The SkunK recently tried to list Ethanol Plant Corn Oil Producers that have non-patented COES. I guess that they are like High School acquaintances of the opposite sex: A list of possible future partners and/or future litigants. SEE BLOG HERE. In the comments section a reader said to check out Adkins Energy in Lena IL Thanks! It took me a while to catch up - but it seeme there was some substance to that tip. . .
First you have to remember the Ethanol Industry is now in stealth mode - especially when it comes to corn oil production. Many Ethanol plants have chosen to stop filing publicly with the SEC - and their LLC status gives them some options to communicate directly with the stakeholders through direct mail and/or passworded sites.
If we go to the Adkins HOME PAGE HERE we can still see some hints. Go to the bottom of the home page and look for the "CORN OIL" icon, bottom, center. Click on it and you go to the products page - however no (longer a) write up on corn oil. Intriguing - but not proof. After all they could have stopped.
If we 'skunk' around a little we can find their "notifications" and wha-la! Listed under the "First Quarter Compliance Report dated 10 May 2010 - they have a "Corn Oil Extraction System Permit No: 07050002. What would they need a Corn Oil Extraction System Permit (as recently as last week) for? Extracting Corn oil with a non-patented COES is my only guess.
If we take a ride in the "Way back machine" and look at their old archived websites we see they had a "COES permit status" uploaded as early as 12/22/2006. Seems they have been in the non-patented corn oil extraction business for a while.
Just so we can keep all this on a timeline - lets review:
1. Aug 2004 Clean Tech filed first COES Provisional Patent Application “050”
2. 2004 Inventors Disclosed Technology to ICM. ICM executed Confidentiality Agreement. ICM purchases two authorized COES.
3. 2005 The Inventors invited Ethanol manufacturers to symposium to hear about COES – 30% attended.
4. May 2005 Clean Tech filed first COES Non-Provisional Patent Application “859”
5. 23 Feb 2006 '858 patent publication date.
6. 22 Dec 2006 Adkins Energy uploaded "COES Permit Status" to their web site.
SkunK
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
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2 comments:
From the Renewable Fuel Standards Program (RFS2)
http://www.epa.gov/OMS/renewablefuels/420r10003.pdf
Document No.: EPA-HQ-OAR-2005-0161-2074
Organization: GreenShift Corporation
Document No.: EPA-HQ-OAR-2005-0161-2094
Organization: GreenShift Corporation
Comment:
The commenter (2074, 2094) provides the three most significant effects of extracting corn oil from any ethanol plant:
7-374
RFS2 Summary and Analysis of Comments
1. GHG emissions from ethanol production are actually 29 percent less than gasoline when corn oil is extracted, compared to the 19 percent EPA calculated in its draft impact statement on this RFS2 proposal.
2. Corn oil extraction after fermentation allows a dry mill ethanol pant to produce 11 percent more total fuel energy by manufacturing biodiesel from its com oil.
3. Additional corn oil extraction efficiency, coupled with corn varieties now available that have higher corn oil content (and the same starch content), have the potential to more than double these benefits. [[Docket number 2074, 2094, p. 1]]
The commenter also notes that the EPA assumptions for the electrical energy use and oil recovery potential of corn oil extraction are flawed. [[Docket number 2074, p. 2; 2094, p. 3-5]]
The commenter concludes that operating with corn oil extraction, every ethanol plant can reduce GHG emissions by more than the 20 percent threshold, so that all corn ethanol will meet the definition of a renewable fuel. [[Docket number 2074, p. 4]] [[See docket number 2074, p. 2-4 for further discussion.]]
Our Response:
EPA has included both front-end corn oil fractionation, and back-end corn oil extraction as technologies available for dry mill corn ethanol plants as part of our life cycle GHG analysis. Our projections are that the majority of corn ethanol plants in 2022 will have either fractionation or extraction technology installed. We account for the energy use and co-product changes associated with removing corn oil from the process. The corn oil from extraction is assumed to be used as a biodiesel feedstock. The information provided in GreenShift’s comments, as well as conversations between GreenShift and EPA has been taken into account to update the electrical energy use and corn oil recovery potential of corn oil extraction modeling.
Based on our final rulemaking analysis we have found that corn ethanol, including advanced technologies such as corn oil extraction/fractionation, reduce GHG emissions by more than the 20% threshold required for renewable fuels.
Document No.: EPA-HQ-OAR-2005-0161-2074
Organization: GreenShift Corporation
Comment:
EPA estimated in its impact assessment that corn oil extraction after fermentation will be incorporated in about 20 percent of ethanol plant production by the year 2022. The commenter (2074) believes this number is much too low. Today’s penetration of corn oil extraction technology is about 12 percent, representing only systems with the initial efficiency of extracting 30 percent of the available oil. In the next 10 to 15 years, the commenter suggests the majority of the industry will add corn oil extraction, including new extraction technology, as a means to add revenue, reduce costs and decrease GHG emissions, all at the same time. [[Docket number 2074, p. 4]]
Our Response:
For the final rulemaking, EPA’s agricultural models have been updated with revised estimates for fractionation and extraction use in the future. Based on engineering cost analysis, it is expected that by 2022, 70% of dry mill corn ethanol plants will adopt extraction technology, 20% will adopt fractionation technology, and 10% will not adopt either technology. Corn oil that is withdrawn from the extraction process is not food-grade, and is considered only suitable as a biodiesel feedstock. By 2022, it is estimated that corn oil from extraction is a significant contributor to the biodiesel volume required by the RFS2 rule. Corn oil that is withdrawn via the fractionation process is considered food-grade, and is assumed to only enter those markets due to favorable economics there.
Additional information regarding the assumptions behind corn oil extraction can be found in chapters 1, 2, and 5 of the RIA, as well as in the technical reports on the FASOM and FAPRI models for the final rulemaking analysis.
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