In China, the national government slapped the US ethanol industry with heavy tariffs that went into effect last Thursday. U.S. farmers say the tariffs will cost U.S. agriculture at least $2B per year. Preliminary tariffs on U.S. DDG, totaling more than 40 percent, were imposed by China several months ago, causing the price of DDG […]
In Washington, the Competitive Enterprises Institute has put forth proposals for the next session of Congress including freezing the Renewable Fuel Standard below the blend wall while setting a sunset period for 2022. The CEI says the RFS has not weaned the country off foreign oil as well as the “fracking revolution” has while increasing […]
In Germany, CropEnergies says there is reason to fear that implementing the draft of the European Commission’s proposed decrease of the share of biofuels made from crops from 7 percent in 2021 to a maximum of 3.8 percent in 2030 would not lead to a decrease in fossil fuel use, but only to a decrease […]
In Belgium, Transport & Environment says food-based biofuels can still be counted towards the EU’s renewable energy target, the European Commission has proposed – in a stunning U-turn on its commitment to phase-out first-generation biofuels that are worse for the climate than fossil fuels. Member states will be able to use a maximum 3.8% share […]
In Washington, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa convened a meeting among several senators from biofuels-producing states and Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, President-elect Trump’s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Grassley organized the meeting because he wanted to convey the importance of biofuels to job creation, energy security, the environment and meeting the country’s […]
In New York, Raymond James analyst Pavel Molchanov and the RJ energy team write: “One year ago, we thought that 2016 oil prices would rally in the back half of the year, natural gas prices would be stagnant, and energy stocks in general would meaningfully outperform the broader market. Check. Oops. Check. After bottoming in […]
In Washington, on January 4, 2017, the EPA issued a notice of intent to revoke the ability of Genscape to verify Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) as a third-party auditor under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Quality Assurance Program. Under RFS, obligated parties and exporters must obtain and retire RINs to meet their compliance obligations and […]
In Washington, the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers association filed a petition requesting that EPA waive the 2016 RFS cellulosic volumes to avoid “phantom fuel” compliance payments arising from a shortfall in 2016 cellulosic production. AFPM estimates that a favorable decision on this petition would reduce payments for these non-existent fuels by $50-75 million. In […]
In China, the government announced it will push for a major boost in bioplastics production in an effort to eat its way through its giant corn glut, in addition to boosting ethanol production from corn through 2020. The focus on PLA is a way to add value to the more than 200 million metric tons […]
In Australia, as Queensland introduced its E3 blending mandate on January 1, some opponents voiced concerns that smaller retailers who couldn’t afford to have three pumps with regular unleaded, E10 and premium unleaded would opt to eliminate the regular unleaded pump as was the case when New South Wales implemented a similar mandate. That forced […]
