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 …
Biodiesel Provisions Laid Off from Jobs Bill
So close … but yet so far. A provision in the U.S. Senate’s jobs bill that would have restored the $1-a-gallon biodiesel blending credit … and preserved about 23,000 jobs on its own … started the day in the employment measure. But it found itself in a position many looking for jobs are familiar with: last hired, first fired. The …
RFS-2 Importance To Biodiesel Industry
There have been three panels discussions on the new RFS-2 at the National Biodiesel Conference and they had to be moved to larger than scheduled rooms to handle all the people who wanted to hear about the new rules. The National Biodiesel Board is working on this issue and will be producing several webinars on the topic in the near …
Michigan Grants $1.7 Million for Offshore Wind Study
Two grants totaling $1.7 million have been approved for studying offshore wind technologies in Michigan. The Chicago Tribune reports the grants come from the state’s Public Service Commission: Grand Valley State University’s Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center and the University of Michigan’s Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute are getting $1.3 million for jointly researching offshore wind and ice data on …
Biodiesel Bill Tied to Jobs Bill, Delayed by Blizzard
As Congress debates (or tries to debate between blizzards) the jobs bill, the measure that would put lots biodiesel workers back on the job seems to be tied to that same bill’s fate. This post on the Des Moines Register’s blog says Democrats had hoped to get the jobs bill to the floor today, but the 30+ inches of snow …
Iowa Closer to Biodiesel Mandate
A 5 percent biodiesel mandate in Iowa is a bit closer to a reality. This story from the Des Moines Register says the bill that would require all biodiesel sold in the Iowa contain at least 5 percent biodiesel passed a state legislative subcommittee … but not without some fiesty debate: “The hog producers in this state are being ravaged …
DF Cast: Ethanol, Biodiesel Industries Welcome RFS-2
It’s been a long time in the making, but the Environmental Protection Agency has finally released the new Renewable Fuels Standard … better known as RFS-2. The standard requires that biofuels will have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to the gasoline and diesel fuels they displace and grow in production from last year’s 11.1 billion gallons to 36 billion …
Ethanol Report on RFS2 Rules
Industry reaction to the Environmental Protection Agency announcement today of much-delayed rules for the second phase of the Renewable Fuel Standard has come quickly and is mostly positive. In this edition of “The Ethanol Report” podcast, Matt Hartwig with the Renewable Fuels Association talks about their reaction and what the rule means for the industry. You can subscribe to this …
E. coli to Help Brew Biodiesel
A group of federal researchers has figured out how to better extract biodiesel from biomass using a microbe that most of us try to avoid in our food. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) has announced that researchers have engineered a strain of E. coli bacteria that can extract an advanced biodiesel directly from biomass: “The fact …