(Renewable Fuels Association) Months of regulatory delays by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have put Midwest drivers at risk of losing access to lower-cost, lower-carbon E15 this summer, the Renewable Fuels Association said at an EPA hearing today. RFA urged the agency to allow sales of the E15 fuel blend this summer, rather than waiting until 2024, as has been proposed by EPA.
The comments came in response to the EPA’s proposal to approve a petition from eight Midwest governors that would level the playing field for fuel volatility regulations, thereby allowing the sale of lower-carbon E15 through the summer months in their states. RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper reminded the agency that it had a statutory duty to approve and implement the governors’ petition within 90 days—which would have been no later than July 27, 2022. Instead, the proposal was issued just three weeks ago, and EPA now proposes deferring implementation until 2024.
Even though EPA’s proposal is more than seven months late, there remains no economic, environmental, or legal justification for the Agency to delay implementation by another year, Cooper said.
“If there truly is a problem with implementing the governors’ petition this summer, it is a problem of the Administration’s own making,” Cooper said. “EPA’s seven-month delay in taking any action at all on the petition has put the marketplace in a real jam—and it should be EPA’s responsibility to get us out of that jam. If the Agency truly believes it cannot implement this petition in time for the summer of 2023, then it should consider using other regulatory authorities to ensure consumers have uninterrupted access to lower-cost, lower-carbon E15. Unless the Agency acts quickly, Midwest drivers will soon lose the ability to choose a fuel that saved them 20-30 cents per gallon on average last summer at a time of record gasoline prices.”
Click here for the RFA testimony. READ MORE
What if we imagined “wealth” consisting not of the money we stuff into banks or the fossil-fuel-derived goods we pile up, but of joy, beauty, friendship, community, closeness to flourishing nature, to good food produced without abuse of labor? What if we were to think of wealth as security in our environments and societies, and as confidence in a viable future? —Rebecca Solnit READ MORE
(Alléo Energy/Business Wire) Alléo Energy today announced a significant milestone in the production of renewable fuels. Alléo’s first commercial facility has produced renewable diesel made entirely from wood waste. This fuel has been independently tested by Intertek Testing Laboratories and is certified as D975 compliant. This diesel was produced from a waste feedstock that can be upgraded into other products such as Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).
The diesel produced is considered carbon-negative from a full life cycle perspective. The fuel produced is high in energy density which is a key differentiator from other attempts at cellulose-to-fuels conversion technologies.
“The game-changing quality of our product is very significant,” Simeon Chow, Alléo Chief Executive Officer, reflects. “What we have accomplished at Alléo is one of the most sought-after goals in the energy sector: to produce a truly sustainable fuel from wood waste. Further, I want to emphasize that this fuel can be used in existing diesel engines, without blending, and without modification of the engine.”
“We are at an important inflection point now,” states Tim Adkins, Alléo Chief Financial Officer. “We are excited to announce that not only is this a game changer from a sustainability perspective but it is a profitable business model as well. We are able to produce a truly sustainable fuel product at or below the cost for a comparable fossil fuel.”
About Alléo Energy
Alléo Energy is a renewable energy and renewable commodities company with a mission to revolutionize the renewable liquid fuel industry by converting wood-waste into 100% renewable high value commodities. This state-of-the-art process turns locally sourced excess cellulosic waste (e.g. wood chips, etc.) into energy resources and high value commodities that can be refined into multiple energy products as well as natural (and carbon negative) soil, and crop, yield ameliorants.
To take a virtual tour of the Bay Minette facility, please click the link here. Please note: This video was made in May 2021 for the EPA. Please contact Alléo for content updates. READ MORE
White House Wants to Hear from You about Its “New Bold Goals and Priorities to Advance American Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing”
by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) “You can do good and do well,” concluded Jim Lane, editor and publisher of the