The first ever Land Use Conference is fast approaching and you don’t want to miss it. Hosted by the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), the conference will be in St. Louis on August 25-26th. This is perfect for those people in agriculture who are interested to learn how indirect land use policy will affect their businesses. In addition, academics and …
Ethanol Industry Concerns About EPA Peer Review
The Environmental Protection Agency’s peer review of the renewable fuel standards lifecycle analysis released today is being characterized by corn and ethanol industry groups as biased, bizarre and puzzling. The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) says the EPA “stacked the deck against biofuels in its process to “peer review” the agency’s indirect land use change analysis (ILUC) conducted for the Renewable …
Economist Barry Flinchbaugh Talks Indirect Land Use
Yesterday during the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Congress/Ag Media Summit, a “Great Debate” ensued between retired K-State ag economist Barry Flinchbaugh and former Texas congressman Charlie Stenholm. Their topics were ag policy and trade but a lot of the focus was on the new cap and trade legislation, climate change and indirect land use. I had a chance to …
CARB Updates LCFS Numbers in Favor of Sugarcane Ethanol
For months the ethanol industry has been working with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to update their calculations of ethanol’s emissions reductions. A victory has finally been achieved as California has updated its calculations of sugarcane ethanol’s emission reductions. The Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA) welcomed the announcement. Joel Velasco, UNICA’s chief representative for North America, said, “UNICA applauds …
YouTube Videos Provide Ethanol Answers
Will corn crop meet demand of both food and fuel? Even before the USDA planted acreage report was released this week, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) had the answer to that question posted on YouTube. In one of three recent videos posted by the ethanol organization, RFA Vice President of Research Geoff Cooper says the 2009 corn crop is going …
Climate Bill Gives Biodiesel RFS Break
A couple of issues might be coming to a head with one bill. As I told you back on May 22, biodiesel producers are none too pleased about an EPA proposal that would, in effect, exempt soy-based biodiesel from the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS)… putting biodiesel in danger of not being able to meet that standard, possibly undermining confidence in …
DF Cast: Making the Case for Biofuels to the EPA
Members of the biofuels industries, including those growing the feedstocks to make the green fuels of ethanol and biodiesel, made their way to Washington, D.C. this week to try to stop the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from implementing rules that the biofuels folks will hurt their industry. The biggest point of contention is the EPA’s Indirect Land Use proposal that …
The Irrationality of Indirect Analysis
The rationale of indirect land use remains in the hot seat and the biofuels industry continues to stand its ground. Today, Robert Zubrin, author of Energy Victory and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies had an article published in Roll Call, a publication targeted at Washington, DC politicians. “The Irrationality of Indirect Analysis,” lays out why taking …
Harkin: Indirect Land Use Rule Not Good Science
The chair of the U.S. Senate’s Ag Committee says the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed Indirect Land Use Rule, which would make biodiesel ineligible for mandates and federal subsidies, is not good science… and he believes there are enough votes in Congress to keep it from going into effect. Agriculture Online reports that the EPA’s proposal would use the concept of …
Clinton at Ethanol Summit 2009: Save the Trees
The Ethanol Summit 2009 is in full swing in Sao Paulo, Brazil with President Bill Clinton kicking off the festivities yesterday. His main message was that while biofuels are an important element in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, it cannot happen at the continued destruction of rainforests. In an article published by Reuters yesterday, Clinton was quoted as saying, …