During an appearance at the Iowa Farm Bureau annual meeting in Des Moines Tuesday, Governor Kim Reynolds signed an executive order requiring that all new state vehicles with diesel engines must be approved to run on B20 biodiesel (a blend of 20% biodiesel and 80% petroleum-based diesel) or more “Biodiesel is a growing and vital industry in Iowa, and I …
Researching Ways to Turn Biorefinery Waste into New Products
A research team at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology is beginning work on new methods to turn biorefinery waste into valuable industrial products. A pilot scale testing facility for one of the processes set to be established at SD Mines. Pilot scale processing of corn stover will be performed at Idaho National Lab, SD Mines and Southwest …
NBB Asks EPA To Properly Account for SREs
The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) comments on EPA’s supplemental proposal for 2020 renewable volume obligations urge the agency “to properly account for small refinery exemptions, address the remand of the 2016 standards, and increase the 2021 biomass-based diesel volume.” NBB is encouraging EPA to use a three-year average of the gallons EPA actually exempted. “Unfortunately, the proposal uses an average …
RFA Urges EPA to “Just Follow the Law”
The comment period on EPA’s supplemental proposal for 2020 renewable volume obligations ended on Friday, and the Renewable Fuels Association’s message in comments submitted was simple when it comes to implementing blending obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard: Just follow the law RFA’s comments highlight the fact that the Clean Air Act requires EPA to “ensure” that the RFS volumes …
Comments Rolling in on RFS Rule
Comments are rolling in this week proposed supplemental rulemaking to the 2020 Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The deadline is Friday, November 29, which is a federal work day, but many groups are getting their comments in early this week to take two days for Thanksgiving. Most comments from biofuel supporters basically center on three …
RFA Reviews 2020 Vehicle Models for Ethanol Usage
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) finds good news for E15 but bad news for higher blends of ethanol in its review of 2020 model year vehicles. The RFA analysis of vehicle owner’s manuals and warranty statements reveals that nearly all new 2020 automobiles are explicitly approved by the manufacturer to use gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol (E15). However, RFA’s annual …
Governors’ Biofuels Coalition Takes Aim at Gasoline Aromatics
The Governors’ Biofuels Coalition is asking President Trump to take action on removing toxic aromatics from gasoline. In a letter to President Trump, coalition chair and vice chair Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem asked him to enforce a provision of the Clean Air Act that requires the reduction and elimination of toxic carcinogenic aromatics from …
E85 Flex Fuel Wrangler is Off-Road Ready
The Renewable Fuels Association/Hauk Designs Flex Fuel E85 Jeep Wranger is complete and designer Kenny Hauk is pretty proud of the monster machine that can run on up to 85 percent ethanol. “What I’ve learned is that E85 has incredible performance potential,” said Hauk. “You can have incredible horsepower gains, an engine that runs much cooler than normal and has …
ACE Elects Executive Committee
During its fourth quarter meeting, the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) Board of Directors elected its Officers and Executive Committee for 2020. Re-elected to serve as officers on the 2020 Executive Committee are: Duane Kristensen, serving as ACE’s Board President. Kristensen is the General Manager and Vice President of Operations of Chief Ethanol Fuels, which owns a 70 million-gallon-per-year (MGY) …
Presidential Hopeful Says Waivers are “Killing” Ethanol
Ethanol and small refinery waivers came up in the middle of a trade question during the Democratic presidential candidate debate Wednesday on MSNBC. South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg was asked whether he would continue the “farm subsidies” that President Trump has authorized to help farmers struggling from the impact of the trade war with China. “We shouldn’t have to …