Iowa Renewable Fuels Association president Brian Cahill of Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy was at the NASCAR American Ethanol 200 presented by Enogen last Friday to support ethanol and this week he will be in Kansas City, Kansas to do the same. Iowa RFA members will be among those testifying at a public hearing on Thursday to explain what is wrong …
Building Markets for Ethanol Exports
Expanding export markets for U.S. ethanol was the focus last month as a group of industry representatives to Mexico and Japan on trade missions coordinated through a partnership between the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), U.S. Grains Council and Growth Energy. RFA Director of Regulatory Affairs Kelly Davis says they saw exceptional opportunities in Mexico. “I left very excited about a …
Senate Committee Grills EPA Official on RFS
Environmental Protection Agency Acting Assistant Administrator Janet McCabe was the lone witness in a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing Thursday on “Re-examining EPA’s Management of the Renewable Fuel Standard Program.” Committee chairman James Lankford (R-OK), who favors repealing the RFS, grilled McCabe over the “aspirational” goal of breaching the blend wall and the potential that volumes of cellulosic ethanol targets …
Ethanol Report from Washington DC
Domestic Fuel stopped by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) office in Washington DC Wednesday to visit with president and CEO Bob Dinneen and discuss the latest with the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) and expectations for next week’s EPA hearing in Kansas City. Following his appearance on a Fuels America press call, Dinneen addressed yet another bill introduced this week to …
Novozymes Increases Ethanol Plant Sustainability
Novozymes sees a tremendous potential to increase performance at ethanol plants. Jack Rogers, biofuels global marketing manager for Novozymes highlighted several of these projects during the Fuel Ethanol Workshop. He said they have a number of products in the pipeline that target specific areas of the ethanol production process. One area of focus is in improving ethanol conversion yields. Rogers …
Biodiesel Producers on Capitol Hill
Nearly 120 biodiesel industry leaders from California to Florida are in Washington DC this week calling on lawmakers to push for a strong Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) during the comment period for the recently released proposal from EPA. “We want to show Congress that the RFS is working and that thousands of jobs are at stake in this pending EPA …
Nebraska Governor Visits Novozymes
Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts wrapped up his first agricultural trade mission this week with a visit to Novozymes world headquarters in Denmark, where a company tour showcased the production of unique enzymes and microbial products used in the animal nutrition, agriculture, and biofuels industries. While at Novozymes, Gov. Ricketts and the United States Ambassador to Denmark hosted a roundtable on …
USDA Taking Apps for Biofuels Infrastructure Funding
USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is now accepting applications in 50 states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. for up to $100 million in grants under the Biofuels Infrastructure Partnership (BIP). The funding is to support the infrastructure needed to make more renewable fuel options available to American consumers. The Farm Service Agency will administer BIP. Through BIP, …
Nebraska Governor Talks Biofuels in Europe
Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts is on an agricultural trade mission trip to the European Union with stops in Italy, Belgium, and Denmark. The trade mission, being coordinated jointly by the Nebraska Departments of Agriculture and Economic Development, includes a number of representatives from the state’s agriculture and biofuels industry. “As the number two ethanol producer in the country, we have …
What Food Safety Act Means for Ethanol Plants
The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was signed into law in 2011 and this summer the rulemaking for the new act might finally be complete. Because it includes safety of animal food as well as human food, ethanol plants that produce the co-product distillers grains for livestock feed are impacted. Renewable Fuels Association Director of Regulatory Affairs Kelly Davis talked …