A new face at the National Ethanol Conference this year is Wade Hunt, student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He was the winner of this year’s NEC scholarship award, sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Foundation (RFF), which offers college students the opportunity to attend the conference each year. “I’m definitely using this conference to learn more about the opportunities in …
USDA Undersecretary Optimistic About Biofuels
USDA Undersecretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager is optimistic about the future of biofuels. “When faced with an economic challenge, rural Americans came up with an economic solution and developed a biofuels industry,” Tonsager said in an interview after speaking to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit. “My belief is, as time goes along and we’re faced with challenging circumstances again, …
What Cellulosic Biofuel Ruling is Not
The American Petroleum Institute hailed today’s circuit court ruling to “vacate the 2012 cellulosic biofuel standard” as a “decision to end mandate for non-existent biofuels.” Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen says it is not. “The mandate for cellulosic ethanol is not ended by this decision by any way shape or form,” said Dinneen, calling API’s characterization “the …
Ethanol By-Product Officially Non-Hazardous
The ethanol by-product and livestock feed known as distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) is now officially recognized as a non-hazardous cargo by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The official IMO classification became final and mandatory under the code of the International Maritime Organization on Jan. 1, 2013, after action by the U.S. Grains Council on behalf of its member …
Register Now for Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit
If you want to spend a day next week with Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, author and energy security expert Anne Korin, Growth Energy President Tom Buis and USDA Under Secretary Dallas Tonsager – today is the last day of pre-registration for the 7th Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit on January 30 in Altoona. Registration is free and you can register on …
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 …
American Farm Bureau Supports RFS
Delegates for the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) last week voted overwhelmingly to support continuation of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), despite the fact that membership in the organization includes a substantial percentage of livestock producers. “The livestock guys still have concerns about high feed costs, and I’m one of them, I’m a beef producer,” said AFBF president Bob Stallman. …
Iowa Groups Support Renewable Fuel Standard
The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association has joined forces with a group of Iowa businesses and organizations to form a coalition supporting the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Representatives of the newly-formed Iowa RFS Coalition sent a letter to President Obama today thanking him for his unwavering support of the RFS and asking him to continue supporting agriculture and renewable fuels throughout …
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 …
BIO, Fuels America Talk 2013 RFS
As the ethanol industry awaits what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will release for targets for this year’s Renewable Fuels Standard, members of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and Fuels America expressed their support for the green fuel. BIO‘s Executive Vice President, Brent Erickson, said today in a news conference that they are expecting EPA’s release of the 2013 …