Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is defending the Obama Administration’s proposal to cut the 2014 Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs) as part of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) for the amount of renewable fuels to be blended into gasoline and diesel. But some of the people he spoke to, along with several biofuel advocates, are questioning the legality of the cuts. …
EPA’s RVO Proposal Cannot Stand
Fuels America coalition hosted a media call in reaction to the EPA’s proposed renewable volume obligations (RVOs) today. The biofuels industry said they were disappointed and that the proposed volumes would set the entire industry back and that the EPA’s proposal cannot stand. During the call, Bob Dinneen from the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) unveiled a new analysis showing how …
Avantec Bringing Ethanol Producers Results
According to Niels Miles Frandsen, Marketing Director, Biofuel, with global biocompany Novozymes, their company’s enzyme Avantec is now used to produce over 20 percent of the U.S. corn ethanol after only being on the market for just over one year. He said that both Avantec, that was released in October of 2012 and Spirazyme Achieve that was released in June of …
DF Cast: Is EPA Overstepping RFS Authority?
A leaked document from the Environmental Protection Agency regarding the Renewable Fuels Standard is causing some real consternation among advocates for ethanol. While it’s just a draft and has not even been officially released, there is already plenty of debate over the possible proposal, including whether the EPA is overstepping its authority granted under the RFS. In this edition of …
AP Story Causing Stir Before Release
The ethanol industry has gone on the offensive to defend itself against an Associated Press “investigative report” that has yet to be released for publication. Fuels America held a conference call today about the article which is embargoed until after midnight but was circulated last week on the internet. The call included Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) Vice President of Research …
DuPont: Lowering RVO Targets Would Be a Mistake
A company with experience successfully commercializing a variety of new technologies says it would be a mistake if government targets for renewable fuels are lowered. During yesterday’s Fuels America conference call on the prospect the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could drop renewable volume obligations (RVOs) next year from the statutory level of 14.4 billion gallons to between 12.36 and 13.18 …
Lowering RFS Will Raise Big Oil Profits
Big Oil will reap big profits if the Environmental Protection Agency actually proposes a substantial cut to the 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requirement for conventional biofuel blending, according to a new analysis released by the ethanol industry today. The analysis finds that the oil industry stand to make an additional $9-14 billion in 2014 if the EPA were to …
Missouri Governor Voices Support for Ethanol
With the harvest nearing completion in Missouri, Governor Jay Nixon last week joined the Missouri Corn Growers Association at a grain elevator in the northeast part of the state to support the state’s corn growers and ethanol industry. “Each year about 20% of Missouri’s corn crop is turned into about 300 million gallons of ethanol – a renewable, domestic energy …
Dinneen: Lowering RFS Would be Mistake
Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) president and CEO Bob Dinneen fears “the Obama Administration is about to make a huge mistake” in lowering the volume requirements for ethanol under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). In an interview for “The Ethanol Report,” Dinneen says it does appear that the Environmental Protection Agency is planning on changing the Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO) for …
Ethanol Sweet Spots – Part II
Yesterday, DF featured an article on “Must Know Ethanol Trends” that came out of Christianson & Associate’s, PPL (C&A) Biofuels Benchmarking 2012-13 Annual Report. In addition to identifying important trends for the industry, the report also identified some “sweet spots” for the industry. John Christianson, partner with C&A, said running a good business is the first thing and being as …