The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is urging Congress to “include an extension of the expiring tax incentives for ethanol in any legislative package designed to promote green job growth and economic revitalization.”
In a letter sent to the Chair and Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee, RFA encouraged the lawmakers to adopt the provisions of the Renewable Fuels Reinvestment Act that would extend through 2015 four key tax incentives for the production and use of ethanol from all feedstocks.
As the letter notes, “Ethanol has been an extremely useful weapon in the fight for energy independence and our efforts to promote more clean and renewable alternatives to imported petroleum based fuels.” The letter highlights the nearly 400,000 jobs ethanol has helped support, the reduction in oil imports by 364 million barrels in 2009, and the savings of approximately 10 cents per gallon of ethanol-blended fuel.
Specifically, the letter showcases the excitement generated by the opening of the Osage Bio Energy ethanol biorefinery in Hopewell, Virginia. According to company sources, more than 1,200 applications were received to fill the 43 full-time positions with the plant. Of the 43 people hired, roughly half were unemployed at the time of the job offer.
Increasing the value of the ethanol by-product distillers dried grains (DDGs) was a topic at last week’s 
One week after approving the event and less than 24 hours after allowing promotional banners to be hung on its property, Capitol Petroleum Group canceled plans by the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA) to offer Washington-area residents a discount of 54 cents per gallon on gasoline purchased at two Exxon stations on Capitol Hill. A company representative, citing unspecified “political” reasons, abruptly ended UNICA’s plans to help DC drivers keep a little extra money in their pockets for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.
Iowa corn growers have teamed up with two Chevy dealerships to promote ethanol and the vehicles that it fuels.
“One out of every 10 vehicles in Iowa are Flex-fuel vehicles and can use E85,” said Shannon Textor, Iowa Corn Director of Market Development. “Our goal is to get more FFVs on the road and to sell more ethanol blended fuel.”
Specifically, they are talking about new algae-based biofuels, if the researchers can take the discovery to that next step. They are working on using the same technique they used to create the synthetic bacteria to create synthetic algae, which is also single-celled, but more complex than bacteria. If they are successful, they hope to use them to create biofuels by photosynthesis.