In Washington, U.S. Senators John Thune (R-South Dakota), Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack calling on USDA to conduct an economic analysis of the rail service challenges facing agricultural shippers. Thune and Klobuchar’s letter cites […]
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, chairman and vice chairman of the Governors’ Biofuels Coalition, sent a letter urging the Obama Administration to ensure the development of domestically produced renewable fuels by amending EPA’s proposed RFS levels for 2014 so consumers have real choices at the fuel pump. The Honorable Shaun Donovan […]
In Washington, the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) on Tuesday filed comments with the European Commission challenging unfair trade duties that have blocked U.S. biodiesel from being exported to Europe since 2009. NBB urged the commission to allow duties on U.S. biodiesel to expire this year as scheduled, citing overwhelming evidence that global trade for biodiesel has […]
In India, the Petroleum Ministry’s department of chemicals has said that it wants to see ethanol for fuel capped at 5%, saying that going hire will be detrimental for the chemical industry due to scarce supplies. Oil companies and sugar mills remain at odds over how much the fuel will be supplied at, and though […]
In Brazil, the federal government has approved the increase of biodiesel blending to 7% from Nov. 1 and 6% from July. The law was published in the Official Gazette on Thursday. The ethanol blend was also officially raised to 27.5% from the current 25% following studies that showed the increase was technically feasible.
In Iowa, researchers at Iowa State University’s Center for Agricultural and Rural Development have released a study showing that the effects of increasing ethanol mandates that are physically feasible to meet on the price of E10 are close to zero. This result is robust to different gasoline supply elasticities and gasoline export demand elasticities. The […]
In the UK, as heads of government, business, and finance gather in New York for the annual United Nations Climate Summit September 23, University of Sheffield researchers back the economic benefits of global action on climate change verses the cost of inaction. Research at the Sheffield Institute for International Development (SIID), suggests there are a […]
In Washington, new proposed rules from the National Rail Administration regarding brake system safety standards for certain non-passenger trains have been released and the NRA is seeking comments regarding them. Rail cars that transport ethanol, due to its classification as Class 3 flammable liquid, are subject to the new proposed rules.
In Washington, Representatives Earl Blumenauer (OR-03) and Dave Loebsack (IA-02), along with 16 other members of Congress, introduced HR 5559, the Bridge to a Clean Energy Future Act of 2014, last week. The bill would extend critical incentives to provide market certainty and to strengthen investment in clean energy such as extending Production Tax Credit […]
In Washington, the Advanced Ethanol Council and BIO are running a full-page ad in the New York Times aimed at the White House. The ad asserts that if the administration accepts the EPA’s proposal to alter the RFS, President Obama will have “ inadvertently done more to damage [his] climate legacy than [his] worst enemies.” Running […]
