In Belgium, to counter the impact of unsustainable palm oil production, such as deforestation and habitat degradation, particularly in South-East Asia, the EU should introduce a single certification scheme for palm oil entering the EU market and phase out the use of vegetable oils that drive deforestation by 2020, say MEPs in a resolution voted […]
In Argentina, the US is the country’s last major biodiesel export market but with the potential for anti-dumping duties that have already all but eliminated the European and Peruvian markets, the country’s biodiesel industry is in a panic. Even though policy dictates that biodiesel be blended locally, there is nowhere near enough demand to absorb […]
In California, the Urban Air Initiative called the results of a new Coordinating Research Council emissions study one more example of the biased and flawed testing procedures used to penalize ethanol. The CRC’s match blending of test fuels fails to recognize how ethanol truly performs in real world fuels, the group said. And this inaccurate […]
In Switzerland, a team from Indonesia’s trade ministry is filing an appeal with the World Trade Organization, arguing that the European Union’s methodology for calculating the normal price of biodiesel in Indonesia is flawed and therefore anti-dumping duties against its exports are unnecessary. It’s this challenge the country says sets its complaint against the EU […]
In Louisiana, a state senator has proposed a bill that would eliminate the current 36% tax break on alternative fuel cars including those for ethanol and biodiesel, claiming the state can’t afford to continue to subsidize cleaner fuels. The program is set to increase to 50% on June 30, 2018. Not surprisingly, the propane gas […]
In Australia, the federal government’s economic advisor—The Productivity Commission—has called on New South Wales, Queensland and commonwealth governments to drop biofuel blending, saying the polices unnecessarily increase fuel prices for consumers. It also dismissed out of hand Queensland’s claims that ethanol blending creates jobs, pointing the finger at various policy attempts to do so through […]
In Washington, Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia is going for the Renewable Fuel Standard’s jugular with the reintroduction of a pair of bills meant to eliminate the RFS all together and to ban blends above 10%. Rep. Michael Burgess of Texas reintroduced a bill capping ethanol blending 10% a well. All three bills are in […]
In Canada, Bliss Baker, the President of the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance, called on G20 leaders to build on the historic international cooperation achieved in 2016 with the ratification of the first binding climate agreement, the Paris Accord reached at COP21. “The global community must scale up the ambitiousness of policies to reduce emissions in the […]
In Washington, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) supported the National Biodiesel Board’s complaint against Argentine and Indonesian biodiesel imports. “We’ve known for a long time that foreign producers of biodiesel have been flooding our markets at the expense of American producers, knowing they can take advantage of our tax policy. Today’s suit confirms just how […]
In the Ukraine, in an effort to boost consumption of renewable fuel for heat sources, the national parliament has passed a bill setting tariffs at 90% of the cost of heat from gas. The bill also decentralizes decision making on license issuance and price negotiations for business consumers to the local level, away from the […]
