
leads and front line.
Upchurch talked about two specific
projects at ethanol plants, in which P4
Consulting was able to help management
empower employees with positive results.
In the first example, teams of four to five
people became involved in the interviewing and hiring process for operator and
entry level jobs. When teams, including supervisors and leads, are in on in-
Human Resources
terviews there were fewer hiring misfires.

What happens is, they pick better to begin
with, she says. They ask hard questions
because its not fun for them when they
get someone thats not good to be on the
team. The second project took place at an
ethanol plant where employees were grumbling about pay levels. The feeling was that
FRACTIONATION
EXTRACTION
there was no clear system for determining

how much people got paid. A task force of
employees was assembled, with the direction that the executive team didnt want to
pay for seniority but rather ability and capability. The group examined each job and
assigned monetary value for knowledge and
skill levels. Under this system, employees
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dont get raises on specific timetables,

but when they reach specific markers.
Essentially, if someone comes to work
for the company, they know on day one
what they have to do to get raises, she
says. It works because one, they created
it, and two, they know what they have
to do to make more money. Turnover
and employee grumbling went down
significantly after the project was completed and it was revealed the plants
pay scale was actually pretty consistent.
Mostly people were in pretty much the
right spot but the difference was that
they knew they were, instead of guessing, she says. Basically when people
dont have information they just guess
the worst sometimes.
Conestoga Energy understands
the importance of cultivating a positive
company culture, Willis says. Established
in 2006, the company spent the first two
years trying to build a business, not a culture, and as a consequence didnt work
well as a team. In fact, Willis says, the
turnover rate in the first two-plus years
was about 90 percent. By focusing on
improving its company culture, training,
teamwork and empowering employees,
Conestoga Energy now has a 24 percent
turnover rate for its plant employees, a
number that is below industry average.
To get where it is today, the company spent a lot of time developing and
defining its core values. Beyond just
creating policies based on those values,
Conestoga Energy takes the extra step
of explaining why its important and
how it impacts employees (who they prefer to call teammates) and the company
in day-to-day operations. Under the old
corporate model of 25 years ago, Willis
says, the boss asked you to do somethingwhy? Because I told you so.
When employees understand the why
and are given the opportunity to give
their input on decisions, it leads to bet-
Human Resources
ter buy in and performance. We have

a saying that we succeed or well fail as
team, he says.
Of course, not every person will fit
into Conestoga Energys unique family
atmosphere, Willis explains. And not every team member is 100 percent happy
every day. But for the most part I think
our people would tell you they feel empowered, they know where were going,
why were going there and what their
role is, he says, adding that the company still has a long ways to go. Its like
golf, the quest of impossible to ever play
a perfect round of golf, he says. Every
day its, How do we get better?
McDermott agrees that its very important to have clear company goals that
tie into management goals and goals for
staff. They want to believe that their
leadership has a vision for the future for
the businesses, so they are not just kind
of swinging in the wind, he says.
Training, Compensation
Speaking about the difficulty of

competing for skilled workers with other
industries with deeper pocketbooks, Willis said Conestoga Energy works around
this by hiring untrained workers and
training them on the job. I can tell you
this, he says, its a heck of a lot easier
to try to grow them inside than it is to go
outside and try to recruit all the time.
The key is to hire people with potential,
desire and heart, things that cannot be
coached. Thats where on-the-job training and continuing education come in.
Youve got to invest in your people, he
says. You can spend all the money you
want on technologyand weve spent
a lot of money in capital investment in
technologybut they are only as good
as the people that run them.
Thome and Jakel also mentioned
the importance of professional development. Edeniq sets aside a budgeted
amount for ongoing professional development for each one of its employees. At
Illinois River Energy, in addition to the
training opportunities at a local community
college, the company is developing its own
in-house skill block program.
A challenging market environment
takes a toll on bonus and incentive pro-
grams, McDermott says. However, as the

labor markets improve, its important that
ethanol plants stay competitive, ideally with
compensation programs that combine performance incentives and profit sharing.
Companies that pay out only basic hourly
salary face challenges in keeping employees
motivated. What we have seen is, people
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PHOTO: EDENIQ
Human Resources
Stover Lesson Edeniq employee Cam Cast talks about feedstocks for
cellulosic ethanol. Edeniq doubled its workforce from 50 to 100 in 2012.
are not as engaged to make these improvements to keep these

plants competitive in that old structure, he says.
Companies are at an advantage when they understand that it
is in their best interest to make sure employees are offered performance incentive bonuses to help the plant reach for improvement
milestoneseven when margins are tight. Frankly, its the difference between these guys making money and losing money these
days, McDermott says.
And, its important that those bonus plans arent based exclusively on the companys financial performance, says Donna Funk,
a member of the accounting and consulting firm Kennedy and
Coe LLC. The plant production employees, they cant control
what you buy your grain for or what you sell your ethanol for, she
says. Reward metrics based on what employees can control, such
as plant cleanliness, safety and ethanol conversion rates, tend to
motivate better.
Of course, it isnt just about money. Theres no replacement
for management telling employees when they have done well, McDermott says. Staff knows when these companies are not doing
well and even if you arent able to necessarily compensate them,
you need to have recognition, he says.
There are a multitude of things companies can do to show
their employees they appreciate them. At Conestoga, Willis takes
the time to send each employee a personal birthday card as well as
quarterly meetings to thank team members. Jakel says Illinois River Energy gives awards for buying flex-fuel vehicles and clothing.
Then theres food, which Jakel referred to as the No. 1 motivator,
adding that a well fed employee is a happy employee.
On the day that EPM interviewed Thome, Edeniq was having
a barbeque, as part of a monthly employee luncheon schedule. On
National Pi Day, one of the employees brought in pies to share.
And two or three times a year the company plans family outings.
The next one on the schedule is a company softball game and barbeque. We work hard on making the environment fun for people
to be around and spend time together even outside the working
environment, Thome says.
Author: Holly Jessen
Managing Editor, Ethanol Producer Magazine
701-738-4946
hjessen@bbiinternational.com
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PROFILE
Whirlwind Work In a 1,000-hour run, the ICM laboratory

technicians who support the pilot plant keep busy running
multiple tests from samples they collect around the clock.
PHOTO: ICM
PROFILE
Gen
1+1.5+2
Equals Process Progress

A closer look at cellulosic
R&D by ICM Inc.
By Susanne Retka Schill
The Beast is parked along a wall near the door.

Auntie Em and Dorothy are rolled off to the side,
out of the way, as the number and size of reactors
have grown to demonstration scale at ICM Inc.s research facility in St. Joseph, Mo. The laboratories packed
with analytical machines hum at a fast pace.
Even on a quiet day between big integrated runs, more than a dozen people were running system trials, pulling samples to test and evaluate the data. On that March day, pilot plant supervisor Jon Licklider
and scientists Chris Gerken and Laers Malburg gave Ethanol Producer
Magazine a behind-the-scenes look at the research facility.
ICMs work on cellulosic conversion technology began in earnest
in 2009, with a $25 million grant awarded by U.S. DOE. The Kansas
PROFILE
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technology provider and engineering company that teamed up with Fagen Inc. to
build nearly two-thirds of the capacity in
the U.S. ethanol industry was shifting gears
to join the ranks of companies designing
the next generation of cellulosic ethanol
processes.
The initial work was done with the
refrigerator-size, flask-scale reactor called
the Beast. That soon scaled up to two reactors capable of handling 50-gallon batches, dubbed Auntie Em and Dorothy. The
Wizard of Oz theme is most appropriate,
as many in the ICM research and development team pulled up stakes from the heart
of Kansas, where ICM is headquartered
at Colwich, to move across the Missouri
River to St. Joseph, Mo.
As work progressed, the tanks grew
bigger and more numerous and personalized naming got dropped in favor
of numbered tanks. In all, there are five
15,000-gallon pilot fermenters and four
35,000-gallon hydrolysis/fermentation reactors housed in the pilot facility on the
LifeLine Foods LLC campus.
Once owned by a large oats processor,
the warehouse and processing plant were
turned into a food-grade corn products facility by the farmer cooperative AgraMarke
Quality Grains. ICM installed a 50 MMgy
ethanol plant to add value to excess starch

supplies, acquiring a 49 percent share in
LifeLine in the deal. With much of the old
warehouse standing empty, ICM utilized
unused space for both its starch-based and
cellulosic research and development.
In late November, the R&D team
completed a six-week, continuous, integrated run of the Generation 1.5 process.
Doing a 1,000-hour run is a whirlwind
experience. The laboratory is filled with
people running tests, all day and all night,
says Malburg. More than 2,000 samples
were pulled during the continuous run,
with about 10 tests run on each sample.
Some tests needed to be done as the run
progressed, while other fractions could
be labeled and set aside for later analysis.
Data was collected at every pump and every valve as well via the distributed control
system. In all, the data report was more
than 900 pages long in March, and growing.
The patent-pending Gen 1.5 cellulosic technology is built on two trademarked
and proprietary technologies that can be
implemented in stages: Select Milling
Technology and Fiber Separation Technology. Select milling has been installed
at about a dozen ethanol plants, demonstrating enhancements of 2 to 3 percent
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Starting Small ICM scientist Chris Gerken stands by the Beast, the flask reactor used in the early
stage of the companys cellulosic ethanol research.
PROFILE
PHOTO: BBI INTERNATIONAL, SUSANNE RETKA SCHILL
LDCommodities.com
Creating Opportunity
Since 1851.
Data Points Pilot plant supervisor Jon Licklider explains data collection
and analysis lies at the heart of researching new processes.
Stepping Up Technologies
Gen 1.5 is built on ICMs trademarked and proprietary Selective Milling Technology,
a process enhancement designed for first-generation corn-ethanol plants that offers a 2 to 3
percent ethanol yield boost and a 10 to 20 percent oil increase in the dozen or so plants that
have added the system so far. Going the next step with the new wet fractionation technology,
trademarked Fiber Separation Technology, will add another 2 to 3 percent increase in ethanol
yield and 15 to 20 percent on oil, says Kurt Dieker, ICM director of product development. Each of
those steps have been designed for a targeted payback of around a year.
Rather than going to a finer grind, the ICM process backs off to a coarser grind from the
hammermills to keep fiber sizes larger, followed by a secondary grind once the grain is slurried
and before liquefaction. The goal is liquefy everything but the insoluble fiber, he explains.
Theres a reason we went with wet fractionation. When you grind corn dry, the fiber grinds
just as well as everything else. When you grind corn wet, the fiber doesnt tear as easily. We
also want to macerate the germ because germ has 85 percent of the oil. By freeing the oil and
keeping the fiber molecules larger, he adds, that allows us to separate it more easily and get the
same or larger yield with less horsepower.
Efficiencies are gained in targeting solids, he says. A 56-pound bushel of corn amounts to
47 pounds of solids when moisture is subtracted. That is reduced in a prescreening step to 9 to 10
pounds going through selective milling. By concentrating the stream, horsepower requirements
and operational costs are reduced, he points out. The next step takes the 10 pounds down to 4
or 5 pounds of actual fiber content.
In shifting commodity markets and an uncertain political environment, giving the
customer options is important, says Dieker. The fiber can simply be separated and added back
to the distillers grains, creating more fermentation space by removing the unfermentable fiber
solids. The separated fibers can also become a new feed coproduct. For some markets that
will be preferred, in that it is a high-fiber, lower-protein supplement and they can add specific
components back in. Dairies, for instance, add specific fats for the positive impact on milk.
The third choice is to send the fiber into Gen 1.5 for conversion to cellulosic ethanol,
starting with a dilute acid pretreatment before going through enzymatic hydrolysis. Once again,
there are options. More than 80 percent of C5 sugars can be converted by first fermenting the
fiber mash with GM yeast, before sending it to the corn starch fermenter to complete the C6
fermentation. If the producer wants to avoid the use of GM yeasts for C6 conversion, forfeiting
that ethanol yield boost, another option is to send the hydrolyzed fiber to the corn mash for
fermentation with conventional yeasts. The fiber conversion achieves a rate of greater than 100
gallons per ton, while the overall gain is about 10 percent more ethanol per bushel of corn on
top of the gains from selective milling and fiber separation.
ICM estimates the Gen 1.5 payback will be a little under two years, if the value of the
cellulosic renewable identification number (RIN) stays high. If it doesnt, it would be closer to
three years, Dieker says. It also depends on what market youre inwhat youre getting for
your coproducts and what you value your fiber as, he says, adding that he suspects regional
patterns will develop based on feed market preferences.
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more ethanol and 10 to 20 percent greater

oil recovery. Similar enhancements may
be gained in ethanol and oil yields from
removing the fiber with the newest technology, even without taking the fiber to the
cellulosic conversion step. (See sidebar.)
Going the final step of converting the fiber to cellulosic ethanol brings the total
gain from Select Milling Technology, Fiber
Separation Technology and Gen 1.5 to 14
percent in ethanol production and about a
70 percent increase in oil recovery. Or, as
the ICM team likes to put it, allowing the
same ethanol production from 14 percent
less corn.
Ethanol producers going the cellulosic route will have a few more tasks on
the front end, says Gerken, whose scientific focus on the team is pretreatment and
enzymatic hydrolysis. A dilute acid pretreatment step hydrolyzes hemicellulose
to xylose while also fluffing the cellulosic
structure for the enzymatic action that
breaks down the cellulose to glucose. From
there, the pretreated fiber can take one of
two paths. In the hybrid hydrolysis and fermentation, the pretreated and hydrolyzed
fibers are first fermented in separate tanks
using genetically modified (GM) yeasts for
C5 conversion before being introduced
into the plants main fermenters. Some
ask why we do that, says Gerken about the
INT
UC
ROD
PHOTO: ICM
PROFILE
Driving Data Ongoing trials at ICMs pilot cellulosic biorefinery means a steady stream of samples
need analysis in the multiple laboratories supporting R&D.
two-stage fermentation, but you get some

added efficiencies, and you don't get to 14
percent unless you do that. If the producer doesnt want to go the GM route and is
willing to give up the C5 conversion, the
pretreated, hydrolyzed fiber fraction can be
sent directly to the corn starch-based mash
being fermented by conventional yeast.
From there on, the two processes are comingled through the back end of the plant.
Malburg, a yeast specialist on the team,
explains that ICM has worked with several

companies that are developing GM yeasts
for C5 conversion. The GM yeasts, however, will require federal approval before they
can be used commercially because they end
up in the distillers grains feed coproduct.
Those [yeast] suppliers are in different
stages in the regulatory path, Malburg
says. But, we think within a year there will
be more than one GM yeast approved.
Designing a successful cellulosic pro-
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cess goes far beyond pretreatment, enzymes and yeasts. One of the first challenges in the Gen 1.5 development was figuring
out how to handle the highly viscous material on the front end. Licklider says they
quickly began using flexible hoses, rather
than piping, and installed motors, valves
and pumps on skids that could be moved
aside with forklifts. We can make changes
on the fly, he explains. We have fabricators, electricians, and computer programmers on staff. They also make a point to
use the same suppliers of the various components as the starch-based designs.
Systems were developed individually
until the big test of the integrated run last
winter. When running continuously you
get buildups you dont see in batches, Malburg says. We knew it was there and would
be coming, but we didnt have a good idea
of the scale of the scale. For a time, the
ICM team thought they might be looking
at a new polymer coproduct, he adds wryly,
but as the process was refined, the team altered the pretreatment to avoid the issue.
With the 1,000-hour run on the integrated corn fiber process under their belts,
the team is preparing for a similar run on
the Gen 2 cellulosic ethanol process in late
summer, initially using energy sorghum as
feedstock. Once hydrolyzed, the sorghum
behaves much like the corn fiber, Malburg
PHOTO: BBI International, Susanne Retka Schill
PROFILE
Fluffing the Fiber ICM senior scientist Laers Malburg illustrates how cellulose fiber is structured and
the principle underlying pretreatment systems designed to open the structure for enzyme action.
adds, but the two cellulosic feedstocks handle quite differently when mixed with water
and pumped through the front end. Corn
fiber is more like a flake, like wheat bran,
Malburg says. Sorghum is more stick-like.
What were learning now is what it will take
to get our front end humming along with
energy sorghum.
For Gen 2, ICM is targeting a scale
that would co-locate 25 MMgy of cellulosic
ethanol production with a 100 MMgy firstgeneration plant. Gen 2 will include new
levels of energy integration, Gerken says.

There will be a lot more unit operations
that take energy loads. With the co-located
approachcellulosic and starch plants
were looking at the energy needs of the
entire process and how to make the best
use of the lignin.
While Gen 1.5 is going to add some
complexities to the front end of a first generation plant primarily in the pretreatment
step, Gerken cautions that Gen 2 is going
to be a 20-fold increase in complexity. As
Fermentation Products &

Technical Services
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PHOTO: BBI International, Susanne Retka Schill
PROFILE
LifeLine Campus A conveyer transports

cellulosic feedstock across the street into
ICMs cellulosic pilot facility, housed in a former
warehouse on the LifeLine Foods campus. Part
of the LifeLine corn processing facility is in the
background.
a result, were trying to automate as much

as possible, Malburg adds, explaining the
team is testing several kinds of probes in
multiple locations.
As the R&D work continues on Gen
2, Licklider says his team of plant operators are preparing standard operating procedures for Gen 1.5 and getting ready to
go out in the field as the first Fiber Separation Technologies and Gen 1.5 systems are
installed. Indeed, the first ethanol producer
in ICMs early adopter group was running
water through the system to check for leaks
in mid-April before starting up its Fiber
Separation Technology. A full announcement and more details on the process will
be released at the International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo set for June 10-13
in St. Louis.
Author: Susanne Retka Schill
Senior Editor, BBI International publications
701-738-4922
sretkaschill@bbiinternational.com
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EFFICIENCY
EFFICIENCY
Ethanol
Industry
Snapshot
The results of a 2012
corn-ethanol survey reveal
progress in yield, energy
and water use.
By CHRIS HANSON
To capture an image of where the ethanol

industry is going, it is imperative to understand where it has been. In the past five years, the
industry persevered through an economic bust, maintained

vigilance in its recovery and steeled itself against tight
margins with greater efficiencies and valuable coproducts.
To learn how the industry is currently faring, researcher
Steffen Mueller with the Energy Resources Center at the
University of Illinois-Chicago and John Kwik, president
of Dominion Energy Services, surveyed ethanol producers
to gauge the industry progress in reducing the energy and
environmental footprint of corn-ethanol production.
The 2012 corn-ethanol survey was sponsored by the
National Corn Growers Association and the Illinois Corn
Marketing Board. Additional support came from the Renewable Fuels Association, Growth Energy member plants
PHOTOS: BBI INTERNATIONAL, SUSANNE RETKA SCHILL
EFFICIENCY
and the Nebraska Ethanol Board. Out of
162 plants operating in 2012, ranging from
30 to 111 MMgy in production capacity, 84
responded to the survey. The report notes
that plants smaller than 30 MMgy and
those processing mixed feedstocks were
excluded from the analysis.
Historical Comparison
Since the last survey reported by Mueller in 2008, corn-ethanol plants have incrementally improved performance in thermal
energy application, water usage and ethanol
yield. The study shows that modern energy
and processing technologies have reduced
the energy footprint of the process, including sophisticated heat integration, combined heat and power (CHP) technologies,
variable frequency drives, advance grinding technologies, various combinations of
front- and back-end oil separation, and innovative ethanol and distillers dried grains
(DDG) recovery.
The 2012 survey shows that ethanol
yield has increased 1.43 percent to 2.82
gallons of undenatured anhydrous ethanol per bushel of corn. The progress in

ethanol production can be credited to innovations being adopted across the industry despite economic downturns, Mueller
says. Through plant retrofits, the producers were able to increase ethanol yields on
a per-bushel basis and utilize electricity
and thermal energy more efficiently. New
technologies in corn production, such as
slow-release fertilizers and sophisticated
corn hybrids and machinery, have also reduced the overall energy and environmental footprint of the corn ethanol industry.
What the survey shows is that the ethanol industry is still very dynamic, he says.
Despite economic downturns, the industry has increased yield while simultaneously
reducing overall energy consumption at the
plant level.
According to the 2008 report, the average plant utilized 26,206 Btu of thermal
energy per gallon produced. The latest findings indicate an 8.95 percent decrease to an
average of 23,862 Btu per gallon. Mueller
says this figure represents a snapshot across

all ethanol plant technologies, coproduct
drying practices and geographic locations.
To put it in perspective, a 50 MMgy ethanol plant will save more than 117 billion
Btu per year in thermal energy compared
to five years ago. The energy efficiency
improvement is even more dramatic when
compared to a 2001 USDA commissioned
survey that showed 36,000 Btu thermal energy was used per gallon produced.
Not surprisingly, corn oil yield increased significantly. The survey shows an
average of 0.53 pounds of separated corn
oil is produced per bushela nearly fivefold increase from the 0.11 pounds per
bushel reported in 2008. Its also notable
that the jump in corn oil production resulted in a 0.5 percent decrease in DDG
yield and a 2.7 percent increase in electricity usage.
Water use has declined by 0.74 percent
since 2008 to 2.7 gallons of water used per
gallon of ethanol. Although less than 1 percent change might not seem a large adjust-
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EFFICIENCY
By the
Numbers
Ethanol Yield
2.82 gallons/bushel of corn in 2012

2.78 in 2008
ment, its more than a 50 percent reduction

of water per gallon of ethanol produced in
2005, as reported by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
Emerging Technology
Summaries
Going beyond the average reported

among those returning the survey, the report digs into the impact on ethanol yield
and efficiencies for 15 emerging technologies. Some of the most promising tech-
nologies for improved ethanol production,

Mueller says, are CHP operations, diversification of corn oil recovery systems, better grinding techniques and carbon dioxide
scrubbers.
The report describes two CHP turbine
configurations that operate at pressures between 150 and 600 pounds per-square-inch
gauge. In these models, a steam turbine
generates electricity to offset the power
bought from the grid while meeting the
plants thermal energy requirements for
Thermal Energy
23,862 Btu/gallon in 2012
26,206 in 2008
Electricity
0.75 kWh/gallon in 2012

0.73 in 2008
Water use
2.70 gallons/gallon ethanol in 2012

2.72 in 2008
DDGS
(dry basis, including corn oil)
15.73 pounds/bushel in 2012

15.81 in 2008
Corn oil
0.53 pound/bushel in 2012

0.11 in 2008
EFFICIENCY
process heat. In some locations, the systems are scaled up to generate electricity as
a coproduct sold to a local utility.
Both front- and back-end corn oil
recovery methods are summarized in the
report. The Brix oil separation process for
front-end oil recovery increases oil yield
from 0.4 to 0.48 pounds per bushel, but at
the added cost of increased electrical usage
of 0.02 kilowatt (kW) per gallon of ethanol. Higher recovery rates for corn oil can
be achieved by combining the traditional
oil recovery process with new technology.
As an example from the seven back-end
oil recovery technologies briefly reviewed,
one hybrid system boosts yield to 1.2 to 1.4
pounds of oil per bushel of corn. The process puts together a front-end oil recovery
system with back-end oil technology to increase oil yield.
Carbon dioxide scrubbers are another technology featured within the report.
This technology involves installing a new
condenser ahead of the CO2 scrubber to
remove trapped ethanol and return it to either the beerwell or into the rectification
column. By utilizing the newer CO2 scrubber technology, plants report a yield increase of 0.1 gallon of ethanol per bushel.
Plant Configurations
Besides describing the separate emerging technologies, the report takes a closer
look at four plant configurations that all
yield more ethanol than the reported average. This section of the report was designed to assist plant owners in determining the direction they would like to take
their plant, Kwik explains. The plants serve
as models for assessing improvement opportunities.
Two configurations are among the
most common, differing only in the treatment of the distillers grains. The first utilizes the traditional corn dry-mill process plus
back-end oil extraction and 100 percent
DDGS. The best performing facilities in
this configuration yield 2.85 undenatured
ethanol gallons, extract 0.75 pound of corn

oil and produce 13.7 pounds of DDGS on
a dry basis from every bushel of corn processed.
The second one is identical to the first,
with the exception that half the distillers
grains are dried and half are sold wet. Both
can attain the same ethanol and corn yields
and use the same amount of electricity per
gallon. However, the second configuration
yields, on a dry basis, 6.85 pounds each of
wet and dry distillers per bushel while using
16 percent less thermal energy. The report
notes the distillers grains yield is lower than
the average in both models due to higher
ethanol yields.
The next two configurations described
in the report illustrate where the industry
is heading, Kwik says. One focuses on the
production of multiple coproducts utilizing
multiple technologies and yields 2.89 gallons of undenatured ethanol, 3.25 pounds
of protein, 0.48 pounds of front-end
oil, 0.8 pounds of back-end oil and 9.47
EFFICIENCY
pounds of DDGS per bushel, on a dry basis. These facilities utilize multiple technologies to produce the diverse coproducts. In
addition to standard dry milling, the model
employs batch fermentation, either high or
low temperature cooking, advanced grind
technology, front-end and back-end oil recovery with advanced systems and protein
recovery. Because of some of the grinding technology, we enhance the coproducts, Kwik explains. You also achieve the
benefit of additional ethanol and oil. He
adds this creates a metric for achievable
goals that can be used by plant owners in
their own revenue calculations and to help
with comparative analyses of the different
technologies.
Kwik says for producers not ready
to handle multiple coproducts, the fourth
model demonstrates a more efficient plant
that produces the highest ethanol yield
with lowest overall thermal requirements
of all configurations studied, while still
producing DDGS. This model yields 2.85
Grown on one-third less

water and producing an equal
amount of ethanol per bushel
as comparable feed grains,
sorghum is paving the way to a
brighter, more sustainable future.
gallons of ethanol, 0.75 pound oil and 13.7

pounds of DDGS per bushel, on a dry basis, but only uses 19,500 Btu of thermal energy and 0.75 kW of electricity per gallon
of ethanol. Although the list of employed
tools is not as extensive as the third model,
it does utilize batch fermentation, either
high or low temperature cooking and backend oil recovery. Where this model stands
apart is that it utilizes a superheated flash
dryer to bring DDGS down to 11 to 12
percent moisture. About 85 percent of the
thermal energy input is recovered by condensing evaporated vapors in an external
heat exchanger and by recycling the latent
heat of vaporization back into the process.
Condensing vapors from the dryer, however, does require the facility to process the
excess condensate that cannot be recycled
as backset through anaerobic digestion or
waste treatment.
Many factors will influence which direction plants take as they plan for future
enhancements, Kwik says, with the most
prominent being location and finances.

What you do with your plant is really dependent on your geographic location, he
says. He cites facilities in Iowa and Illinois
where the cattle-feeding needs of distillers
grains customers limit how much oil they
can extract, while others near dairy operations are able to extract more oil without
affecting distillers grains value.
Although the report offers milestones
and methods to producers wanting to increase their ethanol yield, the biggest challenge might be to secure capital to fund
projects. The technology is ahead of the
financial stability of the current ethanol
market. We have the technology to make
plants more sustainable, Kwik says. We
just cant get the capital to implement the
technologies even with attractive returns.
Author: Chris Hanson
Staff Writer, Ethanol Producer Magazine
701-738-4970
chanson@bbiinternational.com
FUELING
THE
FUTURE
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1 Based on 20072012 Syngenta Trials.

2013 Syngenta. Enogen, the Alliance Frame, the Purpose Icon and the Syngenta logo are trademarks of a Syngenta Group Company. Syngenta Customer Center: 1-866-SYNGENT(A) (796-4368). www.FarmAssist.com MW 11CR3009-SS-R 5/13
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The best way to make more energy is with less energy.

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FINANCE
CONTRIBUTION
Lessons Learned
From Past Downturns
Protecting shareholder value
during periods of margin stress
By Scott McDermott
Due to the continued challenging economic climate, we now see

a new level of stress for many ethanol companies. The challenging downturn
that began in 2012 has continued into this year.
Although there has been some relief as of late,
most analysts are projecting tight margins in the

second half of the year, or at least until new crop
harvest (assuming we get a good corn crop). This
will be the fourth challenging margin period the
industry has faced in the past 20 years. Independent ethanol companies have learned a lot about
The claims and statements made in this article belong exclusively to the author(s) and
do not necessarily reflect the views of Ethanol Producer Magazine or its advertisers.
All questions pertaining to this article should be directed to the author(s).
maneuvering through tough markets over the

years, and this has helped protect shareholder
value.
The ethanol industry entered 2012 expanding production to new heights. The increased
production, as well as a shift from being a net ex-
FINANCE
porter to net importer, caused U.S. ethanol stocks

to build and start to pressure ethanol production
margins. The oversupply of ethanol, the end of
the blending credit and the short corn crop this
past harvest have again deteriorated the financial
condition of some ethanol producers. Fortunately, companies are better positioned than in
the past. Many have learned from the mistakes
made in the previous downturns.
The worst downturn in ethanol was in the
mid-1990s (Period 1) when the U.S. had a very severe drought and ethanol had heavy competition
from methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE). The
lack of pricing power against MTBE as an oxygenate substitute caused over half of the capacity
to be idled, restructured or sold during this period. Period 2 in the early 2000s was difficult, but,
instead of a sustained downturn like the mid1990s, there was a mix of bad and good margin months. Ethanol companies had learned to
idle or slow the business during negative margin
months to minimize losses and most ran during
stronger months. This allowed the companies to
preserve cash through the downturn. The other
important lesson that many plants learned from
the mid-1990s challenge was to avoid selling in
distressed periods.
In Period 1, the independent ethanol companies that were forced to sell saw plant values
cut in half. The industry was much smaller then,
at about 1.4 billion gallons of production capacity, which included wet mills and dry-grind
ethanol plants. Even though the average ethanol
producer had earning power of about 90 cents
to $1.10 per gallon, these plants were sold for 50
to 60 cents per gallon or even idled permanently
in some cases. The low plant values could be attributed to a lack of potential buyers, the size of
the industry, the lack of lenders and the fear the
industry would not come back.
A number of companies that had liquidity problems in Period 2 were not forced to sell
because they learned to raise additional capital
instead of selling in a crisis. These capital injections from debt, equity or both saved these independent ethanol companies from destroying
shareholder value. Many also learned that their
options for debt are very limited in times of distress. The banks lending to the industry only extended credit to very low-leveraged and well-run
ethanol companies. The banks were unwilling to
lend if there was even marginal risk they would
Historical Average EBITDA Margins Per Ethanol Gallon

1.20
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
-0.2
Period 1
Period 2
Period 3
Period 4
SOURCE: Ascendant Partners Inc.
12 Greenway Plaza | Suite 1100 | Houston TX 77046

Toll Free: 1 855 8HIMARK (1 855 844 6275) | e-mail: info@HimarkBioGas.com
FINANCE
16,000
15,000
14,000
13,000
12,000
11,000
10,000
9,000
8,000
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
US Annualized Production Capacity Equivalent

(Million Gallons)
MTBE
SOURCE: Ascendant Partners Inc.
not be covered in a forced liquidation.

We also saw mergers and bankruptcies play
some role during these periods. The mergers,
however, were not mergers of equals. They
usually entailed material dilution of the existing
shareholders. Several companies took on equity
partners rather than lose the asset through foreclosure, the thought process being: if the bank
is going to force a sale of the business and the

likely market value would be at or below the debt
against the asset, the company would be better off diluting its equity with an equity partner
rather than losing everything in a bank-led sale.
Although this is not a common occurrence, there
are numerous examples of independent ethanol
companies that have lost everything because they
were unwilling to consider this option.

The downturn after the 2006 ethanol margin boom (Period 3) exposed new challenges for
the ethanol industry. The industry was two-thirds
the way through a 10-fold expansion, from about
1.4 billion to almost 15 billion gallons of capacity, when prices and margins came crashing down
from all-time high corn and ethanol prices. Corn
prices at the time were approaching $7 per bushel
and ethanol prices were approaching $3.50 per
gallon when the prices fell as fast as they had
risen. It wasnt negative margins that caused distress in this period, it was the collapse in prices
and margins. When margins compressed, all
weaknesses of the new ethanol companies were
exposed.
By 2007, the rush to build plants and the
strong global demand for construction materials drove construction costs from well below
$2 per gallon for a 100-plus million gallon
plant to $2.30 to $3 per gallon on an installed
basis. The expansion in margins and fervor to
build plants brought in new and inexperienced
lenders, which also drove up leverage on these
higher-cost facilities. A number of the plants
sold under distress in 2008 and 2009 were
very competitive plants. The challenges for
these companies were the relatively high capital
costs and high debt levels to be serviced in a
sh^

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FINANCE
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lower-margin environment. Operating plant values again approached

the 50-cent-per-gallon level, which
brought a number of new companies into the ethanol industry.
The other two challenges exposed during Period 3 were poorly
structured contracts and over-extended hedging positions. A number of companies were long corn
or did not have the adequate liquidity to support margin calls in their
hedging program. The speed and
the size of the fall in prices caught
many off guard. For some, many
millions of dollars of financial damage occurred in a matter of days and
weeks. A number of independent
ethanol plants were again able to
endure this stress because they had
strong balance sheets or capital infusions. Others werent so fortunate
and were forced to sell.
The second challenge exposed
in the dramatic margin compression was in poorly structured and
poorly written contracts that many
independent ethanol companies had
written in order to get their projects from concept to construction.
Many companies are still working
through these challenging contracts
today. The challenges include high
priced or uncompetitive origination
and marketing contracts, extremely
long-term contracts, partnerships or
contracts that were one-sided and/
or created dependencies that put
the company at a disadvantage, contracts that did not consider counterparty risk, and contracts that companies simply did not understand.
Many ethanol companies have spent
considerable time and resources
restructuring, canceling or fighting
these contracts. They are now much
better at vetting and negotiating mutually beneficial agreements.
The final area where many

independent ethanol plants have
made material progress toward
building or preserving shareholder
value is their relentless pursuit to
improve the core business. These
improvements have come from
better management and better intelligence used to run the business.
Most ethanol plants today have at
least some understanding of their
cost competitiveness or what we
at Ascendant Partners Inc. refer to
as EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) competitiveness. Most are
constantly looking for ways to improve plant efficiencies, origination
programs, product marketing and
logistics. They constantly assess the
adoption of new commercial technology and the upgrading of coproduct streams.
All of these lessons have positioned independent ethanol companies to not only endure, but to thrive
during this period of compressed
margins. We have seen very few
forced sales in this fourth period
relative to earlier downturn cycles.
The independent ethanol companies have used the lessons learned
over the past 20 years to maneuver
through the current tough markets.
Although we will certainly see distressed sales, we will likely also see
more consolidation strategies that
allow companies that choose to exit
the business to receive value commensurate with their earnings and
others that merge, partner or adopt
new technology to position the business for greater value in the future.
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Author: Scott McDermott

Partner, Ascendant Partners Inc.
303-221-4700
Mcdermotts@ascendantpartners.com
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SUSTAINABILITY
CONTRIBUTION
PHOTO: SIEMENS
The concept of sustainability has been

around for decades, though only recently
felt on a large scale. Many companies are showing
Monitoring Pressure Siemens Sitrans P pressure transmitters, mounted on

pipes, monitor steam in the plant.
Instrumentation, Control
Systems Contribute to
Sustainability
Process controls underlie effective
water, energy saving strategies in
ethanol production.
By Leigh Parnell
that environmentally friendly and economically sound are

not mutually exclusive concepts.
Siemens AG has estimated that its products and services have enabled its customers to substantially reduce
their greenhouse gas emissions. In 2011, Siemens helped
its customers reduce annual CO2 emissions by about 320
million tons, an amount equal to the total annual CO2
emissions of Berlin, Delhi, Hong Kong, Istanbul, London, New York, Singapore and Tokyo combined.
There is much discussion in the media today about
green business, sustainable initiatives, and the like. But
it can be difficult to decipher how these issues are being
played out at the individual and community level. The
good news is: sustainable business practices are happening in villages, towns and cities around the globe.
Take Havelock, Ontario, for example. This small
central-eastern Ontario community is home to Kawartha
Ethanol Inc., a midsize ethanol producer. Kawartha Ethanol began operations in 2010, and has a production capacity of 80 MMly (21 MMgy)enough to fill more than 1.4
million average-size vehicle gas tanks. The companys aim
is to operate in the most sustainable way possible. How it
achieves that goal, bringing sustainable business to smalltown Ontario, is a story that both Kawartha Ethanol and
Siemens are proud to tell.
From Grain to Greener Gasoline
Fuel-grade ethanol, which is 99 percent pure alcohol,

has a number of important properties that make it an excellent automotive additive. It is clean-burning and has a
high percentage of oxygen (35 percent), which means
fuel combustion is more efficient. When used in vehicles,
ethanol decreases carbon monoxide emissions by up to 30
percent, according to the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association. Ethanol is not in itself a complete solution to
global warming but, with an average daily consumption of
88.6 million barrels of oil around the world, as reported
by the International Energy Agency in 2012, this type of
greenhouse gas reduction is an important step on the path
to sustainability.
So, how do Kawartha Ethanols production processes contribute to a greener environment? The primary
focus is in three areas: reducing water usage, reclaiming
heat and saving energy. Control systems and multiple analytical devices play a significant role in these sustainability
solutions.
SUSTAINABILITY
PHOTO: SIEMENS
When Tom Sage and his team

work with customers on parts
and service, its more than a
buyer-seller relationship
its a partnership.
Measuring Flows Dozens of flowmeters measure water, chemical dosing

and material flow throughout the ethanol production process.
Water Usage Reductions
While it takes 1,851 gallons of fresh water

to produce a single barrel of crude oil, most
ethanol plants can reuse about one-third of
the total water they consume says the CRFA.
At Kawartha Ethanol, plant designers have
gone above and beyond this in their water reuse initiatives.
The plant has four containment areas
surrounding its chemical storage vessels and
another two surrounding its fuel storage tanks.
These concrete barriers prevent chemicals
from leaching into groundwater in the event
of a spill. Since these areas are outside, they
naturally collect rainwater. None of this water goes to waste. Pumps move rainwater back
into the ethanol process, at the stage where
corn is mixed with water to make a slurry. Reusing this water from the containment areas is
a water-saving solution created by Kawartha
Ethanoland an effective one at that.
Containment areas, of course, serve to
prevent damage from accidental spills. In addition, if a spill occurred in the containment
area, any rainwater that had been gathered
would be contaminated and could become
unusable for the mixing stage of the ethanol
process. Kawartha Ethanol has implemented
a number of safety measures to prevent spills
in these areas. The plant uses digital pressure
transmitters for continuous level monitoring
on its chemical storage vessels. These trans-
mitters monitor the hydrostatic pressure in

the vessels and convert the measurements to
level readings. Vibrating point level switches
are used as backup for the facilitys continuous
systems, providing overfill protection for the
chemical vessels and throughout the production process. To monitor recirculated water, as
well as other material moving from process to
process, Kawartha Ethanol uses a number of
flowmeters combined with transmitters.
We take a genuine
interest
in what our
customers are producing

and want to help them
be profitable. Tom
Get your parts right from the

sourcedirectly through CPM.
Call 800-366-2563 today for
genuine replacement parts from
your Partner in Productivity.
Tom Sage,
Customer Service Manager
Heat Reclamation
During the manufacturing process, temperature and pressure control is crucial to ensuring a quality final product and a safe working
environment. Throughout ethanol production, temperature measurement is most important to operators.
Kawartha Ethanol uses product-to-product heat exchangers to redistribute thermal
energy throughout the plant. Heat exchangers
circulate high-temperature liquids or slurries
with low temperatures, without mixing these
materials.
Following are three examples of where
heat exchangers are used in the process:
In hydrolysis, enzymes break down the
corn mash into simple sugars, creating a great
deal of heat. The mash must be cooled from
85 to 41 degrees Celsius (185 to 106 degrees
Fahrenheit ) before moving to the fermentation stage. Cooling waters circulate in order to
lower mash temperatures to within the opti-
Sales@CPMRoskamp.com
PHOTO: SIEMENS
SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainable Process Kawartha Ethanol saves energy and water through multiple initiatives at its plant in Havelock, Ontario.
mal range. This process can reclaim more than

40 C of heat without using extra energy to
cool the mash.
After distillation, centrifuges separate
the whole stillage into cake and liquid, which is
then concentrated through a series of evapo-
rators that use waste heat from distillation. The

two products are then recombined to form
distillers grains.
In the energy center, flash steam is created in the boiler condensate system, where
liquid moves from a high-pressure to lower-
pressure areas. Instead of using energy to heat

process water for use during ethanol production, heat exchangers circulate water with flash
steam.
Temperature and pressure control instruments play an important role in these heat rec-
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SUSTAINABILITY
lamation systems. Kawartha employs temperature transmitters to monitor the mash cooler,
making sure that the slurry enters the fermentation stage at the correct temperature.
The pressure created during the ethanol
process also needs to be closely monitored.
Pressure transmitters measure areas such as
the boiler condensate system. Because too
much pressure can be dangerous, these devices are equipped with safety functions and
advanced diagnostics to ensure accuracy. Valve
positioners accompany all of the temperature
and pressure transmitters in the facility and
provide intelligent diagnostics.
All of the process instruments monitoring these pipes and vessels at Kawartha are
connected through a Profibus network, sending information to a distributed control system
(DCS); Kawartha uses Siemens Simatic PCS 7
system. In the control room, operators can see
immediately if a piece of equipment requires
maintenance, and respond quickly. The system
provides high-performance engineering tools,
with features such as alarm management, process safety and asset management. As Bill Harris, electrical supervisor at Kawartha Ethanol
sums up, Our process includes hundreds of
Siemens instruments measuring flow, level,
pressure, and temperatureall feeding back
Energy Savings
to a centralized DCS system via the Profibus
Ensuring that no heat is lost in transport network. We rely on the accuracy and dependis another important initiative for plant design- ability of this system to ensure that we operate
ers at Kawartha Ethanol. Customized insula- efficiently and safely.
tion wraps are secured around pipes and vessels containing heated material. If operators Support for Sustainability
Two decades ago in his book, The Ecolever need access to instruments, they can easily unwrap the insulation, perform any needed ogy of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability, Paul Hawken declared: Leave the
maintenance and then rewrap it.
One FREE
Listing per
Company
world better than you found it; take no more

than you need; try not to harm the environment; make amends if you do.
These words echo the drive behind the
sustainability initiatives currently in place at
Kawartha Ethanol. If anything, the need
for greener practices in industry has only increased over the past two decades, and will not
soon disappear. Siemens process instruments
play an important role in helping companies
like Kawartha Ethanol operate their plants efficiently, by providing operators with precise process information.
Recently named one of Canadas Greenest
Employers for 2012, Siemens Canada demonstrates its corporate values as well as its products
are aligned with sustainable practices. Striving
to leave the world better than they found it,
Kawartha Ethanol and Siemens prove that green
business is indeed possible, both in small towns
and on a global scale.
Author: Leigh Parnell
Sensors and Communication Manager, Siemens Canada
905-315-6933
leigh.parnell@siemens.com
directory.ethanolproducer.com
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find it online at
OPTIMIZATION
CONTRIBUTION
Clean Flow The photo on the left shows the mineral fouling present shortly after chemical treatment began. The other photos were taken after
implementation, with no hydroblasting being done for 18 months.
PHOTOS: Buckman
Absolute Energy Tackles

Evaporator Fouling
Proper treatment resolves multiple
bottlenecks caused by mineral deposits.
By Jerry Tegels and Kevin Mundell
In northern Iowa, Absolute Energy LLC was experiencing heavy

mineral fouling issues at its 115
MMgy ethanol plant. Fouling in the
evaporators resulted in elevated steam pressures

that inhibited the plant from increasing production rates. Sulfuric acid was being utilized to
lower the pH in an attempt to alleviate the fouling. Chemical and maintenance costs, along with
employee exposure to dangerous chemicals, were

increased, while frequent cleaning in place (CIP)
and hydro-blasting were required to keep the
plant operating at less-than-desired production
rates.
Many industrial processes are prone to mineral fouling, the severity of which depends on
water pH and process temperatures. Fouling creates insulating deposits on hot metal surfaces that
reduce heat transfer efficiency. In ethanol plants,
the sources of the problematic minerals, calcium

and magnesium, are primarily incoming corn and
water. Ethanol plants and distilleries around the
world have always dealt with calcium oxalate deposits (commonly referred to as beerstone) given
the nature of the processes they employ.
Action
Buckman Laboratories International Inc.

was asked to analyze the mineral deposits at Ab-
OPTIMIZATION
9 Months
15 Months
SOURCE: Buckman
solute Energy and come up with a solution

that would reduce or eliminate the need for
sulfuric acid. Buckman performed qualitative
and quantitative analyses on the deposits, ultimately determining that calcium oxalate was
the main cause of the fouling, even though
there were other minerals present, as well as
organics.
As a chemical solutions company working on process and water treatment needs in
multiple industries, Buckman has developed
Bulab 8301, a special blend of polymers that
reduces calcium oxalate deposition in process
operations where high temperatures exist in
conjunction with relatively higher pH ranges.
At Absolute Energy, Bulab 8301 was fed into
the thin stillage stream with the use of a programmable metering pump. The amount used
needs to meet allowances set by the U.S. Food
and Drug Adminstration that are intended to
maintain the safety of animal feed and thus
ultimately, the human food supply. Buckman
uses an outside consultant to evaluate the suitability of ethanol process treatments for safe
use. Based on this analysis and the FDA allowances, Bulab 8301 is used as an evaporator
deposit control additive up to 20 parts per million, based on thin stillage flow to the evaporators.
Evaporated Pressure Graphs
These graphs give a historical snapshot from the

distributed control system of the Absolute Energy plant. In
each, the top line represents the incoming steam pressure
to the first effect evaporator that fluctuates with the steam
demand for distillation and is directly related to production
levels. The bottom line represents the steam pressure to
the second effect, which increases if fouling occurs in the
evaporator tubes. If the differential pressure between the
effects (the delta-P) is maintained or decreased when
incoming pressures increase, it's a good indication that
fouling is not occurring. If the delta-P increases, causing
the bottom line to move farther from the top line, its
an indication that fouling is occurring. The reduced heat
exchange efficiency will cost the ethanol producer more in
fuel costs as more steam is required. Both graphs show that
a delta-P was maintained, with a few exceptions caused by
events such as a power outage or a sensor freeze-up during
cold weather.
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Results
Using the treatment, the plant was able to reduce sulfuric acid usage
by 45 percent (0.75 truckloads per week), decrease CIP frequency, increase
process pH, increase syrup solids, improve water balance, significantly decrease hydro-blasting down to none in the past 30 months, operate the
beer column more consistently, thus reducing steam usage and base losses,
decrease employee exposure to acid handling, reduce maintenance costs
associated with acid pumps and piping and maintain lower sulfur levels in
the distillers grains.
Buckman and Absolute Energy personnel have collaborated for more
than four years in an effort to maximize the benefits to the process from
the treatment. Over time, it has been discovered that starting with extremely clean metal surfaces gives the best results. Minimizing mineral fouling
also reduces the amount of organic fouling as the organics need something
to bind to in order to build upan important key to reducing the need
for hydroblasting. Absolute Energy also believes the corn oil centrifuges
stay cleaner with the treatment system, although it doesnt have a baseline
to measure against since oil extraction was implemented after the antifouling measures were taken. With other plants making the same observation,
Buckman is now seeking verification. Bulab 8301 has the potential to help
with beerstone deposits in other areas of the process, such as the beer column top trays and beer mash exchangers. Data is currently being collected
to verify the application economics.
The recent addition of phytase-based products to the ethanol process
has somewhat masked beerstone concerns, as high phytase dosages have
resulted in elevated levels of magnesium phosphate, which precipitates
onto hot metal surfaces. This fouling is more significant than typical beerstone levels as it builds deposits quickly, resulting in increased evaporator
pressures that many times require ethanol operators to reduce operating
rates and increase hydroblasting and CIP frequency. The challenge for the
ethanol plant manager is to minimize overall mineral deposits as much as
possible by reducing phytase addition and then treating areas of deposition with the correct chemical application. Understanding which mineral
deposition is occuring is crucial. Bulab 8301 targets beerstone deposition,
so plants that are challenged with both calcium oxalate and magnesium
phosphate fouling benefit from combination products.
Mineral depositions create many challenges within the ethanol plant
and producers should choose their chemical applications carefully to ensure
they are giving their process the best chance to produce every gallon as
economically as possible.
Authors: Jerry Tegels
District Manager, Buckman
ggtegels@buckman.com
515-249-9637
Kevin Mundell
Ethanol Manager, Buckman
krmundell@buckman.com
515-708-2411
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Ethanol Producer Magazine - June 2013

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June 2013

JUNE issue 2013 VOL. 19 ISSUE 6

Big River Resources makes

The right team can positively

ICM Inc. steps up testing for

2013 US Ethanol Industry

From job satisfaction to payroll, ethanol

2008 ethanol plant survey

Take Care of Your People

10 The Way I See It

CO2 Levels Rising ... Big Deal!

12 View From the Hill

Biofuels, Light Bulbs and Why

Required Reading (Youre

Already Taking the Test)

Rocking the Biofuels Boat with

Lessons Learned From

Applying wisdom gained to

Efficient water, energy use

Get on the Bus: Human

Resource Strategies Essential

By Jerry Tegels and

ICM research team members in

4 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | June 2013

Registered trademark, Ashland or its subsidiaries, registered in various countries

With good chemistry great things happen.

Years ago I read a book called 12: The Elements

Take Care of Your People

12 simple questions universally determine employee job satisfaction. Question No. 1 is

For industry news: www.ethanolproducer.com or Follow Us:

56-57 2013 International Fuel Ethanol

PRESIDENT & EDITOR IN CHIEF

Vice President of Content & EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Chris Hanson chanson@bbiinternational.com

5 Ashland Hercules Water

Jan Tellmann jtellmann@bbiinternational.com

88 CHS Renewable Fuels

Business Development Director

Senior Marketing Manager

Customer Service Please call 1-866-746-8385 or email us at service@bbiinternational.com.

Please recycle this magazine and remove

13 Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled

46 Natwick Associates Appraisal

52 Crown Iron Works Company

68 Protectoseal Company, The

89 Renewable Fuels Association

28 Salco Products, Inc.

82 Sulzer Process Pumps (US) Inc.

Mike Jerke, Chippewa Valley Ethanol Co. LLLP

53 INTL FCStone Inc.

81 CPM Roskamp Champion

3, 96 DuPont Industrial Biosciences

John Nelson jnelson@bbiinternational.com

44 Interra Global Corporation

62 Mist Chemical & Supply

Lindsey Noble lnoble@bbiinternational.com

54 Indeck Power Equipment Co.

26-27 BetaTec Hop Products

Jaci Satterlund jsatterlund@bbiinternational.com

72-73 Syngenta: Enogen

55 Fermentis - Division of S.I.

22 Tower Performance Inc.

83 Fuel Ethanol Industry Directory

77 U.S. Water Services