In Malaysia, the Borneo Post reports that Malaysian and French officials are set to meet to discuss palm oil in an effort to better understand the product’s opportunities and challenges. Malaysia is trying to head of implementation of the French Parliament’s ban on palm oil for biodiesel from 2020. The French Environment Ambassador is set […]
In Washington, Reuters reports that the acting administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency rejected a staff proposal last December that would have cut the biofuel blending mandate, a move that has enraged Republicans and threatened their votes in the Senate confirmation hearing that would make the acting administrator the permanent one. The proposal sought to […]
In Brazil, Reuters reports that the national association of automobile manufacturers has recommended the government not boost the biodiesel blending mandate to 15% by 2023 as proposed by the biodiesel industry, a move which unsurprisingly has the industry in an uproar. The car manufacturers claim that boosting the biodiesel blend can have a number of […]
In India, Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the government is “considering mandating biofuel from used cooking oil as advanced biofuel which can be blended with biodiesel,” which will help the government reach their goal of 20% ethanol and 5% biodiesel by 2030 under their biofuel policy, according to News18. “We have set a target […]
In Washington, Bloomberg reports that five Republican Senators led by Senator Ted Cruz have sent a letter to the acting administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency saying they would have a hard time voting to confirm him into the position unless he finds ways to lower the regulatory burden for independent oil refiners by reforming […]
In Washington, Reuters reports that the Environmental Protection Agency chose not to just make the ruling for year-round E15 but to also combine it with reform of the RIN market, on the behest of the President who said he wanted the two policies kept together. RIN reform will include credit trading limits in an effort […]
In Washington, the National Wildlife Federation, represented by Earthjustice, filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency alleging that it illegally approved expanded volume production of largely corn- and soy-based biofuels despite evidence that such production destroys habitat, degrades water quality and increases harmful greenhouse gas emissions. The suit alleges that EPA fell short in […]
In Belgium, Transport and Environment says the European Commission last week acknowledged in a delegated act that oil palm cultivation causes significant deforestation, and thus biodiesel produced from palm oil cannot be counted towards meeting EU green fuel targets. However, under mounting pressure, including trade war threats, from the governments of Malaysia and Indonesia, the […]
In Germany, according to the Union for the Promotion of Oil and Protein Crops, European oilseed producers are the losers due to the decision of the representatives of the EU Member States in the Trade Defence Instruments Committee (TDI) of 30th January 2019. The association criticizes the Committee’s approval of the Argentine Government’s proposal for […]
In Finland, the Finnish Parliament on February 6 approved a law that sets a gradually increasing 30% biofuels target for 2030. Furthermore, the law sets a world-leading advanced biofuels target of 10% in 2030. UPM welcomes the Finnish government’s ambition to take transport decarbonization seriously: “UPM is a leading producer of advanced biofuels as defined […]
