In Washington, the EPA has approved the pathway for isobutanol produced at Gevo’s Luverne, MN plant to be an advanced biofuel under the Renewable Fuel Standard Program. This is the first time that the EPA has approved a pathway for an advanced biofuel that uses starch from feed corn to produce an alcohol. With a partial substitution […]
In Washington, the Environmental Protection Agency has written a letter to the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers denying the group’s request for a waiver on the cellulosic biofuel-blending mandate for 2016 of 230 million gallons. Though data through November shows that less fuel was produced than mandated in 2016 as the AFPM argues, the EPA […]
In Washington, during his Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt said that during his tenure as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency he would keep to the timetables outlined by Congress for the Renewable Fuel Standard and “honor” its original intent. President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for the top spot has raised […]
In Delaware, Delaware Audubon and the League of Women Voters of Delaware have jointly appealed the permit awarded at the end of last year to PBF Energy to begin transshipments of up to 10,000 barrels of ethanol per day along the Eastern Seaboard, arguing the project goes directly in contra to the Coastal Zone Act […]
In China, as many as seven cargos of US ethanol—as much as 443,000 cubic meters—set for import through March have been canceled as the government looks to likely boost import taxes in an effort to protect its market that needs to absorb millions of tons of spoiled corn, predominantly in the form of ethanol and […]
In the EU, energy experts told members of the European Parliament in hearings this week that the European Commission’s proposed phase-out of conventional biofuels by 2030 threatens to remove one of the EU’s best options for reducing greenhouse gases and decarbonising transport. As the European Parliament gets ready to consider the controversial Renewable Energy […]
In China, the national government slapped the US ethanol industry with heavy tariffs that went into effect last Thursday. U.S. farmers say the tariffs will cost U.S. agriculture at least $2B per year. Preliminary tariffs on U.S. DDG, totaling more than 40 percent, were imposed by China several months ago, causing the price of DDG […]
In Washington, the Competitive Enterprises Institute has put forth proposals for the next session of Congress including freezing the Renewable Fuel Standard below the blend wall while setting a sunset period for 2022. The CEI says the RFS has not weaned the country off foreign oil as well as the “fracking revolution” has while increasing […]
In Germany, CropEnergies says there is reason to fear that implementing the draft of the European Commission’s proposed decrease of the share of biofuels made from crops from 7 percent in 2021 to a maximum of 3.8 percent in 2030 would not lead to a decrease in fossil fuel use, but only to a decrease […]
In Belgium, Transport & Environment says food-based biofuels can still be counted towards the EU’s renewable energy target, the European Commission has proposed – in a stunning U-turn on its commitment to phase-out first-generation biofuels that are worse for the climate than fossil fuels. Member states will be able to use a maximum 3.8% share […]
