Ethanol organizations received a Government Accounting Office report on biofuels this week with mixed reviews. On the plus side, the GAO report indicated that using indirect land use change to evaluate the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions for biofuels under the Renewable Fuel Standard may be difficult due to uncertainty in how that can accurately be measured. According to the report, …
DF Cast: RFA, NBB Submit RFS-2 Comments
Back in May, the EPA put out its proposal for the new Renewable Fuels Standard… aka RFS-2… that got a lot of people talking about what is in the new standard. Some of the biggest backers of some of the greenest fuels, ethanol and biodiesel, are worried RFS-2 will actually keep these mainstays of the renewables out of the program …
NBB, RFA Submit Biodiesel, Ethanol Comments to EPA
The comment period for the EPA’s proposed Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) has come and gone, and the leaders in the biodiesel and ethanol industries have turned in the comments they’ve collected from their members and interested parties. The National Biodiesel Board’s main contention is that the proposal contains several significant flaws: • EPA’s GHG [Greenhouse Gas] methodology relies on outdated …
Ethanol Group Finalizing Comments to EPA
The Renewable Fuels Association today released comments to be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency regarding proposed regulations to implement the expanded renewable fuel standard (RFS) program enacted by Congress in the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) in 2007. “Reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil was part of the Energy Security Act, providing economic opportunity and job creation and …
EPA Admits Uncertainty in Indirect Land Use
A group of Midwest senators led by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) dropped an amendment to appropriations legislation that would have prohibited the EPA from spending funds to include international indirect land use change (ILUC) emissions in the implementation of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS). Sen. Harkin withdrew his amendment after receiving a letter from EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson that promised …
Don’t Penalize Biofuels
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a rule based on Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) that would penalize biofuel production such as corn-ethanol. The ethanol industry has banned together to fight this potential ruling, and today Growth Energy urged Congressional support of an amendment authored by Senator Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. Specifically, the Harkin amendment to the Interior-Environment Appropriations bill, …
Ethanol Report on USDA Crop Forecast
This edition of “The Ethanol Report” features comments from Geoff Cooper with the Renewable Fuels Association on today’s increased corn crop forecast from USDA, how it disputes the indirect land use change theory and food versus fuel debate. Cooper also comments on the importance of ethanol to our national security as we remember the anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks …
Corn Growers Spotlight Indirect Land Use Issues
Corn growers want regulators to know that trying to measure unintended consequences of biofuels production could result in more unintended consequences. The National Corn Growers Association held a conference this week in St. Louis to focus on the issue of land use and carbon impacts of corn ethanol and how the future can be predicted with models to determine lifecycle …
DF Cast: ACE Explores Indirect Land Use Issue
The recent American Coalition for Ethanol’s 22nd Ethanol Conference & Trade Show in Milwaukee saw an exploration of an issue that remains a hot issue in the biofuels biz: Indirect Land Use. The concept that the growth of some biofuels feedstocks in the United States, especially corn and soybeans, could cause the cutting down of the rain forests in other …
Indirect Land Use Science Lacking & World Knows it
Yet another study has found that Searchinger et al.’s paper on Indirect Land Use was not based on ‘sound science’. According to researchers Professor John Matthews and Dr. Hao Tan, from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, the Searchinger paper is more ideology than science and is seeking to put biofuels in the worst possible light. In addition, they say, alternative …