The Low Carbon Fuel Standard is set to go into effect in less than two weeks yet there are concerns among the ethanol industry that regulations will be implemented without having the appropriate reporting and compliance tools in place. Bob Dinneen, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association submitted a letter earlier this week to Dean Simeroth, Chief of …
NREL Tests Sorghum for Cellulosic Ethanol
Representatives of the National Sorghum Producers (NSP) witnessed a pilot test of bioenergy sorghum at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) this week. NSP collaborated with NREL to provide almost 100 different sorghum samples for testing, eventually choosing two for pilot testing. The resulting data shows that high biomass forage sorghum demonstrates great potential to fit into cellulosic ethanol conversion. …
Valero to Purchase 3 Ethanol Plants
Valero Energy Corp will add three more ethanol plants to their group, bringing their total production to 1.1 billion gallons per year. After these purchases, Valero will own ten ethanol plants. A $200 million agreement has been settled for two plants now owned by creditors ASA Ethanol Holdings LLC. These plants are located in Linden, Indiana and Bloomingburg, Ohio and …
RFA Seeks Fairer Test of Ethanol by UL
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is concerned about testing of the nation’s gasoline pumps currently underway by Underwriters Laboratory (UL) that is using what the group calls “aggressive ethanol” intended to accelerate any potential issues that may arise with the use of higher ethanol blends. According to RFA, this “aggressive ethanol” misrepresents the fuel ethanol found in the market today. …
U.S. Energy Company to Buy Jatropha-based Biodiesel
An American energy company with biodiesel and ethanol operations will be buyng some of its green fuel from down under. The New York Times reports that Valero Energy has signed a five-year deal with Australian biofuel refiner Mission NewEnergy to obtain biodiesel made from jatropha. Valero will also be able to buy a 25 percent stake in Mission: Mission will …
Copenhagen Seen as Good for Biodiesel, Ethanol
The Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, which started this week in Denmark, could be good for biodiesel and ethanol. Biodiesel Magazine reports that while not everyone agrees exactly on what the political negotiations will bring, an expected deal … if not a full treaty … outlining a carbon pricing or cap-and-trade system that puts a price on carbon will be a …
Ethanol Industry Leader Honored by ASTM
ASTM International has honored a long time ethanol industry expert with its Award of Excellence. Robert Reynolds of Downstream Alternatives received the award for his “outstanding and dedicated contributions to fuel standards development and as a consensus builder within ASTM between ethanol and petroleum interests.” Reynolds, pictured here at the 2007 National Ethanol Conference, was a founding member of the …