By a vote of 66 to 27 on Monday evening, the full Senate passed its version of a 2013 Farm Bill which includes mandatory funding for renewable energy programs. “Specifically, the $900 million in mandatory funding to critical rural energy programs will help provide the certainty investors and businesses need to keep making renewable fuels from diverse feedstocks, from corn …
API Files E15 Brief with Supreme Court
The American Petroleum Institute (API) filed a brief with the Supreme Court this week regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) approval of a blend of E15, 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline. API claims that the ethanol fuel blend has been shown to damage millions of cars on the road. “E15 could leave millions of consumers with broken down …
Ethanol Improving While Oil Gets Worse
The House and Energy Commerce Committee has released its third white paper on the Renewable Fuel Standard, “Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Environmental Impacts.” Executive Vice President of the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), Brian Jennings, responded with written comments that included but were not limited to feedback on the RFS role on the environment, agricultural sustainability and tailpipe emissions. “…petroleum …
Senate Panel Approves Farm Bill with Energy Title
The Senate Agriculture Committee voted 15-5 today to approve the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013, which includes cuts to reduce the deficit by $23 billion dollars but still offers a commitment to renewable energy. The bill includes an energy title that helps to advance “bio-energy production, supporting advanced biomass energy production such as cellulosic ethanol and pellets …
Ethanol Policy Update to Kick Off Discussions at FEW
Looks like the discussions are going to kick off right at the upcoming International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo (FEW), June 10-13, 2013, in St. Louis, Mo. One of the first sessions will be the Association Roundtable: Mid-Year U.S. Ethanol Policy Update, featuring moderator Tom Bryan, President, BBI International; Bob Dinneen, President & CEO, Renewable Fuels Association; Tom Buis, CEO, …
Webinars Focus on Legal Issues For Ethanol Producers
The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) along with Michael Best & Friedrich LLP (Michael Best) are hosting a webinar series focused on pressing legal issues facing ethanol producers. The first webinar focused on compliance issues with federal Health Care Reform in 2013. The 30 minute webinar, says ACE Executive Vice President Brian Jennings, will be a valuable resource for the …
Attacks on RFS, Blend Wall Bogus
The message being delivered to Washington, D.C. today is that Big Oil attacks on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), so-called blend wall and E15 are bogus. Today representatives from the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA), the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) and the Auto channel held a briefing in the Capitol Visitors Center to discuss these issues as well as …
ACE: RFS is Catalyst for Innovation
The House Energy and Commerce Committee on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) recently released a second white paper, “Agricultural Sector Impacts,” in an effort to make decisions on the future of the RFS. Comments were due today and in response, Brian Jennings, Executive Vice President for the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) notes that the RFS is a catalyst for …
Reform Bill: Transparent Attempt to Protect Big Oil
Yesterday Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner introduced legislation that would stall the roll-out of E15. Many in the renewable fuels industry responded to the proposed legislation including Fuels America who noted that the legislation ignores the long track record of successful, rigorous testing that E15 has undergone. “What the bill is clearly geared toward, however, is promoting the interest of oil compaines …
Industry Supports Reconsidering Cellulosic Target
A coalition of biofuel producer organizations the reconsideration of the 2011 cellulosic obligation under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). In January 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reconsider the 2012 Renewable Fuel Standard obligation for cellulosic biofuels. EPA has implemented the Court’s order and is now voluntarily reconsidering the …