Renewable Fuels Association General Counsel Ed Hubbard has been appointed to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service’s Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee (ATAC) for Trade in Grains, Feed, Oilseeds and Planting Seeds. Hubbard is the only appointee to any of the advisory committees who represents the renewable fuels industry. The ATAC advises the Secretary of Agriculture and the United States Trade Representative …
RFA Study Estimates Ethanol Industry COVID Losses
A new economic analysis from the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) shows the COVID-19 crisis has already led to more than $3.4 billion in lost revenues for the U.S. ethanol industry, and could ultimately reach nearly $9 billion. The new study by RFA Chief Economist Scott Richman uses empirical data to assess the actual impact of COVID-19 on the ethanol industry …
Retailers Urged to Act Fast on Ethanol HBIIP Grants
The deadline to apply for USDA’s Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP) is less than a month away, and the Renewable Fuels Association reminds retailers and other interested parties to move quickly to complete the registration and application process before August 13. Among the important tools available to interested retailers are: 1) application assistance from grant-writing experts; 2) equipment compatibility …
Ethanol Report 7-15-20
U.S. ethanol production is slowly clawing its way upward to more normal levels after reaching record lows in April, but it remains significantly lower than a year ago and the industry is hoping Congress will soon get a new stimulus bill passed to provide some aid. Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency is not making decisions on important ethanol issues, such …
RFA Comments on EPA Anti-Backsliding Measure
The Renewable Fuels Association supports for the EPA’s proposal to determine that no additional measures are necessary to mitigate “potential adverse air quality impacts” associated with the Renewable Fuel Standard. At the same time, RFA’s comments on the Proposed Anti-Backsliding Determination for Renewable Fuels and Air Quality challenged the flawed air quality modeling and analysis conducted by EPA to inform …
Video Spotlights Ethanol’s Important Co-Products
A new educational video from the Renewable Fuels Association and Kansas Corn spotlights all of the important co-products that come from ethanol production. Those products include distillers grains for livestock feed, distillers oil used to make biodiesel, and captured carbon dioxide for the food and beverage industries. With fuel ethanol demand experiencing a significant reduction during the COVID-19 pandemic, which …
Ethanol Production Coming Back
U.S. ethanol production is slowly clawing its way upward to more normal levels after reaching record lows in April. According to EIA data analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association for the week ending June 26, ethanol production rose 0.8%, or 7,000 barrels per day (b/d), to 900,000 b/d—equivalent to 37.80 million gallons daily. Production remains tempered due to COVID-19 disruptions, …
Ethanol Exports Decline in May
Exports of U.S. ethanol declined 32 percent in May to the smallest monthly volume in four years, according to Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) analyst Ann Lewis. Most of the drop was due to Brazil, which imported just 1.7 million gallons of U.S. ethanol, down from almost 24 million. Exports to India were down six percent in May, but it was …
House Members Oppose “Gap Year” Waivers
The Congressional Biofuels Caucus has added its voice to the many calling for EPA to deny the 52 so-called “gap year” Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Small Refinery Exemption (SRE) petitions received last month. Co-Chairmen Rodney Davis (R-IL), Collin Peterson (D-MN), Dave Loebsack (D-IA) and Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS), and more than two dozen other members of the bipartisan Caucus sent …
House Committee Climate Crisis Plan Includes LCFS
The House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis today released a comprehensive plan titled “Solving the Climate Crisis: The Congressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy and a Healthy, Resilient, and Just America.” The Climate Crisis Action Plan, released as a majority staff report, has received the early support of agricultural organizations and biofuels groups pleased to see the …