December 1 is the deadline for the Environmental Protection Agency to issue a decision on the waiver to allow up to 15 percent ethanol in regular gasoline and the industry is anxiously awaiting a positive outcome. The waiver request was submitted by Growth Energy and an alliance of ethanol producer organizations and companies in early March and by law EPA …
Brazil Renews Tax Break for FFVs
“We want the automobile industry in Brazil to consolidate and to bring new environmental technologies to the country” Mantega told reporters at a news conference in Brasilia. The government will lose an estimated 1.3 billion reais ($751 million) in revenue as a result of the measure. But taking into account potentially higher car sales, saved jobs, and unemployment benefits not …
Biodiesel Makers Worry About Hit During Tax Break Wait
Biodiesel producers are worried the wait for the renewal … or even worse, the failure of renewal … of a crucial tax credit, set to expire in just more than a month, could be a death knell for the industry. The Houston Chronicle reports that despite efforts already underway in the U.S. House and Senate to renew the $1 per …
DF Cast: Crunching the Renewable Identification Numbers
A big issue in the current Renewable Fuels Standard … as well as the new RFS2 under consideration by the EPA … is the Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs). In this edition of the Domestic Fuel Cast, we listen in on the conversation from the recent 2nd Annual RINWorld Summit held in Dallas, TX where the EPA’s John Wienrauch, Office of …
RFS2 Confusion Clouds Mass. Biodiesel Mandate
A 2 percent biodiesel mandate beginning next year and increasing to 5 percent in 2013 in Massachusetts has hit some glitches … thanks to confusion over what the next Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) might bring …. but it could now be moving forward. Biodiesel Magazine reports the measure has come under fire because it only allows waste-derived biodiesel, a provision …
Biodiesel Board Asks Congress to Extend Tax Incentive
An important tax incentive on biodiesel is about to expire, and the National Biodiesel Board is scrambling to get it renewed. Biodiesel Magazine reports that the NBB is lobbying lawmakers to renew the $1-per-gallon biodiesel tax incentive, which encourages biodiesel use by making it competitive with petroleum diesel fuel. NBB argues that if the incentive is allowed to expire on …
BlueFire Ethanol Awaits Feds $56 Mil Loan Decision
Cellulosic ethanol producer BlueFire Ethanol Fuels, Inc. has cleared the first hurdle in its quest to get a $56 million government loan guarantee for its Lancaster, California ethanol plant. As you might remember from my Domestic Fuel Cast earlier this month, BlueFire uses a process called Concentrated Acid Hydrolysis Technology that can turn many feedstocks into ethanol, including garbage. I …
EPA Offers Mandatory GHG Reporting Webinar
The Environmental Protection Agency will provide an overview of the Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule for ethanol producers who might be affected by the new regulation. The webinar was set up at the request of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and Growth Energy on behalf of their membership. It will consist of a short overview of the final rule with …
Lawmakers to Close Paper Biofuels Loophole
Paper companies that have been cashing in on an alternative fuels tax credit could soon see that loophole close. This story from Reuters says lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives say they will end those paper companies’ ability to collect a $1-a-gallon tax credit that the companies have getting by adding black liquor, a by-product of producing paper, to …
Climate Bill Set for Markup without Republicans
The Kerry-Boxer climate bill is set for markup tomorrow (Tuesday, Nov. 3) in the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee… whether or not any Republicans decide to come along. The “Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act,” introduced by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) is set for passage out of committee. According to this story from …