A coalition of agriculture and biofuels groups are challenging the Trump administration’s recent fuel efficiency rulemaking, on that grounds that it downplays the harm from reduced emission standards, ignores the efficiency and health benefits of higher ethanol blends, and fails to realize the promise of increased octane in gasoline. The rule in question, known as the Safer Affordable Fuel Efficiency …
Ethanol Production Coming Back
U.S. ethanol production is slowly clawing its way upward to more normal levels after reaching record lows in April. According to EIA data analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association for the week ending June 26, ethanol production rose 0.8%, or 7,000 barrels per day (b/d), to 900,000 b/d—equivalent to 37.80 million gallons daily. Production remains tempered due to COVID-19 disruptions, …
Ethanol Exports Decline in May
Exports of U.S. ethanol declined 32 percent in May to the smallest monthly volume in four years, according to Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) analyst Ann Lewis. Most of the drop was due to Brazil, which imported just 1.7 million gallons of U.S. ethanol, down from almost 24 million. Exports to India were down six percent in May, but it was …
ACE Disappointed With EPA Lack of Action
American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) CEO Brian Jennings says he is disappointed in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to issue an interim final rule by July 1 to increase the Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO) for 2020 to ensure that the full 20.09 billion gallons required by the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) are used due to the unanticipated drop …
House Members Oppose “Gap Year” Waivers
The Congressional Biofuels Caucus has added its voice to the many calling for EPA to deny the 52 so-called “gap year” Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Small Refinery Exemption (SRE) petitions received last month. Co-Chairmen Rodney Davis (R-IL), Collin Peterson (D-MN), Dave Loebsack (D-IA) and Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS), and more than two dozen other members of the bipartisan Caucus sent …
EPA Administrator Gives Update on Retroactive SREs
EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said Wednesday that the agency will not be making an announcement on proposed 2021 Renewable Volume Obligations this week. “There’s nothing coming out tomorrow on that,” Wheeler said during a press call to talk about environmental provisions under the USMCA. Since Friday is a federal holiday, that would mean it would be at least next week …
House Committee Climate Crisis Plan Includes LCFS
The House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis today released a comprehensive plan titled “Solving the Climate Crisis: The Congressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy and a Healthy, Resilient, and Just America.” The Climate Crisis Action Plan, released as a majority staff report, has received the early support of agricultural organizations and biofuels groups pleased to see the …
SIRE Donates Hand Sanitizer for RFA Promotional Events
Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy (SIRE) has donated 1,000 bottles of its proprietary SIREtizer hand sanitizer to the Renewable Fuels Association to distribute at summer ethanol promotional events upcoming events, including the Sturgis motorcycle rally in South Dakota, where RFA has had a presence for more than a decade. “Like so many others in our industry, SIRE was able to step-up …
Governors Ask EPA to Reject Retroactive Refinery Exemptions
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz sent a letter to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler this week asking that he reject 52 applications for retroactive small refinery exemptions (SREs) from the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) for past compliance years. Governor Noem and Governor Walz are the chair and vice chair of the Governors’ Biofuels Coalition. Iowa Governor …
Senators Urge EPA to Reject Retroactive Waivers
A bipartisan group of 16 senators sent a letter this week urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reject any petitions for Small Refinery Exemptions (SREs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) for past compliance years. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and a dozen others said in the letter to EPA Administrator …