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. …
Court Vacates Last Minute Refinery Exemptions
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has issued an order vacating three small refinery exemptions granted by EPA in the waning moments of the Trump Administration. The court’s decision came promptly after EPA petitioned for the vacatur and remand of the exemptions on April 30 and Sinclair responded on May 18 that it did not oppose EPA’s …
Ethanol Exports Up in March
Exports of U.S. ethanol increased to 133 million gallons (mg) in March, the second-largest volume in a year and up 31% from February’s dip, according to the latest summary from the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA). Exports to China spiked from 4.7 mg to 48.3 mg for the country’s second-largest monthly imports of American ethanol on record (and narrowly missing the …
Ethanol Report: 10 Years of California’s LCFS
2021 marks the 10th anniversary of the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard being implemented with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the state’s transportation sector, while also lessening dependence on petroleum by using alternative fuels, like ethanol. A new Renewable Fuels Association white paper looks at how, for the past decade, ethanol has been the go-to fuel to …
Ethanol Could Help Ease Pipeline Pain
The fuel supply challenges being faced by some states due to the Colonial Pipeline shutdown could be helped by increasing use of 15 percent ethanol (E15), according to the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA). In a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper specifically asked EPA to suspend certain regulatory requirements that otherwise would impede and …
RFA Comments on Oregon Clean Fuels Program
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is expressing some concerns related to a planned expansion of the Oregon Clean Fuels Program. The Oregon CFP currently requires a 10% reduction in the carbon intensity (CI) of transportation fuels by 2025, and the state intends to expand the reductions to 20% by 2030 and 25% by 2035. In anticipation of the expansion, Oregon’s …
EPA to Provide GAO With SRE Info
The Environmental Protection Agency announced this week it will provide requested information to the Government Accountability Office related to small refinery exemptions under the Renewable Fuel Standard. \ The EPA announcement published in the Federal Register says it will provide the GAO with “…all documents, information, and data related to all small refinery exemption petitions received by EPA from the …
Analysis Confirms Ethanol’s Low Carbon Benefits
A new analysis by scientists at the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory has determined that the carbon footprint of corn ethanol improved by 23% between 2005 and 2019, and by 2019 was reducing lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by 44-52% compared to gasoline. The research, published in the academic journal Biofuels Bioproducts and Biorefining, also determined that “corn ethanol alone …
Export Exchange 2022 Dates Set
The biennial Export Exchange had to be cancelled last year, and again this year, due to the pandemic, but it will get back on its every even year schedule in 2022. The event, sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association, U.S. Grains Council and Growth Energy, will be held next Oct. 12-14, 2022, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. “COVID dictated we cancel Export …