The Renewable Fuels Association is offering EPA-approved labels to gasoline marketers free of charge. The labels comply with the language and design rules finalized by EPA in June to implement the use of E15 for cars, pickups, and SUVs made in model year 2001 and newer. The labels will be required on every pump offering E15 once EPA has certified …
Ethanol Compromise Not in Debt Deal
The deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling and make spending cuts agreed upon by President Obama and congressional leaders includes no mention of the compromise to reform ethanol policy worked out last month in the Senate and ethanol industry leaders are disappointed. “As this deal calls for a commission and a future budget framework, the possibility still exists for …
Corn Growers Have Chance to Win NASCAR Tickets
The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and Pioneer HI-Bred are offering corn growers a chance to win a NASCAR dream day to the Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tenn., on Saturday, Aug. 27. The package includes two tickets to the race, as well as a personal visit with racing legend Jeff Gordon. Only members of NCGA …
RFA Ads Tout Ethanol Reducing Gas Prices
The Renewable Fuels Association is spreading the news that ethanol is helping to keep gas prices lower than they could be. The new advertising campaign quotes a recent study that found ethanol reduced gas prices by 89 cents in 2010 and if ethanol were to disappear, gas prices could rise by as much as 92%. In the past month, the …
DOE Biomass Conference This Week
Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will keynote the Department of Energy 4th annual Biomass Conference on Tuesday. This year’s conference, Biomass 2011, will focus on topics surrounding the use of biomass as a replacement for petroleum to supply the energy, products, and power markets. The Biomass 2011 theme will explore the new horizons of bioenergy technologies …
Nebraska Ethanol Workers Earn More
It pays well to be an ethanol plant worker in Nebraska. The Nebraska Ethanol Board reports that wage growth in that state’s ethanol sector outpaced all industry wage growth in the past decade, increasing by more than 58%. According to the Nebraska Department of Labor, average pay in the ethanol sector has increased from $35,479 in 2000 to $56,158 in …
Grain Production Not Keeping Up With Demand
According to Purdue University agricultural economist Chris Hurt, grain crops are being “gobbled up” faster than farmers can grow them. This could lead to trouble down the road if production doesn’t catch up. Hurt says there have been two major demands surges on commodities in the past five years. One is the rising use of corn for ethanol production being …
Is Ethanol Really Outpacing Feed Use for Corn?
The latest USDA supply/demand forecast out this week says that corn use for ethanol will outpace livestock feed use for the first time, but some are questioning those figures and that interpretation. The July 12 World Agricultural Supply Demand report increased corn beginning stocks by 150 million bushels, while total U.S. corn use for 2010/11 was lowered by 145 million …
Report Finds “No Strict Food Versus Fuel Tradeoff”
A new report from Informa Economics released today concludes that ethanol production is not causing a “strict food-versus-fuel tradeoff” that automatically drives consumer food prices higher. The report, which was prepared for the Renewable Fuels Foundation, is an historical analysis of corn, commodity and consumer prices from 1985-2010. One of the key findings of the study was that no single …
Ethanol Report on Senate Compromise
An agreement was announced Thursday by U.S. Senators John Thune (R-S.D.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) that would end the existing 45 cent per gallon Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit and associated import tariff at the end of this month, reducing the nation’s deficit by $1.3 billion while still providing $668 million for renewable fuel incentives such …