(WRAL) Lack of action by state lawmakers and Congress is expected to raise gas prices in North Carolina by more than 8 cents a gallon, starting Sunday. Half of the increase comes from the state. North Carolina's gas tax is linked
Blenders Credit
Back TO HOMEU.S. Ethanol Tax Break Ends, Brazil Sees an Opening
by Charles Abbott and Reese Ewing (Drovers Cattle Network) A U.S. ethanol tax credit costing roughly $6 billion a year will expire on Dec. 31, with the U.S. industry declaring itself ready to stand on its own and Brazil hoping for
December 23, 2011 Read Full Article
Our View: On VEETC, We Won
by Garry Niemeyer (National Corn Growers Association) Back in August, the Green Scissors Project identified ways the federal government could shave $380 billion from the federal budget over five years. But their $380 billion in proposed cuts included a major
December 07, 2011 Read Full Article
Refiners Warn Marketers of Imminent End of Ethanol Tax Break
(NACS Online) Refiners are starting to warn marketers to prepare for the end of the 4.5 cts/gal ethanol tax credit, which is set to expire at month's end, absent last-minute action by Congress. Chevron notified its jobbers on Dec. 1 that
December 05, 2011 Read Full Article
Ethanol Margins to Fall: Blender Credit Will Expire at Year's End
by Dan Piller (Des Moines Register) Ethanol producers will lose about 25 to 30 cents per gallon on operating profits when the tax credit for blenders goes away after Dec. 31. ...(Walt) Wendland, who also is president of the Iowa Renewable Fuels
November 29, 2011 Read Full Article
EU Votes in Favor of Hiking Import Taxes for High Ethanol Blends
(Platts) The EU's Customs Code Committee approved Wednesday a draft regulation to raise import taxes for high ethanol blends, a source close to the matter told Platts. The decision could result in increased domestic prices for renewable fuels as it would
October 14, 2011 Read Full Article
RFA Urges Super Committee to Look at Oil Subsidies
by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com) In a letter to the co-chairs of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, the so-called “super committee” assigned to find ways to cut the deficit, the Renewable Fuels Association today urged them to “focus on comprehensive
September 28, 2011 Read Full Article
The Future of Biorefining Policy
by Erin Voegele (Biorefining Magazine) ...While some in the industry doubt that a Congress so focused on debt reduction will extend VEETC and the biodiesel tax credit, Greg Jenner, a partner in Stoel Rives LLP’s tax practice, offers a unique
September 27, 2011 Read Full Article
Fixing A Broken Biofuel Incentive Program
by Robert Rapier (Forbes) ...My Plan: Award Direct Per Gallon Subsidies for Oil Displacement Instead of offering grants and loan guarantees for cellulosic ethanol producers — and forcing blenders to pay when they can’t purchase product — simply change the system
September 15, 2011 Read Full Article
Ethanol Tax Credits to Expire
by Sarah Gustin (KXMB TV Bismark) ...(Jeff Zueger / Blue Flint Ethanol) "We really need blender pump infastructure, we need flex fuel vehicle infastructure, so we can get to those higher level blends so consumers can choose if they want
September 14, 2011 Read Full Article
Future Ethanol Policy Changes
by Kent Theisse (Corn and Soybean Digest Blogs and Opinions) ... Many people are very excited about producing ethanol from woodchips, switchgrass, algae and other substances; however, most of this type of ethanol production is still in the early research and
September 07, 2011 Read Full Article
Seeking the Blending Sweet Spot
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) For years, in coffee shops and grain elevators across the upper Midwest, independent thinkers have voiced their opinions on the benefits of midlevel ethanol blends. Tales of fueling the old Buick, or otherwise unapproved
August 16, 2011 Read Full Article
Woodside Says Ethanol Industry Willing to Give Back Tax Break for Debt Reduction
by Lori Potter (Kearney Hub) The ethanol industry is willing to immediately give up $1.3 billion in tax breaks for federal debt reduction. However, that probably can’t happen unless authorizing legislation is attached to a successful debt ceiling-budget reduction bill, said
July 25, 2011 Read Full Article
Klobuchar, Thune Announce Bipartisan Compromise on Renewable Energy
(Office of Senator Amy Klobuchar) Agreement would put savings toward deficit reduction, infrastructure U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), John Thune (R-SD), and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) today announced that a bipartisan agreement has been reached that allows for a transition to a
July 08, 2011 Read Full Article
Study: Ethanol Subsidies Boost Output, Corn Cost
by Jacob Barker (The Columbia Daily Tribune) Policies fueled the boom in industry. Federal subsidies for ethanol push up ethanol production and the price of corn, according to a report released today (June 27, 2011) from the University of Missouri’s Food
June 29, 2011 Read Full Article
Reforming Ethanol in a Responsible Way
by Senator Mike Johanns (York News-Times) ...Ethanol helped keep $34 billion of our money at home last year instead of going to other countries for foreign oil. ...Though these benefits are significant, today's fiscal realities require us to rethink our approach
June 29, 2011 Read Full Article
Santorum Tells Iowa Farmers He Would End Ethanol Subsidies
by William Petroski (Des Moines Register) ...Santorum, who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, said he advocates phasing-out the existing tax incentive for ethanol production, commonly known as the blenders’ credit, by reducing the credit 9 cents annually over each
June 29, 2011 Read Full Article
Editorial: Cut the Ethanol Subsidy, But Be Fair
(StarTribune) Why is one fuel being targeted but another -- oil -- isn't? ...The best way to pay down the nation's $14.3 trillion debt? "Reducing wasteful spending a billion dollars at a time,'' Coburn said. Coburn has a point about the ethanol
June 27, 2011 Read Full Article
US Senate Defeats Coburn Amendment: Industry Reaction
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, on a cloture vote in the Senate to proceed to an amendment that would end the current ethanol tax incentive immediately, Senator Coburn’s amendment lost 40-59, falling 20 votes short of the sixty votes needed to
June 15, 2011 Read Full Article
Senate Vote to Repeal Ethanol Tax Credit Fails, But Some in GOP Break Ranks
by Lori Montgomery (The Washington Post) A majority of Senate Republicans appeared to break Tuesday with two decades of GOP orthodoxy against higher taxes, voting to advance a plan to abruptly cancel billions of dollars in annual tax credits for
June 15, 2011 Read Full Article
Tom Coburn Forces Tuesday Ethanol Vote
by Darren Goode (Politico) Sen. Tom Coburn has pulled the trigger and is forcing a long-sought vote on an amendment repealing billions in annual tax incentives for ethanol. The Senate will vote Tuesday afternoon on Coburn’s motion limiting debate on his amendment
June 10, 2011 Read Full Article
Should Government Keep Financially Supporting Ethanol? (The Debate 5/23-5/27)
(Minnesota Public Radio News) The Assertion: The state and federal government should continue subsidizing ethanol Ethanol's promise as America's path to energy self-sufficiency once seemed strong. But in recent years, that attraction has been tempered. Even supporters of ethanol, such as
May 23, 2011 Read Full Article
Ethanol Groups Welcome Bill Transforming Current Ethanol Tax Policy
(Renewable Fuel Association) The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), Growth Energy, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) today praised the legislation offered by a bipartisan group of senators, led by Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley,
May 05, 2011 Read Full Article
Grassley-Conrad Bill Boosts Domestic Energy Production
(Senator Chuck Grassley) Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Kent Conrad of North Dakota today introduced bipartisan legislation to update ethanol tax policies in an effort to boost domestic energy production and increase America’s energy independence and security. The bill also has
May 04, 2011 Read Full Article
Government Hands May Be Tied on Ethanol: USDA Official
by Ayesha Rascoe (Reuters) ..."The fact is the industry has pretty much been built," USDA Chief Economist Joe Glauber told reporters on the sidelines of a Commodity Markets Council conference. "This isn't a question of just saying 'cut it off.'
February 22, 2011 Read Full Article
Blender Pumps Fuel Ethanol Growth
by Candace Krebs (AgJournal.com) Since Stratton Equity Co-op installed Colorado’s first “blender pump” offering a range of ethanol based fuels last April, interest has slowly been rising, right on track with national ethanol usage overall. “We’ve had a gradual increase in
February 21, 2011 Read Full Article
The Time to Plan for Ethanol’s Future is Now
by Porter J. Martin and Gregory J. Lynch (Ethanol Producer Magazine) ... Can ethanol survive without these supports? I believe the answer is yes, if we take steps to plan now. Why? Because we have seen ethanol producers start to
January 19, 2011 Read Full Article
Ethanol Industry Faces High Corn Prices
by Todd Neeley (The Progressive Farmer) ...(P)ressure from rising corn prices at the start of 2011 is expected to test ethanol producers' ability to manage risk. ...Rabobank said ethanol would remain profitable with corn prices above $7 a bushel.
January 12, 2011 Read Full Article
Farm Bureau Supports Change in Biofuels Policy
by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com) The American Farm Bureau Federation is supporting a new direction in biofuels policy away from the blenders tax credit and toward increasing infrastructure. “The whole discussion has been evolving within the industry and within the Congress,” said AFBF President
January 12, 2011 Read Full Article
A Better Ethanol Policy
by Robert Rapier (Consumer Energy Report/R Squared Energy Blog) ...Reader Paul Nash came up with a specific plan... Specific Recommendations Scrap the VEETC (since there is a mandate already and it expires at the end of 2010). Maintain a producer’s credit for cellulosic
August 17, 2010 Read Full Article
New York Times Misses the Mark on America’s Fuel
(Growth Energy) The New York Times’ July 29th Editorial “Energy Subsidies – Good and Bad,” mischaracterizes Growth Energy’s proposal to open the American transportation fuels market and fails to acknowledge the technological advancements that have made ethanol production cleaner and more
July 30, 2010 Read Full Article
It's a Critical Time for Ethanol
by Joe Ruff (Omaha World Herald) It's time for the federal government to move beyond offering tax credits to companies that combine ethanol with gasoline, said the CEO of the fourth-largest ethanol producer in the country. Instead, he said, government incentives are
July 30, 2010 Read Full Article
Fueling Freedom Plan Will Redirect Government Support to Create Open Fuels Market
(Growth Energy) Growth Energy, a coalition of U.S. ethanol supporters, today called for the redirection and eventual phasing out of government support for ethanol in return for a level playing field – infrastructure investments that will create competition in the fuels
July 19, 2010 Read Full Article
Get off the Dope: Supporting Biofuels Prices without Taxes or Subsidies – a Biofuels Digest Special Report
(Biofuels Digest) ... (A)n overview by Digest special correspondent Tim Sklar, "Supporting Biofuels Prices without Taxes or Subsidies," which examines the potential of subsidy-free programs to achieve the same price normalization goals as biofuels subsidies which will absorb more than 95
June 09, 2010 Read Full Article
Ethanol Industry Approaches the Blending Wall - Cellulosic Ethanol Investments Severely Threatened
Dr. Robert Wisner (AgMRC) A fuel ethanol blending wall has been anticipated for the last three years. When reached, it would halt growth of the ethanol industry or initially would cause demand growth to fall short of the rate of
May 14, 2010 Read Full Article
Ethanol Fumes
by Patrick Westhoff (Washington Times letter to editor) The editorial "Stop 'Big Corn' " (Opinion, Monday) did not accurately describe the analysis of ethanol policy conducted by our institute. The editorial says we at the University of Missouri's Food and Agricultural
April 09, 2010 Read Full Article
Government Earns 400% ROI on Ethanol Blender’s Credit
by Mark (Corn Commentary) ...The next issue can already be seen on the horizon and it can be seen clearly because it is not a “new” criticism. It is called the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC). This is the