Tom Vilsack has officially been nominated to serve as Secretary of Agriculture in the Biden Administration, reprising the role he held under President Obama for eight years, and the biofuels industry is quite happy with that decision. Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper says Vilsack is an excellent choice. “We are especially happy to have someone in the …
DOJ Opposes Supreme Court Review of RFS Waivers Decision
The Department of Justice has recommended against a Supreme Court review of the Tenth Circuit Court’s ruling earlier this year that invalidated several small refinery exemptions issued by EPA under the Renewable Fuel Standard. The DOJ filed its response Wednesday to a petition submitted in September by oil refineries HollyFrontier Corporation and CVR Energy asking the Supreme Court to review …
US Ethanol Exports Explode in October
According to the latest analysis from the Renewable Fuels Association, U.S. ethanol exports in October rocketed 64% higher to 126.5 million gallons (mg), the largest volume since March. Shipments crossing the border to Canada rebounded by 11% (35.6 mg), equivalent to 28% of total U.S. ethanol exports. The Netherlands purchased record gallons (24.2 mg) while sales to South Korea jumped …
Ethanol Industry Critical to Vaccine Distribution
The ethanol industry will be playing a critical role in getting a vaccine for COVID-19 distributed quickly around the nation and the world. That is because ethanol plants are responsible for capturing roughly 40 percent of the national supply of CO2, as much as 3.5 million tons annually – and CO2 makes dry ice, which is used for transporting things …
EPA Misses 2021 RFS Deadline
For the first time under the Trump administration, the Environmental Protection Agency missed the November 30 statutory deadline for publishing the final rule for next year’s Renewable Volume Obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). In fact, EPA never even issued a proposed rule for the 2021 RVOs. “And even if a proposed rule was released today, it would be …
Ethanol Production Closer to Pre-COVID Levels
Weekly ethanol production is edging closer to pre-COVID levels. According to the latest data analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association for the week ending November 20, ethanol production increased almost 3% to 990,000 barrels per day and the highest production since the end of March. However, production remained 6.5% below the same week last year. The four-week average ethanol production …
Ethanol Report 11-25-20
2020 has been the year of going virtual for meetings and conferences. In fact, one of the very last live, in-person events to be held this year was the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) 25th annual National Ethanol Conference in Houston. The 26th annual NEC however, will be an all digital format. Information about the conference can be found on the …
Farm & Biofuel Groups Ask Court to Enforce EPA Ruling
Farm and biofuels leaders say it’s way past time for EPA to act on a court order from 2017 and they are going back to the court to make it happen. A coalition of biofuels and agricultural trade groups filed a motion in the U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia Monday asking the court to enforce its …
RFA CEO Trade Talks with Farm Broadcasters
The National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) annual Trade Talk looked different last week than it has in the past, being virtual instead of live, but Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper still was able to do many interviews with farm broadcasters around the country. Cooper discussed topics such as how the ethanol industry fared in 2020 and …
RFA Shares Good News for Ethanol in 2020
There was more than enough bad news for the ethanol industry to go around this year, but there was still some good news as well. The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is offering that perspective to farm broadcasters this week at the virtual 2020 NAFB Convention Trade Talk. RFA Vice President of Industry Relations Robert White tells the good news about …