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by Kristen Mally Dean (Argonne National Laboratory) Decarbonizing agriculture is critical for the U.S. to reach net zero emissions by 2050. A new data-driven approach looks at practices that are good for the earth and profitable for farmers. — The world relies on American farmers to do much more than
Federal Agency/Executive Branch
June 27, 2022
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by Lindsey Jacobson (CNBC) Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods would like the U.S. government to help incentivize some of the clean energy innovations his company is developing, like biofuels and direct air capture of carbon dioxide. … Proposing a carbon tax has been a point of controversy for Exxon Mobil. Keith McCoy,
June 26, 2022
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by Will Robinson (Brownfield Ag News) Clean Fuels Alliance America says demand for biodiesel is ratcheting up because of corporate pressure. Scott Fenwick says clean energy market growth is going from being government led to led by the largest corporate shippers. “Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Walmart… they’ve got their own sustainability
June 26, 2022
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(Clean Fuels Alliance America) Clean fuel industry has maintained production and extended fuel supplies, lowering diesel prices by 4% — Today (June 22, 2022), Clean Fuels Alliance America wrote to President Joe Biden, administration officials, and congressional leaders to say that U.S. biodiesel and renewable diesel producers are working to extend
June 24, 2022
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by Valerie Sarisky-Reed (U.S. Department of Energy) Biofuels have been proven to emit significantly lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than petroleum-based fuels, and recent scientific studies indicate that net-zero emission biofuels are not only possible, but achievable. Corn ethanol and other biofuels are essential in America’s transition to a clean energy economy
June 24, 2022
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(Advanced Clean Tech News/GNA) Hydrogen is heating up as a policy topic, as evidenced by the project updates, new bills, and solutions offered by elected leaders, industry leaders, and the more than 350 attendees at the 2022 California Hydrogen Leadership Summit, which took place in Sacramento, California, in early June. The summit
June 23, 2022
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by Connor Veenstra (Huron Daily Tribune) … However, an alternative exists for farmers, though it’s not widely used — biodiesel, made from plants and animals. According to Houston Biodiesel, it’s slightly cheaper than regular diesel, at $5.76 per gallon, as of June 16. However, it could turn into a long-term alternative
June 23, 2022
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by Jarrett Renshaw and Stephanie Kelly (Reuters) … The administration’s early and extensive outreach reflects that expanding the scope of the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to make it a tool for electrifying the nation’s automobile fleet is one of Biden’s priorities in the fight against climate change. The RFS, which
June 23, 2022
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by David Shepardson (Reuters) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to propose new, more stringent vehicle emissions rules through at least the 2030 model year by March, according to a regulatory update released on Tuesday. In December, the EPA finalized new light-duty tailpipe emissions requirements through the 2026 model year that reversed then-President
June 22, 2022
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by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. EPA has indicated it will release proposed rules related to the 2023 Renewable Fuel Standard renewable volume obligation (RVO) and state requests to allow summer E15 sales within the next several months. The agency will also soon finalize pending canola oil fuel pathways
June 22, 2022
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by Evan Halper (Washington Post) Companies see only headaches on the horizon for refineries, undercutting the White House push to boost production — … Oil refineries across the country are being retired and converted to other uses as owners balk at making costly upgrades and America’s pivot away from fossil fuels
June 21, 2022
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by Manuel Quiñones (E&E News/Politico Pro) “Our bipartisan bill would spur research and development for carbon removal technologies, as well as accelerate the commercialization of innovative carbon removal solutions to help make them more affordable,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). — Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Washington Democratic Sen. Maria
June 20, 2022
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by Brian O’Connor (No-Till Farmer) … A study published in the Journal of Cleaner Production found that harvesting up to 30% of corn stover on a field for use in fuel products could increase revenues for growers and decrease the negative impact on the environment, while at the same time allowing some soil organic matter
June 20, 2022
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(Defense Innovation Unit) The Department of Defense (DoD) spends significant time and resources managing worldwide aircraft fuel logistics, which often involves a combination of tanker planes, ships, and convoys.. To reduce this logistical burden, DoD seeks a commercial solution to develop a carbon-neutral synthetic aviation fuel that can be produced on-site
June 17, 2022
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The commercialization of emerging tech, the production of biofuels, renewable chemicals and biobased products – these are some of the things the USDA Rural Business Cooperative Service is working on. Find out about their Guaranteed Loan Programs, trends they are seeing, the USDA BioPreferred Program,
June 17, 2022
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(E&E News/Politico Pro) Researchers with DOE say gasoline might have to be substituted with biofuels to ensure that climate targets are achieved as electric vehicles slowly phase in. — The U.S. Department of Energy released the results of a six-year initiative that provides a national road map for alternative ways to
June 17, 2022
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by Zack Budryk (The Hill) The House of Representatives on Thursday passed an omnibus appropriations bill aimed at addressing spiraling fuel costs by further expanding the availability of higher-ethanol fuel blends. The Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act contains a number of separate agriculture provisions aimed at addressing food costs and
June 17, 2022
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(Ripon Advance News Service) U.S. Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) and Ashley Hinson (R-IA) joined U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and their Iowa Republican colleagues in urging the Biden administration to address two ongoing rulemaking processes that could end production of bio-oil, cellulosic sugar and biochar. Iowa State University has developed an
June 17, 2022
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by Sheila Van Cuyk (U.S. Department of Energy) The potential for advancing algal biofuels and bioproducts relies on using algae strains that are best suited for industrial production. Genomic sequence data—the functional information in the DNA of a specific organism such as algae—can reveal the genes and regulatory mechanisms that control how
June 16, 2022
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by Tom Bryan and Katie Schroeder (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Hundreds gathered for the main session of 38th International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo Tuesday in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as some of the biggest names in biofuels spoke at the largest ethanol conference in the world. Tom Bryan, president of conference host BBI
June 15, 2022
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(Purdue Northwest) The Purdue Research Foundation recently completed a licensing agreement with an international energy company for the commercialization of a new process discovered at Purdue University Northwest (PNW) for the biological production of hydrogen from food waste. A second licensing agreement with a company in Indiana is under negotiation. This
June 15, 2022
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(NACS) The white paper will help spark conversation on finding an answer to reducing emissions from all vehicles. — The Fuels Institute has published a new white paper that explores the carbon benefits of using biofuels, according to a news release. The paper, “Assessment of Biofuels Policy: Effectiveness of Emissions Reductions,”
June 15, 2022
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by Reid Detchon and Bart Ruth (United Nations Foundation and Solutions from the Land, respectively) Why are drivers in Watertown, S.D., paying 60 cents a gallon less to fill up their gas tanks than we are? Because 30 percent of their fuel is ethanol. When Russian President Vladimir Putin sent tanks into Ukraine, President Biden acknowledged that
June 15, 2022
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by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Sens. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn.; Shelly Moore Capito, R-W.V.; and Roger Wicker, R-Miss., are asking the U.S. Government Accountability Office to determine whether the U.S. EPA’s June 3 denial of 69 small refinery exemptions (SREs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard must be submitted to Congress for review under
June 15, 2022
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(U.S. Department of Energy) America’s car, truck, and train wheels keep turning, while planes and boats take to the skies and oceans, releasing 1.5 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere every year. Breakthroughs from the U.S. Department of Energy Co-Optimization of Fuels & Engines (Co-Optima) initiative could make
June 14, 2022
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) How did U.S. ethanol production and prices compare in 2022 so far to previous years? How about biodiesel, renewable diesel and renewable jet fuel? What’s the latest GHG analysis on ethanol, biodiesel and renewable diesel? How has anaerobic digesters helped with GHG mitigation? Find out
June 14, 2022
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by Todd Neeley (DTN Progressive Farmer) List of Midwest States Seeking E15 Rulemaking Grows to Nine With Ohio Request — Add Ohio to a list of Midwest states that are asking the EPA to make a permanent change to allow year-round E15 sales beginning in 2023. The state’s governor on Friday
June 13, 2022
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by Tyler Pager (Washington Post) Biden vented to aides after an ethanol announcement designed to ease gas prices, questioning the policy’s effectiveness — President Biden seemed upbeat when he visited an Iowa biofuels plant in April to talk about bringing down gas prices, standing before a large tractor as he declared
June 13, 2022
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by Chuck Abbott (Successful Farming) The House could vote as early as next week on an omnibus bill that would allow summertime sale of E15, create a special investigator’s office at the USDA to enforce fair-play laws in meatpacking, and help farmers adopt so-called precision agriculture technology. The legislative amalgam
June 10, 2022
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by Anna Phillips (Washington Post) … Customers are pressuring the industry to reduce its carbon footprint, and a small number of shippers are experimenting with alternative fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia. The Danish firm Maersk has ordered a dozen ships that can run on both conventional fuel and what the
June 9, 2022
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(Fuels Institute) ESG Integrity, a Fuels Institute program, and the National Association of Fleet Managers (NAFA) announced a partnership to assist the fuels and transportation industries with meeting the growing demand for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) planning and reporting. ESG planning and reporting is becoming a necessary tool in
June 9, 2022
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by Robert White (Renewable Fuels Association) … In case you’ve forgotten, refiners use the term “blend wall” to refer to what they view as the upper limit of feasible ethanol use in the United States, which they peg at 10 percent of the nation’s gasoline supply. This purported blend wall is
June 9, 2022
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by Cindy Axne (D-IA 3rd)(Agri-Pulse) As families continue to feel the crushing weight of rising gas prices – a problem without a one-size-fits-all solution – I am grateful that an environmentally friendly, homegrown fuel that’s produced in my home state of Iowa will provide a more affordable fuel option this summer.
June 9, 2022
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by James Temple (MIT Technology Review) The startup used plant matter and bio-oil to sequester thousands of tons of carbon. The question now is how reliable, scalable, and economical this approach will prove. In recent weeks, a crew of staffers from a company called Charm Industrial have been working on
June 9, 2022
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by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine) Japan on April 22 launched a public-private partnership that aims to facilitate the introduction of an international competitive supply chain for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), according to a report filed with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service’s Global Agricultural Information Network in late May. Japan’s Ministry
June 8, 2022
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by Gary Martin (Las Vegas Review-Journal) A Nevada plant can begin turning tons of garbage into a synthetic oil that can be refined into fuel for airplanes after an Environmental Protection Agency rule change. After five years, the EPA finalized the rule sought by Fulcrum BioEnergy’s Sierra BioFuels Plant in Storey County. A
June 8, 2022
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On June 15, 2022, at 3 p.m. ET, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) will host an informational webinar on the recently announced Scale-Up of Integrated Biorefineries funding opportunity. The funding opportunity announcement (FOA) provides up to $59 million to accelerate the production of biofuels and bioproducts to
June 8, 2022
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by Rachel Frazin (The Hill) A group of five automakers is backing California’s authority to set its own standards for climate-warming emissions for vehicles amid a legal challenge from several Republican-led states. Ford, Volkswagen, BMW, Honda and Volvo on Tuesday backed the Biden administration’s decision to restore this authority to California after the Trump administration revoked
June 8, 2022
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(Red Rock Biofuels/Business Wire) Award funds Red Rock Biofuels Holdings, Inc. (“Red Rock”) to Convert Post-Fire Charred Waste Woody Biomass to Sustainable Aviation Fuel & Renewable Diesel — Red Rock is pleased to announce that it has received a Wood Innovations Grant from the U.S. Forest Service to fund its project
June 8, 2022
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by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association/Ethanol Producer Magazine) … In 2017 congressional testimony, Dr. Janet Yanowitz of EcoEngineering Inc., an environmental consulting firm, reviewed the existing scientific literature on E15’s emissions, concluding that “the available emissions test data indicates that replacing E10 with an E15 of the same vapor pressure will
June 7, 2022
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by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine) The U.S. EPA on May 23 opened a 30-day public comment period on a proposed consent decree related to a legal challenge filed against the agency by Growth Energy that would require the EPA to issue proposed 2023 Renewable Fuel Standard renewable volume obligations (RVOs) by
June 7, 2022
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by John Fialka (E&E News) The Department of Energy and Southwest Airlines are teaming up to test the technologies needed to turn farm waste into jet fuel. A partnership between the Department of Energy, Southwest Airlines Co. and other companies is pioneering a process to make low-carbon jet fuel out
June 7, 2022
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by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) A report published by the USDA’s Office of Chief Economist in May assesses the future market opportunities and challenges for E15 and higher blends of ethanol, including a discussion of technical, regulatory, consumer acceptance, and economic challenges. Virtually all gasoline sold in the U.S. today
June 7, 2022
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“The annual RVO announce is becoming a brake on the decarbonization of US transportation instead of the accelerator it was intended by Congress to be.” — Jim Lane, publisher of Biofuels Digest, regarding the setting of renewable fuel volumes that must be put into the marketplace per federal regulations. READ
June 7, 2022
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by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, D.C., June 30, 2022 is the last day to sign up for the 2022 Census of Agriculture which is a complete count of U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them and is taken once every five years. The ag census, conducted for
June 6, 2022
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by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) …Airbus Helicopters in Japan and Japan’s leading helicopter operator Nakanihon Air (NNK) jointly performed the country’s first ever helicopter flight powered with sustainable aviation fuel. So this made us look at SAF and helicopters in a whole new way. In today’s Digest, details on
June 6, 2022
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by Cindy Zimmerman (Energy.AgWired.com) It was June 15, 2021 when Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced additional aid to agricultural producers and businesses as part of the USDA Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative, which included $700 billion for biofuels producers, for losses incurred in 2020. Not quite an entire year later, USDA finally made good
June 3, 2022
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(Environmental Protection Agency) On June 3, 2022, EPA announced the denial of 69 petitions from small refineries seeking small refinery exemptions (SREs) from the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program for one or more of the compliance years between 2016 and 2021. Consistent with the April 2022 Denial of Petitions for RFS
June 3, 2022
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(Environmental Protection Agency) On June 3, 2022, EPA announced the denial of 69 petitions for small refinery exemptions (SRE) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. This denial action included a subset of three SRE petitions for the 2016 and 2017 compliance years that EPA had previously granted, but that were
June 3, 2022
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(Environmental Protection Agency) On June 3, 2022, EPA proposed to provide an alternative RIN retirement schedule for small refineries that would provide them with additional time and a broader range of RINs to comply with their 2020 RFS obligations. EPA is proposing this alternative RIN retirement schedule because the Agency has
June 3, 2022
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(Environmental Protection Agency) On June 3, 2022, EPA finalized a package of actions setting biofuel volumes for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program for years 2020, 2021, and 2022, and introducing regulatory changes intended to enhance the program’s objectives. Final Volume Requirements for 2020-2022 (billion gallons) 2020 2021 2022 Cellulosic
June 3, 2022
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by Jarrett Renshaw (Reuters) The Biden administration should rely less on liquid fuels like ethanol and focus more on cleaner technology like electric vehicles (EVs) and advanced biofuels when it reshapes the nation’s renewable fuel program, environmental group Evergreen Action said in a report released on Friday. Evergreen Action was among
June 3, 2022
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by Matthew Choi (Politico’s Morning Energy) The White House Climate Policy Office is facing frustration over how it’s pushing President Joe Biden’s climate agenda — and its coming from its own camp, POLITICO’s Zack Colman reports. Several Democrats both in and out of the administration laid out their discontent with the
June 3, 2022
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by Dino Grandoni (Washington Post) Under the Biden administration’s proposed rule, energy infrastructure will get more scrutiny from local regulators — The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Thursday it would seek to return authority to states to oppose gas pipelines, coal terminals and other projects that pose a threat to
June 2, 2022
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(U.S. Department of Energy) With funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) were able to calculate that America’s landfills hold nearly 44 million metric tons—or 97 billion pounds—of discarded plastic, a staggering amount of material that could be harnessed to create
June 2, 2022
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by Michael McAdams (Advanced Biofuels Association/The Hill) When the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a hearing on the nomination of Joseph Goffman to be the EPA’s Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation (OAR), lawmakers met one of the most experienced people in Washington on issues
June 2, 2022
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by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine) The U.S. EPA is seeking nominations for qualified candidates to be considered for appointment to its Mobile Sources Technical Review Subcommittee, including candidates that have experience working with processors and shippers of biofuels. The MSTRS provides the EPA’s Clean Air Act Advisory Committee with independent
June 1, 2022
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by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine) Joseph Goffman expressed support for the Renewable Fuel Standard and the use of biofuels during a May 25 hearing held by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works to consider his nomination to serve as assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation.
June 1, 2022
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(Southwest Airlines/PR Newswire) Carrier’s first-of-its-kind investment supports the development of technology intended to commercialize sustainable aviation fuel — Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) (“Southwest” or the “Company”) today announces an investment into SAFFiRE Renewables, LLC (SAFFiRE), a company formed by D3MAX, LLC (D3MAX), as part of a Department of Energy (DOE)-backed project
June 1, 2022
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by Jarrett Renshaw and Stephanie Kelly (Reuters) The Biden administration is likely to raise ethanol blending mandates for 2021 above the figure it proposed in December to align with actual U.S. consumption levels, according to two sources briefed on the decision. In December, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed that refiners
June 1, 2022
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(Science Daily/DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) Study shows promise for developing a new renewable energy source — An innovative artificial enzyme has shown it can chew through woody lignin, an abundant carbon-based substance that stores tremendous potential for renewable energy and materials. A new artificial enzyme has shown it can chew
June 1, 2022
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(U.S. Department of Energy) Funding Will Reduce Emissions from Marine, Aviation, and other Hard-to-Decarbonize Sectors — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $59 million to accelerate the production of biofuels and bioproducts to reduce emissions in hard-to-decarbonize sectors and create good-paying jobs in rural America. DOE is focused on
June 1, 2022
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(Lehigh University) … While recycling and composting have increased, the majority of the waste produced goes into landfills, the most inexpensive option. About 12 percent of MSW was converted into energy by waste-to-energy plants in 2018, according to the Energy Information Administration. “There are different ways to process trash,” says Carlos
May 31, 2022
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by Kelly Davis (Renewable Fuels Association) On May 24, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee (REEEAC) held its last Charter 6 meeting. REEEAC advises the Secretary of Commerce regarding the development and administration of programs and policies that expand the competitiveness of U.S. exports of renewable energy
May 31, 2022
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by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association) On May 20, the Washington Times published a guest column by Jerry Jung, founder of the group “ReThink Ethanol,” in which he demonstrates a complete misunderstanding of the very federal policy he seeks to “rethink.” We responded with the following letter, which the newspaper has not
May 31, 2022
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The recent SEC proposed rule that would require public companies to include certain climate-related information is being seen as a game-changer in ESG reporting. It also stands to accelerate boards of directors and the C-suite to hone their products, processes and business models to meet this new era of transparency
May 30, 2022
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by Noah Wicks (Agri-Pulse) China’s push to achieve self-sufficiency, which has incentivized the nation to purchase, and even steal, agricultural assets in other countries, could present risks to the economic and national security of the United States, warns a report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. The report says China
May 30, 2022
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(Bioenergy Insight) California-based Kore has developed a new way to produce hydrogen from biogas. It claims the new method could potentially provide hydrogen for less than $2 per kg. “We produce biogas and biochar from biogenic feedstocks and the resulting biogas contains hydrogen, carbon monoxide, methane and carbon dioxide,” Kore’s executive vice
May 28, 2022
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by Matthew Choi (Politico’s Morning Energy) Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Reps. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) and Jason Crow (D-Colo.) want the Defense Department to go green. The group introduced the Depend on Domestic Clean Energy Act on Thursday to switch DOD’s energy supplies away from fossil fuels, which they call
May 27, 2022
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by Cindy Zimmerman (Energy.AgWired.com) President Joe Biden met with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Japan this week and released a statement on a number of issues, including ethanol. Prime Minister Kishida and President Biden welcomed Japan’s commitment to take all available measures to double demand for bioethanol, including for sustainable aviation fuel and
May 27, 2022
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by Meghan Sapp (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, a recent, highly publicized report led by Tyler Lark of the University of Wisconsin attacking the Renewable Fuel Standard is “more problematic than what we initially evaluated to be the case,” according to a new review of the work by researchers from the Department of Energy’s Argonne
May 27, 2022
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by Todd Neeley (DTN Progressive Farmer) The EPA has put forward a list of 20 possible candidates to peer review the agency’s upcoming triennial report to Congress on the Renewable Fuel Standard, and the Renewable Fuels Association objected to six of the candidates to fill nine positions. In comments submitted to
May 25, 2022
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by Luke Geiver (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The world’s major airlines are racing to decarbonize air travel by backing and using sustainable aviation fuel. Much of it is now being produced via plant-based oils in tandem with renewable diesel. Soon, it may also come from ethanol. — … Speaking to the
May 23, 2022
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by Cheri Bustos (D IL 17th) (FOXBusiness) A solution to high gas prices is being planted across the American Heartland — … I’m lucky enough to represent more than 7,000-square miles of Northwest and Central Illinois — home to nearly 10,000 family farms and seven biofuels plants in and around our
May 23, 2022
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(Growth Energy) Following settlement discussions with Growth Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to file a notice in the Federal Register on Monday seeking comment on a proposed judicial consent decree that would require EPA to propose the 2023 Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO) by no later than September 16, 2022
May 23, 2022
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(Solutions from the Land) … Reports out of Washington indicate that EPA submitted to the White House late last month its proposal on biofuel mandates, calling for a retroactive reduction for years 2020 and 2021, then boosting it back up for this year. Unfortunately, reports also indicate that the Biden administration
May 20, 2022
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by Meghan Grebner (Brownfield Ag News) … From increasing access to E-15 to releasing oil from the strategic reserve, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm says President Biden is accelerating efforts to lower fuel prices. “Nobody wants to be under the thumb of a petro-dictator like Vladimir Putin,” she says. “We clean,
May 20, 2022
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research builds public-private partnerships and funds pioneering research focusing on key challenge areas like next generation crops, soil health, advanced animal systems, sustainable water management, and more. Find out who is involved, what programs are used to invest in
May 20, 2022
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by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The USDA on May 10 announced it received more than 450 proposals for large-scale projects under its new Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program. The agency is accepting proposals for smaller-scale projects through June 10. The USDA first announced plans for the initiative in September 2021. The newly
May 19, 2022
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(U.S. Department of Energy) DOE Announces Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Effort to Establish Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs for Large-Scale CO2 Removal — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today released a Notice of Intent (NOI) to fund the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s $3.5 billion program to capture and store carbon dioxide (CO2)
May 19, 2022
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(U.S. Department of Energy) Industry-led R&D Projects Will Develop Technologies for More Efficient Hydrogen Turbines and Production with CO2 Capture and Storage — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $24.9 million in funding for six research and development projects to support the advancement of clean hydrogen for electricity generation.
May 19, 2022
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(U.S. Department of Energy) The U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) funds research and development (R&D) on technologies necessary for the deployment and production of cost- competitive bioenergy, primarily biofuels. Results of experimental efforts are periodically compiled and compared with benchmark technology designs to assess overall progress. This
May 19, 2022
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(Inside EPA) EPA has sent for White House review a draft proposal that appears aimed at implementing its novel renewable fuel standard (RFS) compliance “alternative” for small refiners that saw their 2018 hardship waivers from RFS mandates retroactively scrapped, a measure the biofuels sector says is a “hollow victory” because
May 19, 2022
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by Jared Strong (Iowa Capital Dispatch) A new state law that requires most of Iowa’s fuel stations to sell a gasoline blend with 15% ethanol will rapidly expand the fuel’s availability, but the law’s long-term effects might be more potent, according to the executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association.
May 19, 2022
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(U.S. Department of Energy) On May 5, 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) announced the Foundational Agrivoltaic Research for Megawatt Scale (FARMS) funding opportunity, which will award $8 million in funding for projects that examine how agrivoltaics can scale up to provide new economic
May 19, 2022
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(Growth Energy/CSP Daily News) … David Durling, Regional Sales Director at Growth Energy, provides information about E15 compatibility, distribution, profitability and more. Compatibility is common Concerns about compatibility—both with retailer equipment and consumer vehicles—often stem from common misconceptions; in actuality, most convenience stores can store and dispense E15 with little to
May 18, 2022
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(Clean Fuels Development Coalition) A new White Paper from the Clean Fuels Development Coalition rings the alarm that EPA continues to miss opportunities to replace toxic aromatic compounds with clean burning ethanol and the agency could save thousands of lives through reduced particulate emissions in the air we breathe. Authored by
May 18, 2022
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by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association/Ethanol Producer Magazine) While E15 scored an important temporary victory in April, we need to continue to educate consumers and policymakers about the higher blend’s benefits and true regulatory history as the oil industry and misinformed environmental extremists attack. When President Biden announced in April
May 18, 2022
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(Inside EPA) Biofuels producers, airlines and others are urging changes to EPA’s proposed renewable fuel standard (RFS) rules to provide more flexibility to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) that is the cornerstone of a Biden administration strategy to reduce carbon emissions from aircraft, warning that without such action the strategy
May 18, 2022
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(Carbon 180) Carbon removal startups working across tech and agriculture have penned two letters calling for the Senate and House Appropriations Committees to increase support for both geologic storage (the final resting place for carbon collected via direct air capture and BECCS) and agricultural soil carbon. The variety of signatories paints a picture
May 17, 2022
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(NACS) Regulators “should encourage innovation to meet environmental performance goals,” NACS says. — NACS on May 13 filed a petition in federal court in Washington, D.C., to challenge the Environmental Protection Agency’s grant of a waiver that would allow California to impose a zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate and related limits on
May 17, 2022
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(U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is inviting small businesses to participate as Small Entity Representatives (SERs) for a Small Business Advocacy Review (SBAR) Panel. This Panel will focus on the agency’s development of a rule that would propose to reduce air pollutant emissions, including greenhouse gas
May 16, 2022
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by Zack Budryk (The Hill) Seventeen Republican state attorneys general on Friday announced a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for allowing California to set its own vehicle emissions standards. The lawsuit alleges EPA Administrator Michael Regan violated the Constitution’s doctrine of equal sovereignty by allowing California an exemption from the Clean
May 16, 2022
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by John Blum (Marquette University) A new combustion system for engines allows heavy-duty farm equipment normally powered by diesel fuel to run on gasoline and ethanol, without sacrificing performance. — Having grown up working on his uncle’s farm and in his father’s concrete business in northern Illinois, Dr. Adam Dempsey
May 16, 2022
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by Cindy Zimmerman (Energy.AgWired.com) Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) Chief Economist Scott Richman hits back at a new ad campaign by an oil refiners coalition that blames high gas prices on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) in a blog post explaining the inconvenient truth that refiners are making record profits while consumers pay at the pump.
May 16, 2022
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by Sumit Singh (Simple Flying) The US aviation scene is serious about sustainability. — The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has a goal to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions industry-wide by 2050. With this in mind, the authority revealed its Aviation Climate Action Plan late last year. The group’s management this
May 13, 2022
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Michael Berube, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Sustainable Transportation at the Department of Energy shared this illuminating slide guide at ABLC on what the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE)’s goal is with bioenergy, biomass in sustainable transportation including sustainable aviation fuel, and more. READ
May 13, 2022
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by Scott Richman (Renewable Fuels Association) If you watched the Sunday morning talk shows last weekend, you might have noticed a new advertisement (paid for by oil refiners) that attacks the Renewable Fuel Standard. The ad notes that consumers are paying record-high prices at the pump (something that has nothing to do with
May 13, 2022
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by Adam Schubert (Stillwater Associates) On April 12th, President Biden announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would issue an emergency waiver of federal gasoline Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) regulations this summer for E15—a 15% blend of ethanol with gasoline. This action was finalized on April 29th. As ethanol is
May 12, 2022
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by Michael Booth (Colorado Sun) Carbon America will gather 350,000 tons of carbon a year from Yuma and Sterling ethanol makers and store it deep underground in climate change fight. A pioneering carbon capture company wants to take the climate change fight to northeastern Colorado by gathering 350,000 tons of
May 12, 2022
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by Arianna Skibell (E&E News) The International Council on Clean Transportation says the proposed zero-emission vehicle credit system, which allows manufacturers to use EV credits to offset emissions, would raise the pollution limit. The International Council on Clean Transportation is calling on EPA to abandon its proposed zero-emission vehicle credit
May 12, 2022
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(360 Fuel) The White House has unveiled a new strategy and investments as part of a long-term commitment to spur smart development and adoption of sustainable, homegrown fuels across the United States (U.S.). The President declared new steps to achieve this goal by increasing fuel supply, offering new options for consumers, and
May 12, 2022
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(News Channel Nebraska Central) In a statement Tuesday, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts blamed economic inflation on President Joe Biden and called for biofuels priorities that feature ethanol made with Nebraska-grown corn. Ricketts said the price of wholesale ethanol has recently been as much as $1.20 per gallon less than expensive
May 11, 2022
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(Biofuels International) … In the Administration’s adjoining Summer Fuels Outlook, the forecast for the average price of petroleum and diesel is that the next few months will see prices reaching their highest inflation-adjusted levels since the summer of 2014. This is the background against which Biofuels International spoke to both the US
May 11, 2022
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(U.S. Grains Council/Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. Grains Council worked with the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service in Vietnam to engage the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) and Ministry of Finance (MOF) to reduce most favored nation (MFN) tariffs on imported ethanol, ultimately resulting in new tariff lines that spurred
May 10, 2022
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by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration has announced it will hold a virtual open meeting the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee via WebEx on May 12. The REEEAC provides the Secretary of Commerce with advice from the private sector on the
May 10, 2022
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(Inside EPA) Refiners are suing EPA in different federal appellate courts over the agency’s novel retroactive denial of 36 waivers from renewable fuel standard (RFS) biofuel blending obligations for 2018, signaling a venue fight with EPA that may set a precedent for other possible litigation. Louisiana refiner Calumet Shreveport Refining
May 10, 2022
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(Growth Energy) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan joined Agritalk Radio to discuss the latest news on SREs, RVOs, and the future of the RFS. On EPA proposing to deny all pending SRE requests…. I believe we need to be on course to grow biofuels in this country, and
May 10, 2022
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(U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a 15-day public comment period on the pool of twenty (20) candidates for the external peer review of the Biofuels and the Environment: Third Triennial Report to Congress (RtC3). The peer review will be conducted under the framework
May 10, 2022
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by Cassandra Sulmeisters (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Senior Research Fellow Bob McCormick was recently recognized with one of the highest honors by the American Chemical Society (ACS): the Henry H. Storch Award in Energy Chemistry for his research on alternative and low-carbon fuels, including the chemistry
May 9, 2022
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by Anthony Hennen (The Center Square/The Bradford Era) The biofuel industry could dramatically reduce tailpipe emissions from cars and improve air quality, but the effects of the pandemic and government subsidies for green competitors like electric vehicles makes future growth a tough road ahead. Pennsylvania has two biofuel producers, Hero Bx
May 9, 2022
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by Bryen Alperin, Gary Blitz, Sarah Grey, Steve Whittaker, John Koenig, John Pierce, and Jason Kuzma (Carbon Capture Magazine) The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 expanded the 45Q tax credit, the most important federal incentive for encouraging private investment in the development and use of carbon capture technologies and facilities.
May 9, 2022
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(National Renewable Energy Laboratory) Perovskite materials may hold the potential to play an important role in a process to produce hydrogen in a renewable manner, according to an analysis from scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Hydrogen has emerged as an important carrier to store energy generated by renewable
May 9, 2022
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(U.S. Grains Council/Ethanol Producer Magazine) U.S. ethanol can now enter the Indonesian market by way of pre-blended fuel following the recent removal of a ban on such products entering the country. This change creates a potential market of more than 200 million gallons (71 million bushels in corn equivalent). The market
May 9, 2022
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(News Press Now) Normally, any move to increase the supply of renewable fuel should draw widespread praise. Even more so if this measure saves the average consumer $9 a month and reduces dependency on oil exports that finance Russia’s war of brutality in Ukraine. But that’s not the case with
May 9, 2022
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by Erin Murphy (Sioux City Journal) …Differences over a hard line on when to send U.S. troops to Ukraine and over ethanol policy were among the few contrasts to emerge during a televised debate Saturday night between the Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate in Iowa. … The candidates also had
May 9, 2022
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by Lynn L. Bergeson (Bergeson & Campbell) On April 20-21, 2022, EPA held a virtual public meeting to provide an overview of the TSCA New Chemicals Collaborative Research Program and give stakeholders an opportunity to provide input. As reported in our March 14, 2022, memorandum on the draft document entitled “Modernizing the Process and
May 9, 2022
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by Emily Pontecorvo (Grist) Companies want to build pipelines to capture and store carbon, but a new report warns that regulators aren’t prepared. — … But as the number of pipeline proposals multiplies, a new report commissioned by the Pipeline Safety Trust, a nonprofit advocacy group, warns that CO2 pipeline regulations aren’t
May 6, 2022
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To advance the development of the emerging and necessary carbon dioxide removal (CDR) industry, DOE launched Carbon Negative Shot at COP26, the third target within the Energy Earthshots Initiative. Carbon Negative Shot is the U.S. government’s first major effort in CDR and is an all-hands-on-deck call for innovation in technologies and
May 6, 2022
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(U.S. Department of Energy) DOE Launches $2.25B Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Effort to Increase CO2 Storage Sites, Provides Additional $91M to Advance Carbon Management Approaches, Building Next Generation Industries — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today (May 5, 2022) announced more than $2.3 billion for three efforts to advance diverse
May 6, 2022
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by Brian Jennings (American Coalition for Ethanol) Climate-smart farming practices, efficiencies at ethanol plants, and the capture and sequestration of biogenic CO2 from facilities puts ethanol on a trajectory to reach both net-zero and net-negative emissions, a trajectory that is unique to ethanol. … (D)uring its final meeting of 2021,
May 5, 2022
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by Kellan Heavican (Brownfield Ag News) Kansas Governor Laura Kelly says the ethanol industry can support increased demand for permanent, year-round sales of E15. She tells Brownfield there’s adequate infrastructure to deliver the fuel to retailers. “There is now. Now, if demand is goes sky high, we may have to beef
May 5, 2022
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(Farm Journal Ag/Web/Pro Farmer Editors) Biofuel and farm groups see E15 and other higher blends of corn ethanol into gasoline as the strategy to increased sales, but the current structure of the Renewable Fuel Standard “does not serve to incentivize ethanol blends higher than E10,” according to a report from
May 5, 2022
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by David Worford (Environment + Energy Leader) Walmart will get up to 20 tons of liquid green hydrogen a day as part of an agreement with Plug Power to help power the retailer’s lift trucks at its distribution centers across the United States. Plug will deliver green hydrogen using a fleet
May 4, 2022
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by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association/Washington Post) Americans should be thanking President Biden for allowing the continued sale of lower-cost, lower-carbon E15 this summer (letters, “No more ethanol in gas,” April 22). E15 is saving drivers as much as 30 cents per gallon, cutting the typical U.S. household’s annual fuel bill by
May 4, 2022
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by Stephanie Kelly (Reuters) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has sent a rule on U.S. biofuel blending mandates to the White House for final review, according to a notice posted by the Office of Management and Budget. The oil and biofuel industries, which have in the past been at odds over
May 3, 2022
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by Nicholas Kusnetz (Inside Climate News) As companies propose storing carbon dioxide in depleted oil fields or saline aquifers, some states are putting themselves on the hook for future problems with the projects. — As states rush to enact rules and regulations for the underground storage of carbon dioxide, a key
May 2, 2022
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by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) Alder Fuels’ Chief Technology Officer, Derek Vardon, shared this illuminating slide guide at ABLC highlighting how they are seeing a future of gathering energy instead of drilling for it and how the solution for sustainable fuel is a load of rubbish – literally forest
May 2, 2022
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by Abby Caplan (Argus Media) Refined products retailer Pilot Travel Centers fears a move to cut rail traffic by western US railroad Union Pacific (UP) will drive a shortage of diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) and ethanol in the US. UP this month ordered Pilot to cut rail shipments by 50pc or
May 2, 2022
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by Leo Wolfson (Cowboy State Daily) One of Wyoming’s three oil refineries is among 36 nationally to have its request to be exempted from biofuel blending rules refused. Documents filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals showed the Sinclair Refinery near Rawlins applied with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for an
May 2, 2022
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by Stephanie Kelly (Reuters) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued an emergency waiver for a higher-ethanol gasoline blend on Friday, allowing summertime sales of the fuel in an attempt to help lower gasoline prices at the pump. The move represents a temporary win for the biofuels industry and corn farmers, as
May 2, 2022
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(Federal Aviation Administration) The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. airports have launched an Airport Climate Challenge to help achieve the Biden-Harris Administration goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. Airports can take advantage of several FAA funding programs to meet this goal, including grants for low- or zero-emissions
April 29, 2022
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by Stephanie Kelly (Reuters) U.S. governors from eight Midwest states, many of which are major corn producers, asked the Biden administration on Thursday to apply rules that would allow gasoline blended with a higher level of ethanol to be sold year-round in their states. Governors from Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota said
April 29, 2022
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by David Iaconangelo (E&E News) The Energy Department’s loan office announced yesterday that it intends to issue a half-billion-dollar guarantee to what it called a “first-of-its-kind” hydrogen project. The $504 million for a Utah project is the third loan guarantee from the Biden administration, which has struggled to get its climate
April 27, 2022
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by Marc J. Rauch (The Auto Channel) The April announcement by Joe Biden that E15 would be allowed to be sold year-round set off a frenzied spate of new attacks on the good fuel…the clean fuel…the 100% domestically produced fuel: ETHANOL. TV and radio stations all over the country have been
April 27, 2022
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(Growth Energy) The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia today (April 25, 2022) approved a consent decree agreement between Growth Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that requires EPA to finalize its 2020-2022 Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs) by no later than June 3rd. The consent decree follows
April 27, 2022
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by Mark Heller (E&E News) The House Agriculture panel’s top Republican said he thought a revised “Growing Climate Solutions Act” was on the way to passage — until it wasn’t. — The top Republican on the House Agriculture Committee said a bill to bolster carbon sequestration in farming seemed to be
April 27, 2022
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by Mary Kennedy (DTN Progressive Farmer) The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) detailed how poor rail service is having a negative impact on the entire ethanol industry in written testimony sent to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) on April 22. The STB is scheduled to conduct hearings on the issue April 26-27.
April 27, 2022
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) If you missed the recent Digest Connect with two of the most important energy security hawks in the United States (Graham Noyes, Executive director of the Low Carbon Fuels Coalition, and former Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, father of the Great Green Fleet) outlining practical actions
April 27, 2022
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(Office of Governor Kim Reynolds (R-IA)) Gov. Reynolds released the following statement today in response to the legislature passing HF2128: “This is a historic win for Iowa families, for our agriculture and biofuels industry, and for Iowa’s entire economy. By increasing access to more affordable, homegrown biofuels made right here in Iowa,
April 27, 2022
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by Cindy Zimmerman (Energy.AgWired.com) Media coverage of President Biden’s announcement last Tuesday that consumers will continue to have access to lower-cost 15% ethanol fuel this summer contained a great deal of misinformation, despite the best efforts of the ethanol industry to get the facts out. In a blog post Monday, Renewable
April 26, 2022
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by Ty Higgins (Ohio Farm Bureau) Last week, the Biden administration discussed how its strategy to spur the development of homegrown biofuels is critical to expanding Americans’ options for affordable fuel in the short term and to building real energy independence in the long term by reducing our reliance on
April 26, 2022
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by Jeremy Beaman (Washington Examiner) The Biden administration’s support for more oil and gas production to lower soaring energy prices has angered key environmentalist constituencies and sent officials away to insist that they aren’t compromising their green agenda. The administration maintains that more domestic oil production is necessary to help bring down gasoline prices, and it
April 26, 2022
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(Great Lakes Energy) Says E30 Blends Can More than Offset the loss of Russian Oil, No RVP Waiver Needed — – Opening the door to 30% ethanol blends would save consumers billions of dollars at the gas pump and reduce imported oil by as much as one billion barrels per
April 26, 2022
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(U.S. Department of Transportation) Key program will fund projects that help fight climate change and save Americans money on gas — The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration today announced a new program that unlocks $6.4 billion in formula funding for states and localities over five years. The new Carbon
April 25, 2022
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Biofuel, Ag Groups Comment on SEC Climate Disclosures Rulemaking
by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine) … Growth Energy’s comments focused on the calculation of biofuel GHG emissions. “The proposed rule would require many public companies to calculate and disclose GHG emissions from throughout their entire supply chain and production cycle,” Growth Energy said in its comments. “How obligated parties calculate the GHG