In Zimbabwe, the government has cut the ethanol blending mandate to 5% following a sugarcane shortage due to heavy rains. Earlier in the year the blend had been boosted to 15% from 10%. When the weather improves and ethanol production can resume again, the higher blend is likely to be restored.
In India, beyond the current ethanol bus trial, the city of Nagpur is looking to also trial biodiesel and biogas buses to clean up local public transport. The state and central government would fund the buses for the trial, while Scania is reportedly exploring development of a biogas plant near Bengaluru in Karnataka.
In Washington, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has received a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for certain records submitted to EPA under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program between January 1, 2011 and November 2014. These records were submitted to EPA pursuant to the RFS program’s annual reporting, quarterly reporting and transactional […]
In South Korea, the government has decided to boost the biodiesel blend to 2.5% in August from 2% currently. Plans are for the mandate to rise to 3% by 2018. The Korea Petroleum Association is complaining that complying with the mandate has cost $77.5 million in 2014, will cost $91.2 million in 2015 and $118.7 […]
In Washington, China’s Vice Premier Wang Yang has committed to USDA Secretary Vilsack that China’s ban on U.S. DDGs containing the MIR 162 trait will be dropped. Tom Buise, CEO of Growth Energy, responded positively to the tentative event, saying “China has been the largest market for U.S. DDGs and with the restriction removed, we […]
In Oregon, biofuels supporters expect to have a better go in the 2015 legislative session to get the Clean Fuels Act finally operational. Democrats picked up two state senate and one house seat, tipping the balance to a decidedly democratic majority, which is expected to help the policy that requires gas and diesel to low […]
In Washington, the Senate passed the tax extenders bill in a 76 to 16 vote that included a $1 per gallon biodiesel and renewable diesel tax credits, but they’re only valid from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2014. President Obama is expected to sign the bill in the next few days, as the House already […]
In Zimbabwe, a shift in local leadership is opening the way for Green Fuels to develop its second ethanol plant, this time in Mwenezi. The former area leader was blocking the project, but the new leaders want to see the lowveld’s sugarcane plantations expand to help supply fuel towards the country’s blending mandate while also […]
In Washington, USDA Chief Economist Joe Glauber is set to retire after a 30-year federal career. Current USDA Deputy Chief Economist Dr. Robert Johansson has been named Acting Chief Economist. Johansson has served as USDA’s Deputy Chief Economist since 2012 and holds a Ph.D. in agricultural economics from the University of Minnesota. Johansson will assume […]
In the Philippines, the Dept. of Energy still expects the B5 policy to be implemented by the end 2015 as planned, up from B2 currently, as part of the country’s energy policy through 2020. The economic impact and technical aspects of the policy change are still under investigation, with the results of a study from […]
