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 corn available on the market
Litigation-Federal
Back TO HOMEBiofuel Groups Intervene to Defend EPA’s Advanced and Cellulosic Biofuel Targets
(Renewable Fuels Association) Seven biofuel organizations today filed an intervenors brief in the American Petroleum Institute case against the Environmental Protection Agency challenging the 2012 cellulosic and advanced biofuel requirements under the Renewable Fuel Standard. The groups are defending EPA's
September 05, 2012 Read Full Article
Specialty Equipment Market Association Slams Ethanol
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA), has slammed ethanol saying it opposes the use of E15 based on scientific evidence that it causes corrosion with incompatible parts. ...The court has ruled in favor of E15 and now SEMA is spearheading
August 28, 2012 Read Full Article
Court Ruling Paves Way for E15 Gas Use
by Robert Pore (The Grand Island Independent) Higher ethanol blend could be used by nearly two-thirds of vehicles on road On Friday, the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia Circuit sided with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its
August 20, 2012 Read Full Article
Butamax Granted Biobutanol DHAD Enzyme Patent 8,241,878; Files Additional Lawsuit against Gevo for Patent Infringement
(Butamax) Butamax™ Advanced Biofuels, LLC, the biobutanol technology leader, announced today the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted Butamax™ Patent Number 8,241,878. This patent provides early protection for high activity enzymes that perform a key a step in the pathway
August 15, 2012 Read Full Article
Court: Gevo Again Free to Sell Isobutanol into Auto Fuels Market
by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine) A little more than a month after a temporary court order prohibited Gevo from selling bio-isobutanol into the automotive fuels market, the company announced Aug. 13 that the order has been reversed in federal
August 14, 2012 Read Full Article
Gevo Sues Butamax, DuPont and BP for Infringement of New Patent
(Gevo/Reuters) Gevo, Inc. has been awarded an additional patent covering further improvements in the efficiency of bio-based production of isobutanol. The new patent extends Gevo's lead over competitors in technological innovations that enable commercially viable production of bio-based isobutanol at
July 31, 2012 Read Full Article
Butamax™ Responds to Gevo Biobutanol Patent Infringement Lawsuit
(Butamax(TM)/PR NewsWire) Butamax™ Advanced Biofuels, LLC, the biobutanol technology leader, commented on the lawsuit filed by Gevo today alleging patent infringement of Gevo patent number 8,232,089. "The Gevo '089 patent adds no new point of novelty over previous Butamax discoveries. As
July 31, 2012 Read Full Article
API Files Lawsuit Against EPA For Mandating The Use Of Nonexistent Biofuels
(Oil and Gas Online) The American Petroleum Institute (API) filed a lawsuit with the D.C. Circuit Court late yesterday challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) mandated use of nonexistent cellulosic biofuels in the 2011 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). “EPA’s unattainable and
July 27, 2012 Read Full Article
BIO Says Petroleum Refining Organizations Lying to Congress in Anti-Renewable Fuel Standard Campaign
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, Brent Erickson, executive vice president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization’s (BIO) Industrial & Environmental Section, said, “Petroleum refining industry organizations are engaging in a misguided and misleading anti-Renewable Fuel Standard campaign, going so
July 23, 2012 Read Full Article
Ethanol Industry Commends Court for RFS Ruling
by Growth Energy/Renewable Fuels Association (Ethanol Producer Magazine) ...(T)he U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected a petition by the Chicken Council challenging the U.S. EPA rulemaking on the renewable fuel standard (RFS2). The Renewable Fuels Association
July 23, 2012 Read Full Article
Biofuel Groups File Petition in Oil Lawsuit
by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com) Six biofuel industry organizations have jointly petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to intervene in a lawsuit filed by the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) and the Western States
July 17, 2012 Read Full Article
Fraud Cases Leave Biodiesel Industry Reeling
by Timothy B. Wheeler (The Baltimore Sun) Biodiesel producers told a congressional panel Wednesday that they're struggling to stay afloat in the aftermath of fraud cases uncovered in Baltimore and Texas, and a spokesman for petroleum refiners faulted the Environmental Protection
July 13, 2012 Read Full Article
Gevo v. Butamax: Judge Denies Injunction Request
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The latest chapter is near closure on the butanol patent dispute between Gevo Inc. and Butamax Advanced Biofuels LLC. In an opinion filed June 19, U.S. District Judge Sue Robinson denied Butamax’s request for a preliminary injunction.
June 25, 2012 Read Full Article
Who Shall Dare: Biobutanol and the Intrepid Ethanol Producer
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Declining ethanol margins and plant idlings; ethanol price gloom; controversy over RFS2 targets. Despair? Bah! It all spells “opportunity” for the intrepid ethanolista. This week in biofuels, two storylines that have been gaining a lot
June 22, 2012 Read Full Article
USDA Deregulates GMO Sugar Beets -- Again
by Mateusz Perkowski (Capital Press) The USDA has decide to again fully deregulate genetically engineered sugar beets that are resistant to glyphosate herbicides. The agency has found that the crop doesn't pose a plant pest risk and thus shouldn't be subject
June 05, 2012 Read Full Article
EPA Denies Oil's Request to Waive Cellulosic RFS, Lawsuit Pending
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. EPA officially denied the petroleum industry’s request to retroactively waive the 2011 cellulosic biofuel volume requirements under the renewable fuel standard (RFS) on May 22, noting that the issues raised in the
June 01, 2012 Read Full Article
Case No. 3: EPA Issues Green Diesel Violation for 60M Bad RINs
by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) The U.S. EPA issued a Notice of Violation to Houston-based Green Diesel LLC April 30 for generating more than 60 million invalid biomass-based diesel (D-Code 4) renewable identification numbers (RINs) under the federal renewable fuel
May 02, 2012 Read Full Article
E15 Gas Brings Conflict to Pumps
by David Shaffer (Star Tribune) A new blend of ethanol and gasoline may soon show up at the gas station pumps -- along with mixed messages on whether it's safe to put it in your vehicle. Motorists driving up to pumps
April 30, 2012 Read Full Article
California Wins Temporary Reinstatement of Carbon Fuel Standard
By Karen Gullo and Lynn Doan (Bloomberg) California won temporary reinstatement of its low-carbon fuel standard, which was blocked last year by a federal judge. The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco yesterday granted a request by California officials to put on hold the Dec.
April 24, 2012 Read Full Article
Trading Firm Sues US EPA over Biofuel Credit Scam
by Ayesha Rascoe (Reuters) * Company registered with EPA sold fake credits * Exxon, Shell, others cited for using invalid credits * Trading firm says EPA did not do due diligence A trading company ensnared in the fallout from massive fraud uncovered in
April 24, 2012 Read Full Article
Butamax and Gevo: Bio’s Montagues and Capulets Get It On, and On, and On
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Here’s a 2-Minute Guide to all the Gevo and Butamax hollerin’, and how to separate the alcohol from the folderol. In case it has escaped your attention, Butamax is suing Gevo and Gevo is suing Butamax.
April 17, 2012 Read Full Article
US Biofuel Groups Back EPA in Legal Challenge of Renewable Fuels Rule
(Platts) Six renewable fuel trade associations have filed a motion in federal court to intervene in support of the US Environmental Protection Agency, which is being sued by a major oil and gas trade group over rules requiring the use
April 10, 2012 Read Full Article
US Group Files Suit against Federal Cellulosic Ethanol Mandate
A US energy industry group on Monday said it has filed suit to challenge the federal government’s mandate for US cellulosic ethanol consumption, charging that it is unrealistic and constitutes an illegitimate tax. The American Petroleum Institute (API) said that it filed a petition for review in
March 13, 2012 Read Full Article
USPTO Director Issues Final Decision Denying Gevo Reexamination Petition; Second Request for Reexamination Granted in Error
(PR NewsWire/Butamax) Butamax™ Advanced Biofuels, LLC, the leading biobutanol technology company, commented on two rulings issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in response to Gevo's repeated requests to reexamine Butamax Patent 7,851,188 ('188 patent). This patent is
March 07, 2012 Read Full Article
Ethanol, Farm Groups File Brief Supporting Court-Ordered Injunction on California LCFS
(Renewable Fuels Association) A coalition of national ethanol groups, along with California and Midwest farming groups, filed a brief urging the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold a court-ordered injunction on the California Air Resource Board’s low-carbon fuel
March 05, 2012 Read Full Article
Ethanol Report on RFS Challenge
by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com) ...(Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob) Dinneen says the environmental groups’ challenge to the RFS was much broader based than the poultry groups’ challenge, including that EPA had not taken into account the “global rebound effect”
February 14, 2012 Read Full Article
Controversial Wood-to-Ethanol Plant May Finally Get under Way in Upper Peninsula
by Katherine Yung (Detroit Free Press) After a lengthy delay, construction of what could be the nation's first large-scale wood-to-ethanol plant in the country is to start this year in Michigan's eastern Upper Peninsula. If successful, the $232-million biorefinery in Kinross
February 13, 2012 Read Full Article
California to Appeal Ruling against Fuel Standard
(Equipment World) States considering a Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) will be watching the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to see if it will overturn a lower court’s decision that California’s LCFS is unconstitutional. The appellate court has set an April 16
February 06, 2012 Read Full Article
Butamax™ Refutes Unfounded Allegations of Infringement
(Butamax) Butamax(TM) Advanced Biofuels, LLC, the biobutanol technology leader, responded to the latest lawsuit filed by Gevo, Inc. related to isobutanol flash fermentation technology. "Let us state emphatically, Butamax does not infringe the generic product separation technology claims in Gevo's recent
January 30, 2012 Read Full Article
Judge Denies Petition to Implement California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In California, Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill denied the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) motion to stay the decision he issued on December 29, 2011 that had halted the enforcement of the California’s Low Carbon Fuel
January 24, 2012 Read Full Article
US Federal Court Issues Injunction against California Low Carbon Fuel Standard
by Jim Lane and Todd Guerrero (Biofuels Digest/Fredrikson & Byron, P.A.) Us federal judge rules that California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard interferes with the “maintenance of a national economic union unfettered by state-imposed limitations on interstate commerce.” Today, we look
December 30, 2011 Read Full Article
USPTO to Re-Examine One Butamax Patent in Gevo-Butamax Dispute
by Megan Sapp (Biofuels Digest) In Colorado, Gevo Inc. announced the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is reconsidering a patent issued in August to Butamax Advanced Biofuels LLC for a fuel additive. Gevo claims that, “substantial questions exist regarding whether others
November 29, 2011 Read Full Article
EPA May Deem More Biodiesel RINs as Invalid over Alleged Fraud: Lawyer
(Platts) The US Environmental Protection Agency may end up deeming more biodiesel renewable identification numbers (RINs) as invalid following federal investigations into two companies that allegedly sold RINS without producing the appropriate volumes of biodiesel, a lawyer familiar with the
November 10, 2011 Read Full Article
Biodiesel Industry Pleased with Supreme Court Decision
by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com) The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear a case brought by petroleum interests against the Environmental Protection Agency over the expanded Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2). The petition made by the National Petrochemical Refiners Association (NPRA) and the
November 08, 2011 Read Full Article
Groups Challenge 15% Ethanol Rules and Label
by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com) Groups representing small engine, automakers and marine manufacturers announced a formal legal challenge to regulations and labeling proposed for the use of 15% ethanol blends (E15) in older model vehicles. The Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) and other organizations object
September 23, 2011 Read Full Article
Lawsuit: Ethanol Production Threatens America's Vanishing Grasslands
by Kathleen Ryan (Public News Service) The search for ethanol is devastating one of America's vanishing ecosystems. That's the claim in a new lawsuit filed by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). It accuses the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of failing
April 27, 2011 Read Full Article
Court Rejects Refiners' Challenge to EPA Biodiesel Blending Rules
by Jenny Mandel (New York Times/Greenwire) An appeals court rejected a challenge today (December 21, 2010) by petroleum industry groups to U.S. EPA's biodiesel blending requirements, in a move affirming the agency's implementation of the renewable fuel standard (RFS2). A three-judge panel of