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 …
SIRE Donates Hand Sanitizer for RFA Promotional Events
Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy (SIRE) has donated 1,000 bottles of its proprietary SIREtizer hand sanitizer to the Renewable Fuels Association to distribute at summer ethanol promotional events upcoming events, including the Sturgis motorcycle rally in South Dakota, where RFA has had a presence for more than a decade. “Like so many others in our industry, SIRE was able to step-up …
Senators Urge EPA to Reject Retroactive Waivers
A bipartisan group of 16 senators sent a letter this week urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reject any petitions for Small Refinery Exemptions (SREs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) for past compliance years. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and a dozen others said in the letter to EPA Administrator …