Biodiesel production in the U.S. nearly doubled in January, jumping a whopping 86 percent compared to December’s output. According to this article from Platts.com, quoting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Moderated Transaction System, the industry got the boost from the renewal of the $1-a-gallon biodiesel tax credit: After reaching its lowest output level of 2012 in December and falling for …
Obama Picks New Cabinet Heads for Energy and EPA
President Obama has announced his picks for Secretary of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency administrator. The President nominated MIT professor Ernest Moniz as energy secretary and EPA official Gina McCarthy as administrator for the agency. Renewable Fuels Association president Bob Dinneen welcomed the nomination of McCarthy as a solid choice and is interested in getting to know Moniz. “(McCarthy) is …
No Industry Input for Ethanol Hearing
The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on the Environment will hold a hearing tomorrow on mid-level ethanol blends, but without any input from the ethanol industry. Witnesses scheduled to testify include representatives from AAA, motorcyclists and a research council that works for the petroleum industry and auto makers. Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis CEO of Growth Energy …
Ethanol Opponents Appealing to Supreme Court
Oil companies and food manufacturers are taking their lawsuit seeking to ban 15% ethanol (E15) fuel to the U.S. Supreme Court. Lower courts have already rejected the attempt by the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) to reverse the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decision allowing E15 in the marketplace as a consumer choice for vehicles newer …
Former Congressman at Iowa RFA
Eight term Iowa congressman Leonard Boswell is continuing to support renewable fuels in his state despite losing his re-election bid in re-districting last year to Tom Latham. Boswell attended the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit last month because it is something he says he cares deeply about. “I am so wound up in things like renewable fuels, it’s just one of …
President Calls for More Sustainable Energy
Citing a need for increasing jobs and combating climate change, President Obama pledged to do more to “speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy” during his 2013 State of the Union address. Four years ago, other countries dominated the clean energy market and the jobs that came with it. And we’ve begun to change that. Last year, wind …
Taking Corn Cobs for Biofuels Won’t Hurt Soil Quality
Concerns over hurting the soil quality when harvesting some crop residues for cellulosic biofuels, instead of leaving the residues on the fields to help the soil quality, might be unfounded. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) research says that soil quality would not decline if post-harvest corn cobs were removed from the field. “Crop residues have many useful functions when left …
DF Cast: Wind Energy Tax Credit Welcomed in Iowa
Probably no one in the country was more pleased to see the renewal of the wind energy production tax credit than the folks in Iowa, a place that has become a real leader nationwide in wind energy. During the recent Iowa Wind Energy Day, officials and advocates for wind energy expressed their appreciation for the extension… and the hope that …
BIO, Fuels America Talk 2013 RFS
As the ethanol industry awaits what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will release for targets for this year’s Renewable Fuels Standard, members of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and Fuels America expressed their support for the green fuel. BIO‘s Executive Vice President, Brent Erickson, said today in a news conference that they are expecting EPA’s release of the 2013 …
Vilsack Ties Farm Bill to Biofuels, Will Serve Again as Ag Secretary
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack says the future success of biofuels in this country is also tied to successfully getting a new five-year farm bill passed. Speaking to delegates of the American Farm Bureau Federation at their annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn., Vilsack expressed his disappointment that a new farm bill was not passed … reserving some of his stronger …