The Petroleum Equipment Institute (PEI) has joined the Coalition for E85 – a group of retailers, producers, equipment manufacturers and other supporters of E85 fuel. PEI executive vice president Robert Renkes says the goal of the Coalition is to protect the investments of 2,500 small businesses and stop a multimillion-dollar tax hike on consumers. “Fuel marketers, equipment manufacturers and the …
American Ethanol Celebrates Great First Year
The partnership between NASCAR and ethanol is officially one year old and it has been a great year for racing on the renewable fuel. It was one year ago last week at the NASCAR Champions Week in Las Vegas that American Ethanol was announced, a partnership that includes Growth Energy and the National Corn Growers Association. Throughout the 2011 NASCAR …
Largest Government Purchase of Biofuels Announced
The largest government purchase of biofuels for military application was announced today. U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack jointly announced that the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) signed a contract to purchase 450,000 gallons of advanced drop-in biofuel. The biofuel to be purchased is made from a blend of non-food waste (used cooking oil) …
General Motors Seeks to Reassure Volt Owners
General Motors is working to offer assurances and incentives to owners of Chevy Volts in the wake of concerns about the potential of damaged batteries in the electric cars catching fire, and may ultimately have to take the car of the future back to the drawing board. Earlier this week, GM announced initiatives for customer satisfaction and battery safety research …
Corn Grower’s Viewpoint on VEETC – It’s Over
National Corn Growers Association president Garry Niemeyer, a farmer from Illinois, penned an editorial this week in an effort to let those still complaining about the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) know that the game is over. Read that commentary below. Back in August, the Green Scissors Project identified ways the federal government could shave $380 billion from the …
USDA Announces Insurance Program for Biofuel Crop
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced a new pilot program of insurance for camelina beginning with the 2012 crop year. According to a release from USDA, “Camelina is an oilseed crop with the potential to create new renewable energy markets in the United States, generate rural jobs here at home, and decrease America’s dependence on foreign oil. The new …
Iowa Corn Caucus Grades Candidates on Energy
The Iowa Corn Caucus released its report card for presidential candidates today, giving grades for different policy areas related to agriculture, including energy and biofuels, and an overall grade for each candidate. The highest overall grade went to Newt Gingrich, who scored straight As on every single policy issue. Second in the class was Rick Santorum, who received straight As …
Amyris and Total Partner for Renewable Fuels
French energy company Total and California-based renewable products firm Amyris have announced a joint venture to develop, produce and commercialize a range of renewable fuels and products. The two companies agreed to expand their ongoing research and development collaboration to accelerate the deployment of Biofene® and develop renewable diesel based on this molecule produced from plant sugars. The program launched …
RFA Responds to EU Ethanol Probe
The European Union (EU) has initiated anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations regarding U.S. exports of ethanol to Europe and current U.S. policies surrounding ethanol production and use. Allegations by EU ethanol producers, represented by the organization ePure, suggest that U.S. ethanol exports to Europe are taking advantage of the expiring volumetric ethanol excise tax credit, or VEETC, prior to export …
Solar Decathlon May Move
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is looking for a new location for Solar Decathlon 2013. DOE hopes to provide other communities with the opportunity to host the competition and share the economic and education and outreach benefits of the event. Since 2002, the Solar Decathlon has been held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., where it has successfully …