Government biofuel policies affect fuel and farm commodity prices, but the price of a barrel of oil can have even larger effects.
That is the conclusion of a report by the University of Missouri Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI). The study researched biofuel scenarios based on 500 random draws of possible weather, production and other market influences. The most extreme scenario allows current tax credits and tariffs to expire as scheduled and would not enforce the energy bill mandates. In this scenario, without most current biofuel policies, corn prices would decline 14 percent on average compared to a scenario that continues current support measures.
“The impact of biofuel policies depends not just on the policy but very much on the market context,” said Pat Westhoff, FAPRI co-director.
“Mandates have little market impact when high petroleum prices contribute to high biofuel prices and production levels.” Westhoff said. “On the other hand, mandates can be important when petroleum prices are low or crop supplies are reduced.”
The report, “Biofuels: Impact of Selected Farm Bill Provisions and other Biofuel Policy Options,” was published online June 12.
A California rice miller will dedicate the largest rice plant solar installation in the U.S. on Wednesday, June 18th.
The solar array will meet about 70-80 percent of the total energy costs of the rice plant, using more than 5,500 Mitsubishi Electric solar panels installed by Pacific Power Management, LLC. When the plant is not operating, the solar system will feed electrical power back into the electrical grid.
But in Missouri, the average price of $3.82 a gallon is the lowest in the nation – in part because of ethanol. The state implemented a ten percent ethanol mandate this year, which a 
That was good news for Missouri corn growers, who strongly supported the state renewable fuels standard.
The fight between American and European biodiesel makers is heating up. European biodiesel producers are urging the European Union to hit U.S. biodiesel with punitive fines as the EU is set to open anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations into imports of the green fuel from the United States.
Minnesota-based High Country Energy, along with its managing company National Wind, has made the nation’s first intrastate public offering of a wind project’s securities… a move that is expected to help local, rural communities invest in the green energy source.
Speaking at the Oil and Gas Investor’s Energy Capital Forum in Houston Tuesday, Boone emphasized that he prefers the less-than-perfect fuel over imported oil because there is “no question” that America must embrace alternate energy sources to alleviate the $700-billion transfer of wealth out of the country to oil imports.
