In Florida, Governor Rick Scott is urging the federal government to temporarily eliminate the fuel requirement for corn ethanol in an attempt to rescue the state’s cattle industry. The governor sent a letter to the US Environmental Protection Agency explaining that drastically reduced corn supplies following this year’s drought are causing cattle feed prices to […]
In Washington, Businessweek asserted that Gevo, Syntroleum, and Solazyme are on the “inside track” to scoring supply contracts with the Department of Defense, given their already existing research relationships. The article also indicated that Cobalt Technologies and Sustainable Oils have similar research projects that may also place them in the running. “Winning one of the […]
In California, Attorneys for the California Air Resources Board and a coalition of environmental groups asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco to reverse a December 2011 Court ruling that found the law violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution by discriminating against out-of-state fuel producers and regulating […]
In Brussels, anger over the European Commission’s plans to limit crop-based biofuels to 5% is leading European ethanol industry players to threaten lawsuits. With a 5% cap, Rob Vierhout, secretary-general of the European ethanol association, ePURE, states that ethanol will not be able to compete with biodiesel, given the reliance of European cars on diesel. […]
In Brussels, the European Commission’s latest Renewable Energy Directive draft revisions will limit the use of crop-based biofuels to 5 percent of total EU transport energy demand by 2020, essentially halving its original goal. Revisions also show that fuel suppliers will not be held accountable for emissions from indirect land use change. The so-called “ILUC […]
In Malaysia, following weeks of speculation, Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok announced a major reduction in the country’s export duty on crude palm oil (CPO) as of January 1, 2013. It is expected that Malaysia’s export duty on CPO will be allowed to fluctuate monthly according to global prices, from 4.5% […]
In Washington, The Hill recently featured an article slamming the RFS, written by biofuels policy campaigner Michal Rosenoer of Friends of the Earth. The article criticized the recent post by BIO’s CEO James Greenwood, and claimed that the RFS monopolizes 40% of the US corn crop. Rosenoer went on to argue that Congress needs to […]
In Iowa, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney confirmed his support for the Renewable Fuels Standard. In his Agricultural Prosperity white paper announced during a campaign stop in Van Meter it was confirmed that Romney recognizes the important role of biofuels in securing America’s energy independence and sees the RFS as a guarantee of market access […]
In Washington, “Any waiver of the RFS would have little to no effect on corn prices, but would certainly harm biofuel producers and biotechnology companies across the United States,” the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) said today in official comments to the Environmental Protection Agency on the requests by governors of several states for a waiver […]
In California, the California Advanced Energy Coalition (CAEC) is urging the California Air Resources Board (CARB) reduce California gasoline prices by increasing blending from E10 to E15. The EPA recently approved the use of E15 for vehicles built since 2001 and ethanol is currently selling for $1.00 per gallon below the price of gasoline. The […]
