In Washington, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) today thanked Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.) for recognizing the importance of including an energy title in the Rural Economic Farm and Ranch Sustainability and Hunger (REFRESH) Act of 2011. Brent Erickson, executive vice president of BIO’s Industrial & Environmental Section, stated, “The energy […]
In Brussels, European bioethanol producers are urging EU policymakers to introduce rules on the indirect impacts of biofuels that distinguish between “good and bad biofuel pathways”. In a letter to the EU’s energy and climate Commissioners, bioethanol industry association, ePURE, said it backs the introduction of EU rules that address Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) […]
In Washington, D.C., a congressionally requested study from the National Research Council states that due to the high expense and difficulty in producing next-generation biofuels, the U.S. is unlikely to meet the government’s usage mandates. The study also warns that the feedstocks needed to produce advanced biofuels could compete with food crops for land — […]
In Washington, D.C., U.S. House of Representatives Agriculture Committee Vice Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., is preparing to introduce legislation that would reduce the corn ethanol usage requirements of the Renewable Fuels Standard in times of low U.S. corn supplies. Goodlatte, who represents a leading turkey and poultry-producing district, said all end-users of corn need a […]
In Washington, the Biotechnology Industry Organization submitted comments to the Air Force’s Request for Information on the commercial status and market for advanced drop-in biofuels. Brent Erickson, executive vice president of BIO’s Industrial & Environmental Section, stated, “The U.S. military and the nation as a whole face a significant national security threat from U.S. dependence […]
In Washington, Sen. Maria Cantwell joined Sen. Dick Lugar in introducing a bill to break oil’s monopoly over the U.S. transportation fuel industry by ensuring that most new vehicles in the United States are capable of running on a range of domestically produced alternative fuels starting in 2015. The Open Fuels Standard Act requires that […]
In Washington, D.C., the world’s largest seed company spent $1.71 million in the second quarter of 2011 to lobby the federal government, according to a disclosure report filed with the House clerk’s office by Monsanto Co. The Company lobbied Congress and the U.S. Department of Agriculture over regulations that would affect the distribution of genetically […]
In Washington, the House of Representatives is working on a compromise deal that would partly rescue the ethanol blenders credit that the Senate had voted to eliminate in June. The Fencepost reports U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Colo.’s spokeswoman Rachel Boxer said the congressman hasn’t seen the details of the new proposal, “but is optimistic that […]
In Washington, legislation is being drafted in the US House of Representatives that alter the Renewable Fuel Standard 2 in such a way that would allow the federal ethanol use mandate to be lowered when corn supplies were tight. Reuters is reporting that the mandate would likely be lowered by 25% if stocks-to-use ration fell […]
In South Dakota, POET received final approval for a $105 million loan guarantee issued through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan programs Office. The loan guarantee and financing allows POET to construct Project LIBERTY, a 25 million-gallon-per-year cellulosic ethanol plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa. POET started construction in 2010 with a 22-acre integrated stackyard to store […]
