USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Alexis Taylor led a trade mission to Japan this week with representatives from 11 state departments of agriculture, numerous farm organizations, and 40 agribusinesses looking to connect with future business partners in Japan. “As one of the largest world economies, Japan is one of the top and most reliable trading partners …
Ethanol Blends Well With Summer
As summer gets underway, the Renewable Fuels Association is once again sponsoring the Ethanol Days of Summer fuel giveaway contest, and encouraging both motorists and boaters to get educated on ethanol and save money at the pump. RFA Vice President of Industry Relations Robert White says the popularity of the fuel giveaway contest has grown as the availability of higher …
Ethanol Report on New RFA Team Members
The Renewable Fuels Association recently created two new positions in the organization with the future of ethanol in mind and hired a couple of talented young experienced individuals to round out a team ready for the challenges and opportunities ahead. Tad Hepner is the organization’s new Vice President of Strategy and Innovation and Justin Schultz is RFA’s new Director of …
Ethanol Report on E15 Summer Waiver
After waiting until the very last minute, the Environmental Protection Agency issued an emergency fuel waiver to allow E15 gasoline — gasoline blended with 15% ethanol — to be sold during the summer driving season this year. A decision had to be made before April 30 so terminal operators would still be able to sell the blend after May 1. …
EPA Administrator Grilled on Summer E15
Despite repeated questioning from members of the House Agriculture Committee on the topic, EPA Administrator Michael Regan refused to say when, or if, the agency will grant emergency waivers to allow retail sales of E15 this summer. “If I give you an answer today I can guarantee you that somebody’s going to file into court and it’s going to be …
Ethanol Report on E15 in Limbo
With only weeks until the summer driving season starts, the future of E15 retail sales for the summer remains in limbo, and the clock is ticking. A plan was already in place by this time last year and at this point the only solution requires immediate action by the Biden administration. In this edition of the Ethanol Report podcast, Renewable …
Couser Provides Grassroots Input to EPA
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan recently appointed members for the Farm, Ranch, and Rural Communities Federal Advisory Committee (FRRCC), including Iowa livestock producer and ethanol investor Bill Couser. Established in 2007, the FRRCC provides independent policy advice, information, and recommendations to the EPA administrator on a range of environmental issues and policies that are of importance to agriculture and …
ACE Members Happy to be Back on the Hill
This year was the 12th year that the American Coalition for Ethanol led a fly-in on Capitol Hill, but the last one was four years ago so members were very pleased to be back in person. “Congress just opened up about a month a half ago,” said Rick Schwarck, President and CEO of Absolute Energy in St. Ansger, Iowa. “Face …
USDA Under Secretary Stresses Support for Ethanol
USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Robert Bonnie spent an hour with members of the American Coalition for Ethanol last week, answering questions on various topics and stressing the administration’s support for biofuels. “I hope you know this administration has a strong commitment to ethanol,” Bonnie began. “There’s a lot of alignment between things that can be good …
ACE Fly-in Gives Lawmakers Ethanol Education
Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa is possibly the biggest supporter of ethanol in Congress, but he can always use more information to share with his colleagues who may disagree. During the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) Fly-in this week, Golden Grains Energy chairman Dave Sovereign, who is also a farmer and a fuel retailer near Cresco, Iowa, gave the senator …