Despite the Environmental Protection Agency proposal to lower corn ethanol volume obligations for 2014 under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), USDA’s December supply/demand report is predicting a 50 million bushel increase in corn use for ethanol next year. Ending stocks are now expected to total 1.792 billion bushels, down 5 percent from last month’s estimate. The new report also calls …
ACE to Host RFS Comment Webinar
The American Coalition for Ethanol has announced the grassroots ethanol organization will be hosting a webinar at 11:00 am CST on Tuesday, December 17, 2013 on how to make comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the proposed RFS rule for 2014. “The individual and personal stories of grassroots ethanol supporters from all walks of life are critically important …
Fueling the Future Grants Available
Iowa petroleum retailers interested in offering consumers higher blends of ethanol and biodiesel are encouraged to apply for the “Fueling our Future” pilot program to consider applying for cost share funding. A total of $250,000 in federal funds are available through the Iowa Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Board to support projects that will increase the usage of higher blends of both …
Reaction to RFS Strong at EPA Hearing
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA hearing yesterday drew more than a hundred people from across the country that spoke on behalf of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). There is alarm among the biofuels and agricultural industry with EPA’s proposed RFS rule to lower the renewable fuel volumes in 2014 from 2013. These volumes are even lower when compared to the …
Success of RFS is Ag Issue Felt All Over the World
Nearly 30 years ago this Christmas time, the world saw one of the greatest human sufferings ever unfold before its eyes, as a million people starved to death in Ethiopia. In a particularly poignant moment during yesterday’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) hearing, Rick Schwarck, the president and CEO of Absolute Energy, an ethanol producer on the …
Real Jobs on the Line with EPA’s Changes to RFS
One of the country’s oldest ethanol producers says it could generate a lot of economic activity for the rural communities where it has had to idle some plants, if the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) wasn’t being tinkered with. Speaking at yesterday’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hearing on the agency’s proposed changes to the RFS, Mark Beemer, President of Aventine Renewable …
RFS is Working… Why Are We Here?
So the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) should certainly be considered a success since it is doing many of the things it was projected to do: – A capacity that is greater than 10 percent of the total fuel supply (that amount was expected right in the original bill) – An alternative to foreign-based fuels – A growing renewable fuels industry …
Branstad Makes Impassioned Plea for RFS
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad made an impassioned plea in favor of the current Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and showed no love for what the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing for reducing the amount of ethanol and biodiesel to be put into gasoline as originally mandated in the 2007 law. “After decades of efforts to reduce our dependency on foreign …
Patriot’s Hulting Tells Rural Businesses’ Side of RFS
A change in the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) will have dramatic impacts for the small businesses that have cropped up in rural America. That was the message Patriot Renewable Fuels‘ Judd Hulting made to the Environmental Protection Agency’s hearing on its proposal to reduce the amount of ethanol and biodiesel to be mixed into gasoline. “We believe what is being …
Dinneen: RFS Not for Big Oil’s Convenience
The case for keeping the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) as-is is being made today at an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hearing in Arlington, Va. Our friends from the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) have shown up in force, making sure biofuels’ voices are being heard. Bob Dinneen, President and CEO of the RFA, told the EPA that they need to keep …