Three labs working on advanced, next-generation biofuels will get funding for another five years … of course, if Congress funds it. The U.S. Department of Energy announced the intent to fund the BioEnergy Research Center (BESC) led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) led by the University of Wisconsin-Madison in partnership with Michigan State …
Canadian Renewable Fuels Welcomes GF2 Policy
The Canadian Renewable Fuels Association welcomed this week’s launch of that country’s agriculture policy. The Growing Forward 2 (GF2) policy framework was unveiled this week, and CRFA sees it as good for Canada’s renewable fuels industry and the farmers who grow the feedstocks for biofuels: Today, CRFA members are producing clean-burning renewable fuels across the country. This success is a …
Ethanol Blender Pumps Funds Now Available
Federal money to help offset the costs of putting in ethanol blender pumps is being made available. The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) announced the USDA is now accepting applications for federal Rural Energy For America Program (REAP) funds to help gasoline retailers install blender pumps, the third year that blender pumps have been authorized as part of the REAP program …
Biodiesel RIN Defrauder Gets 15+ Year Sentence
The Environmental Protection Agency is showing it’s serious about holding up the integrity of the Renewable Identification Number (RIN) system for renewable energy credits. The Lubbock (TX) Avalanche-Journal reports Jeffrey David Gunselman, the founder of Lubbock-based Absolute Fuels, got more than 15 years in prison and has to pay nearly $55 million in restitution and a $175,000 fine for his …
DF Cast: Countering RIN-sanity
There’s been a lot of talk about the prices for Renewable Identification Numbers … better known as RINs … especially from Big Oil trying to blame RINs for the rise in gasoline prices. But in this edition of the Domestic Fuel Cast, Ron Lamberty, Senior Vice President with the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) and Brian Jennings, Executive Vice President …
Florida House Committee Passes FL RFS Repeal Bill
Yesterday I traveled to Tallahassee, Florida to testify at a hearing of the Florida House of Representatives Regulatory Affairs Committee on HB 4001 which is a bill to repeal the Florida Renewable Fuel Standard. This hearing was actually an extension of one held previously that ran out of time to conclude. You can watch the session here. The portion on …
Florida Bill Would Repeal Ethanol Requirement
A bill has been introduced in the Florida legislature that would repeal the state’s Renewable Fuel Standard Act. Currently, the Florida law requires that all gasoline sold or offered for sale by a terminal supplier, importer, blender or wholesaler in Florida contain 9-10 percent ethanol, or other alternative fuel, by volume. Legislation to repeal that requirement was considered by the …
Senate Spending Bill Keeps Military Biofuels
The U.S. Senate yesterday passed a continuing budget resolution that would keep the federal government operating through the end of the fiscal year on September 30th and keep funding for advanced biofuels testing in the military. By a vote of 40-59, the Senate rejected an amendment from Sen. Patrick Toomey (R-PA) that would have transferred $60 million in funding for …
California Solar Projects Get Feds’ Go Ahead
Earlier, I told you how a Nevada wind energy project got the green light to proceed from the U.S. Department of the Interior. Add two more renewable energy projects in California, this time solar and both in the state’s Riverside East Solar Energy Zone, also to be put on Bureau of Land Management property: The McCoy Solar Energy Project, located …
Feds Give Nevada Wind Project the Green Light
A project to build wind turbines to be built on federal lands got the government’s approval to move ahead. KLAS-TV in Las Vegas reports Sen. Harry Reid’s (D-NV) office announced the Department of the Interior has a approved the 200-Megawatt wind project in Searchlight, Nevada, just the second utility-scale wind energy project to be allowed in the state: The permanent …