Wells Fargo Crashes and Burns with New RINs Analysis Commentary by Geoff Cooper, Renewable Fuels Association (Last week), equity analysts at Wells Fargo released a note to investors on the subject of the Renewable Fuel Standard and its compliance credit (RIN) market mechanism. We wouldn’t typically respond to an investment bank research note, but we felt compelled to reply to …
USDA Announces Pandemic Aid for Biofuels Producers
Pandemic aid for biofuels producers may soon be on its way. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced implementation of additional aid to agricultural producers and businesses as part of the USDA Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative, including $700 million for biofuels producers adversely impacted by travel restrictions last year. “USDA is honoring its commitment to get financial assistance to producers …
UK Prepares for E10 Petrol
The United Kingdom is gearing up for greener fuel starting in September with a national awareness campaign introducing E10 petrol which is blended with up to 10% renewable ethanol, double the current standard petrol blend E5. UK Transport Minister Rachel Maclean says the campaign “will not only make drivers aware of the changes we’re making, but will also show millions …
Support for RFS and Ethanol Grows in Latest Poll
A new poll finds that voter support for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) has hit its highest levels in at least five years and support for the use of biofuels like ethanol remains consistently high, with a bipartisan majority of voters expressing a favorable opinion. The benchmark poll was conducted at the end of May by Morning Consult, a Washington …
Ethanol Report – RFA 40th Anniversary Feature on Bruce Heine
The Renewable Fuels Association was born in 1981 and RFA is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year by spotlighting some of the pioneers in the ethanol industry who were there at the beginning. Like Ron Miller in our first feature, Bruce Heine is another oil guy who started to see the potential of ethanol during the 1970s oil embargo and …
RFA Updates Best Practices Manual for Ethanol Rail Transport
At the request of the National Transportation Safety Board, the Renewable Fuels Association has published an update to its Best Practices for Rail Transport of Ethanol manual which helps promote regulatory compliance for the safe transport of ethanol via rail. “More than two-thirds of ethanol travels to the marketplace by rail, and rail transport plays a significant role in the …
Flawed Land Use Change Study Results Corrected
A review by researchers at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) have found that two recent studies examining purported cropland expansion in the Midwest are based on a flawed methodology that “suffers from accuracy and certainty issues.” The SIUE authors found that the inherent defects in the methodology of studies by Zhang et al. and Lark et al., “severely hinder its …
RFA Ethanol Days of Summer Contest is Back
It’s time for the Renewable Fuels Association to roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy Ethanol Days of Summer contest again. The contest, which begins Memorial Day, encourages consumers to submit pump prices for flex fuels like E85 and ethanol blends like E15 to the popular E85prices.com website or through its mobile app. Simply submitting your fuel prices this summer enters …
RFS Integrity Act Introduced in Senate
U.S. Senators Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) this week introduced the bipartisan RFS Integrity Act of 2021 to “provide more certainty for rural America by bringing transparency and predictability to EPA’s small refinery exemption process.” The bill would require small refineries to petition for Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) hardship exemptions by June 1st of each year. This change …
Ethanol Report – RFA 40th Anniversary Feature on Ron Miller
The Renewable Fuels Association was born in 1981 and RFA is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year by spotlighting some of the pioneers in the ethanol industry. In 1981, Ron Miller was head of marketing for the new Pekin Energy plant, which is now one of the oldest in the ethanol industry and goes by the name of Alto Ingredients. …