The bipartisan House Biofuels Caucus today sent a letter urging Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue to utilize funds made available to USDA as part of the recently passed CARES Act to assist ethanol producers who are suffering severe economic harm as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic. “The biofuels sector provides a direct and significant boost to the value …
Ethanol Production Hits Record Lows
The latest EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report for the week ending April 3 hit some very troubling record lows as a result of the deepening impact on the ethanol industry from the social-distancing and stay-at-home restrictions associated with COVID-19. According to EIA data analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association, ethanol production plunged 20.0%, or 168,000 barrels per day (b/d), to …
10th Circuit Court Rejects Request for Rehearing
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected the request for a rehearing that was filed by two oil refining companies in response to the court’s unanimous decision Jan. 24 in Renewable Fuels Association et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The court found that EPA abused its statutory authority in issuing Renewable Fuel Standard compliance exemptions to small refineries …
Senators Call on USDA to Help Biofuels Industry
Iowa Republican Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, along with Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), led a dozen more of their Senate colleagues in sending a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue requesting additional funds be allocated to the biofuel industry through the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) during the unprecedented economic circumstances brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. “As the country …
RFA Economist Discusses Ethanol Production Declines
While the industry knew ethanol production was dropping due to coronavirus impacts on the transportation sector, the actual numbers from the Energy Information Administration for the week ending March 27 were sobering. A drop of more than 16 percent in a week to the lowest level in six and a half years. But Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) Chief Economist Scott …
EIA Data Confirms Plummeting Ethanol Production
The latest EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report released today for the week ending March 27 is the first to reflect more fully the impact on the ethanol industry from the social distancing and stay-at-home restrictions associated with COVID-19. According to EIA data analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association, ethanol production plummeted 16.4%, or 165,000 barrels per day (b/d), to 840,000 …
SAFE Vehicles Rule Misses High Octane Opportunity
Ethanol groups are calling the final Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule setting corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) and CO2 emissions standards for model years 2021-2026 passenger cars and light trucks a “missed opportunity to provide a pathway for high octane, low carbon fuel.” American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) CEO Brian Jennings said EPA specifically requested comments on the role …
Lower Ethanol Demand Could Impact Planting Decisions
USDA’s 2020 Prospective Plantings report released Tuesday estimates planted acres for corn this year at 97.0 million acres, up 8 percent or 7.29 million acres from last year. But when farmers were surveyed a month ago, coronavirus had yet to have the impact it is now having on ethanol demand and prices thanks to a drastic cut in demand for …
EPA COVID-19 Response Delays Waiver Changes
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday announced several steps being taken to protect the nation’s gasoline supply in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including making any changes in its policy of granting small refinery waivers as a result of the recent 10th Circuit Court decision. EPA does not intend to unilaterally revisit or rescind any previously granted small …
Administration Will Not Appeal Tenth Circuit SRE Ruling
Biofuels stakeholders are celebrating some good news today with word that the Trump administration had made the decision not to request a rehearing of the recent unanimous ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit that the EPA had “vastly exceeded its authority in granting exemptions from 2016 and 2017 RFS requirements to three refineries.” The challenge …