California’s E15 Clean-Up Act (SB 795) cleared the California Legislature unanimously late last night and is headed to Governor Newsom’s desk. The bill removes the vapor-recovery-equipment barrier that has prevented California retailers from actually dispensing E15, but additional regulatory action by CARB and the State Fire Marshal still remain before motorists can finally be free to buy E15. “The passage …
EPA Grants Refinery Exemptions, Proposes Reallocation
The Environmental Protection Agency today announced its decisions on 34 individual small refinery exemption petitions for the 2025 compliance year, granting full (100 percent) exemptions to 18 petitions, partial (50 percent) exemptions to 11 petitions, denying three petitions, and determining two petitions to be ineligible. Based on that analysis, EPA is exempting 1.76 billion RFS compliance credits, known as Renewable …
California E15 Dreaming Continues
The California legislature is considering a bill that would finally allow E15 to be sold in the state, nearly a year after lawmakers unanimously passed and the governor signed legislation in 2025 allowing those sales. But it must be passed by midnight tonight when the legislative session comes to a close. The E15 Clean-Up Act (Calif. SB 795) was amended …
Ethanol Under Fire
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) launched a full-fledged attack on corn ethanol over the weekend with nine posts on his X account, calling on President Trump to “end the tyranny of the Cornography Caucus” and saying all Republicans should categorically reject federal “ethanol mandates” that “let government pick winners and losers in the economy.” Starting with a link to a Washington …
DOE Report Shows E15 Savings
A report published by the Department of Energy found that E15 prices in April were up to $0.47 per gallon less than standard E10 gasoline on average, an 11.5 percent discount. The DOE report, which is based on actual pricing data collected from the marketplace, also showed E15 costs 8 percent less at the pump on an energy basis—meaning drivers …
Oil Industry Analyst Says Refining Crunch Driving Prices
The energy market’s real squeeze is not a shortage of crude oil, but of refining capacity, according to oil industry analyst Tom Kloza who spoke last week at the American Coalition for Ethanol annual conference. Kloza said many observers remain fixed on the Strait of Hormuz while missing a broader problem that drones have damaged refineries in Russia, the Persian …
45Z Playbook Panel at ACE Conference
A big focus of last week’s American Coalition for Ethanol 39th annual conference was on the 45Z clean fuel production tax credit, with the final panel on Friday serving up an overview of policy, modeling, and compliance for biofuel producers. USDA released its final guidelines for the production of regenerative agricultural biofuel feedstocks in June and Kate Zook, Acting Director …
EPA Extension for Refiners Causes Uncertainty
Reports that the Environmental Protection Agency could extend the September 1 deadline for refiners to demonstrate compliance with their 2025 Renewable Fuel Standard obligations, and potentially grant many more Small Refinery Exemptions (SRE) than expected, are sending shockwaves through the industry and causing chaos in the biofuels markets as prices for Renewable Identification Numbers (D6 RINs) dropped significantly. Rumors are …
Ethanol Exports Expected to Set Another New Record
U.S. ethanol exports are on track to set a new record for the third consecutive year, according to Ryan LeGrand, president and CEO of the U.S. Grains and Bioproducts Council. Speaking last week at the American Coalition for Ethanol’s 39th annual conference, LeGrand highlighted robust demand driven by expanding middle classes abroad and supportive policies in key markets. “When the …
ACE Grassroots and Paul Dana Awards
At its 39th annual conference last week in Minneapolis, the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) presented awards honoring those who have given outstanding service to the ethanol industry. Kenton Johnson, CEO of Granite Falls Energy & Heron Lake BioEnergy, was recognized with the organization’s Grassroots award who epitomize ACE’s efforts from the ground up. The strength of ACE is found …