Following an investigation that concluded U.S. exporters sell ethanol to Europe at illegally low prices after receiving subsidies, The European Commission (EC) has proposed a rare duty on all U.S. producers of ethanol. In response, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office expressed its disappointment in the EC proposal, seeking anti-dumping duties of 9.5 percent on American ethanol. The EC distributed a …
Book Review – Demystifying Food From Farm to Fork
This week I read, “Demystifying Food from Farm to Fork,” by Maurice J. Hladik. Many of you may be familiar with Hladik, an agricultural expert who has spoken at events all around the world including Commodity Classic. The goal of the book is to take a look at food production from “farm to fork”. As with many concepts, farm to …
Coalition Urges New Farm Bill for Energy
The Agriculture Energy Coalition (AgEC) today urged Congress to begin work on a new five-year Farm Bill with strong mandatory funding for energy programs. The coalition notes that programs included in the farm bill Energy Title including the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP), Biorefinery Assistance Program (BAP) and Biobased Markets Program (Biopreferred) have helped …
E15 Hot Topic at Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit
Giving consumers more choice at the pump with an E15 ethanol fuel blend will be a feature presentation during the 7th Annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit and Trade Show being held in Altoona, Iowa on January 30, 2013. “E15 and Beyond – The Future of Consumer Fuel Choice” panel will include Scott Zaremba, President of Zarco 66, the nation’s first …
RFA Urges CARB to Revise Land Use Change
It has been more than two years since the California Air Resources Board (CARB) committed to revise indirect land use change (ILUC) penalties assessed against certain biofuels as part of its Low Carbon Fuels Standard (LCFS). Since it went into effect, a federal district judge has ruled the LCFS unconstitutional; however, CARB was able to move forward with the law …
Nebraska Student Awarded NEC Scholarship
Wade Hunt, a native of Sterling, Nebraska, has been awarded the National Ethanol Conference (NEC) Scholarship. Wade began his university academic career at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as a chemical engineering student. From there, he was accepted as a research internship for the Undergraduate Creative Academic Research Experience (UCARE) program. He also selected to participate in NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory …
GRFA: Biofuels Support Rural Communities
As the world’s Agriculture Minister’s gather in Berlin at the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA), the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA) is calling on ministers to include biofuels for agricultural investment and to improve food security in the world’s most impoverished areas. “It has been shown that developing a biofuels industry can attract significant agricultural investment to the …
Renewable Energy Installed Capacity Grows by Leaps and Bounds
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Office of Energy Projects has released its latest “Energy Infrastructure Update,” and finds that renewable energy sources including biomass, geothermal, solar, water, and wind, accounted by 49.10 percent of all new domestic electrical generating capacity installed during 2012. The total was 12,956 MW and more than a quarter of that new capacity, or 3,276 MW, …
USDA Under Sec Dallas Tonsager Heads to Iowa
USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager, is heading to Iowa to speak at the 7th Annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit and Trade Show on January 30, 2013. Additional speakers include Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad; Growth Energy’s Tom Buis; Anne Korin of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security; and Nathan Kauffman of the Federal Reserve Bank of …
Vilsack Ties Farm Bill to Biofuels, Will Serve Again as Ag Secretary
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack says the future success of biofuels in this country is also tied to successfully getting a new five-year farm bill passed. Speaking to delegates of the American Farm Bureau Federation at their annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn., Vilsack expressed his disappointment that a new farm bill was not passed … reserving some of his stronger …