by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  …API has legally challenged every step of the U.S. EPA’s approval of E15, claiming that more scientific research should be completed before it is allowed to be used in …

by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine)  The U.S. EPA issued a Notice of Violation to Houston-based Green Diesel LLC April 30 for generating more than 60 million invalid biomass-based diesel (D-Code 4) renewable identification numbers (RINs) …

(Renewable Fuels Association/BioFuelsChat.com)  …Specifically, (Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob) Dinneen noted two driving factors that have led to refinery shutterings on the East Coast:
First, most East Coast refineries cannot process the lower-cost types of …

(Hart Energy/PR NewsWire)  Hart Energy study insists U.S. production mandates are out of sync with market reality
Hart Energy’s newly released study, U.S. & Brazil Ethanol Outlook to 2022, finds the United States has vaulted over Brazil to lead the world in …

(Advanced Biofuels Association)  Testifying today before the U.S. House Small Business Committee’s Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy and Trade, Michael McAdams, president, Advanced Biofuels Association – ABFA, said he is, “proud to report to this Committee and …

by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Increasing fuel efficiency standards are expected to shrink U.S. gasoline demand over the coming years while, at the same time, the renewable fuel standard (RFS) will require increasing amounts …

by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com)  The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) has released an ‘infographic’ entitled “It’s Working” which provides a vivid depiction of how the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) and ethanol are reducing oil imports and saving Americans money …

by Ayesha Rascoe (Reuters)  * Company registered with EPA sold fake credits
* Exxon, Shell, others cited for using invalid credits
* Trading firm says EPA did not do due diligence
A trading company ensnared in the fallout …

(Ethanol Producer Magazine/Renewable Fuels Association)  By an overwhelming majority, American voters are supportive of the key federal policy driving renewable fuel innovation in America today – the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).  In a poll commissioned …

(Renewable Fuels Association)  Providing flexibility to fuel retailers will be key to the continued growth in availability of higher level ethanol blends like E15 and other renewable fuels, according to Renewable Fuels Association President and …

(EcoEngineers)   EcoEngineers expands into the business of providing RIN pricing data and forms EcoEngineers Indexing Services LLC to better serve biofuel markets.
EcoEngineers Indexing Services LLC is an independent, highly-focused indexing company concentrating solely on providing …

by J.E. Anderson, D.M. DiCicco, J.M. Ginder, U. Kramer, T.G. Leone, H.E. Raney-Pablo, T.J. Wallington (FUEL/ScienceDirect.com)  Ethanol provides a significant contribution to road transportation fuel in the US, Brazil, and elsewhere. Renewable fuels regulations in the US and EU imply that ethanol …

(Platts)  Six renewable fuel trade associations have filed a motion in federal court to intervene in support of the US Environmental Protection Agency, which is being sued by a major oil and gas trade group …

(Bernama)  Malaysia and Indonesia, the world’s largest producers of palm oil, are on a joint mission to correct and update a United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report that could impact future exports of palm …

By Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA)  At the March 21 Bioenergy Day on Capitol Hill, discussion focused on the need for a continued Renewable Fuels Standard, reviews of the history of biofuels, assessment of current …

A US energy industry group on Monday said it has filed suit to challenge the federal government’s mandate for US cellulosic ethanol consumption, charging that it is unrealistic and constitutes an illegitimate tax.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) said that it filed …

by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com)  Dozens of lawmakers have sent letters to the White House calling for an increase in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) for 2013.
A bipartisan group of 60 members of Congress on both …

by Christopher Cundy (Environmental Finance)  US rules on ethanol usage will favour Brazilian cane sugar producers and could lead to a surge in imports in the coming years, according to a research note from Rabobank …

by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) Upholding RFS2, RIN integrity and expanding mandate lead discussions
The National Biodiesel Conference & Expo took place Feb. 5-8 in Orlando, Fla., where the industry’s latest challenges were laid out: defending the …

by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com)  …“If you took a poll of our members, and we may well do that at our Commodity Classic next week, I would say that they view the RFS as more important …

by Tom Buis (Growth Energy/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  … Our nation imagines itself the most free and secure in the world, but the volatility of the global oil market shows how vulnerable we are as a …

by Bob Dinneen (Renewable Fuels Association/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  …Before year’s end, Congress should pass a multi-year extension of the Producer Tax Credit for cellulosic ethanol production as well as the Accelerated Depreciation Allowance for Cellulosic …

(Renewable Fuels Association/Advanced Ethanol Council)  America’s advanced and cellulosic ethanol producers today reiterated their strong belief that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should not grant a retroactive waiver to the oil industry for the …

(25 x ’25)  While much of the recent Congressional discussion of renewable energy has focused on failed high risk clean energy startups, what’s gone largely unnoticed by federal policy makers is the incredible overall progress …

by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com)  …(Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob) Dinneen says the environmental groups’ challenge to the RFS was much broader based than the poultry groups’ challenge, including that EPA had not taken into …

by Michael McAdams (Advanced Biofuels Association/Biorefining Magazine)  …It has been four years since Congress passed the revised RFS2 legislation creating a 36 billion gallon mandate for conventional and advanced biofuels. For all you partisans out …

by Dan Piller (Des Moines Register)  He says diluting standards could hurt Midwest interests
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack warned an Iowa group Friday in Ankeny that “the Midwest could be damaged” if oil interests …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Around the halls of the Digest, we call him Rufus, the elephant in the room. Elsewhere, RFS, or the Renewable Fuel Standard, is the accepted descriptor.
Under any name, there’s been …

by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine)  A panel of petroleum trade association representatives gathered together for the National Biodiesel Conference’s opening general session on Feb. 6. While the group consisted of five oil association representatives, several …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …In Florida, the National Biodiesel Conference — biodiesel’s grandest show — opened with exuberance over 2011 results, and resolve to meet the industry’s two major issues in 2012, defense of …

(Farm Futures)  Hartwig says legislation is attempt to eliminate RFS altogether.
Congressman Pete Olson, R-Texas, recently introduced the Domestic Alternative Fuels Act of 2012. The measure seeks to modify the renewable fuel standard to include ethanol …

by Mark Drajem (Bloomberg)  The House Energy and Commerce Committee said it will investigate the actions of the Environmental Protection Agency in combating fraud in the renewable-fuels program.
The EPA discovered that fuel credits, which can …

by Kris Bevill  (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Witnesses projected strong growth for renewable fuels use in both the power generation and transportation sectors over the next 20 years during a Senate energy committee held Jan. 31, …

by Wayne Lee (Biodiesel Magazine/Lee Enterprises Consulting)  Lee Enterprises Consulting announced a first-of-its-kind RIN verification program on Jan. 31, known as RIN 9000, to assist biodiesel blenders, producers and obligated parties in verifying the validity …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …The challenges?    Well, there have been three grand ones.
First, the development of economically feasible technologies. Second, the financing and construction of new capacity, including any bolt-ons, restarts or retrofits …

(US Environmental Protection Agency)  he U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a Notice of Data Availability (NODA) to release its lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) analysis of palm oil used as a feedstock to produce biodiesel and …

by Bryan Sims (Biodiesel Magazine)  Is there sufficient supply of feedstock to support the build-out of a 6 billion gallon biodiesel industry over the next decade?
…If the industry stands a chance competing with Big Oil …

(National Petrochemical & Refiners Association/Yahoo!)  The National Petrochemical & Refiners Association, American Petroleum Institute and Western States Petroleum Associationjointly filed a petition today requesting that the Environmental Protection Agency waive the 2011 cellulosic biofuel volume mandate in its entirety, …

(Renewable Fuels Association)  The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is rejecting the notion that greater efforts need to be made to include fossil fuels in the nation’s fuel supply.  Specifically, the RFA is very critical of …

by Tom Buis (Growth Energy/Ethanol Producer Magazine)   …The intent of Congress when it wrote the renewable fuel standard was to grow an American fuels industry that would help us break free from this addiction …

by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com)  …During a press conference at AFBF (American Farm Bureau Federation) on Monday, (Agriculture Secretary Tom) Vilsack said he believes it is important to keep the RFS2 in place for multiple reasons. “One, …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Brooke Coleman, executive director of the Advanced Ethanol Council, turned attention to free market principles and market access, after the New York Timesran astory on cellulosic biofuels mandates, titled “A Fine …

Fraudulent biofuel blending credits have flooded the marketplace.
Bad Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) have already cost private industry hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and absconded revenue. On top of EPA-imposed penalties, oil companies and …

(Chicago Tribune)  …Congress and the federal agencies responsible for managing the biofuel industry need to stop trying to artificially create a market for a high-tech product that may never exist on a commercial scale.
…At current …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …First commercial projects from newly-minted public companies Solazyme, Gevo and KiOR. Two trash-to-biofuels projects from INEOS Bio and Enerkem, located in Florida and Alberta. Europe’s largest biosuccinic acid project, scheduled …

(US Environmental Protection Agency)  EPA is issuing a direct final rule identifying additional fuel pathways that EPA has determined meet the biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel or cellulosic biofuel lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction requirements specified …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  ZeaChem launches its 250,000 gallon per year core process.  How could this possibly matter, in the context of a 500 million gallon cellulosic biofuels target for 2012, that was waived …

by Chris O’Malley (Indianapolis Business Journal)  …But it looks like motorists, rather than ethanol makers, stand to feel the pain.
The reason is the survival of another federal measure, known as the Renewable Fuels Standard. It …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …10. Advanced biofuels capacity surges to 1 billion gallons, globally. We see 570 million gallons in capacity from Neste Oil alone; 137 Mgy from Diamond Green, 75 Mgy from Dynamic …

(Environmental Protection Agency)  he U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today finalized the 2012 percentage standards for four fuel categories that are part of the agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard program (RFS2). EPA continues to support greater …