Biodiesel users in Iowa will soon be saving some money on their gas tax. The Iowa Biodiesel Board says that as of July 1, diesel blended with at least 11 percent biodiesel (B11) will enjoy a tax exemption of 3 cents a gallon compared to regular diesel. “This state policy represents another link in the chain that secures Iowa’s energy …
Corn Growers to Protest EPA’s Ethanol Cuts
Corn farmers are going to make their voice heard on the Obama Administration’s cuts to ethanol. The National Corn Growers Association says producers from more than a dozen states are expected to turn out at a public hearing and rally in Kansas City, Kansas, this Thursday, protesting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposal to slash nearly 4 billion gallons …
Senate Committee Grills EPA Official on RFS
Environmental Protection Agency Acting Assistant Administrator Janet McCabe was the lone witness in a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing Thursday on “Re-examining EPA’s Management of the Renewable Fuel Standard Program.” Committee chairman James Lankford (R-OK), who favors repealing the RFS, grilled McCabe over the “aspirational” goal of breaching the blend wall and the potential that volumes of cellulosic ethanol targets …
Schroeder to Participate in Bioenergy 2015
Domestic Fuel’s own Joanna Schroeder will be part of next week’s U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Bioenergy Technologies Office’s (BETO) eighth annual conference “Bioenergy 2015: Opportunities in a Changing Energy Landscape.” She’ll be in Washington, D.C., moderating the session titled, “Reaching Your Stakeholders: Effectively Engaging and Educating Key Audiences,” on the second day of the June 23-24 conference. This session …
Biodiesel Producers on Capitol Hill
Nearly 120 biodiesel industry leaders from California to Florida are in Washington DC this week calling on lawmakers to push for a strong Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) during the comment period for the recently released proposal from EPA. “We want to show Congress that the RFS is working and that thousands of jobs are at stake in this pending EPA …
Nebraska Governor Visits Novozymes
Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts wrapped up his first agricultural trade mission this week with a visit to Novozymes world headquarters in Denmark, where a company tour showcased the production of unique enzymes and microbial products used in the animal nutrition, agriculture, and biofuels industries. While at Novozymes, Gov. Ricketts and the United States Ambassador to Denmark hosted a roundtable on …
Nebraska Governor Talks Biofuels in Europe
Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts is on an agricultural trade mission trip to the European Union with stops in Italy, Belgium, and Denmark. The trade mission, being coordinated jointly by the Nebraska Departments of Agriculture and Economic Development, includes a number of representatives from the state’s agriculture and biofuels industry. “As the number two ethanol producer in the country, we have …
Corn Growers Urge Comments on RFS
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has opened the public comment period on its proposal to cut corn ethanol in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) by nearly 4 billion gallons. That’s prompting the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) to urge farmers and their family and friends to email their opposition to this proposal as soon as possible, before the July 27 …
What Food Safety Act Means for Ethanol Plants
The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was signed into law in 2011 and this summer the rulemaking for the new act might finally be complete. Because it includes safety of animal food as well as human food, ethanol plants that produce the co-product distillers grains for livestock feed are impacted. Renewable Fuels Association Director of Regulatory Affairs Kelly Davis talked …
Iowa RFA Praises State Legislature
As the Iowa Legislature wrapped up the 2015 legislative session last week, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) praised several key pieces of legislation that were passed to expand use of higher ethanol and biodiesel blends. Before the gavel went down on the 86th General Assembly, Iowa lawmakers passed key legislation that allows E15 infrastructure investments to become eligible for …