The ethanol industry is pleased and encouraged with the announcement made by the Obama administration regarding the future development of biofuels under the Renewable Fuels Standard and the creation of a Biofuels Interagency Working Group made up of USDA, EPA and DOE. See EPA’s proposed rulemaking for the RFS here. This edition of “The Ethanol Report” includes audio from Agriculture …
Ethanol Industry Pleased With White House Action
The ethanol industry is unanimous in its praise for the actions announced today by the Obama administration with regard to the future development of biofuels under the Renewable Fuels Standard and the creation of a Biofuels Interagency Working Group. During a press conference immediately following the announcement, Renewable Fuels Association president Bob Dinneen said, “The president has sent an incredibly …
Agencies Work Together for Biofuels
Three government agencies have been given a presidential directive to aggressively accelerate the investment in and production of biofuels. The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy, together with the Environmental Protection Agency will make up the the new Biofuels Interagency Working Group. “The president has directed us to create a comprehensive biofuel marketing development program to focus on the infrastructure …
Administration to Announce RFS Rulemaking
The long-awatied notice of proposed rulemaking on the Renewable Fuels Standard will be issued Tuesday morning at 10:00 Eastern time by the Obama administration. The announcement will be made jointly in a press conference by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson who will discuss President Obama’s commitment to advance …
U.S. Slow to Adopt E15 While Brazil Considers E30
While the United States government drags its feet on making a decision to offer American motorists the choice to use E15 at the pump, the Brazilian government is contemplating an ethanol blend increase from E25 to E30. Currently the EPA comment period to get feedback on the increase to E12 or E15 is open, and the U.S. ethanol industry is …
EPA Rulemaking on RFS May Come Soon
The notice of proposed rulemaking on the Renewable Fuels Standard may be imminent. News out of Washington last week was that the Office of Management and Budget has completed the review of the Environmental Protection Agency’s rule, specifically as it relates to indirect land use and greenhouse gas emissions of biofuels compared to gasoline. Renewable Fuels Association president Bob Dinneen …
Ethanol Production Increase
Ethanol production was up in February compared to the previous month and a year ago. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), American ethanol facilities produced 647,000 barrels per day in February. That’s up 25 percent from February 2008 and 17,000 barrels per day more compared to the previous month. Ethanol demand, as calculated by the Renewable Fuels Association, also …
Valero Honors Portion of Corn Contracts for Ethanol
Corn farmers who had contracts to provide corn for ethanol plants owned by bankrupt VeraSun are being offered a deal by Valero Energy, which purchased some of the company’s assets. Valero officials say they are offering farmers with forward contracts a bonus of 40 percent of the difference between the cash price for corn and the futures price on the …
Deal Inked to Build Destiny’s Alt Energy Park
For some time, we’ve been telling you about Destiny, Florida, a 41,000-acre community founded in 2005 in South Central Florida, designed to one day be America’s first eco-sustainable city with 16,000 green tech jobs, including building solar panels (see our Feb. 27, 2009 Domestic Fuel podcast and April 22 post). The project took another step closer to that goal when …
Senate Bill Would Curb Unproven Indirect Land Use Measures
U.S. Senator John Thune has introduced a bill designed to strengthen the Renewable Fuels Standard and prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from using inaccurate indirect land use models to discredit the positive environmental impacts of ethanol. “Following California’s recent decision to use flawed models to estimate ethanol’s environmental impact, I am concerned that the EPA could soon apply similar standards …