Small refinery exemptions were not the topic of an EPA hearing Friday in Michigan, but many witnesses used precious seconds of their allotted three minutes to comment on how they are impacting an already stressed ethanol industry. “While RFS small refinery exemptions (SREs) are not the explicit subject of this rulemaking or today’s hearing, we feel compelled to remind EPA …
EPA Grants Another Small Refinery Waiver
With a new waiver announced this week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has now granted a total of 35 small-refinery exemption (SRE) from the 2017 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) compliance year. Another 39 requests are still pending for 2018 exemptions. “If these exemption trends continue, they will fully and completely undermine the RFS at the expense of rural America and …
EPA Hearing on E15 in Michigan Tomorrow
Ypsilanti, Michigan will be the place Friday morning for advocates and opponents of EPA’s proposed regulatory changes related to retail sales of 15% ethanol blended fuel (E15) and the renewable identification number (RIN) compliance system Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. The Environmental Protection Agency is holding a hearing on the proposal released just 16 days ago that would allow E15 …
Flooding Takes Bite Out of Ethanol Production
Repair crews are working around the clock to get roads and railways impacted by flooding in the Midwest back in service, while the latest weekly ethanol supply and demand numbers show production down due to the disaster. According to the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), ethanol production for the week ended March 22 fell 29,000 barrels per day (b/d), or 2.9%, …
KAAPA Ethanol Celebrates 15 Years
Nebraska’s KAAPA Ethanol LLC is celebrating its 15th anniversary this week. The farmer-owned company operates two Nebraska biorefineries. Its Minden plant produces 80 million gallons of ethanol from 27 million bushels of corn per year and has 37 employees. The company’s Ravenna plant produces more than 125 million gallons of ethanol from 42 million bushels of corn per year and …
Biodiesel Industry Asks Congress to Extend Tax Incentive
The National Biodiesel Board (NBB), joined more than 70 member companies and stakeholder organizations this week in a letter urging leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives to immediately address a multiyear extension of the biodiesel and renewable diesel tax incentive. Last year, Congress retroactively extended the tax incentive for 2017, leaving it expired for 2018 and beyond. The letter …
USDA Monitoring Nebraska Ethanol Issues
Under Secretary of Agriculture for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Greg Ibach is in Nebraska this week surveying weather-related damage and talking with affected farmers and ranchers. The impact of the flooding on ethanol production was brought up during a Facebook Live roundtable with Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts on Monday. “We are aware at USDA that many of the railroad lines …
Ethanol Production Down, Stocks Record High
The latest Energy Information Administration data analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association for the week ending March 15, shows ethanol production edged 1,000 barrels lower to an average of 1.004 million barrels per day (b/d), or 42.17 million gallons daily. However, the four-week average ethanol production rate grew 0.2% to 1.015 million b/d—equivalent to an annualized rate of 15.56 billion …
Job Growth in Biofuels Continues
Job growth in the biofuels sector continued last year, according to the 2019 Clean Jobs America analysis of energy jobs data by the national nonpartisan business group E2 (Environmental Entrepreneurs). The report found that nearly every U.S. state saw an increase in clean energy jobs in 2018, combining to add about 110,000 net new jobs for a growth rate of …
Flooding Impacts Rail Service in the Midwest
Extensive flooding in the Midwest has caused damage to railroad infrastructure and additional flooding is expected now along the Mississippi River, resulting in widespread service disruptions in the Iowa-Kansas-Missouri-Nebraska area. The Federal Railroad Administration has declared an “emergency event” related to railroad operations as the National Weather Service has documented historic flooding throughout the region with rivers rising to recored …