Corn Oil Extraction Technology Leads Energy and Carbon Shift for Ethanol Industry On Monday February 8, 2010, 12:52 pm
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GreenShift Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: News) today announced that
its patented corn oil extraction technologies were featured prominently
in the final rule for the expanded Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2)
published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on February
3, 2010.
EPA, under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), is
responsible for implementing regulations to ensure that transportation
fuel sold in the United States contains a minimum of 36 billion gallons
of renewable fuels per year by 2022.
In its Regulatory Impact Analysis and responses to comments that were
submitted on the development of the RFS2, the EPA highlights the key
role that it expects corn oil extraction will play in the evolution of
the U.S. renewable fuels industry, stating its belief that 70% of the
U.S. corn ethanol industry will use backend corn oil extraction
technology to produce 40% of America’s biodiesel feedstock by 2022.
Corn Oil Extraction Technology
GreenShift’s patented corn oil extraction technologies enable GreenShift
and its licensees to “drill” into the backend of first generation corn
ethanol plants to tap into an existing reserve of inedible crude corn
oil that has been historically trapped in the distillers grain
co-product of ethanol production. This corn oil is a valuable second
generation feedstock for use in the production of advanced
carbon-neutral liquid fuels, such as biodiesel, biojet fuel, and
renewable diesel, thereby enhancing total fuel production from corn,
increasing ethanol plant profits, and reducing lifecycle greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions.
Key Highlights of EPA’s Regulatory Impact Analysis
-
Reduced Carbon – According to the EPA’s analysis, use of corn
oil extraction is expected to reduce lifecycle GHG emissions of corn
ethanol by about 18%, or by about 4.5 million tons per year of carbon
industry-wide at the EPA’s estimated 70% penetration rate, the highest
reduction of any of the advanced technologies cited by the EPA.
-
Reduced Energy – Since corn oil is an insulator, removing it
improves the heating efficiency and reduces the energy demand of corn
ethanol. The EPA projected reductions in thermal energy use of 5.4%
due to use of corn oil extraction technology. While GreenShift
believes the energy savings are substantially greater, the EPA’s
estimate corresponds to industry-wide savings of about $160 million
per year at current market prices at the 70% penetration rate
projected by the EPA.
-
Increased Profitability – Use of corn oil extraction increases
co-product revenues in addition to reducing production costs. The EPA
estimated that ethanol producers using backend corn oil extraction
technology can increase their profit by about $0.079 per gallon of
ethanol produced.
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Compliance with RFS2 – The EPA concluded that “based on our
final rulemaking analysis we have found that corn ethanol, including
advanced technologies such as corn oil extraction/fractionation,
reduces GHG emissions by more than the 20% threshold required for
renewable fuels.”
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Vital New Biofuel Feedstock – The EPA estimated corn oil will
be “a significant contributor to the biodiesel volume required by the
RFS2 rule,” projecting that “low-grade corn oil extracted from dry
mill ethanol production” will be used in 2022 to supply feedstock for
40% of the total annual U.S. output of biodiesel. This equates to
680,000,000 gallons or about 5.2 billion pounds per year of inedible
corn oil feedstock with a current market price of about $0.25 per
pound.
“The existing corn ethanol complex is the bedrock of America’s renewable
fuels industry; it presents a practical pathway to increase America’s
production and use of renewable fuels, while providing important
opportunities to quicken our economic recovery and strengthen our
national security,” said Kevin Kreisler, GreenShift’s chairman and chief
executive officer. “We were very pleased to see the RFS2 emphasize this
while underscoring the catalytic role of advanced new technologies such
as our patented corn oil extraction technologies.”
“GreenShift’s patented backend corn oil extraction technologies are
proven to deliver increased profit, reduced energy costs, a smaller
carbon footprint, and lower risk to ethanol producers,” added Kreisler.
“The recognition and affirmation of these benefits by the EPA is both
humbling and extremely exciting. We have several years and many tens of
millions of dollars invested into the development of these technologies,
and we look forward to earning a return on that investment for our
shareholders as we work to integrate our extraction technologies into
the majority of the ethanol industry as quickly as possible.”
GreenShift’s technical services staff are available at 888-ETHANOIL or sales@greenshift.com
to respond to quotation requests and to answer any questions about
GreenShift’s corn oil extraction and other technologies.
About GreenShift Corporation
GreenShift Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: News) develops and
commercializes clean technologies designed to address the financial and
environmental needs of its clients by decreasing raw material needs,
facilitating co-product reuse, and reducing the generation of wastes and
emissions.
GreenShift’s mission is to build shareholder value by using its
technologies to catalyze disruptive environmental gain. GreenShift
believes that the first, best and most cost-effective way to achieve
this is to develop technology-driven economic incentives that motivate
large populations of people and companies to make incremental
environmental contributions that are collectively very significant.
With adoption by most of the U.S. ethanol industry, GreenShift’s
commercially-available technologies can give way to disruptive gains by
enabling sustainably increased production of globally-meaningful
quantities of renewable fuels for distribution through existing supply
chains.
GreenShift also maintains its strong commitment to continued innovation
and has many additional patents pending for its Backend Fractionation™
portfolio of strategically-compatible cleantech designed to continue
driving the corn ethanol industry into increased sustainability and
global competitiveness.
Additional information on GreenShift and its technologies is available
online at www.greenshift.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains statements that may constitute
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Securities Act of
1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended by the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Those statements include
statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of
GreenShift Corporation and members of its management as well as the
assumptions on which such statements are based. Prospective investors
are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties,
and that actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by
such forward-looking statements. Important factors currently known to
management that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those in forward-statements include fluctuation of operating results,
the ability to compete successfully, and the ability to complete
before-mentioned transactions. The company undertakes no obligation to
update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed
assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future
operating results.
Contact:
GreenShift Corporation
Phone: 212-994-5374
Fax: 646-572-6336
Email: investorrelations@greenshift.com
Web: www.greenshift.com
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