Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Thursday that USDA is investing $464 million to build or improve renewable energy infrastructure and to help rural communities, agricultural producers and businesses lower energy costs in 48 states and Puerto Rico. USDA is financing $129 million of these investments through the Rural Energy for America Program and $335 million through the Electric Loan Program. …
USDA COVID Aid and Infrastructure for Biofuels Coming Soon
During a town hall style webinar with Farm Journal Editor Clinton Griffiths last week, USDA Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said payments for biofuels producers impacted by the pandemic could come in the very near future. “We made the decision to put resources into the biofuel industry and I would expect and anticipate we’re going to be seeing announcements on …
ACE Urges Hearing on Next Generation Fuels Act
The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) is asking for a hearing to be held on the “Next Generation Fuels Act of 2021” (H.R. 5089) to address some concerns they have about the bill which was introduced by Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL). Specifically, ACE is requesting testimony on how the bill would remove market barriers to ethanol and improvements that should …
Ethanol Report from Farm Progress Show
The Renewable Fuels Association had a very visible presence at the 2021 Farm Progress Show, held August 31-September 2 in Decatur, Illinois. RFA Vice President of Industry Relations Robert White said it was a great opportunity to see and talk with farmers, but it also proved to be a time to meet with members of Congress who are working to …
Rep. Bustos Talks Next Gen Fuels at #FPS21
Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL) paid a visit to the Renewable Fuels Association exhibit at the Farm Progress Show on Wednesday and talked about her Next Generation Fuels Act introduced last week in the U.S. House. “It would require manufacturers of vehicles to make sure it could burn to start, E20, and go all the way up to E25 and E30 …
RFA Puts Ethanol on Display at #FPS21
Biofuels are getting a lot of attention at the 2021 Farm Progress Show this week in Decatur, Illinois and the Renewable Fuels Association is there for the first time as an exhibitor. RFA Vice President of Industry Relations Robert White says they are there because the Commodity Classic where they normally exhibit to talk to farmers was a virtual event …
Listen to Ethanol’s Carbon Guru Ron Alverson
When Ron Alverson talks about carbon, people listen. The South Dakota farmer who founded Dakota Ethanol, the state’s first producer-owned ethanol production co-op, is considered to be the “carbon guru” of the industry and attendees at the 2021 American Coalition for Ethanol annual conference packed in to his breakout session on Calculating Your Carbon Intensity. Alverson believes that accurate accounting …
ACE Unveils Hybrid Electric FFV Project
The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) unveiled a new hybrid electric flex-fuel vehicle demonstration project at its conference last week to show how the combination can bring us closer to net zero. “EPA assigns vehicles a carbon intensity (CI) score based on how many grams of CO2 per mile are emitted by operating that vehicle,” said ACE Senior Vice President …
Christianson Receives Paul Dana Award for HBIIP Work
The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) presented the 2021 Paul Dana Marketing Vision Award to Christianson PLLP during last week’s annual conference. Jamey Cline, Business Development Director with Christianson, accepted the award on the company’s behalf. Following the roll out of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP), Christianson helped biofuel and corn organizations field questions …
Ethanol Answer Man Honored with Merle Anderson Award
Legendary “Ethanol Answer Man” Larry Johnson was honored posthumously with the American Coalition for Ethanol‘s highest award, the Merle Anderson Award, named after the organization’s founder. Johnson passed passed away July 19, 2020 at the age of 76. Most famous for driving the ethanol “answer van” around the Midwest to address questions from the public about the benefits of ethanol, …