In Oregon, a bill that would have repealed the state’s E10 blend died before making it to the floor in the state legislature because it closed for the summer recess before getting heard in committee. The Specialty Equipment Market Association had been worried that antique vehicles and others that it said could be damaged by […]
In Washington, 16 witnesses from across the biofuels supply and blending chain are testifying in front of the House of Representatives’ energy and commerce committee this week in order to discuss the Renewable Fuels Standard. The oil industry as well as the ethanol industry have launched offensive ad campaigns in the past week to try […]
In the UK, the Mayor of London wants to see 20% of the 250 million liters per year of fuel used to run the city’s buses to be biodiesel, and preferably from locally collected and processed used cooking oil. The city produces roughly 44 million liters of cooking oil per year. In order to help […]
In Washington DC, The Hill hosted a Capitol Hill forum on the future of biofuels. Keynote speaker Heather Zichal, deputy assistant to the President for energy and climate change, argued that calls to repeal the RFS are “short-sighted.” Additionally, Rep. Alan Nunnelee (R-Miss.) featured, although the Congressman neglected to specifically mention either renewables or the […]
In Washington, the US Senate voted 59-40 to confirm Gina McCarthy as head of the Environmental Protection Agency, after the Senate voted 69-31 earlier in the day to end debate on the nomination. The vote came after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid threatened to pass legislation aimed at limiting Senate delaying tactics after four key […]
In California, the Fifth District Court of Appeal issued its opinion in POET, LLC v. California Air Resources Board, which challenged the Low Carbon Fuel Standard adopted by the Air Resources Board. The Court ruled for POET on every one of its substantive challenges, reversed the decision of the Superior Court affirming the LCFS, and ordered […]
In Washington, Valero’s CEO told a Senate hearing that the Renewable Fuel Standard is “broken” and should be repealed and replaced with a better functioning policy. The blend wall has led to soaring RIN prices that oil refiners must pay because they say that ethanol can’t be blended any higher, so their backs are against […]
In Washington, the American Petroleum Institute has launched a new ad campaign using TV, radio and internet to try to convince Congress to repeal the Renewable Fuel Standard as soon as this year. The campaign features a mechanic explaining why he thinks biofuels are bad news, including impacts on food prices and lower gas mileage. […]
In the EU, Parliament members set a 5.5% cap for fuels made from food crops, and decided to include emissions arising from indirect land use change in measurement. This cap, set by the Environment Committee, is designed to accelerate the development of second-generation biofuels. Original propositions had the cap at 5%, but was raised after […]
In Belgium, the European Parliament’s Environment Committee voted to raise the Fuel Quality Directive’s requirement for fuel producers to reduce the carbon intensity of their fuels by 9% by the end of 2025, up from 6% by 2020, the current requirement. The Committee also voted for a 5.5% ceiling on the use of food-based biofuels […]
