In Washington, Reuters reports that President Trump held a two-hour meeting with cabinet members on Monday that included representatives from the Department of Energy, USDA and Environmental Protection Agency in an effort to stem the blowback from angry farmers and their legislators following the approval of 31 hardship waivers by the EPA last week. The […]
In Malaysia, Bloomberg reports that the country’s prime minister said in an opinion column that the UK could avoid the European trade war with the country by taking its own route post-Brexit by importing palm oil. Though he said he hopes to avoid a trade war with the EU and continues to “hold out the […]
In Washington, D.C., Reuters reported that President Trump made a phone call last week to Andrew Wheeler at the EPA to give the go ahead on the small refinery exemptions to 31 of the 40 applications, with sources citing that President Trump just wanted the issue off his desk. The small refinery exemption waivers were […]
In Zimbabwe, local press reports that the government is moving forward with its long-awaited national biofuels plan that looks to promote sugarcane and jatropha as key feedstocks for ethanol and biodiesel production while also exploring other potential feedstocks such as cassava and sweet sorghum. The policy aims to take the country through 2030 as it […]
In Indiana, Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg has come out swinging against the Trump Administration’s position on hardship waivers for small refiners under the Renewable Fuel Standard, saying in his strategy to support rural America that he will “stop the abuse” of the waivers and stand by the RFS as written. He says by allowing […]
In Washington, in a joint petition filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals, a broad alliance of ethanol, agriculture, and clean fuel organizations requested judicial review of a recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rulemaking that would limit ethanol blending and restrict the use of blender pumps. The Urban Air Initiative (UAI) and National Farmers […]
In Indonesia, Agence France Presse reports that the government has kicked up a notch the potential trade war with the European Union over its anti-dumping duties on palm oil biodiesel by threatening to impose higher tariffs on its imports of European dairy products. Currently, duties on European dairy products range between 5% and 10% but […]
In India, celebrations of the country’s World Biofuel Day over the weekend led to the government highlighting their interest in the procurement of biodiesel from used cooking oil across 100 cities and asking for companies to submit Expression of Interest (EOI). The purpose of inviting this EOI is to encourage the applicants to set up […]
In Switzerland, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its new Special Report on Climate Change and Land that there are limits to the contribution of land to addressing climate change, for instance through the cultivation of energy crops and afforestation. It says that bioenergy is vital if society is going to keep under the […]
In Brazil, Platts reports that the country’s fuel regulator the ANP has approved an increase in biodiesel blending of 11% as of September 1 from the current 10% while also allowing fuel retailers to offer up to 15% blends. The B11 mandates was meant to come into effect on June 1 but motor tests for […]
