by Julie Harker (Brownfield Ag News)  Mixed prairie grasses that are used in Conservation Reserve Program lands did not live up to their potential as biomass crops for cellulosic biofuel production, in an eight-year study. D.K. Lee, …

(Phys.Org/U.S. Department of Energy) …However, weather conditions could greatly affect crop yields. In this study, researchers examined the effect of weather on biofuel production by comparing switchgrass and corn stover harvested after a year of …

(Sandia National Laboratories)  A wide-ranging analysis of water vulnerability across the Pacific — including the U.S., China, Russia and Japan — has identified hundreds of locations where energy production depends upon scarce water supplies.
The Sandia …

(African News Agency/Engineering News)  American and Chinese companies are set to invest R940-million in Limpopo to pursue renewable energy and ethanol profits, government and investors have announced. The United States’ Bio-Processing Innovation and the Beijing …

by Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat (Bangkok Post) Rising ethanol demand this year, coupled with expected sugar-cane production cuts due to the severe drought, are likely to force ethanol producers to switch to cassava as their feedstock instead of …

by Graham Noyes (Low Carbon Fuels Coalition/Biofuels Digest)  California’s politicians and people are responding to the state’s increasingly dire symptoms of climate change with innovation, resolve, and biofuel policies.
California’s determination to recapture its milder and …

(University of Nebraska-Lincoln)  By relaxing a federal ethanol mandate, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could have counteracted the impact of the 2012 drought on corn prices, a new study by UNL agricultural economists concludes.
The study …

by Ken Anderson (Browfield Ag News)  A combination of dry weather and increased demand from the ethanol sector could have grain sorghum poised for a comeback in Nebraska.
Grain sorghum plantings in the state plummeted from 550-thousand …

by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  …“Ethanol’s value proposition, as a very cost-effective molecule in the motor gasoline pool, has proven itself over time, and we’re very confident of that in the future,” says …

by Scott Irwin and Darrel Good (University of Illinois/FarmDocDaily)  …The suggestion to waive the mandate assumes that ethanol production and blending is motivated only by the RFS and that a lower mandate would result in less …

by Grant Gerlock (KBIA)  Ethanol is an up and down industry, and right now it’s down. Ethanol plants in at least 13 states have stopped running over recent months because of higher corn prices and …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Read any stories about renewable fuels lately in mainstream media? Bet they’re bad ones.  Here we look at the latest chapter in the “death to all renewables” propaganda war.
If you …

by Art Hovey (Lincoln Star Journal)  …On a much brighter note, the managers of ethanol plants in Trenton and Ravenna are pushing hard to make a crop also known as milo the main ingredient in …

by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association)  … Total global grain supplies were raised slightly to 2705.6 MMT, the second-largest on record.

The U.S. ethanol industry is projected to use 78.9 MMT (net DDGS), meaning just 2.92% …

by Tadd Nicholson  (Chillicothe Gazette)   …Blending corn ethanol into gasoline reduces our reliance on foreign oil, helping to meet our nation’s goal of energy independence. In 2011, thanks in part to corn ethanol, the …

by Daryll Ray and Harwood D. Schaffer (Southwest Farm Press/University of Tennessee)  …On November 16, 2012, the EPA denied the request of Governor Perdue and others. The short story is that while the EPA recognizes …

(25 x ’25) In response to the EPA decision today upholding volume requirements of the federal Renewable Fuel Standard, 25x’25 Co-chairmen Read Smith and Bart Ruth issued the following joint statement:
“EPA’s decision today finding no evidence that …

(U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)  In August 2012, Governors from several States requested a waiver of the national volume requirements for the renewable fuel standard program (RFS) pursuant to Section 211(o)(7) of the Clean Air Act. …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … United States   Concerns over the price impacts of a devastating US drought have led to call for a waiver in the US Renewable Fuel Standard volumetric targets. Proposed waivers have …

by Jamie Johansen (DomesticFuel.com)  Attendees for the 2012 Export Exchange were the audience for Renewable Fuels Associations’s Geoff Cooper. Geoff serves as the organizations Vice President and spoke to over 500 of the worlds feed producers, marketers and buyers. He …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  As drought, recession, and capital starvation form a perfect storm, will advanced biofuels be thrown under the bus?  Industry leaders say that dropping biofuels production targets will not reverse impacts …

by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  An October report from the Food and Agriculture Policy Research Institute concludes that a reduction in the renewable fuel standard wouldn’t greatly reduce corn prices in the 2012/’13 crop …

(Renewable Fuels Association)   Waiving the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) in 2013 could actually result in higher net feeding costs for livestock and poultry producers, according to a new analysis conducted by Cardno-ENTRIX and commissioned by the Renewable Fuels Association …

by Bob Dinneen (Renewable Fuels Association/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  This summer’s drought in the farm belt raised real fears about food supplies and prices. But some in the livestock, poultry and meat processing industries are using …

(Corn and Soybean Digest)  A full waiver of the Renewable Fuel Standard’s (RFS) conventional biofuel requirement might reduce corn prices by just 0.5% (4¢/bu.) in 2012-2013, according to a new analysis conducted by the Food and Agriculture …

by Roy Roberson (Southeast Farm Press)  • Sounds like a good deal for grain growers and a bad one for livestock producers and consumers, but are such high prices really good for any of us?
• …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …“Fuels America is built around one core idea: renewable fuel is essential to the U.S. economy, our nation’s energy security, our rural communities and the environment,” said former Congressman Jim …

by Luzi Ann Javier (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)  Rallies in corn, wheat and soybeans because of drought in the U.S., the top grains shipper, are probably over and it would need worsening weather elsewhere to push up …

by Ned Stowe (Environmental and Energy Study Institute) In the wake of the devastating heat wave and drought which covered much of the United States this year, it has become clear that there will be less …

by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association)  About EPRINC: EPRINC is a non-profit group funded by Big Oil, staffed by former oil company employees, and directed by a board of trustees that is a veritable who’s-who …

by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine)   For years, National Sorghum Producers have advocated for increasing the use of grain sorghum, or milo, as an ethanol feedstock. Lately, the idea seems to be gaining steam. …

(EurActiv)  A French plan to fight food price volatility took further shape yesterday (12 September) with a call to pause global development of biofuels, just a day after President François Hollande pushed for creation of …

by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com)  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a 15 day extension of the comment period on the requests for a waiver of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS). The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), who filed for …

by Mike Bryan (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The U.S. drought, disastrous as it is, does not signal Armageddon for food prices, biofuels and the poor. First, one needs to understand that the main drivers behind rising …

by Nigel Hunt and Veronica Brown (Reuters)    * USDA report paints less severe corn crop picture than feared
* FAO says situation seems comfortable
* Analysts still wary on prices as U.S. corn harvest in early stages
The …

by Marlo Lewis (GlobalWarming.org)  The Governors of Georgia, Texas, Arkansas, Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico, and North Carolina have petitioned EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to waive the mandatory ethanol blending requirements established by the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The petitioners hope thereby to lower and stabilize corn prices, which recently hit record …

by Terry Daynard  (The Record)   Opinion pieces about fuel ethanol have been popular among national journalists this summer, most seem written quickly and researched poorly.
The one published recently by news services columnist Carol Goar …

by Drew Kershen (BioFortified)  …I do not write to enter the debate focused on fuel standards, markets and commodity speculators.   I acknowledge that other factors also contribute to food crises, particularly in developing nations – …

by Christine Stebbins  (Reuters) …”Ethanol demand is the linchpin of the current pricing model that we have,” said Michael Swanson, agricultural economist at Wells Fargo, the largest commercial bank lender to U.S. farmers. “It’s a …

by Neil Shah (The Wall Street Journal)  America’s widest drought since 1956 has killed corn, soybean and wheat crops and raised the risk of higher prices for everything from hamburgers and Coke to cooking oil. …

by Mario Parker (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)  Ethanol, the best-performing energy commodity this year, is cheaper than gasoline, encouraging refiners to use the biofuel even if President Barack Obama’s administration ends a requirement to do so.
A 49 …

(Platts)  Eight groups representing a cross section of the US biofuels industry asked the White House on Monday to keep the ethanol mandate in place, despite governors’ calls to shrink it in response to a …

by Adam Monroe (News Observer)  Last week Gov. Beverly Perdue filed a waiver request for the Renewable Fuel Standard, one of the nation’s most successful energy policies and of critical importance to North Carolina’s economy, …

by Ken Silverstein (Forbes)  …By most standards, the hope that is such first-generation fuel additives are supplanted by next-generation ones, or those produced from cellulose. Worth it?
Such fibers are abundant and could supply 130 million …

by Adam Wilmoth (News OK)  The extended drought has reduced the country’s corn supply and driven up corn costs, affecting the price of ethanol and gasoline. Oklahoma researchers are working to solve both problems.
Researchers in …

by Zack Coleman (The Hill/E2Wire)  …Monte Shaw, executive director with the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, credits the uptick in gubernatorial and congressional interest to oil groups viewing 2013 as the last chance to nix the …

by Bertha Coombs (CNBC)  Calls are growing to suspend the federal ethanol production mandate next year, as the worst drought in more than half a century has devastated the corn crop in the U.S. The …

by Mario Parker (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)  Ethanol production in the U.S. has fallen enough to drain a stockpile glut of the biofuel, CME Group Inc. (CME)said.
Output has declined 15 percent to 819,000 barrels a day from a …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  With the US drought, food vs fuel has returned as an issue.  What alternatives are scientists, entrepreneurs developing to take us beyond the old debate?
…1. Feedstock diversification.  In biofuels, it …

(The Local: German’s News in English)  Biofuel containing corn should be banned from German petrol pumps, a minister has demanded, as droughts and a dramatic rise in food prices mean more of the world population is going hungry.
“Rising …

by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  …Talk of a possible renewable fuel standard (RFS) waiver request became a reality in mid-August, when the U.S. EPA was officially petitioned. The clock starts on a 90-day deadline …

by Bruce Babcock (Center for Agricultural and Rural Development)  …The sharply lowered production estimates suggest the preliminary assessment of the impact of the drought on crop prices and biofuel production that I conducted last month …

(Drovers Cattle Network)  The 2012 drought is not only taking its toll on U.S. Midwest crop and livestock producers. Ethanol plants also are succumbing as high corn prices dry up their operating margins. Suspension of …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …As is sometimes overlooked, the advanced biofuels pool in the US Renewable Fuel Standard is not only a qualifying pool for cellulosic biofuels – which have struggled to come to …

(Platts)  A waiver of the US ethanol mandate would not destroy corn demand because current gasoline blending economics still favor the use of the corn-based biofuel, Deutsche Bank’ analysts Michael Lewis and Christina McGlone said …

by Zack Coleman (The Hill/E2Wire)  … The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) has been warning its political allies on Capitol Hill that attacks against corn ethanol will hinder next-generation fuels, too.
BIO has reached out to lawmakers …

(Reuters)  Gasoline prices in the United States rose over the past two weeks, driven partly by supply disruptions and a drought-induced rise in ethanol prices, a widely followed survey showed on Sunday.
…Trilby Lundberg, who conducts …

by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com)  … (E)thanol production provides multiple benefits to Midwestern livestock producers:
1. The ethanol industry has driven the production of a larger corn crop. Simply put, there is more corn to go around.
2. The …

by Nariman Gizitdinov (Bloomberg)  Ethanol credits held by U.S. refiners may help reduce demand for the blending fuel and ease pressure on rising prices of corn, from which ethanol is made, the International Energy Agency said.
The …

by Whitney McFerron (Bloomberg)  Surging corn prices and policy changes in the U.S. and European Union mean the outlook for the EU’s ethanol industry has “improved dramatically” this year, Czarnikow Group Ltd. said.
U.S. ethanol prices have …

by (Bloomberg) …Refiners can meet biofuel targets by drawing from ample stockpiles and utilizing excess credits, known as Renewable Identification Numbers, that can be submitted in lieu of physically blending a gallon of ethanol to …

(25 x ’25)  While passage last week by the House of Representatives of a bill that would provide much needed relief to drought-stricken livestock producers is laudable, the means by which the bill would pay …

by Tom Buis (Growth Energy/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  …Though it sometimes can be easy to lose sight, the increasing challenges we face are directly correlated to our achievements. In particular, with higher blends of ethanol in …

(Reuters)  …But gasoline prices should be spared despite the loss of ethanol output, the EIA said on Wednesday. “The impact of the forecasted decline in domestic ethanol production should be primarily reflected in reduced ethanol …

by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com)  Nebraska ethanol producers are responding to a tough market.  With excessive drought conditions and nearly record high corn prices, ethanol producers have decreased their consumption in recent weeks. Latest estimates show …

(Brownfield Ag News)  Some strong criticism today from Iowa Senator Charles Grassley directed towards that coalition of livestock, meat and poultry groups asking for changes to the Renewable Fuels Standard’s ethanol mandate.
“I think that what …

by Brent Erickson (BIO/Biofuels Digest)  Despite oil industry claims of “$10 million in fines for non-existent fuels” – they paid exactly $19,010.16 for cellulosic ethanol waivers in 2010, costing US consumers 14 millionths of one …

by Jane Wells (CNBC)  …Proponents say refiners can use past spending splurges on ethanol as credits against this year’s purchasing requirements, and exports will also probably be cut. This should leave more corn for everyone …

by Bob Dinneen (Renewable Fuels Association)  Mr. Larry Pope’s July 27th op-ed “The Ethanol Mandate is Worse Than The Drought” calls out for a rebuttal.  It is a bit astonishing to read an op-ed in the Wall …

by Suzanne Goldenberg (The Guardian)  The Obama administration was urged on Monday to stop diverting grain to gas amid warnings of an “imminent food crisis” caused by America’s drought.
US government forecasts of a 4% rise in food prices for US …

by Seth Slabaugh  (The Star Press) … “High corn prices driven by the drought have caused some ethanol plants to temporarily idle or reduce production,” Matt Hartwig of the Renewable Fuels Association, an ethanol trade group …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Bio Industry Alliance published a note “to once again clear up a few myths about ethanol and ethanol production in America.”
…In Washington, the Renewable Fuel Association’s …

by Tim Bryant   (STLToday.com)   The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is among five recipients of a $12.1 million federal grant to develop drought-tolerant grass as a sustainable source of biofuel.
Developing bioenergy grasses with …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Dire US media headlines abound: “Drought!”  What’s real, what’s hype, and what are the impacts?  More importantly, what alternatives does science give us now, and in the future, with more …