In Washington, the Des Moines Register newspaper reported that the US Senate confirmed in a 92-7 vote to return former Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to the position in the Biden Administration. Bernie Sanders and Republicans Josh Hawley of Missouri, Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas were among those who voted against […]
In Washington, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it is supporting the Tenth Circuit Court’s January 2020 decision in Renewable Fuels Association et al. v. EPA. After careful review of the decision, EPA’s new leadership agrees with both the court and the biofuel litigants that small refinery exemptions were meant to be temporary and […]
In Washington, D.C., the Renewable Fuels Association filed comments with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in response to earlier requests from oil refiners and the governors of six oil-producing states seeking a general waiver from 2019 and 2020 renewable volume obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard. “These waiver requests, which were rushed out the door […]
In India, the Financial Express newspaper reports the Indian Sugar Mills Association is calling on the government to implement 15% ethanol blending as soon as possible by rolling out the fuel standards that will allow the shift. Ethanol storage at fuel depots are fuel, forcing oil marketing companies to store supplies at depots far away […]
In Washington, Bloomberg reports that the biofuels industry that was once wary about the Low Carbon Fuel Standard in California that then spread northward all the way to British Columbia is now seen as a key opportunity for keeping the industry in business. The question now becomes how quickly those state-level policies can be rolled […]
In Thailand, the Bangkok Post reports the plans to implement 20% ethanol blending have been scrapped indefinitely due to the high costs of ethanol. Ethanol is produced from sugarcane and cassava in Thailand, but the production cost is nearly twice that of gasoline, while biodiesel produced from palm oil is nearly triple the cost of […]
In Washington, U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) have reintroduced their bipartisan legislation to approve certain advanced biofuel registrations that have gone without approval by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) despite the fuels already being successfully used in at least one state. Under the bill, EPA would also be required to render a […]
In Iowa, the Iowa Soybean Association and Iowa Biodiesel Board strongly support the legislation (HSB 185) Governor Kim Reynolds introduced to set a minimum standard of biofuels in the Iowa fuel supply. For biodiesel, this would mean most Iowa diesel would contain at least 11 percent (B11) during warmer months beginning in April of 2022, […]
In Washington, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures Mike Thompson (CA-05) and the entire Democratic membership of the Committee announced the introduction of the Growing Renewable Energy and Efficiency Now (GREEN) Act. This bill, first introduced in June 2020, is a comprehensive use of the tax code to combat […]
In Washington, a new study is underway to determine whether corn-based ethanol makes a larger contribution to the reduction of GHG emissions than it is currently receiving credit. The Urban Air Initiative commissioned a study with Transport Energy Strategies to look at the impact ethanol has on carbon reduction in the gasoline itself. Current modeling […]
