Renewable Identification Numbers, better known in the renewable energy world as RINs, are serious business, but there’s actually an app on the market to make them a bit more fun. The Energy Policy Research Foundation, Inc. (EPRINC) introduced the RFS compliance calculator earlier this year as a free download on Apple’s App Store, allowing you to “model various RFS and …
Corn Fiber Approved as Cellulosic Feedstock
The Environmental Protection Agency issued final rules Wednesday to qualify additional fuel pathways for the production of cellulosic biofuel, including crop residue such as corn fiber. EPA has now determined that crop residue does meet the lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction requirements for cellulosic biofuel under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) provided that “producers include in their registration specific information …
Iowa Plant Produces First Cellulosic Ethanol
The very first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol gallons produced in Iowa flowed from the Quad County Corn Processors (QCCP) distillation unit Tuesday, bringing smiles to the faces of the plant team members who posed with a bottle of the historic fuel. The event marks the official commissioning of the farmer-owned ethanol plant’s Adding Cellulosic Ethanol (ACE) project, which broke ground in …
Ethanol Report on Advanced Ethanol Concerns
Advanced Ethanol Council (AEC) executive director Brooke Coleman commented last week on a new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report on the impacts of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) so we got him on the phone for this edition of “The Ethanol Report.” In this interview, Coleman talks about his take on the CBO report, as well as Phantom Fuels legislation …
Supreme Court Turns Down California LCFS Case
In the flurry of decisions by the Supreme Court released the morning, justices declined to review California’s low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) decision. A federal trial judge ruled against the LCFS in 2011 but the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that ruling last year and denied rehearing the case in January. The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and Growth Energy …
Iowa Congressman Visits Biodiesel Producers
Congressman Bruce Braley (D-IA) visited the REG biodiesel plant in Mason City, Iowa on Friday to meet with members of the state’s biodiesel industry concerned about the proposed lowering of volume requirements under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The current RFS proposal would set biodiesel volumes at 1.28 billion gallons, a sharp cut from last year’s actual production of nearly …
Biofuels and Wind Waiting on Action
Environmental Protection Agency administrator Gina McCarthy said earlier this year that they planned to issue a final rule on the proposed volume requirements under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) in “late spring or early summer” but spring is gone and summer is here and there’s been no word yet. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said last week that he thought the …
Biofuels Veteran Joins Advisory Firm
Biofuels veteran and former Deputy Undersecretary of Agriculture John Campbell has joined Ocean Park Advisors (OPA), a corporate finance advisory firm for biofuels and other agribusiness companies. Campbell will serve as managing director based in Omaha, Nebraska and will serve to broaden the company’s relationships, develop new business and help execute transactions. “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to …
RFA Dismisses Proposed RFS Repeal
Congressman James Lankford (R-OK) this week introduced legislation called the “Phantom Fuels Elimination Act” that seeks to eliminate the so-called “corn ethanol mandate” and require domestic production of all other Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) blending requirements. Response from the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) on the proposed legislation was dismissive. “Congressman Lankford should get his facts straight,” said RFA president and …
Corn Growers CEO Addresses FEW
National Corn Growers Association CEO Rick Tolman took the podium to address the general session at the Fuel Ethanol Workshop in Indianapolis this week. It’s the 30th year for the workshop and during his remarks he commented on how things have changed in the past 30 years – from the acres of corn planted and bushels harvested to the gallons …