During a House Committee on Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing on “High Octane Fuels and High Efficiency Vehicles” Friday, an Illinois corn grower outlined how farmers are now growing what can be the the high-octane fuel of the near future. Illinois farmer Paul Jeschke testified that high-octane midlevel ethanol blends would “benefit society and rural communities by lowering prices at …
Ethanol Focus of High Octane Hearing
Ethanol and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) were the main focus of a House Committee on Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing on “High Octane Fuels and High Efficiency Vehicles” on Friday. Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor testified before the panel that ethanol is a ready solution for more efficient engines that require high octane fuels to operate effectively and lower …
President Trump Supports Year Round E15 Sales
At a White House meeting with governors and members of Congress Thursday, President Donald Trump said he supported allowing the year-round use of 15% ethanol blended fuel (E15). “This is no guarantee, but we’re going to raise it up to 15 percent, which makes a lot of people happy,” said the president prior to a meeting with lawmakers on agricultural …
House Ag Committee Unveils Agriculture and Nutrition Act
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway (R-TX) today introduced the first draft of a new farm bill, the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (H.R. 2). ““The farm bill keeps faith with our nation’s farmers and ranchers through the current agriculture recession by providing certainty and helping producers manage the enormous risks that are inherent in agriculture,” said Rep. Conaway. …
Ag Secretary Says RFS Waivers Create Demand Destruction
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue had the opportunity to give his opinion about the EPA granting numerous Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) waivers to refiners during a Senate Agricultural Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Wednesday. While the purpose of the hearing was to review USDA’s FY2019 budget request, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) brought up the RFS waiver issue and pointed out that he …
Education an Important Goal of Fly-In
2018 marked the 10th year for the American Coalition for Ethanol‘s Annual Fly-In to Washington, D.C., and Iowa livestock producer and ethanol investor Bill Couser has been to most of those events over the years. “I think the most important thing we do when we come to these fly-ins is educate people,” said Couser, who owns Couser Cattle Company in …
Fly-In Participants Passionate About Ethanol
Retired civil engineer and ethanol investor Tom Blazek of Louisiana has a passion for clean air and clean fuels. “I’m interested in cleaning up our environment and we can do that by cleaning up our motor fuels,” said Blazek, who attended the American Coalition for Ethanol‘s Annual Fly-In to Washington, D.C. for the first time this year. “Motor fuels are …
New ACE Video Discusses E15 Liability Concerns
The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) released a controversial new video this week addressing fuel retailer concerns about potential liability for vehicle damage from the new E15 fuel. The video on the flexfuelforward.com website features current E15 marketers talking openly about customer E15 complaints and includes a collection of consumers who have had damage or had warranties voided by using …
Ethanol Report on EPA Small Refinery Waivers
Outrage is growing this week over revelations that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been granting Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) compliance exemptions to dozens of oil refineries. Combined with the approval of the Philadelphia Energy Solutions bankruptcy agreement and the agency’s refusal to enforce the 2016 RFS requirements as remanded by the courts, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is saying …
RFA Request Demands Answers on Refinery Waivers
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) has submitted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Energy in pursuit of more information regarding Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) compliance exemptions to dozens of oil refineries. “We want to know how many (refineries) and how many gallons are impacted by these small refiner exemptions,” …