It has been a tough year for the ethanol industry. Volatile corn markets, EPA’s delay until the last minute on granting a year-round waiver for E15 that effectively prevented the market from taking advantage, and, of course, the small refinery waivers. But, another factor has been the reduced pace of petroleum refinery operations, which has slowed down the opportunity to blend ethanol. Petroleum refinery runs, have increased each year since 2009, and reached a record in 2018, averaging 17.3 million barrels per day (bpd). However, through the first half of 2019 and the forecast for the rest of the year, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) is projecting refinery runs to average 17 million bpd, desp...
From WPI Consulting
Illuminating the value of technical research
On behalf of a commodity producer organization, WPI evaluated the outputs from a project that featured a $5 million investment into technical research over multiple years. WPI’s team captured the results of this extensive effort and synthesized them for presentation to the organization’s governing board; among the findings uncovered and presented for the first time was the development of genomic traits proven, via rigorous testing, to provide crop yield advantages of 50 percent or more to U.S. farmers in times of drought. Capturing measurable results from long-term efforts can be challenging. Educating clients on the dynamics of success measurement when quantifiable results are not readily available requires deep client-consultant collaboration and an ability to consider both near- and long-term client aspirations with market/policy dynamics – attributes that WPI brings to every consulting engagement.