California Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday gave a surprise boost to the ethanol industry by issuing a directive to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to accelerate studying how California could increase ethanol blending in gasoline to allow the sales of E15. “There’s massive potential for this to be a win-win for Californians: lowering gas prices by up to twenty …
Bill Would Extend 45Z Tax Credit
The 45Z clean fuel production tax credit would be extended by ten years under legislation introduced this week by Reps. Brad Schneider (D-IL), Dan Kildee (D-MI) and Julia Brownley (D-CA). The tax credit, created under the Inflation Reduction Act, is slated to start in 2025 and expire in 2027, even though no rules have been developed for it yet. The …
Ethanol Report on Supply and Demand
Despite California’s best efforts to work against low carbon ethanol by not allowing sales of E15 and proposing unworkable new sustainability requirements for the future, supply and demand for U.S. ethanol continues strong. In this edition of The Ethanol Report podcast, Renewable Fuels Association Chief Economist Scott Richman discusses concerning proposed regulations to California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard, strong supply …
Supreme Court to Decide on EPA SRE Case Venue
The Supreme Court will determine whether the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals is the only proper court to litigate challenges to small refinery exemptions, a decision welcomed by biofuel advocates. At issue is whether the venue for challenges by small oil refineries seeking exemptions from the requirements of the Clean Air Act’s Renewable Fuel Standard program lies exclusively in the …
New Ethanol Infographics from Grains Council
The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) has released a series of infographics to promote the benefits of biofuels, an explainer on various sustainability benchmarks for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and an update on global ethanol blending policies. The Council seeks to show international policymakers and industry stakeholders that U.S. ethanol is an affordable, abundant, compatible and sustainable way for countries to …
Ethanol Sets New Export Record
The latest export data for marketing year 2023/2024 from USDA shows exports of U.S. ethanol set a record at 1,746,490,298 gallons sold internationally and a single-market record of 23.4 million metric tons (924 million bushels) shipped to Mexico. That helped sales of U.S. grains in all forms (GIAF) increased to more than $48 billion. “We applaud U.S. farmers and producers …
RFA Calls New California LCFS Updates Fundamentally Flawed
The Renewable Fuels Association says proposed regulations updating California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard are “fundamentally flawed” and could significantly restrict the future use of low-carbon ethanol in the state. In comments submitted last week to the California Air Resources Board (CARB), RFA Chief Economist Scott Richman asserts that renewable fuel producers and California consumers will both suffer if CARB moves …
USDA Celebrates $3 Billion for Climate-Smart Commodities
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack traveled to Pennsylvania last week to celebrate investing over $3 billion in 135 projects under the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities since its creation in September 2022. Vilsack highlighted the initiative’s success to date, including: – Enrollment of over 3.2 million acres of working land into climate-smart practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon. …
Gevo Gets DOE Loan Commitment for SAF Facility
Net-zero hydrocarbon fuels developer Gevo announced last week it received a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $1.46 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy for its Net-Zero 1 project (“NZ1”) in South Dakota. With capitalized interest during construction, the DOE loan facility has a borrowing capacity of $1.63 billion. The NZ1 facility is being built in …
Chevron REG Invests in Terviva to Scale New Biofuel Feedstock
Agricultural innovation company Terviva has announced an investment from Chevron Renewable Energy Group to help scale production of pongamia for low carbon renewable fuel. “Crude pongamia oil can be converted into biodiesel, renewable diesel, or sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). In working with Chevron Renewable Energy Group, we can increase the availability of feedstocks for production of these fuels while promoting …