Ethanol plants rely upon the analysis of fermentation samples in their lab to guide production decisions, monitor yeast health and identify fusel compounds that may place a drag on fermentation. The challenge for producers is to ensure that their lab equipment is maintained, optimized and calibrated in such a way that it delivers maximum visibility of the compounds lab managers are most interested in measuring. This panel will examine the opportunity for lab teams to better align their instruments with their unique process nuances and production goals.

• Mike Smith, Group Leader, Biofuel Technical Service, Novozymes
  Getting the Most Out of Your HPLC
• Jim Mott, Field Technical Support Supervisor, Shimadzu Scientific Instruments
  Exploring HPLC Parameters for Improved Analysis
• Caleb Ogden, Technical Services Manager, Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled Spirits
  Value of Preventative Maintenance, Calibration, Validation, and Verification of Laboratory and Plant Equipment
• Nathan Anderson, Senior Scientist, Novozymes North America
  Simplified, In-plant Measurement of Total Carbohydrates: Greater Insight into Plant Operations

A smart, well-trained workforce is an ethanol plant’s top asset, but some producers still struggle to produce cultures that require uniformity and reward learning. Discover how to tap into progressive training systems that yield plant-wide benefits, from lab to load out. Speakers will explain procedural development—grafting personnel with a deep knowledge of how and why things are done—how training and reliability strategies can be linked, and why sharing select financial information with employees can boost plant profitability. Speakers will give attendees step-by-step implementation plans and classroom training advice.

• Wade Rummel, Technical Services Manager, Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled Spirits
  Maintaining Consistent Operations by Use of Proper Training and Procedures
• Ron Faciane, Director, GP Strategies Corporation
  Developing Skills that Improve Process Efficiency and Reliability in Ethanol and Biofuels Facilities
• Justin Mentele, Manager, K-Coe Isom
  Empowering Employees through Financial Information

As the ethanol industry continues to mature increasing attention is being paid to maximizing the revenue potential of inbound corn. Ethanol plants have moved well beyond simply producing ethanol and a distiller’s feed coproduct and the drive to increase the overall value of the ethanol product suite continues. This panel will look at the impact component separation technologies have on plant yield and feed coproduct quality all while keeping an eye on the requirements for their operation laid out in the Food Safety Modernization Act.

• Michael Regier, Vice President, Cereal Process Technologies
  Corn Dry Fractionation: Advantages of Corn Component Separation
• Jeremy Javers, Director, Technology Development, ICM Inc.
  Separation of Thin Stillage and Benefits to the Corn Dry Grind Industry
• George Bolton, Founder & Member, Harvesting Technology LLC
  Harvesting Technology’s CoProMax™ Ethanol Coproducts Recovery Process
• Jesse Spooner, Process Engineer, ICM Inc.
  Continuous Improvements of Today’s Value Adding Technologies

Whether through direct selling or working with local retailers, producers are showing an increasing appetite to interact more directly with local fuel buyers. This how-to panel will walk attendees through the process with a focus on business planning, regulatory challenges and the different business models currently being pursued by other producers. Using a stepwise roadmap that lays out all of the necessary considerations, this panel is a must for plant management teams considering a move into local markets.

• John DiMartini, E85 Marketing Manager, The Andersons
• Chad Friese, General Manager, Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company LLC
• Erik Huschitt, CEO & General Manager, Badger State Ethanol

It is hard to argue against corn fiber being the most logical feedstock for a practicable, near-term cellulosic ethanol production build out. This material is already handled at significant scale and delivered to ethanol plant gates on a daily basis. The feedstock supply chain piece of the puzzle is already in place. What remains are cost effective approaches to isolate this fiber, saccharify its bound up carbohydrates and ferment them into ethanol. This panel will kick off a two-session exploration of the cellulosic feedstock everyone is talking about.

• Michael Franko, Vice President, Business Development, Fluid Quip Process Technologies, LLC
  Fiber Separation: Pre vs Post Fermentation
• Jim Ramm, Managing Partner, EcoEngineers
  D3 Kernel Fiber Ethanol Expansion
• Marina Chow, Senior Scientist, DuPont Industrial Biosciences
  Cellulosic Ethanol from Corn Kernel Fiber
• Brandon Emme, Principal Scientist, ICM Inc.
  Corn Fiber Feasibility: Commercialization Pathway for Low Carbon Corn Ethanol

Ethanol plant yield is tightly correlated to the level of yeast health a plant cannot only attain, but also maintain. When yeast cannot access the nutrients they need to thrive and propagate, or are inhibited by bacterial contaminations, fermentation can slow or altogether grind to a profit-sapping halt. This panel will dive into the means available to producers to simultaneously maximize the nutrients available for their yeast populations, supplement those nutrients when necessary and protect yeast populations from bacterial contamination.

• Jenny Forbes, Product Manager, Yeast & Antimicrobials, Phibro Ethanol Performance Group
  Yeast Required Nutrients and the Associated Impact of Backset
• Dale Earls, Staff Scientist, Technical Service, Novozymes North America
  Yield Maximization: Propagation and Fermentation Optimization
• Dennis Bayrock, R&D Director, Phibro Ethanol Performance Group
  Anaerobic Digestor Process Upsets: Consequences for Yeast Health, Vitality, Bacterial Contamination, and Final Ethanol Yield at Fuel Ethanol Plants

Today’s uncertain regulatory landscape shrouds the usual bullet list of items ethanol producers consider when evaluating ROI on new technologies. Big capital expenditure decisions have always been—and still are—based on cash flows, lending, permitting and payback. But, for some, perceived regulatory impermanence now clouds the numbers. On this panel, speakers will explain how to build a great capital projects team, evaluate the short- and long-term impacts of plant upgrades within the confines of regulatory permitting, and move projects forward on time and on budget.

• Steve Willins, Director, Electric Services, Kinect Energy Group
  CHP Project Design – Don’t Overlook the Details
• Justin Mentele, Manager, K-Coe Isom
  Modeling for Success: A New Way to Evaluate Capital Expenditures
• Adam Anderson, Technical Sales Manager, ICM Inc.
  Production Facility Expansions: Traditional Modular or Technology Approaches to Improved Cash Flow
• Ron Pagel, Business Development Manager, Power Engineers
  Building a Dynamic Capital Project Team

As the industry approaches the theoretical yield limits for ethanol production, incremental gains are becoming harder and harder to find. Increasing throughput now will require producers to capture, analyze and react to the massive amounts of production data available to them. The presentations that make up this panel promise to offer value to both producers looking to launch a robust data program and those who need to sense check one they have already deployed.

• Rachel Burton, Manager, Technical Service, Biofuel, Novozymes
  Unlocking the Power of Data
• Ben Fuchs, Global Applications Leader, DuPont Industrial Biosciences
  Harvesting the Potential of Data in the Bio-Ethanol Industry
• Zac Bauer, Field Sales Engineer/Measurement, Emerson Process Management
  Data-Driven Decisions for Improved Plant Operations
• Brett Baker, Product Manager, ICM Inc.
  Distributed Control System Modernization: Understanding the Issues, and What the Options are

This panel promises to turn the conventional thinking about expanding the market opportunity for ethanol on its head. Panelists will ask if it is time to abandon the thinking that the industry growth from here forward will advance slowly and incrementally, or if a different approach might once again usher in a new era of rapid market expansion. The discussion will focus on how the industry can leverage ethanol’s clean, high-octane values with consumers and auto manufacturers to create the kind of demand that will help the industry grow to the size and scope prescribed in the RFS.

• Tammy Klein, Principal, Future Fuel Strategies
• Adam Gustafson, Attorney, Boyden Gray & Associates
• Alec Hohnadell, Ethanol Advocate & Formula Drift Circuit Racer
• Reg Modlin, Former Director of Regulatory Affairs, Chrysler

In this second session on corn fiber the discussion will move on to conversion approaches for this feedstock that couldn’t be more compositionally different than corn starch. The sugars in corn fiber are tightly bound up and the developers of fiber conversion technologies will present their approaches to making these sugars more available to the waiting yeast colonies downstream. The race to crack the fiber code is on and this session will give producers a front row seat to the home stretch.

• Marina Chow, Senior Scientist, DuPont Industrial Biosciences
  Free Up Fiber-Bound Starch with Non-Starch Polysaccharide Hydrolyzing Enzymes
• Mark Yancey, Chief Technology Officer, D3MAX LLC
  D3MAX: Bolt-On Cellulosic Technology for Dry Mill Ethanol Plants
• Kurt Creamer, Bioenergy Technology Liaison, Novozymes North America
  The Future is Fiber: A Fresh Look at the Saccharification of Corn Fiber

Because the value of even the smallest of gains delivered by new strains may ultimately be multiplied across billions of gallons of production, a strong effort persists to develop yeasts that yield more ethanol, require fewer nutrients and produce less low-value byproducts. Attendees who make a point of staying abreast of the latest in engineered yeasts will appreciate this annual update from the world’s leading developers of industrial yeasts and their thinking on the strain characteristics most beneficial for ethanol production.

• Kerry Hollands, Senior Research Investigator, DuPont Industrial Biosciences
  The Power and Breadth of Yeast Modification
• Matt Richards, Director, Application Technology, Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled Spirits
  Pushing the Limits on Yield: Advanced Yeast Providing Further Efficiencies in Fuel Ethanol Production
• Pauline Teunissen, Staff Scientist, DuPont Industrial Biosciences
  Increasing Ethanol Yield using Yeast Engineering

Ethanol plant boards are often asked the impossible: to predict the future. Reacting in real time is no longer ample. Producers now have to anticipate almost everything: regulations, tax reform, markets, trade and employee needs. Making accurate predictions requires organizational intelligence. Acting on predictions requires agility. In this session, you’ll learn how to leverage new ways of thinking about management, positioning your business for success as you adopt new ways to buy, produce, sell, hire and lead. Panelists will discuss the merits of proactive management, great leadership, improved financial reporting, and ethanol plant workforce trends.

• Donna Funk, Principal, K-Coe Isom
  The Ethanol Business Model of the Future
• Scott McDermott, Partner, Ascendant Partners Inc.
  25-Year Review of Board and Management Leadership Best Practices
• Connie Lindstrom, Benchmarking Consultant, Christianson PLLP
  Labor: Costs and Challenges for Today’s Plants

While the practice of corn-oil extraction has become common across the ethanol industry, each plant’s extraction efficiency remains unique. This panel will begin with an analysis of the factors that impact corn oil extraction rates before moving on to an investigation of the technologies and process approaches available to move producers beyond their current rate of capture. The discussion will conclude with a close look at a bolt-on technology available for producers looking to put these increased corn oil streams to work while also diversifying their final product mix

• Min Wang, Applications Manager, Croda Inc.
  Development and Evaluation of Next Generation Extraction Aid
• Jennifer Aurandt, Director of Technical Services, Valicor Inc.
  How is Your Distillers Corn Oil Pound per Bushel Yield Achieved?
• Virginia Klausmeier, CEO & Founder, Sylvatex Inc.
  Sylvatex: Expanding the Value of Ethanol
• Charles Hurburgh, Jr., Professor, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Iowa State University Iowa Grain Quality Initiative
  Accurate Near Infrared Analysis Programs for Expanding Supply Chain Quality Requests or Food Safety Requirements

In this era of record production, no producer can afford to have production slowed or even idled because of an unplanned outage. This, coupled with the fact that a sizeable number of plants are over a decade old, means that asset management and maintenance programs require the attention of plant management teams and boards. There is a way to proactively manage and complete required cleaning, maintenance and non-destructive testing and still attain production goals but it requires the kind of strategic planning outlined by the presenters in this panel.

• Erica Montefusco, Director, Environmental, Health, Safety, Security, Green Plains Inc.
  Understanding Your NDT and Your Assets’ End of Life
• Bob Garstki, Senior Application Engineer, Lechler, Inc.
  Improving Efficiency in Ethanol Production by Selecting the Optimum Tank Cleaning Equipment
• Jay Beckel, Vice President, Safety & Health, ERI Solutions, Inc.
  Asset Integrity Management
• Dan Yarmoluk, Director, Business Development, ATEK Technologies
  Condition Based Maintenance: Made Easy

Markets that reward low-carbon fuels are already here and forecasted to grow worldwide as countries work to drive down the carbon intensity of their economies. Conventional biofuels already offer a lower carbon profile when compared to their fossil fuel equivalents, but technologies do exist to substantially increase those reductions. This panel will look closely at carbon capture or reduction approaches available now and under development while also asking whether or not existing marketplace premiums are able to justify their cost.

• Brendan Jordan, Vice President, Great Plains Institute
  CO2 as a Source of Revenue: State and Federal Policies to Reward Carbon Capture and Storage from Ethanol Plants
• Sai Gollakota, Project Manager, National Energy Technology Lab, U.S.DOE
  Carbon Dioxide Capture, Utilization, and Storage: An Emerging Economic Opportunity for Fuel Ethanol Plants in the U.S.
• Daniel Sanchez, Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution for Science
  Cost-Effective Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage from Biorefineries in the United States
• Matt Herman, Coordinator, Environmental Compliance & Services, Renewable Energy Group
  Carbon Intensity Reduction Opportunities in Biomass-Based Diesel Production

Producers know that effectively cooking their corn flour slurry and making starches more available for enzymes to saccharify them is crucial to achieving their yield goals. This same process step continues to invite process tweaks and enhancements all aimed at greater access to simple sugars for yeast populations during fermentation. This panel will look at both novel thermal and enzymatic process enhancements available to producers who have identified an opportunity for increased yield in their liquefaction/saccharification step.

• Loren Chen, President, East Tide Science & Technology
  The Effects of Jet-Cooking on the Enzymatic Degradation of Starch
• Martijn Scheffers, Senior Scientist, DuPont Industrial Biosciences
  More Effective Nitrogen Usage of a Simultaneous Saccharification Biofuel Fermentation System by Applying a Thermostable Serine Protease to the Liquefaction
• Matt Hawkins, Application & Field Scientist, Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled Spirits
  Fusel Oils in Corn to Fuel Ethanol Production

As the Trump Administration makes good on its pledge to reverse certain Obama-Era environmental regulations, the ethanol industry is scrambling to keep up and influence outcomes where it can. This panel will serve as a summary of new and changing federal regulations that affect ethanol plants. Speakers will explain updates to the RFS—the REGS rule, in particular—and the potential impacts of proposed tax code changes. Attendees will also be briefed on the EPA’s tightened sulfur limits, which will require producers to maintain tighter control of sulfur in their fuel.

• Jessica Karras-Bailey, Principal, RTP Environmental Associates Inc.
  How Changes at the White House May Affect Your Plant
• Donna Funk, Principal, K-Coe Isom
  Tax Reform: Opportunities and Challenges for the Ethanol Industry
• Monty McCoy, Director of Technology, Process Technologies, U.S. Water
  Implications of Recent Regulatory Changes and Technological Advances to Fuel Ethanol Quality
• Ernie Pollitzer, President, Clean Energy Consultants
  New EPA Regulations on RFS Program

Producers are well aware of the yield gains available to them using data capture and predictive control approaches. That said finding the sweet spot where the delivered yield returns and production efficiencies are proportional to the investment to get them is complicated. Producers reluctant to gather and use data more extensively because they fear giving up control of plant operation to some nameless program will appreciate this panel’s focus on process control software as an enhancement to, and not a replacement for, skilled and intuitive human operators.

• Andrea Foglesong, Project Manager, RTP Environmental Associates Inc.
  By Complying with FSMA You Just Violated Your Air Permit: Cross Referencing Your Regulatory Obligations
• Ed Thomas, Plant Manager, Carbon Green Bioenergy LLC
  Advanced Process Control Optimization Strategies for Grain Ethanol Producers
• Hank Brittain, Director, Optimization & Advanced Control, OPX Control
  Control Strategies to Improve Production in Ethanol Plants: From Single Loop to Advanced Control
• Cam Fowler, Senior Director Technical Service & Marketing, Phibro Ethanol Performance Group
  Finding Your Rockstar Operator II

Export markets currently consume less than 10% of annual production, but many industry stakeholders see these markets as the best opportunity for near term growth. Establishing an interest for ethanol in these new destinations requires a thorough understanding of the energy and public health goals of each potential marketplace. This panel will examine where ethanol has already won market share, where the industry is most actively working to win new opportunities and which value propositions are finding the most traction with foreign buyers.

• Jim Miller, President, Agriculture and Biofuel Policy Consulting
  Ethanol Trade: Building Overseas Markets to Add Value to the Industry
• Brian Healy, Manager, Ethanol Export Market Development, U.S. Grains Council
  Growing the Global Ethanol Market: The Importance of Market Development and Partnerships Across the APEC Region
• Sophie Byron, Managing Editor, Americas Agriculture Pricing, Platts
  U.S. Ethanol Exports: 2017 and Beyond
• Robert Johansson, Chief Economist, U.S. Department of Agriculture
  Outlook for U.S. Agriculture, Policy, and Biofuels---2017

The production of advanced biofuels RINs and the marketplace for those RINs is a crucial piece of the economics of any advanced biofuel production venture. Presenters in this panel will explore the relationship between RIN prices, volumetric production requirements and RIN waivers and what it means for producers considering an advanced biofuel investment. This panel is a must for any producer looking to bring clarity to their return-on-investment calculations for efficient production or advanced biofuel investments.

• Larry Schafer, Principal, Playmaker Strategies LLC
  Inside the Advanced Biofuels Programs (D4 and D5) RIN Numbers
• Ashley Player, Senior Manager, Weaver and Tidwell L.L.P.
  Generating Advanced RINs at a Corn Ethanol Plant
• Lily Wachter, Chief Financial Officer, Edeniq Inc.
  Generating D3 RINs has a High Return on Investment (ROI)
• Brad Pleima, Senior Engineer & Renewable Energy Consultant, EcoEngineers
  Moving Beyond D6: Opportunities in Advanced Biofuels

Ethanol plants are forever walking the tightrope of creating an operating condition where some micro-organisms survive and thrive while others are kept entirely at bay. Management teams do have multiple options at their disposal including antibiotic and non-antibiotic measures. This panel will feature presentations from purveyors of both but will also offer a more holistic view of microbial control including the implementation of a culture of plant hygiene that seeks to cost effectively control bacterial outbreaks regardless of the treatment pathway a plant intends to deploy.

• Dennis Bayrock, R&D Director, Phibro Ethanol Performance Group
  Elevated H2S Production at Fuel Ethanol Plants: Addressing All Sources of Production in Addition to Sulfate Reducing Bacteria (SRB)
• Allen Ziegler, Biofuels Consultant, Hydrite Chemical Co.
  A New Gram Negative/Positive Antimicrobial that also Reduces Glycerol in Biofuel and Beverage Fermentations
• Tera Stoughtenger, Technical Services Manager, Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled Spirits
  Poor Plant Hygiene: Things to Monitor and Control for More Consistent and Reliable Fermentation
• Stacey Campbell, Ethanol Technical Services Manager, BetaTec Hop Products
  Naturally Derived Antimicrobials for Ethanol Production

While ethanol plants are safe workplaces, no industrial facility is immune to the risk of incidents including employee injury, property damage, fire and accidental environmental release. This session will include a detailed review of a decade of data on ethanol plant incidents, providing context for the associated risks of mishaps. Speakers will also discuss tank fire mitigation solutions, how ethanol plants can build money-saving relationships with their insurance providers, and effective plans for managing media relations if and when spills, accidents and emergencies happen.

• Nathan Vander Griend, President, ERI Solutions, Inc.
  Incident Trends in Ethanol Production: 10-Year Review
• Erica Montefusco, Director, Environmental, Health, Safety, Security, Green Plains Inc.
  Managing Your Relationship with Your Property Insurer
• Henry Persson, Project Leader, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden-Safety/Fire Research
  Ethanol is Not Gasoline: What You Should Know in Case of a Tank Fire!

Producers not satisfied with the market conditions or price trends for distiller’s grains will appreciate this panel’s focus on production approaches that promise to open markets that so far have eluded the industry. In particular, presentations will draw a dotted line between the protein that already exists in plant coproduct streams and the sizeable aquaculture market. In another presentation a field study examining the possibility of using distillers’ coproduct streams as an alternative source of phosphorous fertilizer will be presented.

• Larry Feinberg, CEO, KnipBio
  Value-Added Ingredients for Sustainable Aquaculture Utilizing Ethanol as a Feedstock
• Jasper Teboh, Research Assistant Professor, Soil Science, Carrington Research Extension Center, North Dakota State University
  Ethanol Coproducts: CDS and WDG Show Prospects as Alternative Phosphorus Fertilizer Sources for Corn and Wheat
• Peter Williams, Professor, Fluid Quip Process Technologies LLC
  High Protein Feed Ingredients from the Fuel Ethanol Grain Process
• Bryan Tracy, CEO & Cofounder, White Dog Labs
  Low Cost Conversion of Condensed Distillers Solubles into High Value Single Cell Protein

Most ethanol plants have been operating for a decade or longer and have been working to debottleneck production since the plant was commissioned. As a result, wringing additional yield out of mature plants is becoming more and more difficult. Nevertheless, plant teams that manage to boost throughput with minimal capital expenditures are rewarded with the lowest-cost production increases they could hope to find. This panel will investigate the potential that both engineering audits and new technologies have to get the very last drop of product out of existing plants.

• John Kwik, President, Fluid Quip Process Technologies LLC
  Effective Plant Constraint Evaluation Process
• George Baskin, Principal, Project Development, Burns & McDonnell
  Getting More: Debottlenecking Starch-based Ethanol Plants
• Stephan Blum, CoFounder & Head of Research, Whitefox Technologies Limited
  More Gallons and Improved Steam Consumption with Existing Infrastructure
• Mayumi Kiyono, Business Development Manager, Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings America Inc.
  Dehydration Process of Bioethanol Manufacturing with a State-of-Art Membrane Technology called ZEBREX

In the cutting-edge world of biomass-based diesel technology and processing, new industrial techniques are continuously developing to keep up with demand for lower-cost biodiesel production, tighter quality specs, and broader options in biofuels and chemicals. This panel will feature several experts in the field who will cover the spectrum of this growing industry’s most recent developments, including new insight into testing as related to improving consistency of fuel quality and performance, novel products development, and an emerging renewable diesel process.

• Richard Heiden, Principal Investigator, R.W. Heiden Associates LLC
  New Twists in the Measurement and Fate of Residual Free Glycerin in B100 Biodiesel
• Atul Deshmane, President, Whole Energy Fuels Corp.
  A Novel Estolide Lubricant Pathway
• Joseph Ross, Business Development Manager, North America, Axens
  Hydroconversion of Lipids into Biojet and Renewable Diesel

Ethanol producers have been working to control biofilm formation within their facilities and limit their negative impact on yield since the industry began. With the advent of the Food Safety and Modernization Act the number of arrows in a management team’s biofilm control quiver has been reduced. Presentations in this panel will outline the best path forward for biofilm control within the context of FSMA regulations as well as the efficiency gains available to those producers looking to aggressively attack this ongoing production bottleneck.

• Andrew Ledlie, Marketing Manager, Solenis LLC
  A New Technology for Identifying and Controlling Biofilm Issues Which Can Limit Summer Cooling Capacity and Ethanol Production
• Jim Lukanich, Director of Applied Technology, U.S. Water
  Managing Biofilm Control in FSMA Compliant Cooling Water Applications
• Greg Hoffpauir, Regional Engineer/Process Specialist, GE Water & Process Technologies
  Deposit Control in Stillage Evaporators
• Wayne Mattsfield, Staff Scientist, Phibro Ethanol Performance Group
  Understanding and Defeating Biofilms

Beyond managing margins on inputs and outputs, today’s ethanol producers must incorporate all manner of potential regulatory exposures into their book of risk stratagem. On this panel, speakers will explain how and why specific risk measures are taken, while others are avoided, to stay profitable and secure positive financial opportunities when they arise. Panelists will also discuss interrelated policy, trade and commodity dynamics that could affect future crush margins, as well as ancillary risk management activities like safeguarding ethanol plants and equipping them with solar as a bolt-on energy hedge.

• Chip Whalen, VP Education & Research, Commodity & Ingredient Hedging
  Considerations for Establishing Ethanol Margin Protection
• Will Babler, Principal, Atten Babler Risk Management LLC
  Crush Margin Management: Managing New Policy and Commodity Market Risks in 2017
• Jay Beckel, Vice President, Safety & Health, ERI Solutions Inc.
  Risk Management: More than Managing Commodities
• Nicholas Franco, Director, Sustainability Services, Kinect Energy Group
  Solar as a Hedge against Rising Electric Prices

Ethanol producers manufacture over 40 million tons of distiller’s grains per year. The associated revenues from this product often propel plant balance sheets into the black. Still, DDGS has become a globally traded commodity that has faced downward price pressure. For that reason, the science of producing distillers grains rich in the compounds that contribute significantly to animal health is advancing rapidly. This panel will explore the pathways available to producers today as well as those still under development, that hold exciting promise.

• Ryan Mass, Feed Business Manager, ICM Inc.
  The Next Generation of Feed™: An Examination of Distillers Feed Products
• Douglas Tiffany, Research Fellow, University of Minnesota
  Economics of Producing Phytate and Inositol Coproducts at Ethanol Plants
• Scott Kohl, VP Technology and Process Improvement, White Energy
  Probiotic Production Using Distillers Grains
• John Hannon, Chief Operating Officer, Vertimass LLC
  Ethanol Conversion to Gasoline, Diesel or Jet Fuel Blend Stocks and Higher Value Chemicals (BTX)

The struggle to introduce and grow demand for E15 serves as a perfect case study for the drag that fuel specifications and ill-conceived regulation can place on market growth. In the absence of an RVP waiver, E15 remains a seasonal fuel that has retailers hesitant to introduce it to their customers. Similar and even more vexing challenges face the industry as it seeks to open and expand new export markets. International fuel specifications matter and producers are wise to understand the subtle differences in specifications and testing while folding them into their QA protocols.

• Shon Van Hulzen, Director of Quality Control, POET
  What Plant Quality Teams Need to Know about New D02 Fuel Specifications and Test Methods
• Kristy Moore, Principal, KMoore Consulting LLC
  What Every Producer Must Know about International Fuel Specifications
• Chris Bliley, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, Growth Energy
  Navigating the Many Federal Regulations that Can Limit Producer Access to Vital Markets

Established biofuel production facilities with a history of success and healthy cash flows offer a compelling opportunity for the developers of bolt-on technologies. Similarly, bolt-on technologies offer existing facilities a capital-light pathway to new markets that may provide a healthier margin than the markets they are selling into now. Representatives of emerging, bolt-on technologies working to prove the economic viability of their process will present their business case to producers ready to make advanced biofuels production a piece of their operating strategy.

• Mark Fashian, President, Biodiesel Analytical Solutions
  Higher Yield, Bolt-On Biodiesel Production from Inedible Distillers Corn Oil Using the Continuous, Glycerin-free Mcgyan Process
• Neal Jakel, VP, Strategy & Technology, Fluid Quip Process Technologies LLC
  Technology Pathway to “Clean Sugar” for the Green Biochem Revolution
• Amol Sheth, General Manager, Advanced Biofuels and Bio Chemicals, PRAJ Industries Limited
  PRAJ's Showcase and Success Story at Integrated 2G Demonstration Plant in India
• James Kacmar, Pathway Program Director, Edeniq
  Produce Cellulosic Ethanol in Existing Plants with Edeniq’s Pathway Platform