Funding for some rural renewable energy programs is taking a hit. Ethanol Producer Magazine reports the House Appropriations Committee cut the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) down to just $15 million, down from last year’s levels of $25 million, and Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) for fiscal year 2015 is proposed to be funded at just $30 million, down …
Ethanol Groups Participate in China Trade Mission
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Michael Scuse led a mission to promote U.S. agricultural exports in northeast China May 5-13. The mission is part of President Obama’s “Made in Rural America” export and investment initiative, designed to help rural businesses and leaders take advantage of new investment opportunities and access new customers …
Group Looks to Expand Ethanol By-Product’s Market
A group representing grain producers’ interests is looking to expand the market for a popular ethanol by-product. The U.S. Grains Council says it is looking to the south, Middle East and Southeast Asia to expand on American distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS), already chalking up 9.7 million metric tons – valued at $2.9 billion – exported in 2013 to …
Asia Key for Ethanol Producer Aemetis’ Profits
A California-based ethanol producer is reporting a big turnaround in profits, thanks to its business in Asia. Aemetis, Inc., the largest U.S.-owned biofuels producer in Asia, reports a $7.7 million net profit for the first quarter of this year… quite an improvement from a nearly $10 Million net loss from the same quarter a year ago. “We’re very pleased with …
Biodiesel Adds Value, Diversification to Ethanol Ops
It’s not a brand new idea, but the concept of co-locating ethanol and biodiesel plants has been catching on more and more lately. This article from Biodiesel Magazine talks about how ethanol refiners are looking to take their by-product, distillers corn oil (DCO), and turn it into biodiesel to add value to those ethanol plants already on the ground, while …
Iowa Gov Says Biofuels Cure for Climate Change
As members of a federal task force visit Iowa and say that “climate change is here and now,” that state’s governor says biofuels, which are also here and now, are at least one way to fight the changes in climate. This article in the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier says this is the third meeting of the White House task force …
Another Day, Another Oil Spill
An oil pipeline ruptured in Los Angeles on LA Street yesterday and in response Americans United For Change said, “Like oil spills? You’ll love what happens after dismantling the Renewable Fuel Standard. 50,000 gallons of crude oil spilled out onto the streets and in some areas the crude oil was knee-high. Jeremy Funk, spokesperson for pro renewable energy and pro …
Biofuels Industry Urges VP Biden to Stand RFS Strong
The Iowa biofuels industry is asking United State Vice President Joe Biden to stand “RFS Strong”. A recent Reuters article claimed that Vice President Biden played a major role in attempting to get the Obama administration to gut the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The article detailed an exchange between Vice President Biden and Philadelphia Congressman Robert Brady, who contacted Biden …
Ethanol on the Rails
In the last couple of weeks there have been two derailments of trains carrying crude oil, one in Virginia on April 30 and one in Colorado on May 9. These incidents are just the latest in a string of accidents that began last summer when a runaway oil train carrying Bakken crude derailed and exploded in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, killing 47 …
DuPont CEO Calls for Supporting RFS
The CEO of DuPont today called on Congress and the administration to preserve Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). In a keynote speech at the 11th Annual World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology, DuPont Chair and CEO Ellen Kullman said preserving the RFS would ensure regulatory stability for the renewable fuel industry and continue to encourage “private investment from companies like DuPont to …