With abundant waste streams rich in organic material and significant need for thermal energy, ethanol plants have long been the subject of biogas installation feasibility inquiries. Biogas deployments, however, have been slow to come. While low carbon fuel markets in California spurred inquiry, producers historically opted for lower hanging carbon-reducing fruit. Incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 have reignited interest amongst biofuel producers in biogas deployments and this first in a two-panel exploration of biogas’s applicability at ethanol sites will offer a refreshed look at the economics of a technology whose day may have finally come.

• Noah Carlson, Application Engineer, BIOFerm Energy Systems
  Stillage to RNG: Sustainable Growth for Your Facility
• Loren Steenhoek, Engineering Consultant, LYS Enterprises
  Engineering Biogas Plants for Integration and Co-Location With Corn Ethanol Plants
• Kyle Althoff, President, Equinox
  Evaluating Biogas Production to Drive Lower-CI Fuels with Corn Ethanol Production

• Ryan A. Mass, PhD, Director of Animal Nutrition for ICM, Inc.
  How Does Ethanol Process Technology Improve Animal Protein Production? An Introduction
• Justin Axman, MS, Consultant, DNMC Milk
  Digestible Fiber for Efficient Dairy Enterprises – A New Product Opportunity
• John Niemann, Asido Biologicals
  Un-Forked: The Eco-System Strength of Animals, Land, Food and Fuel
• Jeremy Javers, VP of Technology, Houdek-Prairie Aquatech
  Plant-Based Proteins for Aquaculture – Past, Present, and Future
• Matt Durler, VP of Animal Feed Development, ICM, Inc.
  An Integrated Story of the Ethanol Industry and Animals

Remaining relevant and viable as an ethanol producer in the next decade will require not only a fluency in the language of low-carbon production and markets, but also a complete embrace of operational decision making rooted entirely in the context of carbon. The discussions in this panel will make clearer for producers the varying regulatory and marketplace requirements for low carbon fuel markets and how to thrive in all of them. The panel concludes with a discussion of a technology platform that enables ethanol producers to track their carbon intensity in real time, offering them a unique competitive advantage in emerging low carbon fuel markets.

• Melita Kyriakou, Senior Consultant, Christianson PLLP
  Low Carbon Intensity Energy Opportunities
• Andrea Foglesong, Vice President/Sr EHS Consultant, PROtect, LLC
  Ensuring Your Carbon Score Isn’t a Swing And Miss
• Donna Funk, Principal, Pinion
  Where We’ve Been, Where are We Now, Where are We Headed – Define your Sustainability Plan
• Preston Brown, Director of Agribusiness, nZero
  Real Time Carbon Accounting for Ethanol Producers

Most industry observers and proponents agree that the long-term viability for biofuel production from agricultural feedstocks hinges on the industry to continue to push into higher value product categories including SAF, renewable gasoline and industrial chemicals. The importance of identifying and commercializing technologies capable of converting these agricultural inputs into these next generation bioproducts becomes paramount. The presenters in this panel will share progress reports on the technologies aiming to keep ag-based biorefining relevant for decades to come.

• Stephen P Sims, VP Business Development, Universal Fuel Technologies
  Universal Fuel Technologies (UFT) Flexiforming of Ethanol to Produce RBOB and/or SAF
• Mingjun Ma, Postdoctoral Fellow, National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center
  From Corn Stover to Biofuel and Bioproducts
• Ling Tao, Principal Engineer and Analysis Platform Lead, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
  Corn Grain And Corn Stover Ethanol To Jet Fuel: Integrated Techno-Economic Analysis And Life Cycle Assessment

The insistence on biofuels delivering a measurable reduction in carbon intensity catapulted row crop agriculture into the national conversation surrounding decarbonizing our energy systems. Now, the emerging questions are how much carbon benefit this industry can deliver and how are the financial returns shared across the supply chain. This panel begins with an examination of how farmers can enhance the carbon ambitions of ethanol plants and how they might share in premiums enjoyed by downstream ethanol plants. The conversation will then pivot how the industry and its proponents might leverage the low-carbon attributes of ethanol to increase overall blending rates.

• Brian Jennings, CEO, American Coalition for Ethanol
  Opportunities for Climate Smart Agriculture and Ethanol in Clean Fuel Markets
• Dean Drake, President, Defour Group, LLC
  The New Era of Biofuels: Ethanol’s Role in Providing Affordable Clean Transportation Fuel
• Reid Wagner, Executive Director, Nebraska Ethanol Board
  E30 Fuel Demonstration in the Nebraska State Fleet
• Tad Hepner, VP of Strategy and Innovation, Renewable Fuels Association
  Tracing the Industry’s Path to Net Zero

The pipeline of carbon capture projects in North America alone contains over 150 different projects valued at over $33 billion. Carbon capture and sequestration is the leading decarbonization strategy across multiple industries, including biofuel production. This panel discussion will stake out the policies responsible for this incredible momentum, the technologies under development to make it manifest and the impact to the sectors into which it is deployed. Attendees looking for a panel to build a foundational understanding of CCS will appreciate this panel’s broad and comprehensive presentations.

• Todd Bush, Managing Director, Fuse Markets
  Carbon Capture Outlook for 2023-2030
• Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, Vice President, Government and Public Affairs, Navigator CO2
  The Heartland Greenway Project: Project Level Updates and Future Development
• David Miller, Consulting Chief Economist, Decision Innovation Solutions
  45Z and 45Q Tax Credits: Game Changers for the Ethanol Industry
• Chad Asmus, Sustainable Ag Product Strategist, BASF Ag Solutions
  Lowering Carbon Intensity On the Farm: Opportunities, Challenges, and Solutions

Federal mandates, carrier goals and the trend away from a fossil fuel-based economy are all sending strong demand signals to the industry to invest in sustainable aviation fuel production. Those market signals are felt all along the supply chain and technology developers are already at work scaling their concepts and recruiting commercialization partners. This panel will feature presentations from providers with deep experience in conventional biofuel technology development providing updates on their progress in cracking the code to develop economically viable SAF production platforms.

• John Oyen, Business Development Manager, ABB, Inc.
  SAF- Carbon Intensity. How Low Can You Go?
• Matthew Clingerman, Process Development Expert, Sulzer GTC
  Low Carbon Intensity SAF & HVO
• Scott Kohl, Chief Technology Officer, Visionary Fiber Technologies
  Pretreatment System Without the Use of Solid Absorbents
• Tom Nealon, CEO, SAFFIRE
  Production of Sustainable Aviation Fuels from Corn Stover via NREL’s Deacetylation and Mechanical Refining Technology

This panel will extend and expand upon the biogas inquiry started during its companion panel, starting with a deep dive on the ways producers can bundle the financial rewards of access to state low carbon fuel markets and the Clean Fuel Production Credits (Section 45Z) available via the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The panel then moves into presentations offering a varied array of biogas technology deployments, gas utilization strategies and strategic offtake partners that each make a compelling argument that biogas co-location at biofuel production sites is now technically feasible and economically viable.

• Bernie Hoffman, Director of Business Development, P&E Solutions, LLC
  CHP And AD An Ethanol Plant's New Best Friend
• Yassar Farhan, Vice President, EMG International LLC
  Advanced High-Rate Anaerobic Digester Technology for Treatment Of Biofuels Wastewater: A Focus On Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) And Realized Sustainability Benefits
• Dr. John Ingersall, President & CEO, EcoCorp
  Carbon Dioxide Sequestration And Utilization From The Production Of Renewable Natural Gas From The Anaerobic Co-Digestion Of Organic Wastes
• John Kwik, EVP of Product Technologies, Fluid Quip
  Alternative Energy Sources, Assessing AD For The Dry Grind Facility

This panel will highlight the permitting journey participating ethanol producers and pipeline operators will be required to undertake before one ton of carbon dioxide can be sequestered. The discussion will cover all the territory between baseline environmental testing and monitoring all the way through ongoing testing and monitoring to data management, verification and reporting. The presentations will be delivered by professionals with deep knowledge and experience in biofuels permitting and will draw upon the knowledge from the early work being done in the CCS space.

• Angie Ronayne, Senior Consultant, Merjent, Inc.
  Pipeline Environmental Permitting Considerations for CCS Projects
• Tim Eggeman, Chief Technology Officer, New Phase Energy
  Environmental Permitting Challenges for CCS Projects at US Fuel Ethanol Facilities
• Brad Pekas, Senior Engineer/Hydrogeologist, Trihydro Corporation
  Baseline Environmental Testing & Monitoring Programs for CCS Projects
• Andrea Foglesong, Vice President/Sr EHS Consultant, PROtect, LLC
  Proposed GHG Reporting Rule Changes and Associated Reporting Expectations for CCS

The promise of renewable biodiesel and sustainable aviation fuels as drop-in replacements, hastening the transition to a ultra-low carbon future will first have to master the efficient use of catalysts. Currently downtime to reactivate catalysts costs producers precious production time. Presenters in this panel will take this operational challenge head on, offering the solutions available now and their efficacy in both extending the life of catalysts and reducing the time required to bring them back into useful service.

• Jonathon Speed, Director of Product and Applications, Keit Industrial Applications
  Real-Time, On-Line Measurement Of Renewable Diesel And SAF Pre-Treatment Feedstocks: Fix The Problems Before They Trash Your Catalyst
• Lisa Lau, Commercial Manager, The Lubrizol Corporation
  Sulfrzol 54 Is The Sustainable Solution For Sulfiding Catalyst In Renewable Refineries
• Genet Liu, BD Manager, Qingdao Vland Biotech INC.
  Production Of Biodiesel With A Low-Cost Lipase From Genetically Modified Aspergillus Oryzae: Optimization By Response Surface Methodology
• Ryan Roth, Manager, Refined Technologies Inc.
  Reducing Shutdown Time on Renewable Diesel Unit Catalyst Changeouts

A 14 billion gallon per year industry built exclusively on fermentation inspires continued research and development in yeast strains capable of doing more with less. An annual conversation at the FEW, this panel will bring attendees up to speed on the work being done to engineer yeasts that are more resilient, more productive and less reliant on added enzymes.

• Griffin Ford, Technical Service Account Manager, IFF
  Improved Fermentation Performance of New Glucoamylase (GA) Expressing Yeast Strains
• Justin Smith, Chief Sciences and Technology Officer, Recombia, Lesaffre
  Highly Efficient Multiplex Strain Engineering at Recombia Biosciences and LEAF by Lesaffre for Ethanol Strain Development
• Josh Heyen, CEO & President, Xylogenics, Inc.
  The Advantages of Maltophilic Yeast for Fuel Ethanol Production
• Bruce Patterson, Sales Director, Americas, Leaf by Lesaffre
  Developing partnerships along the value chain: the working model for the CP^² platform

The average age of the installed fleet of ethanol production plants is rapidly approaching 20 years. Managing wear parts and monitoring plant components nearing the end of their functional life is a reality for most producers. The presentations in this panel will look specifically at plant chillers, molecular sieves and plant control systems and some practical approaches to better understand the health of these critical components and systems, extend the functional life of those systems or determine that their replacement is necessary.

• Brad Thompson, Biofuels Technology Leader, Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions
  Why is Your Chiller Failing You? - A Guide to Ensuring Performance and Extending Its Life
  ✪ FEW Podcast Interview
• Mark Binns, Technical Business Director, Hengye, Inc.
  Real Time Mol Sieve Evaluation with Operational Example
• Mitch Manstedt, Strategic Business Leader, Kurita America
  Plant Reliability-Replacement of Outdated Automation and Controls

In addition to coupling carbon capture technology at their facilities, industrial operators must be prepared for a parallel effort to maximize the varying incentives and tax credit programs vital to the project’s long term financial success. This panel largely focuses on the Section 45 tax credits offering a robust explanation of how the credits work, what the requirements are to be awarded the tax credits and the varying ways in which these tax credits can be monetized.

• Dawn Lima, Associate VP - Renewable Energy & Sustainable Technologies, Foss & Company
  Optimizing Carbon Capture Tax Credit Transactions
• Donna Funk, Principal, Pinion
  Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – Tax Credit Alphabet Soup
• Robert Coon, Partner, Kutak Rock LLP
  The Alphabet Soup Of Section 45 (45Q, 45Z, Etc.)
• Ben Nelson, Director of Carbon Programs, Summit Carbon Solutions
  Financing CCS And Tax Credit Monetization

This panel will begin with a reminder to ethanol production teams that corn oil capture rates across the ethanol production fleet continue to fall well short of theoretical yield limits. As ethanol’s most valuable co-product by weight, presenters will ask attendees to consider the opportunity of liberating greater corn oil volumes from their operation. This panel promises to offer producers new thinking on corn oil extraction informed by information gleaned from data captured and tests performed in the field. Plant teams with hoping to extract additional margin from their corn oil program will appreciate the pragmatic, deployable solutions discussed in this session.

• Jaclyn DeMartini, Applications Research Group Leader, IFF
  Increasing Corn Oil Yields Through Biotechnology
• Anne Chronic, Director of Market Analytics, Phibro Ethanol
  Corn Oil Optimization: Product Application and Data Analytics in Action
• Tara Vigil, Vice President of Bioprocess Solutions, Trucent
  Redefining Distillers Corn Oil - TruDCO™
• Aaron Williamson, Process Integration Specialist, ICM, Inc.
  Maximizing Corn Oil Yield at Your Biorefinery

Attendees hoping to leave the conference with a clear understanding of the size of the emerging renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel markets need look no further than this panel. Populated with two presentations from a leading market analysis provider, an alternative fuels initiative representative and the Department of Energy the information is certain to clearly articulate the immensity of the opportunity. Attention will also be given to the types of contract structures the industry’s first wave of participants need to consider now as they approach financing and construction.

• Nicolle Castro, Managing Editor, Americas Biofuels and Sugar, S&P Global Platts
  Market Dynamics Driving the Renewable Diesel Market
• Steve Csonka, Executive Director, CAAFI (Com'l Aviation Alt. Fuels Init)
  Sustainable Aviation Fuel: Progress Update
• Ben Simon, Technology Manager, Department of Environment & Energy
  The DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office Approach to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions at 1st Generation Ethanol Facilities in Support of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge

Fermenters are the beating heart of an ethanol plant and warrant the obsession they garner from lab teams. Healthy, predictable and productive fermentations are the cornerstone of plant profitability a . The presentations in this panel will connect attendees with decades of expertise around creating, and sustaining fermentation environments that deliver consistent alcohol production. The conversation will address the leading causes of lackluster or failed fermentations and the most effective remedies to correct them.

• Matt Bilski, Lead Chemist, Ecolab, Inc.
  Fermentation - Similarities and Differences
• Lindsey Mathiesen, Technical Service Manager, Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled Spirits
  Keys to Successful Fermentation Management
• Stephanie Gleason, Director, Global Technology, Phibro Ethanol
  Stuck or Sluggish Fermentations: Identifying the Cause and Mitigating the Impact
  ✪ FEW Podcast Interview
• Michael Hora, Principal Engineer, Fluid Quip
  Cleaning Up Fine Fiber and Protein Released During Fermentation

Basing operational decisions on gathered data is not a new concept for plant lab teams, and the decisions being made in ethanol production facilities today are absolutely informed by captured data. The presenters in this panel will ask producers to consider the impact of even more data capture, predictive modeling and in-line, real time analysis. This panel will inspire plant teams toward not just increased data capture, but more importantly the efficient and expedient use of what is learned to make difference making process adjustments.

• Matthew Ban, Director of Technical Services, CTE Global, Inc.
  Creating Practical Tools to Troubleshoot and Optimize Fermentation Using Advanced Statistics
• Jonathon Speed, Director of Product and Applications, Keit Industrial Applications
  Going Beyond the HPLC - What Real-Time Measurement of Chemical Concentrations Allows the Plant To Optimize
  ✪ FEW Podcast Interview
• Adam Hopkins, Spectroscopy Product Manager, Metrohm USA
  Next Generation NIR Analyzer for Process Control
• Hank Brittain, Director of Optimization & Advanced Control, OpX Control, Inc.
  Coordinating Level Control in an Ethanol Plant Corn Oil Extraction System

• James Fann, Vice President, Business Development & Corporate Affairs, The International CCS Knowledge Centre
  Bringing CCS Projects To Life – The Critical Role Of Collaboration And Applying Lessons From The Past
• John Hamling, Assistant Vice President: Strategic Partnerships, EERC
  Implementing the First Incentive-Driven CCS Projects
• Andrew Duguid, Vice President, Advanced Resources International
  How to Develop a Successful CO₂ Storage Project
• Aaron Eldridge, South Dakota Project Manager, Summit Carbon Solutions
  CO₂ Pipeline Design, Construction, and Operations

Like so many other ethanol production approaches, marketplace rewards for carbon reductions are inspiring producers to take a closer look at product diversification. The presenters in this panel assert that while diversification via fractionation or enhanced upgrading or protein isolation aren’t new ideas, , they are worth a fresh look. Together, these panelists will make it clear that for production teams to flourish in the next ten years, they’ll need to migrate their thinking away from the traditional ethanol/DDG output and towards the advanced biorefinery model catalyzed by the increased financial rewards that await plants that couple diversification with decarbonization.

• Pete Moss, President, Cereal Process Technologies, LLC
  Corn Dry Fractionation – The Resurgence Of Diversification And Carbon Intensity Reduction
• Monty McCoy, Director of Process Technology, Kurita America
  Purifying Fuel Ethanol for Industrial Ethanol and Feedstock Application
• Roji Philip, Director of Protein Technologies, Fluid Quip
  Protein Separation Innovation; The Latest Advances In Protein Separation Technologies
• Larry Tree, Co-Founder, CEO, and Board Member, Proteum Energy, LLC
  Profitable Clean Hydrogen Partnerships with Ethanol Producers

The promise of wringing even more production and efficiency from a mature ethanol plant using captured data is well understood by producers. The challenge for producers is not limited data, but conversely an avalanche of data in a dizzying array of formats. To realize the full potential waiting to be unlocked within their accumulated data, producers must leverage software and increasingly artificial intelligence. This comprehensive discussion will showcase the platforms available to producers today to not only capture data, but aggregate and interpret for the difference making insights it contains.

• Anne Chronic, Director of Market Analytics, Phibro Ethanol
  Becoming a Data Preparation Expert: Tools to Automate and Standardize Data Preparation
• Alex Sexton, Technical Services Manager, Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled Spirits
  Effective Data Analysis Tools You Can Use
• Carson Merkwan, Business Development Manager, Direct Companies
  What You Can Do with Data
• Taylor Pellerin, Technical Service Account Manager, IFF
  XCELIS® AI: Accelerating Adoption of AI tools in the Fuel Ethanol Industry
  ✪ FEW Podcast Interview

Yeasts are a wonder; the tiny workhorses of every ethanol plant. However, they are a finicky bunch and when stressed will struggle to meet performance objectives. Often, producers are faced with the dilemma of choosing between yeast robustness and overall productivity, a historically inverse relationship has dominated that paradigm. Presenters in this panel will challenge that historical reality and offer thoughts on how to protect and preserve yeast health without sacrificing yield. A presentation on the use of artificial intelligence for yeast cell counting will also be delivered.

• Steve Westra, Field Service Manager, Phibro Ethanol
  Robustness Wanted: Powering Through Process Variability and Plant Upsets
• Tara Naman, Laboratory Manager, CTE Global, Inc.
  Using Automated Cell Counting Technology To Optimize Yeast Health And Fermentation Performance
• Jim Miers, Nutrient Category Manager, Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled Spirits
  How Can Nutrients Bring Synergistic Value to your Facility

This water-focused panel will begin with a reminder to plant teams that efforts to make more efficient plant water usage pays twice, as water and energy usage are inextricably linked. Presenters will then move into specific methodologies for reducing water usage and when appropriate, striving for zero liquid discharge. Attention will be given to technologies and treatment approaches making these ambitions possible before closing with call to action for biofuels producers to fully understand their own watersheds and their role in preserving and protecting it.

• Harrison Fowler, Engineer - Softening Technologies, Veolia Water Technologies
  Tough-to-Treat Water in Your Plant? An Innovative Co-Product and Alternative to Cold-Lime Softening
• Erica Pann, Senior Project Manager, Antea Group
  Water Stewardship for the Renewable Fuel Industry: Global Perspectives, Local Impacts

This panel will expand on the day’s previous discussions about the importance of sub-surface modeling for CCS projects. Panelists will make clear the vital importance of thorough analysis of potential sequestration sites as a means of mitigating project risk. The presentations will be rooted in case studies from some of the sector’s earliest investigations and will outline how a failure to fully comprehend and calculate the storage potential of a well can jeopardize a project’s long-term financial viability.

• Evan MacDonald, Senior Geologist, Enverus
  Quantifying Risk for Sequestration Success – A Look At Potential CO₂ Storage Hazards and Complications in Southern Louisiana
• Kacey Garber, Project Professional, SCS Engineers
  Applications of Solution Storage Efficiency via Multiphase Flow Modeling to Carbon Dioxide Storage Project Scoping
• Binbin Guo, Strategic Technology Manager, The Lubrizol Corporation
  Direct Thickening of CO₂ for Efficient Underground Carbon Storage

While varied in their individual approaches, these presentations are unified in their promise to increase the value of oil and co-product streams at ethanol plants. The panel begins by looking at densification as a means of increasing the value of animal feed co-products by reducing transportation costs and eliminating some of the headaches that come with bulk feed handling. The panel then transitions to an examination of technologies that enable even greater oil and protein capture from plant stillage streams.

• Matt Durler, Vice President of Feed Development, ICM, Inc.
  Adding Value Beyond Bulk Density in the Carbon Economy
• Sam Cebula, Sales & Marketing Manager, Pneumat Systems, Inc.
  DDG Handling & Transport: Solid Solutions for a Problematic Product
• Rohan Pingale, Deputy Manager - Business Development South America, PRAJ Industries Limited
  Value Maximization options for Whole Stillage

The existing momentum towards low carbon production approaches was put into overdrive upon the signing of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. This legislation goes beyond marketplace access for low carbon fuels to direct financial incentivization. As plant teams plan capital investments, expansions and new technology deployments they must consider the carbon intensity implications before making a decision to proceed. These presentations will offer plant teams a broad overview of the carbon benefit of various technologies available today, how they might be deployed together and which offer the most cost effective means of achieving their CI-reduction goals.

• Bill Schafer, CEO, Energy Integration, Inc.
  Integrating Technologies
• Neal Jakel, President, Fluid Quip
  CI Reduction through Engineering
• Dawn Kopecky, Senior Mechanical Engineer, Barr Engineering Co.
  Exergy Analysis for Ethanol Production
• Adam Anderson, Director of Sales, ICM, Inc.
  Carbon Impact Value of Technology Installation

This session opens with a broad overview of existing and emerging low carbon fuel markets and the compliance requirements plant teams must anticipate if they intend to participate in them. From there, the discussion will pivot to a review of technologies being aimed at the production processes most carbon intensive steps in a push towards net-zero ethanol. Alternative approaches to dehydration, fermentation and process steam will all be presented alongside methodologies for quantifying the carbon benefit delivered by these promising technologies.

• Jessica Buckley, Project Manager, RTP Environmental Associates, Inc.
  TO INFINITY AND BEYOND: How Diversifying Operations Can Help Facilities Achieve Market Sustainability and Net Zero Goals
• Virginia Andrade, Process Engineering Manager, Whitefox Technologies Limited
  The Essential Role That Membranes Play In The Pursuit Of Net Zero Goals In The Biofuels Industry
  ✪ FEW Podcast Interview
• Todd Krieger, Senior Lead LCA Scientist, IFF
  Towards a Sustainable Future: Metrics and Models for Measuring Corporate Sustainability and the Role of Enzymes
• Jeremy Keller, Director of Project Development, Rondo Energy, Inc.
  Zero-Carbon Steam + CCS for Zero-Carbon Ethanol

Ethanol plant operators know that one of their biggest challenges in the next half decade will be maintaining plant rosters with enough qualified personnel to effectively run their operation. The presenters in this panel will make the argument that rather than waiting for the HR department to fill the hiring funnel with qualified operators, technology can be used to get more productivity with the team already in place. The technologies being presented range from mobile monitoring and control to the deployment of AI in ethanol production environments. The panel will also feature a compelling case study of a plant that deployed a process management software platform that greatly increased their shift-to-shift effectiveness.

• Jason Pennington, Director of Digital Solutions, Endress+Hauser
  Empowering the Mobile Worker
• Tyler Peterson, Business Development Lead, Digital Transformation, Novaspect, Inc.
  Optimizing Plant Communication and Workflow - Digital Transformation with Immediate ROI
• Carson Merkwan Business Development Manager, Direct Companies
  The Workerless Plant
• Matt Schneyer, Process Engineer Team Lead, Fluid Quip
  Automation Strategies for Today and Tomorrow

The impetus to participate in carbon capture and sequestration projects is well understood. The carbon reductions delivered offer market access, tax credits and other financial rewards to participating biofuels producers. This panel takes a deep look at the details of the local, state and federal permits and regulations producers will have to navigate in order to participate as well as the reporting requirements producers must build into their operational plant to satisfy regulators and capture all of the financial benefits of deploying the technology. Attendees will also hear about some contract considerations that are important to consider in the early stages of CCS project development.

• Vanessa Silke, Partner, Baird Holm LLP
  Carbon Capture Projects and Environmental Permitting
• Kari Buttenhoff, Partner, Christianson PLLP
  CCS: Learning to Swim in the Deep End: Navigating CARB Requirements
• David Bracht, Partner, Kutak Rock LLP
  Key contract terms in CO₂ Contracts

Airlines around the world are committed to increased usage of sustainably manufactured aviation fuels, with many making significant investments in SAF start-ups as a means of accelerating the commercialization process. A good share of those investments are being made with technology partners hoping to grow SAF production from the fertile ground of first generation biofuel production sites. The presenters in this panel will explain why technologies leveraging this installed capacity is more likely to yield “ready-to-fly” volumes well before competing approaches leaving ethanol and biodiesel producers well-positioned to capture market share in an aviation market hungry to capture the decarbonizing attributes of sustainably produced aviation fuels.

• Scott Kohl, Chief Technology Officer, Visionary Fiber Technologies
  Opportunity For DCO In SAF/RD Markets – Market Growth Projections
• Mark Yancey, Chief Technology Officer, SAFFIRE
  Alcohol to Jet: The One Billion Gal/Year Opportunity for the U.S. Ethanol Industry Available Now!
• Chuck Gallop, Director of Innovation, ICM, Inc.
  Evolving with the Industry: Purifying Distillers Corn Oil to Spec for Renewable Diesel and Sustainable Aviation Fuel Feedstock
• Radu Craciun, Technology Manager Hydrogenation and Specialty Catalysts- Americas, BASF Enzymes
  New Catalyst Geometry Poised To Re-Shape Ethanol-To-Ethylene Conversion

Populating plant rosters with qualified staff was a challenge before the pandemic and management teams are still struggling to find, place and retain good help. This panel will urge attendees to think critically about how they are building and managing their talent funnel, how they are training their time and how they are creating a workplace environment that enhances their retention goals. This important discussion is a must for management teams that feel stuck on the merry go round of employee turnover, unanswered job postings and less than optimal staff morale.

• Ron Faciane, Director, GP Strategies Corporation
  Enhancing Operational Excellence through Effective Upskilling
• Janet Fisher, Enzyme Product Category Manager, Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled Spirits/ RFA's Young Professionals Network
  Baby Boomers vs Millennials: Insights into Successful Recruitment and Retention of Young Professionals in the US Ethanol Industry
  ✪ FEW Podcast Interview
• Kristen Glasgow, Manager, Pinion
  Revamping Your Culture, Hiring Practices and How Your Current and Future Employees See You
• Erica Montefusco, Sr VP Risk and Compliance, PROtect, LLC
  Creating Your Own Pipeline of Talent

• Caleb Ogden, Senior Technical Account Manager, Lallemand Biofuels & Distilled Spirits
  Importance of Hygiene Monitoring and Auditing for Optimum Fermentation Performance
• Andrew Hawkins, Director of Laboratory Services, Phibro Ethanol
  15 Years of Learnings on Ethanol Process Contamination
• Mitch Manstedt, Strategic Business Leader, Kurita America
  Reducing Energy Costs thru Cleaning and Maintenance of your Water Treatment Systems
• Chris Wilkins, Sales Manager, Anderson Chemical Co.
  Reducing CIP Costs at an Ethanol Production Facility

Attention to emissions limits differs from other operating parameters in that not achieving required parameters can shut a plant down. The stakes for plant teams around emissions program couldn’t be higher. This panel will argue that like so many other aspects of ethanol production, production teams charged with keeping plant emissions within permitted ranges can and should make operational decisions based upon captured data. The economic benefits of a data-based emissions control approach will serve as the cornerstone of each presentation.

• Monty McCoy, Director of Process Technology, Kurita America
  Air Emissions Compliance Cost Management
• Erica Montefusco, Sr VP Risk and Compliance, PROtect, LLC
  SHIELD Your Operational KPIs

Modeling underground carbon dioxide storage formations is required by the EPA to obtain a class VI permit and authorization to begin sequestration. The presentations in this panel will help facilities considering CCS deployments understand the basics of what is required and what can be learned from underground models. Attention will also be paid to the importance of understanding how sub-surface modeling can protect investors from risk by identifying best and worst-case scenarios of potential sequestration volumes. Presenters will explain the critical importance of a thorough analysis of sub-surface modeling and how and when to incorporate it into CCS project development.

• Zach Freund, Reservoir Engineer, ARI
  Why CCS Projects Need Subsurface CO₂ Modeling And How It Leads To Successful Projects
• James Nutaitis, Carbon Consultant, EcoEngineers
  Using a Geological Assessment to determine the Viability of Carbon Capture and Storage for Ethanol Producers
• Joseph Mello, Vice President, Netherland, Sewell & Associates, Inc. (NSAI)
  Subsurface Uncertainty in CCS Investment Decisions
• Stephanie Cook, Manager, Carbon Storage, Navigator CO₂
  Carbon Storage in Geological Formations: Science, Technology, and Workflow

While most ethanol plant boards have likely given serious consideration to on-site power production, the presenters in this panel will ask attendees to look once again at the available technologies in the new context of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The credits available to producers for ultra-low CI-intensity biofuels can dramatically change the ROI timeline for on-site deployments compared to pre-IRA pro-formas. Finally, presenters will make compelling arguments for their technologies of an effective means of not only providing required energy loads but dramatically reducing the carbon intensity of produced fuels as well.

• John Oyen, Business Development Manager, ABB, Inc.
  Managing Renewable Power for Optimum Performance
• Jordan Kearns, Vice President of Project Development, Antora Energy
  45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit and the Decarbonization Opportunity of Electrifying Plant Thermal Loads
• Kasper Larsen, CEO, EnerDry
  Steam Drying of Distillers Grain – Eliminate Gas Consumption and CO₂ Emissions from Drying Process
• Kevin Jensen, Account Manager, Solar Turbines Incorporated
  Flexing CHP to Take Advantage of a Rapidly Changing Electrical Market

Designed specifically to help ethanol plant boards think beyond their basic fiduciary responsibilities, this panel features presentations meant to inspire strategic thinking amongst the plant’s board of directors. The discussion will begin with a review of the financial documents board members need to understand and how they connect to plant value before moving into discussions on board dynamics, working with member investors and board recruitment. Finally, the panel concludes with a presentation that ponders the future of bio-refineries in an era of rising input costs and the opportunities to produce bio-based fertilizers.

• Kathryn Mueller, Manager, Christianson PLLP
  Financial Literacy: Understanding the Financial Statements
• James Jirak, Manager, Pinion
  Working Together As A Board, During The Good (Easy) Times As Well As The More Difficult Times
• Mark Pomykacz, Managing Partner, Federal Appraisal, LLC
  Creating and Measuring Value – The Ethanol Plant

Enzymes are the prep cooks in the ethanol plant kitchen. While not glamorous, the work they do to convert starches into the simple sugars the yeasts will dine upon is crucial to achieving yield targets. Owing to their importance, there continues to be robust research and development in enzymes and enzyme expressing yeast strains. This panel will offer attendees a close look at new developments and new thinking in effective enzyme deployment and use. Presenters will make it clear that to keep pace with the industry’s highest yielding cohort, they’ll need to embrace the advances made in enzyme development and use.

• Pedro Pena, VP of Technology and Innovation, CTE Global, Inc.
  Synchronizing Enzyme and Yeast Biotechnology to Finetune Plant Performance from Start To Finish
• Aafke Van Aalst, PhD Candidate, Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology,
  Minimizing Byproduct Formation at Sub-Maximal Growth Rates by Engineered Low-Glycerol S. Cerevisiae Strains Expressing Heterologous Genes Encoding Calvin-Cycle Enzymes
• Kyle Abbott, Application Associate, IFF
  Use of Phytase Enzymes in The Liquefaction Process

Plant maintenance teams would bristle at the notion that their preventative maintenance plans comes down to guess work. Still, presentations in this panel argue that there are unrecognized efficiencies available to every plant that shows a willingness to deploy state of the art instrumentation and software into their maintenance diagnostics. Attendees will hear about the technologies available to quickly diagnose sub-optimal component performance, software that connects gathered data to work order generation and parts inventory and the increased confidence that comes with a maintenance plant built upon a foundation of trusted information.

• Shawn Anderson, President / Chief Engineer, API Solutions, LLC
  Valve Leakage Inspection using Acoustic Emission
• Scott Frappier, Chief Software Architect, Stoneridge Software
  Tackling the Biggest Challenges in Maintenance with Software Automation
• Lara Rabbath, Refining & Sustainability Marketing Manager, Emerson
  Essential Corrosion Monitoring for Biofuel Production
• Keith Riley, Product Marketing Manager of Level + Pressure, Endress+Hauser
  Taking the Pulse of Your Measurement

Most observers of the coming wave of carbon capture and sequestration projects understand the basic concept of the technology but the nuts and bolts of how carbon will be captured from plants, prepared for direct injection into on-site wells or pipelines is less clear. This panel seeks to fill in that knowledge gap with four presentations on the leading designs for CCS facilities and the opportunities already being identified to reduce their overall cost of operation.

• John Oyen, Business Development Manager, ABB, Inc.
  The Design and Operational model for full CCS facilities
• Mercy Renteria, Nat'l Business Development Mger - Energy - Strategic Business, Endress+Hauser
  Optimal Technology for Carbon Capture
• Shane Hughes, Senior Sales Manager, Toshiba America Energy Systems Corp
  Mikawa Post Combustion Capture Pilot Plant – Amine Solvent
• Andrew Sexton, Senior Engineer, Trimeric Coporation
  CO₂ Surface Facilities Process Evaluation and Design

The production of cellulosic ethanol from material already flowing through traditional ethanol plants has been simultaneously motivated and thwarted by federal biofuel policy. Cellulosic production from corn fiber streams seemed poised to become as commonplace as corn oil capture. Regulators have grown uncomfortable, however, with methodologies to appropriately quantify and confirm in-situ cellulosic volumes. Language within the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 may once again unlock opportunity for producers ready to invest in cellulosic production. This panel will offer attendees a review of the state of cellulosic production technologies and their commercial readiness.

• Melita Kyriakou, Senior Consultant, Christianson PLLP
  All Signs Point to Cellulosic Ethanol
• Adam Vaughn, Technical Manager, CTE Global, Inc.
  The Use Of A Hemicellulase To Unlock Corn Kernel Fiber, Gaining Access To Bound Starch And Releasing Additional Corn Oil
• Mark Yancey, Chief Technology Officer, D3MAX
  Corn Starch, Fiber, and Stover: Diversify Your Feedstock and Your Product Portfolio
• Yanhong Zhang, Director of Research, National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center
  Contribution to D3 RINs Application with in situ Fermentation - Review of the NREL Cellulose Method and the NCERC Package

No one would argue against doing absolutely everything possible to protect the men and women who work at their plants. That said, building a culture of plant safety requires daily diligence and attention to detail. This panel features presentations that take both a broad, holistic view to building a strong ethic of safety within plant teams as well as discussions about managing very specific risks including rail hazards and static discharge during fuel load-out operations. This annual safety discussion is built with EHS professionals in mind, but would benefit plant leadership teams and board members as well.

• Jason Simons, Director of Environmental, Health and Safety, Merjent, Inc.
  Planning and Conducting EHS Audits: The Added Value to Building a Strong EHS Culture
• Richard Puig, Product Manager - Americas, Newson Gale, Inc.
  Hazardous Area Static Control When Loading and Unloading Ethanol
• Scott Allen, VP Business Development, Renewable Fuels, PROtect, LLC
  Operations Training and Risk Control