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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
Environmental Protection Agency
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 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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(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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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 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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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 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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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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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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“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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(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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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 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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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 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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(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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(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 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 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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(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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(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 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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(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 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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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 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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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 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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(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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(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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by Janet McGurty (S&P Global) US refiners seek remedy for high gasoline prices; High RFS costs shut refineries, cuts supply; E15 waiver directly helps Midwestern drivers — US refiners are taking their plea to the public with a new ad campaign launched by Fueling American Jobs Coalition asking President Biden to lower gasoline
April 25, 2022
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(U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) pathways for certain biofuels that are produced from canola/rapeseed oil and is providing an opportunity for comment on the Agency’s lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) analysis of these pathways. With the approval, these fuel pathways
April 21, 2022
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by Paul Adler (KY3.com) … Most gasoline sold in the U.S. is blended with 10% ethanol. The biofuel is currently cheaper than pure gas. E15 is usually prohibited between June 1st and September 15th. The administration predicts their action will save drivers an average of 10 cents per gallon based on current prices. Fuel Analyst
April 21, 2022
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(Tennessee Corn Promotion Board/Press Newswire) Last week President Biden announced that E15 will be sold this summer in an effort to reduce gasoline prices. E15 is a plant-based fuel made from corn. Often marketed as Unleaded 88, E15 is a renewable resource that’s made with regular gasoline and a smaller amount
April 19, 2022
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by Jacqui Fatka (Farm Progress) … It is hard to predict the demand picture under the expanded E15 scenario, but lower estimates of a continued status quo indicate at least 300 million gallons of additional ethanol could be used by consumers with the year-round use of E15. “But (if you
April 15, 2022
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by Jenna Hoffman (Farm Journal/AgWeb) Vilsack says concerns over inflated food costs due to increased E15 consumption can be put to rest — any grocery price hike is not coming from E15 because “there’s plenty of corn here.” — Corn chatter has stretched across The Hill in recent weeks, as USDA
April 15, 2022
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by Mark Dorenkamp (Browfield Ag News) U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley is dismissing the food versus fuel debate that seems to be reemerging after the Biden administration announced it will allow summertime sales of E15. The Iowa Republican tells Brownfield without ethanol farmers wouldn’t grow as much corn, so the impact on
April 15, 2022
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by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine) The U.S. EPA on April 12 published a proposed rule approve Renewable Fuel Standard pathways for renewable diesel, jet fuel, heating oil, naphtha, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) produced from canola/rapeseed oil via a hydrotreating process. EPA’s assessment proposes to find that these fuel pathways meet
April 14, 2022
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by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. EPA on April 5 released its fiscal year (FY) 2023 congressional budget justification, outlining the agency’s plans for the $11.88 billion in agency funding requested by President Biden in his FY 2023 budget request on March 28. Initiatives related to the Renewable Fuel Standard are
April 12, 2022
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(Diesel Technology Forum) … Reducing Emissions should be more than just Setting New Engine Standards, but also Implementing More Immediate Term Solutions Like Use Of Renewable Fuels And Accelerating The Turnover Of The Legacy Fleet The most substantial opportunities to reduce emissions in our communities in the relative near term
April 12, 2022
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by Jeff Stein and Evan Halper (Washington Post) The EPA plans to issue a national, emergency waiver to allow use of blended biofuels over the summer hours after report is expected to show inflation keeps surging — The White House plans to roll out new policies Tuesday aimed at curbing
April 12, 2022
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by Larry Lee (Brownfield Ag News) The legal action by the biofuels industry against the EPA over Small Refinery Waivers and biofuel blending obligations continue. Geoff Cooper with the Renewable Fuels Association tells Brownfield that additional court briefs were filed Thursday. He says the new EPA administrator has taken steps to
April 11, 2022
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by Stephanie Kelly (Reuters) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has denied 36 petitions from oil refiners seeking exemptions to the nation’s biofuel blending laws for the 2018 compliance year, but will provide 31 of those refineries with another avenue to seek relief, the agency announced on Thursday. The action will align
April 8, 2022
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(Bergeson & Campbell) On April 6, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held a webinar on “New Chemical Risk Management Actions under TSCA.” As reported in our January 24, 2022, blog item, in January 2022, EPA announced an effort to streamline the review of new biobased or waste-derived chemicals that could displace current,
April 7, 2022
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(Solutions from the Land) … Unfortunately, he has ignored a widely available, less expensive source of clean transportation fuel – biofuels, like ethanol – that could help ease those prices and supply concerns. Russian oil represents only 2 percent of all U.S. oil imports, but that same amount is a more
April 7, 2022
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(KLGR) Two Senate Ag Committee members recently urged the Environmental Protection Agency to update its greenhouse gas modeling for biofuels. Senators John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, and Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, asked the EPA to adopt the Argonne National Lab’s Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation,
April 7, 2022
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(Renewable Fuels Association) Sales of E15, a gasoline blend containing 15 percent ethanol, hit a record 814 million gallons in 2021, according to a new analysis from the Renewable Fuels Association. The 2021 volume represented a 62 percent increase over the prior year and was nearly double pre-pandemic sales volumes in 2019. However,
April 7, 2022
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(Growth Energy) Growth Energy submitted comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the agency’s particulate matter (PM) emissions standards and test procedures for jet engines, and the role biofuels play in reducing PM and greenhouse gas emissions in mobile sources including the aviation sector. “As we have already seen with higher
April 6, 2022
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by Madelyn Ostendorf (Successful Farming) In a first-of-its kind study, researchers at Purdue University have illustrated the impact of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) on the production of biofuels. Over the past 15 years, production and consumption of biofuels have increased in the United States, caused by a variety of market
April 5, 2022
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by Todd Neeley (DTN Progressive Farmer) Attorneys general in Iowa, Kansas and the governor of Minnesota asked the EPA for a waiver to allow E15 sales to continue in their states when those sales are set to end starting on June 1, the start of the summer driving season. In recent
April 5, 2022
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by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) In South Dakota, The American Coalition for Ethanol submitted feedback to the Environmental Protection Agency’s request for comment on the current scientific understanding of greenhouse gas modeling of land-based crop biofuels. ACE CEO Brian Jennings and ACE Board Director Ron Alverson contributed to the feedback after attending
April 4, 2022
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(U.S. Department of Transportation) Standards to require fleet average of 49 mpg by 2026, save consumers money, and advance U.S. energy independence — The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration today announced new, landmark fuel economy standards which follow President Biden’s executive order to drive American leadership forward
April 1, 2022
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by Spencer Chase (Agri-Pulse) The Biden administration is fielding a steady stream of requests for emergency action to allow for summertime sales of E15, but those calls are coming up against the realities of the fuel supply chain as demonstrated by the actions of a pro-biofuel company. In various outreach
March 30, 2022
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(Intercontinental Exchange/Business Wire) Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology, and market infrastructure, today announced the launch of two Renewable Volume Obligation futures contracts, expanding ICE’s U.S. renewable fuels futures markets. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) mandates the incorporation of renewable fuels
March 29, 2022
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by Todd Neeley (DTN Progressive Farmer) With the start of the summer driving season fast approaching and year-round E15 sales no longer an option, EPA’s Rod Snyder said on Thursday the agency continues to work to restore those sales. Snyder, who is the ag adviser to EPA Administrator Michael Regan and
March 25, 2022
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by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine) U.S. EPA Administrator Michael Regan on March 22 issued a statement in support of National Agriculture Day thanking farmers for their work to produce food, feed, fuel and fiber. Regan also discussed the importance of the agency’s recently rechartered Farm, Ranch and Rural Communities Advisory Committee
March 24, 2022
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(Environmental Protection Agency) Reviewing New Chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) — The Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention’s (OCSPP) New Chemicals Division (NCD) has implemented a robust, consistent, and efficient process to assess the risk and apply mitigation measures, as appropriate, for substitutes to petroleum-based fuels and
March 23, 2022
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by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. EPA in holding webinars on March 23 and April 6 related to its January 2022 announcement that the agency is launching a new initiative under the Toxic Substances Control Act that aims to streamline the review of new biobased fuels and chemicals that could be
March 23, 2022
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by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Reps. Angie Craig, D-Minn.; Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa; Cheri Bustos, D-Ill.; and Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, on March 21 introduced the Home Front Energy Independence Act, a bill that aims to expand access to biofuels and ban Russian oil. Companion legislation was introduced in the Senate on March 9.
March 22, 2022
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(Ohio Soybean Association/Highland County Press) At a time of growing consensus on the need for greater reliance on domestic fuel sources, the Ohio Soybean Association (OSA) joined other state soybean associations in support of a petition to include biofuels in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) vehicle standards. OSA filed
March 21, 2022
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by Geogg Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association/Minneapolis Star Tribune) Contrary to the assertions of the March 13 article “Ethanol’s emissions clouding its benefits,” ethanol’s environmental benefits are as clear as the blue sky on a cloudless, sunny day. While the article correctly mentions that ethanol’s carbon footprint continues to shrink, the reporters unfortunately omit
March 21, 2022
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by Walker Jaroch (Aviation Pros) The Eliminate Aviation Gasoline Lead Emissions (EAGLE) initiative held its first meeting this week, discussing the challenges around and needs of removing lead from general aviation fuel over a two day event. … The two-day event was attended by fuel refiners, distributors, engine OEMs, airplane
March 18, 2022
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by Ashley Davenport (Hoosier Ag Today) … “We have the Next Generation Fuel Bill, which would bring energy security to our fuel situation with higher gas prices,” says Matt Frostic, a Michigan farmer and at-large member of NCGA. “It allows higher compression engines that the automotives would like to build, which would
March 18, 2022
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by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) ABLC’s theme of “Dawn of Net Zero” and hundreds of delegates from organizations all over the world grappling with the immense opportunities and supply chain challenges posed by the world’s rapid turn towards charting a path toward a post-fossil society. After hearing from leaders
March 17, 2022
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by Matthew Choi (Politico’s Morning Energy) House progressives are planning to request Biden use emergency measures to ban future fossil fuel drilling on federal lands and deploy the Defense Production Act to ramp up clean energy generation, POLITICO’s Josh Siegel reports. The call will also touch on other progressive priorities like immigration,
March 16, 2022
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by Daniel Grant (Farm Week Now) While the U.S. scrambles to fill the void in the oil market created by the ban of Russian imports, commodity group leaders believe the solution is closer to home than Venezuela or Saudi Arabia. “If ever there was a time that underscores the need to
March 15, 2022
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by C. Boyden Gray (Boyden Gray & Associates/Real Clear Politics) … Currently, the EPA regulates fuels and automobiles separately, instead of as a single system. Automakers have the technological know-how to make much more efficient car engines, but regulatory barriers prevent them from doing so because they do not permit the
March 14, 2022
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by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. EPA on March 10 issued a notice to all obligated parties under the Renewable Fuel Standard that the agency will disclose certain confidential business information (CBI) related to small refinery exemption (SRE) petitions to the U.S. Government Accountability Office on March 28. According
March 13, 2022
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by Anne C. Mulkern (E&E News) EPA today officially restored California’s ability to set its own rules for vehicle tailpipe emissions and to require automakers to sell an increasing number of clean cars. The Biden administration granted the nation’s most populous state a waiver under the Clean Air Act, allowing California
March 10, 2022
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( Environmental Protection Agency/Federal Register) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is providing notice of disclosure to all obligated parties under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program that have petitioned for a small refinery exemption (SRE) or that have submitted any of the following RFS compliance reports: RFS2500 Efficient Producer Data
March 10, 2022
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(Solutions from the Land) … The news of increased fuel costs comes as the Biden administration is considering a relaxation of federal requirements calling on blenders to mix specific amounts of ethanol or biodiesel when producing the nation’s petroleum-based fuel supply. To even consider backing away from the statutory obligation to
March 10, 2022
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(Environmental Protection Agency) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announces the selection of 11 organizations expected to receive a total of approximately $2 million in funding to divert food waste from landfills by expanding anaerobic digester capacity nationwide. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a process in which microorganisms break down organic materials, such as food
March 10, 2022
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by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Representatives of the biofuels industry on Feb. 28 filed two separate petitions in with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit challenging a final rule issued by the U.S. EPA in December setting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for model year (MY) 2023-2026 passenger cars and
March 8, 2022
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(Environmental Protection Agency) Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is releasing new and updated resources to support states as they work to address the climate crisis and reduce climate pollution. These resources include new state-level data on greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and sinks, updates to EPA’s existing State Inventory Tool
March 8, 2022
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(Growth Energy/Ethanol Producer Magazine) Yesterday, Growth Energy submitted supplemental comments to the U.S. EPA responding to erroneous comments from others on the environmental, economic, and compliance impacts of EPA’s proposed 2020, 2021, and 2022 renewable volume obligations (RVOs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Growth Energy’s supplemental comments are in addition to its
March 8, 2022
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(Environmental Protection Agency) On March 3, 2022, EPA Administrator Regan signed a proposed rule that would set new, more stringent standards to reduce pollution from heavy-duty vehicles and engines starting in model year (MY) 2027. The proposed standards would significantly reduce emissions of smog- and soot-forming nitrogen oxides (NOx) from heavy-duty
March 7, 2022
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by Lynn L. Bergeson (Bergeson & Campbel Biobased and Sustainable Chemicals Blog) On January 27, 2022, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, and 14 of her colleagues submitted a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, Michael Regan, requesting that
March 7, 2022
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(Inside EPA) As EPA comes under growing pressure to increase its estimates of how much greenhouse gas emissions biofuels save over their lifetime, the agency is holding consultations that could result in changes that may boost programs encouraging biofuels use such as the renewable fuel standard (RFS), which are now
March 4, 2022
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NCD is launching outreach and training for interested stakeholders in the biofuels sector to review TSCA requirements, outline the streamlined approaches for risk assessments and risk management actions, and provide information on how to navigate the new chemicals PMN process. NCD is holding a meeting on Wednesday, April 6, 2022
March 4, 2022
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NCD is launching outreach and training for interested stakeholders in the biofuels sector to review TSCA requirements, outline the streamlined approaches for risk assessments and risk management actions, and provide information on how to navigate the new chemicals PMN process. NCD is holding a meeting on Wednesday, March 9, 2022
March 4, 2022
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(Bergeson & Campbell) On February 23, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held a webinar on requirements under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the premanufacture notice (PMN) process for biofuels. As reported in our January 24, 2022, blog item, in January 2022, EPA announced an effort to streamline the review of
March 4, 2022
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by Chris Clayton (DTN Progressive Farmer) With oil reaching its highest price in nearly 11 years and OPEC nations opting not to increase production, the biofuels industry is clamoring for attention in the U.S. and calling on the Biden administration to support it. At the National Farmers Union annual meeting this
March 3, 2022
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(Renewable Fuels Association) America’s top biofuel and farm advocates called on President Biden to swiftly expand access to plentiful, lower-cost biofuels as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushes fuel prices closer to record levels. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is soon expected to finalize biofuel blending requirements for 2021 and 2022 and address a controversial
March 3, 2022
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by Juan Carlos Rodriguez (Law360) States and green groups are urging the D.C. Circuit to order the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to strengthen Trump-era aviation greenhouse gas emissions standards that have been maintained by the Biden administration. California and 11 other states, along with the District of Columbia, told the appeals
March 2, 2022
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by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) Pictures worth 1000 words show the prices on March 1 at a Sheetz in Virginia. Compare the E10 Regular to E15 Unleaded 88 and E85 FlexFuel. Compare those to the price of E0 — no ethanol gasoline. The message is clear. Higher ethanol blends
March 2, 2022
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by Joel Rosenblatt (Bloomberg) Renewable fuel producers join Valero unit in court challenge; EPA rule governs release of carbon dioxide from car tailpipes — The gasoline industry and alternative fuel makers, frequent foes, put aside their differences for court challenges to a Biden administration rule imposing limits on automobile greenhouse-gas emissions.
March 1, 2022
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by Clark Mindock (Law360) A Texas-led group of states is slamming the Biden administration’s push to strengthen greenhouse gas standards for auto emissions, telling the D.C. Circuit on Monday it must intervene and stop a purported federal war on fossil fuels. The 14-state coalition headed by Lone Star State Attorney General Ken
March 1, 2022
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(Inside EPA) EPA officials say they expect “most” biofuels will meet regulatory criteria requiring review and likely regulation under TSCA, though any such limits are likely to end once the substance is incorporated into the fuel supply because it presents similar risks as conventional fossil fuels, whose end use is
March 1, 2022
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by Larry Lee (Brownfield Ag News) … Erik Huschitt with Badger State Ethanol in Monroe, Wisconsin tells Brownfield America had the one-pound waiver approved by the prior administration, “And then, we have a change in the Supreme Court level that doesn’t acknowledge that change, and so here we are now all
March 1, 2022
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by Michael H. Levin (BioCycle Magazine) EPA’s “proposed adjudication” of 65 pending small-refiner exemption requests could deny virtually all such requests — now and in the future. — … In June 2021, the Supreme Court (reviewing a Tenth Circuit decision) ruled that EPA lacked “clear authority” under the RFS Program to
February 23, 2022
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(Growth Energy) Following settlement discussions with Growth Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will file a notice in the Federal Register tomorrow seeking comment on a proposed judicial consent decree that would require EPA to finalize the 2021 and 2022 Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs), which are the subject of a pending rulemaking,
February 23, 2022
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by Matthew Choi (Politico’s Morning Energy) Geoff Cooper, head of the Renewable Fuels Association, said Tuesday that the trade group heard from EPA that it’s aiming to propose a rule for the future of the Renewable Fuel Standard by late spring or early summer. Under legislation from 2007, Congress set
February 23, 2022
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(Advanced Biofuels Association/Biomass Magazine) The Advanced Biofuels Association (ABFA), the leading voice of energy innovators working to decarbonize transportation fuel, released comments calling on the U.S. EPA to restore regulatory certainty in their proposed renewable volume obligation (RVO) under the Renewable Fuel Standard. ABFA’s comments support a higher standard for the advanced (D5) pool than
February 23, 2022
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by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. EPA is seeking nominations for scientific experts to serve on an external expert panel to peer review the agency’s third triennial report to congress on biofuels and the environment. The agency is required to report to congress on the environmental and resource conservation
February 22, 2022
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by Arianna Skibell (E&E News) The Biden administration is preparing to reinstate California’s authority to set auto emissions rules that are more stringent than federal standards, taking a major step toward cutting transportation-related climate pollution and continuing to chip away at former President Trump’s environmental rollbacks. The waiver, granted decades ago
February 16, 2022
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by Ron Kotrba (Biobased Diesel Daily) The Advanced Biofuels Association (ABFA) released comments it submitted to U.S. EPA on the proposed Renewable Fuel Standard rule. The comments support a higher standard for the advanced biofuel (D5) pool, referencing data on available feedstocks and production capacity to support up to 7 billion
February 15, 2022
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by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association) A new report published today (February 14, 2022) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences, funded in part by the National Wildlife Federation, purports to examine the “environmental outcomes” of the Renewable Fuel Standard. In keeping with their previous “research” on biofuels
February 15, 2022
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(Inside EPA) Oil sector groups are divided over EPA’s proposal to deny all remaining requests from small refiners for compliance waivers from the renewable fuel standard (RFS), with smaller refiners arguing the plan is illogical and unlawful, while bigger firms say large-scale exemptions are unwarranted. The divisions mark a rare
February 14, 2022
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“During a time of high gasoline prices, it is more important than ever that higher blends of biofuels be made available to consumers year-round. … By removing remaining regulatory hurdles and providing greater access to E15, you can help keep fuel prices in check for American consumers and ease concerns
February 11, 2022
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(Growth Energy) Yesterday, Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor sent a letter to President Biden, urging him to turn to higher biofuel blends to combat high gas prices. At a February 4th press conference, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that the administration “will continue to look at options that can be done
February 11, 2022
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(Comstock Mining) Technologies Enable Dramatic Reduction in Carbon Intensity for America’s Decarbonization Portfolio — Comstock Mining Inc. (NYSE: LODE) (“Comstock” and the “Company”) today announced its submission of comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) calling for enhanced regulations governing the use of biomass-derived intermediates in the production of renewable
February 11, 2022
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(Fossil Free Racing) Fossil Free Racing, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, was founded to become the testbed for an alternative racing fuel that promises to reduce the carbon footprint of race cars by 90% while lowering fuel costs and increasing performance. Motorsports competition involves tens of thousands of participants and vehicle owners
February 11, 2022
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by Stephanie Kelly and Jarrett Renshaw (Reuters) A U.S. Senate committee is expected to hold a hearing around the nation’s biofuel blending laws next week, as the Biden administration works to finalize controversial proposals around blending requirements and exemptions for oil refiners, according to three sources familiar with the matter. The
February 11, 2022
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EPA Opens Comment Period on Proposed Consent Decree for 2023 RVOs DEADLINE: June 22, 2022
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