The Farm Bill. In Washington, BIO begins the week with applause for Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and other members of the Senate Agriculture Committee for including mandatory funding for Energy Title programs and eligibility for renewable chemicals in draft Farm Bill reauthorization legislation. Don’t be incredibly surprised if the House Ag […]
In Maine, the state legislature has approved a bill that would ban ethanol blends in Maine, as long as two other nearby states do the same. Concerns about fuel prices if Maine is required to make a custom blend for their state only have been raised, thus the requirement that two other New England states […]
In Washington, Sens. Al Franken (D-MN) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) have introduced legislation to support agricultural energy technologies such as advanced biofuels and biogas to be included in the 2013 Farm Bill. The Rural Energy Investment Act contains programs like the Biorefinery Assistance Program and the Biomass Research and Development Initiative. It is co-sponsored by […]
In Canada, Ryan Leef, Member of Parliament for Yukon, announced that the Government of Canada will invest over $2 million in two innovative clean energy projects in Canada’s North. The first project announced is Champagne and Aishihik First Nations pursuit of a study of a potential power generation plant fed by biomass in Haines Junction, […]
In the UK, the government is coming under pressure by aid groups to get G8 countries to pull back from biofuel mandates during the upcoming G8 meeting in June in Northern Ireland. The Enough Food for Everyone, or IF campaign, are pushing for an end to biofuels mandates because of landgrabbing and food competition issues. […]
In Washington, there’s a political rift opening up between the Renewable Fuels Association and the Advanced Biofuels Association because the latter thinks the former is encroaching on its turf by trying to get the EPA to limit the advanced biofuels quota in an attempt to reduce Brazilian ethanol imports. The National Biodiesel Board is standing […]
In Indonesia, the country is ready to take the European Union to the World Trade Organization over its biodiesel trade disagreement following bilateral negotiations that failed to resolve the problem. The industry expects the EU to impose duties on Indonesian biodiesel imports following the tracking of imports from Indonesia and Argentina last month. An announcement […]
In the UK, concerns that subsidies for renewable electricity from biomass could cause a six-fold surge in demand for the UK’s forestry products have lead RSPB, Friends of the Earth, and Greenpeace to send a letter to The Times condemning the use of biomass in energy. The Renewable Energy Association fired back, releasing a “strongly-worded […]
In Florida, the Naples News is reporting that Algenol may choose to locate its first $400M commercial facility outside of its home state of Florida, if Governor Rick Scott signs a bill repealing the state’s Renewable Fuel Standard. “We have looked at Polk County, Hendry County, Martin County,” Woods told the News. “We have looked […]
In Washington, Senator John Thune (R-S.D.) sent a letter along with several of his colleagues to Acting U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador, Demetrios Marantis, and Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Rebecca Blank, urging them to evaluate a recent decision by the European Commission (E.C.) to impose a country-wide anti-dumping duty on exports […]
