RFS Support is Key Iowa Voter Issue

Carrie Muehling

A majority of Iowa voters say the future of biofuels will play a role in how they vote in 2020, according to the Iowa Biodiesel Board. New public opinion research shows a decisive 78 percent of voters in Iowa support expanding biofuel usage in the U.S. through the federal Renewable Fuel Standard. In addition, 77 percent of voters said it’s …

Biodiesel, RFS

Biodiesel Industry Spotlights Waiver Pain

Cindy Zimmerman

The biodiesel industry wants the administration to understand that they are hurting as much or more than ethanol producers as a result of EPA’s small refinery exemptions (SRE). National Biodiesel Board (NBB) CEO Donnell Rehagen and Vice President of Federal Affairs Kurt Kovarik hosted a conference call with reporters Thursday to discuss the impact of small refinery exemptions on biodiesel …

Audio, Biodiesel, NBB

Governors Suggest Waiver Mitigation Actions

Cindy Zimmerman

The Governors’ Biofuels Coalition is offering some advice to President Donald Trump on how to mitigate the effects of the small refinery waivers on ethanol and biodiesel producers. Coalition chair and vice chair, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, sent a letter recommending actions the President might include in his promised “giant package” of initiatives for …

Biodiesel, biofuels, EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News

New Next Gen Biodiesel Scientist Leaders

Cindy Zimmerman

The Next Generation Scientists for Biodiesel (NGSB) program has selected students from Iowa State and National University as new co-chairs. Sam Kramer is a chemical engineering and economics undergraduate at ISU, who helped get the school’s unique “BioBus” program going again after a long hiatus. “The world needs more capable and caring engineers,” Kramer said. “Programs like NGSB and our …

Biodiesel, NBB, Science

Biodiesel Board Revamps Website

Carrie Muehling

The National Biodiesel Board has updated three websites to make biodiesel content more accessible, especially from phones and tablets. The three websites, www.biodiesel.org, www.nbb.org, and www.mybioheat.com, offer abundant information in a clean, modern style. They have also been enhanced with mobile optimization, allowing quick and easy website access from phones or tablets while on the go. “We are excited to …

Biodiesel, NBB

Biodiesel Industry Hits Keep Coming

Cindy Zimmerman

At the same time the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) submitted comments on the Environmental Protection Agency’s annual proposed Renewable Fuel Standard rule on Friday, the industry was hit with a court ruling that upholds the agency’s method for setting biomass-based diesel volumes in the 2017 RFS rules. In comments on the RFS rule, NBB urged EPA to increase advanced biofuel …

ASA, Audio, Biodiesel, biofuels, Farm Progress Show, NBB, RFS

Biofuels Industry to EPA: Restore Lost Gallons

Cindy Zimmerman

Ethanol and biodiesel producers, corn and soybean farmers, all had the same message to the Environmental Protection Agency regarding proposed renewable volume obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) – restore the gallons of biofuel blending volumes lost under the numerous small refinery exemptions granted by the agency over the past two years. Industry organizations delivered comments to the EPA …

ACE, Biodiesel, biofuels, corn, EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News, NCGA, NFU, RFA, RFS

No Details on Small Refinery Waiver Mitigation

Cindy Zimmerman

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue was tight-lipped last week at the Farm Progress Show when it came to details of the administration’s “small refinery waiver mitigation efforts” that President Trump “really wants to announce himself.” “I don’t want to steal the president’s thunder on that,” Sec. Perdue said during a listening session held Wednesday morning at Richland Community College on …

Audio, Biodiesel, biofuels, EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Farm Progress Show, USDA

Farm and Biofuel Groups Dismayed by EPA Refinery Waivers

Cindy Zimmerman

Small refinery waivers will continue to take a chunk out of the gallons of biofuel that should be blended into our nation’s transportation fuel supply under the Renewable Fuel Standard, thanks to the Environmental Protection Agency’s announcement late Friday that granted 31 more exemptions, representing 1.43 billion gallons of additional lost RFS demand. Only six of the requests for 2018 …

ACE, Biodiesel, corn, EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News, NBB, NCGA, RFA, RFS

California Approves B20 Biodiesel in Underground Storage Tanks

Cindy Zimmerman

A decade of work by the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) has finally paid off as California has cleared the way for storing biodiesel blends of up to 20 percent (B20) in underground storage tanks, removing the last major barrier to mainstream use in the state. NBB worked with several member companies and the California Advanced Biofuels Alliance to provide the …

Biodiesel, NBB