In Washington, Reuters reports that the Environmental Protection Agency has backtracked on an earlier plan to re-allot RIN obligations to other refiners to make up for the 1.8 billion gallons of ethanol demand lost due to hardship waivers granted to smaller refineries. The EPA says the waivers only eliminated demand for 2.25 million gallons. The […]
In India, the goods and services tax (GST) ministerial panel is in favor of lowering the GST on ethanol to 12% from the current 18% in an effort to boost demand that would in turn help beleaguered sugar mills suffering under the weight of government-imposed sugarcane prices. The council is exploring a 5% levy on […]
In Malaysia, the palm oil industry is hopeful the new plantations minister will push a stronger biodiesel agenda in the country to help provide added value markets domestically for its CPO rather than as a low-cost commodity for export. With higher minimum wage increases, the price of CPO is expected to rise in comparison with […]
In India, the Punjab government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with local company SAB Industries to develop a $104.7 million paddy straw-based second-generation ethanol plant. The facility will produce 25,000 metric tons of ethanol annually. The state government estimates there is as much as 160 million metric tons of straw available in the country […]
In Brazil, the Ministry of Mines and Energy published a new ordinance that increases the voluntary mixture of percentages of biodiesel mixture in regular diesel. The measure aims to expand biodiesel consumption in the country. Now, large consumers served by their own point of supply, such as carriers and bus companies that have their own […]
In Argentina, Reuters reports that if the European Union slams Argentine biodiesel exports with fresh anti-dumping tariffs in the next two to three months, that production could come to a screeching halt as 85% of exports would be cut off without an alternative market to flow into. Just the threat of potential new tariffs could […]
In India, Praj expects the new national policy to promote second-generation ethanol production and consumption to go a long way towards achieving higher ethanol blending goals. The company has invested extensively over the last several years in developing the technology in order to get it ready for commercial roll out. It expects to start seeing […]
In Mexico, Platts reports that Monterrey and Guadalajara have asked for 10% ethanol blending mandates in the expectation that it will be able to reformulate its gasoline. Current fuel specs in Mexico are such that higher ethanol blends boost the evaporation rate but US gasoline doesn’t, so it needs to either reformulate or import from […]
In India, the new used cooking oil regulations that came into effect on July 1 are the first step in creating an ecosystem for eventually producing biodiesel from UCO at scale. The national biodiesel producers association is working with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India on a 3E strategy that combines education with […]
In Washington, D.C., the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee has appointed several new volunteers from industry, academia, nonprofits, and local government to the TAC which advises the federal government about its bioenergy R&D programs. These are the first appointments to the TAC by the current Trump administration. New members include Doug Faulkner (Co-Chair) […]
