POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels is hitting the pause button on production of cellulosic biofuels at Project LIBERTY and shifting instead to “R&D focused on improving operational efficiency,” according to the company which is a joint venture of Royal DSM and POET, LLC. POET-DSM is blaming the shift on “EPA challenges with the implementation of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).” “Over the …
Sec. Perdue Comments on Ethanol and SREs
During a visit to the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) annual convention on Friday, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue was asked about EPA’s supplemental proposal to account for small refinery exemptions and to address the concerns of the industry that it is insufficient. “I want to put it really simple,” said Perdue. “The president expects, I expect, and we …
Biofuels Groups Express Concerns at EPA Hearing
Representatives from multiple ethanol and biodiesel stakeholder organizations and companies delivered basically the same message to the Environmental Protection Agency during a hearing Wednesday on the proposal to make up for volumes lost under the Renewable Fuel Standard due to small refinery waivers – nice try, but you still need to follow the law. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig …
EPA Hearing in Michigan Today
Ethanol and biodiesel producers and industry representatives are back in Ypsilanti, Michigan for the second time in three months to provide comments on an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) proposed rule. On July 31, it was the rule to set 2020 renewable volume obligations (RVOs) and the 2021 RVO for biomass-based diesel, where the majority of comments …
Biofuels Industry Testifies on Harm Done by RFS Waivers
Biofuels industry representatives testified during a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee hearing Tuesday on how the increase in small refinery exemptions (SREs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard has hurt ethanol and biodiesel producers and farmers. “EPA’s secretive and underhanded approach to the SRE provision in recent years has destabilized the RFS, reduced the production and use of clean renewable biofuels, …
Registration Open for 2020 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit
The 2020 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit will take place at the Prairie Meadows Conference Center in Altoona, Iowa on January 16, 2020, just days before the Iowa Presidential Caucuses. Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President and CEO Geoff Cooper will keynote the annual event gathering biofuels industry representatives together in the Midwest with the theme Empower, Promote, and Advocate. In the …
Witnesses Scheduled for RFS Waiver Abuse Hearing
Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper will lead off a panel of witnesses for a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee hearing today on “Protecting the RFS: The Trump Administration’s Abuse of Secret Waivers.” Testimony will also be presented by Gene Gebolys, President and CEO, World Energy; Kelly Nieuwenhuis, President, Siouxland Energy Cooperative; and Chet Thompson, President and CEO, …
House Subcommittee Hearing to Address RFS Waiver Abuse
“Protecting the RFS: The Trump Administration’s Abuse of Secret Waivers,” is the title of a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee hearing scheduled for next Tuesday October 29. The Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee hearing will focus on EPA’s “mismanagement of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program” and will also examine H.R. 3006, the Renewable Fuel Standard Integrity Act of 2019, …
New Court Docs Show EPA Abuse of Waivers
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) today highlighted newly available court documents which show how EPA “inappropriately granted Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) compliance exemptions to certain small refineries that did not even qualify for the waivers, and that there was division within the Trump administration about its new approach to small refinery hardship exemption requests.” Specifically, the briefs and supporting documents …
No More Iowa Nice
No more Mr. Iowa Nice Guy. That was a message delivered during a press conference with representatives of Iowa’s corn, ethanol, biodiesel and soybean producers in response to the Supplemental Proposal for Renewable Fuels Volumes released Tuesday by EPA. Iowa Corn Growers Association CEO Craig Floss quoted one farmer who is outraged over the proposal. “No more Iowa Nice, now …