It’s August in the nation’s capitol and the climate is hazy, hot and humid with a chance of afternoon thundershowers, which Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen says kind of describes what is happening on Capitol Hill these days as well – especially the hazy and stormy part. In this edition of “The Ethanol Report,” Dinneen discusses the …
Senators Press EPA and DOE on Ethanol Issues
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and a group of bipartisan senators met with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and Department of Energy (DOE) Deputy Secretary Daniel Poneman this week to discuss delays in the approval of E15 ethanol blend for vehicles, as well as other key issues related to the ethanol industry. Harkin says they talked with the officials about the importance …
Feds Give $228 Mil. for Sun- and CO2-to-Fuel Projects
The federal Department of Energy is giving $228 million for projects that will turn sunlight directly into fuel and carbon dioxide (CO2) into fuel and other products, such as plastics, cement and fertilizers. This article from Biofuels Digest says $122 million will go to start an Energy Innovation Hub for the sun projects, and $106 million for six projects dealing …
Truckstop Operators Lobby for Biodiesel Incentive Renewal
The group that represents truckstops and travel plazas is urging renewal of the federal $1-a-gallon biodiesel tax incentive. Refrigerated Transporter reports that NATSO has teamed up with other partners in the industry, such as the National Association of Convenience Stores, the Petroleum Marketers Association of America, and the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America, to send a letter to …
EPA Data on Canola Biodiesel Pathway Released
Canola-based biodiesel is closer to becoming a fuel authorized for biomass-based diesel Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs), now that the EPA has released a Notice of Data Availability (NODA) for its recent modeling of the canola oil biodiesel pathway. Earlier this year, EPA announced the final rule for the new Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2), but the canola pathway was not yet …
Ethanol in Senate Ag Hearing Spotlight
Ethanol took the spotlight in a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing Wednesday on the Farm Bill’s energy and rural development programs. Testimony at the hearing came from USDA Undersecretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager, Growth Energy Co-chairman General Wesley Clark, National Alliance of Forest Owners president Dave Tenny, and New York dairy producer Eric Zuber. The discussion ranged from increasing the …
Ag Secretary Visits Ohio Ethanol Plant
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland toured the POET Biorefining plant in Marion, Ohio today and talked ethanol with industry stakeholders. Vilsack and Strickland took part in a roundtable discussion with representatives from POET, the Ohio Corn Growers Association, Ohio Ethanol Producers Association and the Ohio Department of Agriculture as well as the federal Farm …
DOE Finds Ethanol Pipeline Feasible
A pipeline for ethanol from the Midwest to the East Coast is a viable project, if certain conditions are met, according to a report by the Department of Energy (DOE). In the report titled “Dedicated Ethanol Pipeline Feasibility Study,” which was required under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, DOE concludes that “in spite of the documented challenges …
Ethanol Opponents Call for End to Tax Incentives
Seizing on last week’s CBO report and a proposal by Growth Energy to phase out and redirect the blenders tax credit for ethanol (VEETC), several long-time opponents of ethanol renewed their call for an end to all tax incentives for the home-grown fuel. In a press conference this morning, representatives from the American Meat Institute (AMI), Environmental Working Group (EWG), …
Biodiesel Willing to Make Up Cellulosic Biofuels Shortfall
While the cellulosic ethanol industry is worried that it won’t be able to meet the U.S. EPA’s proposed advanced biofuels production volumes for the new Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2), the folks who make biodiesel believe they could pick up any slack. This article from Biodiesel Magazine points out that biodiesel plants in the U.S. have the ability to produce 2.2 …