The Trump Administration needs to make a decision by March 23 whether to appeal the unanimous 10th Circuit Court decision against the EPA’s small refinery exemption program, and the coalition that brought the case has launched a new social media campaign urging the administration to drop the appeal. The coalition, made up of the Renewable Fuels Association, National Corn Growers …
Ethanol and Biodiesel Continue to Power Iowa Economy
Despite the challenges of 2019, Iowa biofuel production continued to have a significant impact on Iowa’s economy, supporting over 48,000 jobs and more than $2.4 billion in household income, according to the latest study commissioned by the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA). The study, authored by John Urbanchuk of ABF Economics, also found that biofuels continue to account for over …
Farmers, Biofuel Producers Urge Trump to Support RFS
Farmer leaders and biofuel producers from the Midwest today expressed their concerns about news that the Trump administration has reversed course and decided to side with oil companies in their court battle against biofuels. The debate centers around a unanimous court decision that would halt the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) abuse of Small Refinery Exemptions (SREs) under the Renewable Fuel …
Biofuels Part of USDA Innovation Agenda
At the start of USDA’s 2020 Agriculture Outlook Forum on Thursday, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the Agriculture Innovation Agenda, a new initiative to stimulate innovation so American agriculture can achieve the goal of increasing production by 40 percent while cutting the environmental footprint of U.S. agriculture in half by 2050. To do so, USDA has set benchmarks to …
Buttigieg and Sanders Show Strong Biofuels Support
Initial Iowa Caucus results are showing Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders in the lead, both of whom profess strong support for ethanol and biodiesel, according to Biofuels Vision 2020. In fact, all of the top candidates are friendly to biofuels, including Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Biofuels Vision 2020 spent months asking …
Comments Submitted for USDA Infrastructure Program
Biofuels organizations submitted comments this week on USDA’s proposed Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP) to expand the availability of domestic ethanol and biodiesel by incentivizing the expansion of sales of renewable fuels and facilitating increased sales of higher biofuel blends (E15 or higher). The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) made a number of recommendations that USDA should consider in …
Court Strikes Down EPA Small Refinery Exemptions
On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit struck down three small refinery exemptions (SREs) that were improperly issued by Environmental Protection Agency under a May 2018 case brought against EPA by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), the National Corn Growers Association, the American Coalition for Ethanol and National Farmers Union. The three refineries are owned by …
Plasma Blue Debuts at Biodiesel Conference
A novel process using electricity and liquid plasma to induce the transesterification process needed to produce biodiesel is generating a lot of interest at the National Biodiesel Conference this week in Tampa. The Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council saw the potential for the technology, developed by scientists at the University of Minnesota, which could produce six gallons of biodiesel …
USDA Seeks Input on New Biofuels Infrastructure Program
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking input on the creation of a new Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP) to expand the availability of domestic ethanol and biodiesel by incentivizing the expansion of sales of renewable fuels. This Request for Information (RFI) solicits information on options for fuel ethanol and biodiesel infrastructure, innovation, products, technology, and data derived …
New Report Outlines Clean Fuels Policy for the Midwest
A new report details how a good clean fuels policy for the Midwest should be designed, recommending a “technology-neutral, portfolio approach that encourages a fair and competitive marketplace and benefits producers, consumers, agriculture, utilities, jobs, and public health.” The Clean Fuels Policy for the Midwest white paper is the result of nearly two years of analysis and stakeholder discussion by …