4 minutes with… Jeff Hove, Vice President, RINAlliance

Tell us about your company and it’s role in the Advanced Bioeconomy.

RINAlliance was established in 2007 and in response to the EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard. The program serves almost 200 petroleum marketers that bring renewable fuels to the public across the U.S. Our software based programs decrease compliance burdens (RFS and LCFS) and increase the potential to profit from the use of alternative fuels.

Tell us about your role and what you are focused on in the next 12 months.

Our goal from the beginning has been to increase the level of due diligence and profit for the blender. This minimizes the chances of non-compliance and directly improves our relationships with producers and refiners which increases margins. Compliance and fraud prevention are vital components of what we do on a daily basis.

Our software manages over two billion RINs transacted annually and serves as a RIN trading house which is managed by RINAlliance. This allows very large and even small blenders to monetize RINs very quickly and at the highest market value. The ultimate goal is to incentivize higher levels of blending.

Most recently, RINAlliance has been focusing on bringing our software inside the terminal where we can track each blended gallon and monitor the RIN separation events for our clients, in real-time. We have also developed tools that assist our west coast blenders with daily LCFS transaction reconciliations between parties and carbon credit verification.

What do you feel are the most important milestones the industry must achieve in the next 5 years?  

Within 5 years, congress and the EPA should be looking at expanding the use-case scenarios under the RFS. Limiting end-use incentives to transportation fuel and heating oil limits the markets in which renewable fuels can play an active role in reducing CO2 and GHG emissions. Increasing the applications eligible for RIN credit generation is a must

Of all the reasons that influenced you to join the Advanced Bioeconomy industry, what single reason stands out for you as still being compelling and important to you?  

I want to show my children that we can improve every day and that change is not a bad thing.

Where are you from? 

Wisconsin.

What was your undergraduate major in college, and where did you attend? Why did you choose that school and that pathway?

Hydrogeology/Contaminant Transport, Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

Who do you consider your mentors – could be personal, business, or just people you have read about and admire. What have you learned from them?

Not big on the mentor concept. I don’t believe that a single person or even a single group can be an individual’s compass. I try hard to listen to anyone willing to have a conversation with me and pick up pieces of knowledge as I go.