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 …

by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The anticipated saturation of the U.S. ethanol market could have interesting implications for the future renewable identification numbers (RINs) market, according to a report recently released by Hart Energy. …

by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association)  There’s a hot new craze called the “Ethanol Shuffle” that’s sweeping seaports from Sao Paulo to Los Angeles. No, it’s not a new dance, this shuffle is all about …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Your calls and emails are always the highlight of our days. Most questions can be answered johnny-on-the-spot. Some are still out there and well worth arguing over. Here are the …

by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  A coalition of livestock and poultry lobby groups submitted a letter to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee leaders on Dec. 7, requesting a hearing to evaluate the …

by Ann Marie Edwards (DomesticFuel.com)  The Renewable Fuels Association(RFA) has sent a letter to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee leadership refuting statements that were made in a Nov. 30th letter sent to the committee by …

by Sue Roesler (Farm & Ranch Guide)    Cole Gustafson, department chair of the Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics at North Dakota State University, said while there’s more concerns about corn ethanol at the …

by Kris Bevill and Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine) …The challenges for cellulosic ethanol developers are daunting, but the executives representing those firms see the opportunities far outweighing the challenges and are quite optimistic for …

by Mackinnon Lawrence (Reuters)  …Coming off several years of steady industry growth but facing a difficult 2012, Advanced Biofuels Markets 2011 was tinged with exigency. With deficit reduction at the forefront of policy objectives for …

by Dan Piller (Des Moines Register)  Ethanol producers will lose about 25 to 30 cents per gallon on operating profits when the tax credit for blenders goes away after Dec. 31.
…(Walt) Wendland, who also is president …

by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com)  The president of biofuel enzyme producer Novozymes last week called on a House subcommittee to explore alternatives to drilling for oil to meet the country’s energy needs.
In a written statement prepared for the …

by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The U.S. DOE’s Energy Information Administration predicts that only six cellulosic biofuel producers will make fuel available for sale in 2012, producing a total of just 6.9 million gallons …

by Abby Schultz   (CNBC) …“We have a lot of customers who are ethanol investors and plants have been very diligent paying down debt in 2011,” says Jason Ward, director of grain and energy for Northstar …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Cellulosic biofuels are behind schedule. Can they catch up? What are the barriers, the roles to be played by Washington, developers alike? What are the opportunities for the retail investor?  …

by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The USDA Economic Research Service has released a 24-page report offering an overview of renewable identification numbers (RINs) and outlining how the RIN market works in relation to the …

(Platts)  The US Environmental Protection Agency may end up deeming more biodiesel renewable identification numbers (RINs) as invalid following federal investigations into two companies that allegedly sold RINS without producing the appropriate volumes of biodiesel, …

by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com)  The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear a case brought by petroleum interests against the Environmental Protection Agency over the expanded Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2).
The petition made by the National Petrochemical …

(Sapphire Energy)  Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that USDA has issued a loan guarantee that will allow a biofuels firm to construct a facility in New Mexico to produce “green crude” oil from algae …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …In the Race for Scale, the industry has excelled in driving down operating costs. Capital costs have proven more perplexing, and sticker shock has been a hold-back. Feedstock availability at …

by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  It was déjà vu all over again on Nov. 2 as representatives of the ethanol industry were forced to watch a House of Representatives Energy and Environment Subcommittee hearing …

by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  …By Nov. 30, the U.S. EPA will issue its renewable fuel standard (RFS) volumes for the upcoming year and, once again, it will dramatically ratchet down the cellulosic biofuels …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … But here are 10 themes that are shaping up to be the Buzz of the conference.
1. RFS. Hold or Fold?
2. Can Obama find the $510 million?
3. Elections.
4. Fuels, or …

by  Susanne Retka Schill  (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Interesting article turned up this week from Australia, showing just what could happen with no RFS or mandate. The Courier-Mail reported  “Queensland motorists dudded as fuel retailers pull ethanol …

by Bill Lundberg (Biofuels Digest)  Should the Renewable Fuel Standard be scrapped, or revised? BP North America chief Susan Ellerbusch makes the case for “No”.
In Chicago, BP Biofuels North America president Susan Ellerbusch, in addressing …

by Brent Erickson (BIO/Biofuels Digest)  The Renewable Fuel Standard is the key foundation policy supporting the commercial development of advanced biofuels. It is not working as fast as some would like, but given the current …

(Modesto Bee)  Rep. Jeff Denham is citing the state’s policies in the closure of Fulton Valley Farms of Turlock, set to happen by mid-January because of rising feed costs.
The high cost of feed is a …

(25 x ’25)  As soon as a report assessing the economic and environmental impacts of the federal Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) was issued by the National Research Council (NRC) Tuesday, many questions about the validity of …

by Luke Geiver (Biodiesel Magazine)  After roughly seven months of thorough consideration and review, the U.S. EPA has approved a petition put forth by the government of Canada to allow renewable biomass grown in Canada …

(GreenMuck.com)  A criminal information was filed today charging Rodney R. Hailey, age 33, of Perry Hall, Maryland, with wire fraud, money laundering and a violation of the Clean Air Act, in connection with a scheme in …