In Oregon, the Secretary of State ordered an audit of the companies benefiting from subsidies under the now-defunct Business Energy Tax Credit Program that has found 165 potentially dubious projects that took home $347 million in tax credits. Among the list of questionable projects was Pacific Ethanol’s Boardman facility that benefited from $18.2 million in […]
In Washington, the Washington Examiner is accusing a Pennsylvania candidate for US Senate of serial corruption, securing $500,000 in subsidies for biofuel technology company Thar Technologies while she was the state’s Secretary of Environmental Protection in the late 1990s, and then went on to serve on the board of Thar’s parent company. The article alleges […]
In Illinois, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a public hearing to be held in Chicago on December 6, 2016, for the proposed rule “Renewables Enhancement and Growth Support Rule.” This proposed rule will be published separately in the Federal Register. The pre-publication version of this proposal can be found at https://www.epa.gov/renewable-fuel-standard-program/proposed-renewables-enhancement-and-growth-support-regs-rule. In the separate notice […]
In Belgium, a Member of European Parliament from Romania says that the European Commission’s about turn on biofuels policy in 2012 is undermining his country’s capacity to develop its rural economy via ethanol production that would support thousands of farming families and create tens of thousands of jobs. Now the policy that the European Commission […]
In Washington, the National Biodiesel Board sent a letter to House and Senate tax committee leaders urging extension of the biodiesel tax incentive before it expires on December 31st. The letter was sent on behalf of U.S. biodiesel producers nationwide. “We strongly urge you to extend the biodiesel tax credit and take this opportunity to […]
In Germany, a group of experts are petitioning European decision makers involved in the revision of the Renewable Package to include six crucial mechanisms in the legislation. The authors argue that Carbon Capture & Utilization (CCU) technologies will play a crucial role in the future renewable energy system and for climate protection. CO2 is not […]
In Peru, the country’s regulator announced it would slap anti-dumping duties on imports of Argentine biodiesel for five years, saying the imports had a negative impact on domestic producers. Specific duties have been lobbed on specific companies, as follows: Cargill: $134.70 per ton Bunge: $141.40 per ton Noble: $152.70 per ton Louis Dreyfus and others: […]
In Washington, a coalition of major agricultural groups petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency on October 14, 2016 to reconsider its proposed Aircraft Rule with respect to the Agency’s treatment of biogenic carbon dioxide emissions from short-cycle annual herbaceous crops. The Biogenic CO2 Coalition objects to EPA’s failure to acknowledge the science of life cycle analysis, which shows […]
In Sweden, motorists haven’t noticed the tax cuts applied to E85 on August 1 and as such haven’t increased their consumption as much as commercial drivers have thanks to tax cuts on 100% biodiesel. Consumption of B100 reached annual highs in August and was 33% higher than July 2015 sales for rapeseed-based biodiesel and 23% […]
In Missouri, Volkswagen’s settlement with several states over its emissions cheating scandal is being put to good use in part by funding the $3 million deficit in the biodiesel producers fund. Making good on the fund’s debt had been set for next year’s budget but then slashed, a move the governor was strongly criticized for. […]
