In Washington, Growth Energy went on the offensive against opponents of E15 ethanol and those blaming corn ethanol for the spike in world grain prices. The group released this summary of the cause of world price increases in grains,, stating “There are clear cost pressures from virtually everywhere, yet one commodity is taking the brunt […]
In Washington, a USDA economist says that even if ethanol critics tried to slow down or stop ethanol production in the country, it would be nearly impossible to do so because ‘the industry has pretty much been built.’ He said that U.S. ethanol production was a major factor in tightening supplies of corn but even […]
In the UK, planning permission has been granted to the country’s largest biofuel-powered energy facility in Avonmouth after having been denied the same permission last year after the proposal received a lot of backlash regarding potential deforestation as a result of using imported palm oil. During the appeal held late last year, the planning inquiry […]
In Washington, the USDA approved a variety of genetically engineered corn created by Syngenta Seeds, called Amylase corn, for use in ethanol production. Syngenta submitted a petition in 2005 to deregulate the variety of corn which produces a common enzyme that breaks down starch into sugar, thereby facilitating the ethanol production process. Western Plains Energy CEO […]
In South Dakota, the State’s Senate Affairs Committee endorsed SB 196, a new bill that seeks to set up a five year plan to assist the state’s ethanol industry to sell more ethanol. Current law has an annual budget of $7 million for production, and individual ethanol plants are limited to a lifetime subsidy amount […]
In Washington, the California Air Resources Board has appointed BIO’s Manager of State Policy, Stephanie Batchelor, and the Renewable Fuels Association’s vice president for research and analysis, Geoff Cooper, the to sit on the advisory panel of the state’s Low Carbon Fuels Standard program. California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) encourages deployment of technology for […]
In Washington, 25×25 appointed a slew of new members to its steering committee. New members include Len Bull, past chairman of the National Institute for Animal Agriculture; Brian Dubie, former Lt. Governor of Vermont; Retired Vice Admiral Denny McGinn, a former Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Warfare Requirements and Programs at the Pentagon and […]
In Washington, the USDA has partially deregulated the planting of GMO sugarbeet for this spring, going against a previous federal district court order. The new policy is effective until the agency completes a full Environmental Impact Statement is completed and a final policy decision is made. More on the story. The USDA is also expected […]
In Washington, the USDA is expected to released a new forecast showing that corn stocks are tightening further, which traditionally signals higher corn prices. A survey of 17 traders conducted by Dow Jones Newswires showed stocks dropping to 736 million bushels, almost 1 billion bushels below normal stocks of 1.708 billion bushels. With rising prices, […]
In Wisconsin, the governor has scrapped a $100 million plan to replace two of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s coal-fired boilers with biomass after citing budget difficulties and criticism from at least one environmental organization. The boilers will instead be replaced with natural gas. The move towards biomass was originally in response to a 2008 lawsuit […]
