by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com)  In the face of increasing calls to waive the nation’s Renewable Fuel Standard, biofuel industry stakeholders today announced a major new communications campaign to educate consumers and policy makers about the benefits of renewable fuel to America’s economy, energy security and environment.

The new coalition – Fuels America – includes renewable fuel, national security, renewable energy and other stakeholders. Among those who are part of the coalition are Growth Energy, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and the Advanced Ethanol Council (AEC). A number of biofuel companies are also members, such as Abengoa, DuPont, POET and Novozymes.

The Fuels America campaign will be a national effort, including advertising, beginning in Washington, DC and several states, including Colorado, Ohio, Delaware and Montana.  READ MORE (includes audio of launch press conference) and MORE (Fuels America) and MORE (Biofuels Digest) and MORE (Ethanol Producer Magazine) and MORE (Drovers Cattle Network) and MORE (Bloomberg) and MORE (Platts) and MORE (Delaware Online) and MORE (DomesticFuel.com)

Excerpt from Biofuels Digest: …Consider this: the group hired the seriously-talented, seriously-priced DC communications group Glover Park – the same firm that, if you’ll recall, burned the phrase “Food vs Fuel” into the national consciousness three years ago in a campaign for an anti-RFS coalition including the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which landed the RFS in some amount of its trouble in the first place.

… “Fuels America is built around one core idea: renewable fuel is essential to the U.S. economy, our nation’s energy security, our rural communities and the environment,” said former Congressman Jim Greenwood, President and CEO, Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). “More than 400,000 American jobs are supported by renewable transportation fuel, and America leads the world in renewable fuel innovation.”

…  The current campaign is aimed at the waiver period – but in a larger sense, of rallying support for RFS2 during what is expected to be a period where anti-RFS forces seek to open and redefine the standard. those efforts come in the wake of disappointing roll-out timetables for cellulosic biofuels, the failure of E85 to boost the market for ethanol, the fast expansion of natural gas availability and falling prices, and the tough capital markets in the wake of the 2008-10 Great Recession.

The greatest fear?   We don’t see much support, as we gauge it, for completely trashing the RFS. There is more support that we hear for lowering or slowing some of the targets given the slow timelines for cellulosic biofuels. We hear a reasonably widespread amount of support for eliminating the cellulosic biofuels pool, and tossing cellulosic into the general advanced biofuels pool where, for example, drop in gasoline, sugarcane ethanol and non-biomass fuels of the sort produced by Joule Unlimited will compete.  READ MORE