A one-day conference is scheduled to provide information to Pennsylvania biodiesel producers on what should be expected when the state’s B2 mandate goes into effect. Biodiesel Magazine reports the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and the National Biodiesel Board are holding the April 20 event, called the Pennsylvania Biofuel Development Conference: The mandate is based on trigger points, so when instate …
Biodiesel Credit Clears Senate, On to House
As expected, the federal $1-a-gallon biodiesel tax incentive has cleared the U.S. Senate on the back of the current jobs bill. The 62-36 vote now moves the measure into a reconciliation phase with the House’s version of the bill. I caught up with Michael Frohlich, the director of federal communications for the National Biodiesel Board’s office in Washington, D.C. earlier …
Biodiesel Clears Senate Hurdle on the Back of Jobs Bill
It looks like the $1-a-gallon federal biodiesel tax incentive could be close to renewal, as the jobs bill to which it was attached has cleared a key vote in the U.S. Senate. The vote came Tuesday as eight Republicans sided with 58 Democrats to end debate on the $150 billion measure. The cloture vote clears the way for final passage …
Biofuels and Conservation Achievable with Biomass
Getting energy from the land and practicing good conservation are not mutually exclusive. A federal ag deartment researcher says we can have both through using biomass. USDA researcher Doug Karlen, who works at the Agricultural Research Service’s National Soil Tilth Lab in Ames, Iowa, told attendees of the recent USDA Outlook Forum that conservation and energy from biomass can be …
Advanced Biofuel Makers Call for Tax Credits
The advanced biofuels industry is putting a bug in Congress’ ear, calling for lawmakers to allow for an investment tax credit that will help advanced biofuels makers get money to get their projects up to commercial scale and become eligible for another operating credit. Biomass Magazine explains that the industry would be eligible for a federal production tax credit of …
RFA Urges Full Funding of Ethanol Fuel Research
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is urging Congress to ensure full funding of fuels research programs to provide the necessary scientific basis for increasing ethanol blending. In a letter this week to leaders of both the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Energy and Water Development, RFA President Bob Dinneen outlined concerns with the budget submitted by President Obama with …
Iowa Biodiesel Mandate Dies, But Could Be Reborn
A proposal to mandate a 5 percent biodiesel blend in every gallon of diesel sold in Iowa has died in one legislative committee … but could be reborn in another. The Fort Dodge (IA) Messenger reports that the House environmental protection committee’s ranking member, Rep. Steve Olson, R-DeWitt, declared the bill dead: Olson said the GOP caucus was opposed to …
Obama Changes Tune from Biodiesel to Biofuels
Some others have started to notice something I told you about back in January. It seems that while he campaigned on the word “biodiesel,” President Barack Obama is now talking “biofuels” … a more ambiguous term that is leaving some biodiesel producers scratching their heads wondering whether the president backs them. This piece from Biodiesel Magazine points out that Stimulus …
Grassley: Jobs Bill Forgot 23,000 Biodiesel Jobs
The latest jobs bill seems to be forgetting the 23,000 workers in the biodiesel industry who are at risk since the provision renewing the federal $1-a-gallon tax incentive was removed. That’s the opinion of Sen. Charles Grassley, a Republican from Iowa who saw his version of the jobs bill with the biodiesel provisions get scrapped for a pared down version …
EPA Official Explains RFS2 at Ethanol Conference
2010 National Ethanol Conference Photo Album The new rule for the expanded Renewable Fuel Standard, fresh out of the box just two weeks ago, was the main topic of discussion at the Renewable Fuels Association’s 15th National Ethanol Conference in Orlando. Sarah Dunham, Transportation and Regional Programs Division Director with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, boiled down the guts of …