In California, Attorneys for the California Air Resources Board and a coalition of environmental groups asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco to reverse a December 2011 Court ruling that found the law violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution by discriminating against out-of-state fuel producers and regulating […]
In Brussels, anger over the European Commission’s plans to limit crop-based biofuels to 5% is leading European ethanol industry players to threaten lawsuits. With a 5% cap, Rob Vierhout, secretary-general of the European ethanol association, ePURE, states that ethanol will not be able to compete with biodiesel, given the reliance of European cars on diesel. […]
In Brussels, the European Commission’s latest Renewable Energy Directive draft revisions will limit the use of crop-based biofuels to 5 percent of total EU transport energy demand by 2020, essentially halving its original goal. Revisions also show that fuel suppliers will not be held accountable for emissions from indirect land use change. The so-called “ILUC […]
In Malaysia, following weeks of speculation, Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok announced a major reduction in the country’s export duty on crude palm oil (CPO) as of January 1, 2013. It is expected that Malaysia’s export duty on CPO will be allowed to fluctuate monthly according to global prices, from 4.5% […]
In Washington, The Hill recently featured an article slamming the RFS, written by biofuels policy campaigner Michal Rosenoer of Friends of the Earth. The article criticized the recent post by BIO’s CEO James Greenwood, and claimed that the RFS monopolizes 40% of the US corn crop. Rosenoer went on to argue that Congress needs to […]
In Iowa, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney confirmed his support for the Renewable Fuels Standard. In his Agricultural Prosperity white paper announced during a campaign stop in Van Meter it was confirmed that Romney recognizes the important role of biofuels in securing America’s energy independence and sees the RFS as a guarantee of market access […]
In Washington, “Any waiver of the RFS would have little to no effect on corn prices, but would certainly harm biofuel producers and biotechnology companies across the United States,” the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) said today in official comments to the Environmental Protection Agency on the requests by governors of several states for a waiver […]
In California, the California Advanced Energy Coalition (CAEC) is urging the California Air Resources Board (CARB) reduce California gasoline prices by increasing blending from E10 to E15. The EPA recently approved the use of E15 for vehicles built since 2001 and ethanol is currently selling for $1.00 per gallon below the price of gasoline. The […]
In California, following supply shortages and record high gasoline prices, Governor Jerry Brown has ordered the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to transition immediately to the easier-to-make, winter-grade gasoline as soon as possible. This transition could increase supply by up to 10% and ethanol blended in gasoline acts as a gas line anti-freeze in winter. […]
In the Chicago Tribune, Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy, published an an op-ed rebuffing a recent editorial “A crop shortage should provoke policy changes. Are you listening, Congress?”. Buis argued that the alarmist attitude promoted by the article was all hype, and that the claims were “unrealistic and inaccurate.” He also indicated that the […]
