The Senate Finance Committee is set to vote Tuesday on a two-year extension of tax benefits, including the production tax credit for wind power, and credits for biodiesel and cellulosic biofuels production. “This markup will give the Committee a timely opportunity to act on extending a number of expired provisions in the tax code that help families, individuals and small …
EPA Chief Defends RFS Proposal to Corn Growers
Speaking to members of the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) meeting in Washington DC this week, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy defended her agency’s proposed volume obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) while at the same time thanking farmers for their strong voice on the issue. “I know RFS matters deeply to corn growers,” said McCarthy. “You know …
DuPont Signs Cellulosic Ethanol Deal with Chinese Co.
DuPont and Chinese company New Tianlong Industry Co. (NTL) have signed an historic deal that will bring cellulosic ethanol to China. This DuPont news release says the agreement allows NTL to license DuPont’s cellulosic ethanol technology and use DuPont Accellerase enzymes to produce renewable biofuel from the leftover biomass on Jilin Province’s highly productive corn farms. Combining NTL’s ethanol production …
Canadians Support Renewable Fuels
Canadians believe in renewable fuels. A recent survey finds 88 percent of Canadians believe more renewable fuels should be produced in Canada and that government should do more to promote the industry. The poll was was commissioned by the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association (CRFA) and shows that 85 percent of respondents feel pride in Canada’s biofuels industry. “This poll reinforces …
UNICA: Ethanol Cut 300 Mil Tons of CO2
Ethanol has cut carbon dioxide emissions by more than 300 million over the last 12 years. Brazil’s sugarcane ethanol industry group UNICA says to get the same results from growing trees, it would be necessary to plant and maintain over 20 years more than 2.1 billion native plants. Hosted on the site ‘ Verde Ethanol ‘, the Carbonômetro indicates the …
Corn Growers Rally for RFS in DC
Hundreds of corn farmers from across America were in Washington D.C. today to rally for the cuts to corn ethanol in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFs) to be overturned. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed cutting corn ethanol by 3.75 billion gallons through 2016. According to the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), which sponsored the rally, this represents nearly 1.5 …
UNICA Joins Global Renewable Fuels Alliance
The Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA) with its president Elizabeth Farin has become the newest member of the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA). “Brazil is truly a trailblazer in the global biofuels industry, not only as one of the world’s largest producers of biofuels, but one of the first,” said Bliss Baker, spokesperson for the GRFA. “As the largest ethanol …
Bacteria Can Help Boost Ethanol Production
Microbes play an important role in ethanol production, and researchers in the Midwest are finding a way to get more out of the little bugs to get the most green fuel out of feedstocks, especially waste materials. This news release from the University of Wisconsin-Madison says scientists there teamed up with Michigan State University researchers to create a process for …
MIT Finds Way to Help Ethanol Yeast Thrive
Ethanol producers might get more production out of the yeast they use, thanks to researchers at MIT. This news release from the school says scientists have added potassium and an acidity-reducing compound to the yeast that helps it tolerate higher concentrations of the ethanol it’s making without dying. Aided by those “supplements,” traditionally underperforming laboratory yeast made more ethanol than …
LanzaTech Teams with Others to Build Ethanol Plant
LanzaTech is partnering with two companies in the metals businesses to build a nearly $97 million ethanol plant. This company news release says LanzaTech, ArcelorMittal a steel and mining company, and Primetals Technologies, in the iron and steel industry, will construct Europe’s first-ever commercial scale production facility to create bioethanol from waste gases produced during the steelmaking process. The resulting …