Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) have introduced a new bill that puts into law a ban on Russian oil and opens up the use and production of American biofuels, including ethanol and biodiesel. The Home Front Energy Independence Act combines parts of several of the senators’ past bills that would make E15 available year round, establish an …
Biofuel Supporters Beg Biden for Higher Blends
As gas prices continue to skyrocket in response to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis, six farm and biofuel organizations wrote to President Biden Friday urging his administration to use existing authority to allow for the year-round sale of gasoline blended with up to 15 percent ethanol (E15). In a letter to the White House, the Renewable Fuels Association, American Farm Bureau …
Biofuels Response to SOTU is Energy Solution
Biofuels advocates offered a response to President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union address this week – use more ethanol. Acknowledging that the situation in Ukraine was causing pain at the pump here at home, President Biden’s solution was more oil. “I can announce the United States has worked with 30 other countries to release 60 million barrels of …
EIA Data Confirm Record Ethanol Blend Rate in 2021
The latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration show that ethanol set a record for its share of America’s gasoline in 2021, averaging 10.34 percent of every gallon sold. The final EIA data for 2021 also confirmed a significant rebound in both ethanol production and consumption after COVID-related shutdowns in 2020. Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper …
Volkswagen Researching Ethanol-Based Fuel Cells
Volkswagen has a vision for how ethanol can help achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 or sooner, which includes research on reforming ethanol to create hydrogen for fuel cells. “It’s not about technology, it’s about what you put as fuel into the car,” said Pablo Di Si, Executive Chairman, Volkswagen Latin America, during an address at the National Ethanol Conference …
Ethanol Industry Sets Sights on the Sky
Sustainable aviation fuel is getting to be known by the ethanol industry as just “SAF” as it is being seen as a major opportunity for ethanol. The 2022 National Ethanol Conference devoted a whole panel to the subject, including two SAF producers, Gevo and LanzaJet, which are using ethanol derived from crop residue and waste sources by Alcohol-to-Jet processing. “Ethanol …
Ethanol Report on 2022 NEC
The 2022 National Ethanol Conference in New Orleans was a success in every way possible. With attendance nearly as strong as the 2020 conference in Houston and a packed agenda spotlighting opportunities for the future, it was obvious that the ethanol industry is ready to move forward. This edition of The Ethanol Report includes some of the highlights of the …
Scholarship Winners Network at Ethanol Conference
The Renewable Fuels Foundation (RFF) allowed several young people in the ethanol industry to attend the annual National Ethanol Conference (NEC) this year. Those receiving scholarships included Jean Claude Mbarushimana, a Virginia Tech graduate student studying agricultural and applied economics and several members of the Renewable Fuels Association Young Professionals Network including Daehwan Kim, an Assistant Professor of Biology at …
RFA Chair Excited About Ethanol Opportunities
The first female chairperson of the Renewable Fuels Association has had a pretty quiet two year term, thanks to COVID, but Jeanne McCaherty of Guardian Energy is excited about the future. “I’m more bullish on ethanol today than I have been in my entire career here at Guardian,” said McCaherty at the National Ethanol Conference in New Orleans this week. …
Studies Show Strong Ethanol Industry Ready for Future
A pair of studies released this week in conjunction with the National Ethanol Conference this week in New Orleans show an industry that strongly rebounded in 2021 and is ready to move forward into a net-zero future. Following up on a pledge by members of the Renewable Fuels Association to achieve average net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 or sooner, one …