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 …
SD Farmer Provides Input for Clean Fuels Policy Paper
South Dakota farmer Ron Alverson believes in the future of corn ethanol as a low carbon fuel and that accurate carbon accounting is key to a successful and fair Clean Fuels Policy for the Midwest. Alverson, who is past president of the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) and the SD Corn Growers, was a chief contributor to an ACE white …
LCFS Regulators Get Midwest Corn and Ethanol Tour
The National Corn Growers Association and Renewable Fuels Association hosted Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) regulators from the California Air Resources Board and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality last week in Nebraska and Iowa to highlight corn and ethanol production advancements in decarbonization. Also taking part in the tour were representatives of leading environmental non-profit organizations. The group heard …
Washington State Clean Fuels Standard Moves Forward
The Washington State House has passed a Clean Fuels Standard (H.B. 1110) that would institute a low carbon fuel program by 2020, similar to those already successfully underway in British Columbia, California, and Oregon. The program is designed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation fuels 10 percent below 2017 levels by 2028 and 20 percent below those same …
ND Plant to Turn Straw into Cellulosic Ethanol
NewEnergyBlue is about six months away from breaking ground on a cellulosic ethanol refinery that will turn North Dakota straw into low carbon fuel for California drivers. New Energy Spirit Biomass Refinery is forecast to turn 280,000 tons of North Dakota wheat straw into 16-million gallons a year of some of the lowest carbon auto fuel selling in California, the …
RFA Urges CARB to Use More Ethanol
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is urging the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to allow greater market access for ethanol blended fuel to help the state reach its climate policy objectives. According to comments submitted by RFA, ethanol has played a key role in the success of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and could do more if certain regulatory …
Iowa Producer Revives California Plant for Low-Carbon Biodiesel
An Iowa biodiesel producer recently celebrated the re-opening of a shuttered California plant to manufacture a cleaner-burning biofuel that will help meet California’s low carbon fuel demands. Western Iowa Energy (WIE) in Wall Lake recently purchased Agron Bioenergy, a biodiesel production facility in Watsonville, California that was idled in 2016. This marks the first time WIE has expanded its operations …
Corn Stover Could Generate Electricity
Two new studies show that generating energy from corn stover biomass could create a new market for farmers and increase the value of ethanol by reducing its overall carbon footprint. The studies are based on the premise that the crop residue left behind in the fields after corn to be used for ethanol is harvested. Iowa-based Regional Strategic, Ltd. examined …
Siouxland Ethanol Improves Efficiency with Energy Recovery
Siouxland Ethanol is only one month into a new MSW Energy Recovery (MER) project and already results have exceeded expectations. The Nebraska-based ethanol plant reports that natural gas usage for the month of June was lowered by 17.8%, from 23,200 BTU’s per gallon to 19,058 BTU’s per gallon, which will result in nearly $1 million in savings on an annualized …
Carbon Intensity Surpasses #Biofuel Volumes as Key Metric
Lux Research is reporting that new policies are being put forward based on technology-agnostic carbon intensity metrics rather than focusing on mandating volumes of specific biofuels. The move to low carbon fuels is being led, says Lux Research, by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the near-term winners will be renewable diesel and conventional electricity followed by renewable electricity. …