In Washington D.C., Washington Post columnist George Will came down hard on the current ethanol policy of presidential contender Mitt Romney. Since Romney committed in May to support ethanol subsidies, he has begun to waver, telling Iowans that he is “a business guy” and is interested in a bipartisan review of ethanol subsidization, indicated that […]
In Washington, a new public education project to reach drivers of FlexFuel Vehicles (FFV) by working with state Motor Vehicle Administrations (MVA) was announced today that supporters say could dramatically increase sales of high-level ethanol blends. As a part of the national FFV Awareness Campaign, the “FlexFuel Vehicle/Motor Vehicle Administration” project will collaborate with MVAs in six states […]
In New Jersey, it turns out that Westwood and Woodcliff Lakes’ attempts to reduce their diesel bill by using locally recycled cooking oil may not be exactly legal as the state’s Department of Environmental Protection says the fuel they’re using does not meet ASTM standards as a biodiesel nor has the state registered the use […]
In Brazil, local biodiesel producers are pushing the government to raise the biodiesel blend rate to B20 from the current B5 over the next decade. The country currently has 5.1 billion liters per year of capacity installed but is only using about half that. To reach the B20 mandate would require production of 14 billion […]
In the UK, BP says Brussels’ inability to get clarity on its biofuels policy has led to a stifled investment climate in the European industry. That’s despite biofuels becoming more competitive with fossil fuel equivalents. “We are very concerned there are no new biofuel production facilities elsewhere in this country…because of the uncertainties of member […]
In Illinois, General Assembly Bill HB 3811, which is being cosponsored by Representatives Paul Evans and Dwight Kay, is calling for: reinstating the net Operating Loss deduction by extending the carry forward to 20 years, extending the life of enterprise zones by as much as 20 years, reducing the costs of establishing limited liability corporations […]
In Washington, Senator John McCain this week tried to revive a failed attempt to prohibit U.S. Department of Agriculture funding for construction, installation or operation of ethanol blender pumps or storage facilities. McCain proposed similar legislation earlier this year which was defeated in the Senate by a vote of 59 to 41. Brian Jennings, Executive […]
In Thailand, the energy minister plans to meet with the excise department in order to relax ethanol export rules that will help to facilitate further trade. Domestic demand has fallen to 1 million liters per day from 1.3 million liters per day, against production capacity of 5 million liters per day, so the country’s 10 […]
In Thailand, the government has successfully completed a three-month trial using E95 city buses. The buses ran normally while producing fewer carbon emissions compared to the traditional diesel buses, and data from the project would be used to formulate policy on the use of ethanol in the transport sector. The project sponsored by the Energy […]
In Belgium, the European Union’s Customs Code Committee has agreed to raise import taxes on high ethanol blends from E70-E100 to $140/cu m up from the current 6.5% tax that is currently running at $44.4 /cu m with a third of the EU’s member states voting in favor, a third against, and the remaining abstaining. […]
