Discussions are expected to continue this week between oil refinery and biofuels interests over the price of Renewable Identification Numbers, or RINs, which were created under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) as a way to encourage refiners to blend more biofuels. Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) member plant owners are united in their opposition to the idea of capping RIN prices …
Monday Meeting Creating a Buzz in Biofuels
With another White House meeting about the price of Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) now scheduled for Monday, the biofuels industry is getting the word out about how capping prices of RINs would devastate the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Former Renewable Fuels Association chairman Randy Doyal, CEO of Al-Corn Clean Fuel in Claremont, Minnesota says the industry as a whole is …
Nearly 50,000 Iowa Jobs Tied to Biofuels
A new study, authored by John Urbanchuk of ABF Economics and commissioned by the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA), finds that nearly 50,000 Iowa jobs are supported by biofuels production. IRFA Executive Director Monte Shaw says the study indicates how many livelihoods are at stake in the continuing efforts by Texas Senator Ted Cruz to convince the White House to …
Ethanol Plant Managers Write President
Managers at 150 U.S. biofuel refineries across the heartland have sent a letter to President Donald Trump, urging him to “stand strong in defense of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).” The plant managers, which represent the majority of U.S. ethanol production, address proposals by oil refinery supporters to “cut, cap, or eliminate” Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs), which they say “would …
Ethanol Report on RINs in the White House
President Donald Trump has been meeting with stakeholders in the biofuels and refinery industries to find a way to lower Renewable Identification Number (RIN) prices that is acceptable to both sides. Two main options are a cap on RIN prices, or allowing year round sales of E15, or some combination of both. In this edition of The Ethanol Report, we …
Biodiesel No Problem in RFS Talks
Of those Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) stakeholders at last week’s White House meeting, only Renewable Energy Group, Inc. President and CEO Randy Howard walked out feeling like his industry was safe. Howard, who joined other top biofuel company executives who met with the President, Vice President Pence, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, and some petroleum refiners to discuss the RFS, says …
Perdue Answers RINs Question During Town Hall
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue held a town hall on the main stage in the Commodity Classic Trade Show Thursday and answered some questions from a few of the hundreds of farmers who gathered to watch and listen. Former National Corn Growers Association president Pam Johnson of Iowa wanted to know specifically if the secretary supported a cap on …
Study Finds RIN Cap Would Devastate Biofuels
A new analysis by University of Illinois economist Scott Irwin finds that the impact of a 10-cent cap on RIN prices, as proposed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, would be “catastrophic” for the renewable fuels industry. Specifically, such a price cap would serve as the mortar in the oil industry’s attempt to rebuild the “blend wall.” Irwin finds that “…the …
New Analysis Shows RIN Prices Could Fall
A new analysis from the University of Illinois shows conditions that caused high conventional biofuel (D6) RIN prices are changing rapidly and that “…it is not out of the realm of possibility for D6 RINs prices to fall back their pre-2013 level of just a few cents without making any changes to the RFS.” According to a release from the …
Ethanol Producers Going “RINless”
Renewable Identification Number credits (RINs) have been trading higher this week and some ethanol producers and marketers are taking advantage of the higher values to offer denatured ethanol as low as 30 cents per gallon and E85 at 55 cents per gallon (plus tax and freight). American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) Senior Vice President Ron Lamberty reports that Glacial Lakes …