Lee Enterprises and Genscape, Inc. Announce Strategic Alliance

June 13, 2012 - PRLog -- Little Rock, AR:    Lee Enterprises Consulting, the world’s largest alternative and renewable fuels consulting group, is pleased to announce the formation of a strategic alliance with Genscape, Inc., the leading global provider of real-time information for commodity and financial markets.   As part of the strategic alliance, Lee Enterprises will merge the recently announced “RIN 9000” verification program into Genscape’s “RIN Integrity Network™” and the two companies will work together on making the latter program the standard in the industry.  

“Our discussions began from the prospective of competitors, but as we talked each of us saw features in the other’s program that we felt would benefit producers while satisfying concerns of obligated parties,” says Lee Enterprises’ CEO, Wayne Lee.

Genscape agrees.  "After discussions with smaller producers about their needs," said Susan Olson, VP of Analytical R&D at Genscape, "we began to add technology to our monitoring arsenal that helps producers not only promote their integrity but boost their process efficiency as well”.   Olson notes that with all the other biodiesel services Lee Enterprises Consulting brings to the table, the implementation of the RIN Integrity Network™ accelerated.  “The formation of this strategic partnership with Lee Enterprises Consulting enables Genscape to offer the best, most comprehensive RIN integrity services, and to have a complete line of other biodiesel services at its fingertips.  This is winning combination for the biodiesel industry.”

This strategic relationship and integration of RIN services into Genscape’s RIN Integrity Network™ will indeed bring together some of the major participants in the biodiesel industry.  Jess Hewitt, CEO of Gulf Hydrocarbon and Lee Enterprises’ RIN expert, will provide initial RIN education services to clients to make sure producers understand exactly what it required in creating, attaching, selling, buying and retiring RINS .  AP Innovations, a full service engineering company that recently completed its twenty second biodiesel plant startup, will conduct on site visits.  Christianson & Associates, PLLP, will provide RIN attestation, auditing, verification and consulting services.   Intertek Commodities, an industry leader in analytical testing, will perform ASTM testing of product samples collected during site visits.  Lee Enterprises will have its group of biodiesel experts available, and Genscape will recommend Lee Enterprises Consulting to its producer clients who might benefit from the variety of other biodiesel services provided by Lee's group of experts.

John Christianson, Managing Partner of Christianson & Associates, is pleased with the new arrangement.  “Our group has worked extensively with both Genscape and Lee Enterprises” says Christianson, “so we are very familiar with the strengths of both groups”.   Christianson believes that this new alliance brings the talent of many experts into one program, a factor he says “is exactly what the RIN market needs right now.”

The new merger has also received support from others involved in the biodiesel industry, including the National Biodiesel Board.  “We provided substantial input to Genscape as they created their RIN Integrity Network™ and we are very familiar with Lee Enterprises Consulting group and the biodiesel talent within their consultants and strategic partners,” says Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board.  “With Genscape’s history of providing information to the energy industry, and Lee Enterprises’ expertise in biodiesel and their relationship with the small producers nationwide, this is a very strong alliance that we believe will address the RIN problems that currently exist.”    

Everyone involved agrees that the new alliance will give a much needed boost to a RIN market recently plagued by difficulty.  “RFS2 mandates that refiners and importers purchase renewable identification numbers to show compliance,” says Lee.  “Over the past year, the EPA has uncovered a few isolated instances of people producing fraudulent RINS, and these situations have caused turmoil in the RIN market for small producers who are now having a difficult time selling their legitimate RINS.”   Olson notes that small producers simply want to sell their RINS at fair market value, and obligated parties want assurances that the RINS they purchase are valid.  “This joining of forces by the biodiesel industry's major groups allows our RIN Integrity Network™ to answer those problems urgently for producers and obligated parties.”  

Both Lee and Olson also agree that the new relationship will beyond resolving current RIN issues and holds great potential for future collaboration on matters of importance to biodiesel and other alternative and renewable fuels producers.    

ABOUT LEE ENTERPRISES CONSULTING, INC.:  Lee Enterprises is the world's largest alternative and renewable fuels consulting firm.  The group handles biodiesel, ethanol, biomass, wind, solar, waste to energy, and geothermal projects, and offers a wide range of services worldwide, from initial planning and feasibility assessment, through project oversight, design, fabrication, installation and start-up. The group’s consultants and strategic partners represent the top talent in alternative and renewable fuels, and these experts handle almost every aspect of a project.  The group also owns National Business Brokerage, Inc., a full service business brokerage firm specializing in the buying and selling of alternative and renewable fuels plants.  Lee Enterprises, 1503 East Kiehl Ave., Sherwood, AR 72120. (501) 833-8511. www.lee-enterprises.com

ABOUT GENSCAPE, INC.: Genscape is a leading global provider of energy information for commodity and financial markets. Utilizing patented technologies and proprietary algorithms, Genscape provides accurate & timely data on capacities, flow and utilization for all major energy commodities. The product range includes the well-known real-time services for power and gas in North America and Europe. Genscape also delivers fundamentals-based market intelligence services which market participants rely upon to better understand drivers, risks, and dynamics of regional power and gas markets. Genscape is committed to enhancing the market activities of our clients through access to superior fundamental data and market intelligence.    www.genscape.com