by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...The financing of biofuels is founded, to put it as simply as possible, upon the economics of substitution. On the one hand, there’s the price of energy currently locked inside biomass; on the other hand,
oil prices
Back TO HOMEU.S. FTC Said to Open Probe of Oil Price-Fixing After EU
by Sara Forden (Bloomberg) The U.S. Federal Trade Commission opened a formal investigation into how prices of crude oil and petroleum-derived products are set, mirroring a European Union inquiry, two people familiar with the matter said. The investigation, now in a
June 25, 2013 Read Full Article
Cost of Biofuels No Longer Sky High
by Peter Hannam (The Age) Whether it's the use of organisms first found in the guts of rabbits in New Zealand or converting the mountains of rubbish disposed of by Londoners, airlines around the world are hunting for ways to power
May 23, 2013 Read Full Article
Refiners' RFS Agenda Is to Stop Competition
by Bruce Dale (The Hill/Michigan State University) The oil industry hopes to protect its control over America’s fuel supply by undermining renewable fuels. By confusing us with misleading claims and outright falsehoods, oil companies hope Congress will overlook the real
April 30, 2013 Read Full Article
Answers to Your Questions about Parity-Priced, Algae-Based Fuels
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Wondering when affordable algae-based transportation fuels might arrive at your local retail outlet? Might be sooner than you think. Here’s the lowdown. ...Further, we have to take into account that, unless Solazyme is interested in
March 08, 2013 Read Full Article
As Prices at the Pump Go Up, Up, Up American Ethanol is the Motorist’s Friend
by Bob Dinneen (Renewable Fuels Association) If you've been paying more at the pump for gasoline, you aren't alone. And, if it weren't for U.S. ethanol, you'd be paying even more. ...Gas prices are skyrocketing despite an increase in domestic oil
February 22, 2013 Read Full Article
New DOE Research: RFS a Proven Economic Success with Minimal Impact on Food Prices or Land Use
(Renewable Fuels Association) A new research article published last month in the academic journal Biofuels concluded that the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is producing significant positive economic effects in the United States. According to the paper, authored by researchers at the Department of Energy’s
February 14, 2013 Read Full Article
Venter: Biofuels 'Dead' without U.S. Aid
by Bradley J. Fikes (North County Times) Famed genomics researcher J. Craig Venter, who is working to develop biofuels from photosynthetic algae, acknowledged this week that alternate fuels are “dead” unless the federal government mandates their use with a carbon
November 01, 2012 Read Full Article
Market Speculators, Oil Drive High Food Prices
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 corn prices, even in today’s
September 13, 2012 Read Full Article
PTT Pins Hopes on Algae-Based Biofuel
(Bangkok Post) National oil conglomerate PTT Plc expects algae-based biofuel will be commercially viable by 2017 at the price of US$150 per barrel, says chief executive Pailin Chuchottaworn. Within that date algae-based petrol could be able to compete with fossil oil,
September 06, 2012 Read Full Article
Beyond the Biofuel-bashing Editorials: Ethanol Really Reduces Prices at the Pump
by Bob Dinneen (Renewable Fuels Association) The following editorial was submitted to the Wall Street Journal, but was rejected by the Editorial Features Staff. Beyond the Biofuel-bashing Editorials: Ethanol Really Reduces Prices at the Pump By Bob Dinneen When I was growing up,
August 30, 2012 Read Full Article
The $6 Gasoline That Almost Was
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Mad as heck about $5 gasoline? According to new research from Iowa State, the price could have hit $6 per gallon, if the US had not had its ethanol supply. A landmark 2009 study, conducted by
May 24, 2012 Read Full Article
RFA Answers Anti-Ethanol Speculation from Joint Economic Committee Hearing
(Renewable Fuels Association/BioFuelsChat.com) ...Specifically, (Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob) Dinneen noted two driving factors that have led to refinery shutterings on the East Coast: First, most East Coast refineries cannot process the lower-cost types of crude oil that are increasing
May 02, 2012 Read Full Article
Tom Murphy Interview: Resource Depletion is a Bigger Threat than Climate Change
by James Stafford (OilPrice.com) Rising geopolitical tensions and high oil prices are continuing to help renewable energy find favour amongst investors and politicians. Yet how much faith should we place in renewables to make up the shortfall in fossil fuels?
March 29, 2012 Read Full Article
U.S. Gasoline Rises to Record Premium over Ethanol
by Michael Hirtzer (Reuters) U.S. gasoline futures soared to a record premium over ethanol on Monday as gas prices topped $4 per gallon in some states while stocks of the biofuel were likely to continue swelling, analysts and traders said. With retail gasoline in
March 27, 2012 Read Full Article
Obama Pushes Efficiency, Alternative Fuels
(UPI) ...Obama said the key to America's energy future is reducing dependence on foreign oil through increased fuel efficiency and investment in alternative fuels. "The most important thing I can do as a president is not to simply focus on tomorrow;
March 26, 2012 Read Full Article
Oil Demand Shift: Asia Takes Over
by Chris Nelder (Smart Planet) The realization that oil prices aren’t about them anymore has been slow to dawn on Americans after a century of being the world’s swing consumers. But the fact is that the world’s developing economies have
March 22, 2012 Read Full Article
What To Do About High Gasoline Prices?
(Environmental and Energy Study Institute) A House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee held a hearing on what to do about rising gasoline prices. Most of the hearing focused on whether increasing oil production from federal lands and off shore and reducing environmental
March 09, 2012 Read Full Article
Speculation Blamed for Global Food Price Weirdness
by Brandon Keim (Wired Science) The link between commodity speculation and global food price weirdness just got stronger, and researchers warn that a new and potentially calamitous price bubble is imminent. Previous research had blamed a combination of food-to-fuel crop conversion
March 08, 2012 Read Full Article
Newt Gingrich Jumps the Shark
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Ol’ Gramps Gingrich gets feisty and forgetful on the stump, mocking Obama for reviving a Reagan Administration program for algal biofuels. Today, we look at the Gingrich Test. ...Speaker Gingrich jumped the shark this week, in
March 08, 2012 Read Full Article
More People Choosing Ethanol
(KFYR-TV) With the price of gasoline increasing to $3.70 a gallon, more and more motorists are choosing E-30 and E-85, a less expensive alternative to gasoline. In fact, sales of ethanol-blended fuel in North Dakota have jumped 97 percent since
March 08, 2012 Read Full Article
Oil Prices, Gas Prices and Domestic Production
(US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources) Jeff Bingaman, chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, has a well-deserved reputation for focusing on facts. He worries about the many myths surrounding gasoline prices, oil prices and domestic production. Today, on
March 08, 2012 Read Full Article
Ethanol Report on Ethanol’s Role in Gas Prices
by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com) ...From the president to the people at the pump, everyone is talking about higher gasoline prices these days, but ethanol is actually helping to keep them lower than they could be. In a new RFA Issue Brief, the Renewable
March 07, 2012 Read Full Article
How Not to Lose an Energy Policy in 10 Days
by Brent Erickson (Biotechnology Industry Organization/Biofuels Digest) BIO’s industrial biotech czar says that governments should resist attempts to derail the commercialization of advanced biofuels, and not be beguiled by the Solyndra Syndrome In 2011, consumers spent a record $481 billion on gasoline ,
March 07, 2012 Read Full Article
EU-Produced Ethanol Keeps Petrol Prices Down
(Renewable Energy Magazine) Recent studies commissioned by NGOs Friends of the Earth and ActionAid claim that biofuels, including ethanol, will cost EU consumers €126 billion at the petrol pump between now and 2020. ePURE, the European Renewable Ethanol Association, considers the
February 09, 2012 Read Full Article
Expert Expects Gas Prices in Chicago to Hit $4.60 by May
by Gary Strauss (Chicago Sun-Times) Get ready for another round of pain at the pump: gas at $4 (or higher) a gallon. After rising 19 cents a gallon in the past four weeks, regular unleaded gasoline now averages $3.48 a
February 08, 2012 Read Full Article
Oil Prices to Reach All-Time High
(Farm Futures) Even without VEETC ethanol is still making gasoline cheaper In its monthly short-term outlook, the Energy Department expects U.S. benchmark crude oil prices to average over $100 a barrel in 2012 and touch an all-time high amid rising demand
January 12, 2012 Read Full Article
Q&A: Ethanol Plant Leader Has No Regrets in Picking Medina
by Tom Rivers (The Daily News) Michael Sawyer, 38, of Geneseo took a gamble in 2005. After eight years in corporate finance in Rochester, he left that career to join his father John Sawyer in establishing an ethanol plant in
November 07, 2011 Read Full Article
Report Faults Wall Street for High Energy Prices
by Ben Protess (New York Times) A new report by Better Markets, a nonprofit group advocating constraints on speculative trading, blames Wall Street for inflating prices at the gas pump and the grocery store. The study centered on commodity index funds, investments
October 17, 2011 Read Full Article
WikiLeaks: Saudis often Warned U.S. about Oil Speculators
by Kevin G. Hall (McClatchy Newspapers) When oil prices hit a record $147 a barrel in July 2008, the Bush administration leaned on Saudi Arabia to pump more crude in hopes that a flood of new crude would drive the
May 26, 2011 Read Full Article
Mexican Biofuels Seen Meeting 3% Blending Target In 2012
by Ivan Castano (Renewable Energy World) "I think it can be done," says Raul Felix, climate change and renewable energy practice coordinator at Baker & McKenzie in Mexico City. "However, Pemex is going to have to pay much more to make [supply]
May 03, 2011 Read Full Article
GasHole: Dirty Oil and the Biofuel Myth
by Allison Kilkenny (Huffington Post) This week marked the world premiere of GasHole, a new documentary film (narrated by Peter Gallagher) about the history of oil prices and the future of alternative fuels. Biofuel gossip has been everywhere in the news
May 02, 2011 Read Full Article
Montana Farmers Planting Less Camelina for Biofuel
by Tom Lutey (Billings Gazette) Camelina, the biofuel that five years ago Gov. Brian Schweitzer called his new girlfriend, now struggles for a planting date with Montana farmers. "The biggest challenge of all is the price of wheat," Schweitzer said Thursday. With wheat
April 29, 2011 Read Full Article
Local View: Filling in the Blanks on Ethanol
by Kelly Brunkhorst (Journal Star /Nebraska Corn Board) J. Patrick Boyle's column, "Corn ethanol: Burning up food budgets," (LJS, April 21) may make a couple of valid points, but he omits many facts that need to be part of the discussion
April 28, 2011 Read Full Article
6 States, Nation's Capital Now at $4 a Gallon Gas
(AP/Google) ... On Sunday, the Empire State became the sixth state to top $4 for the average price of a gallon of gas, joining Alaska, California, Connecticut, Hawaii and Illinois, according to AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge. The average price of
April 18, 2011 Read Full Article
Rising Food Prices? Can't Blame Ethanol
by John Block (Chicago Tribune) With food prices rising worldwide, some self-styled authorities on agriculture are claiming that producing ethanol in the Midwest causes food riots in the Middle East. Their story is simple: Biofuels are gobbling up the grains that
March 29, 2011 Read Full Article
University of Missouri FAPRI Delivers 2011 Agricultural Economic Baseline to U.S. Congress
(University of Missouri) Food prices could increase by more than 4 percent in 2011 as the farm sector recovers from a sharp downturn in the recession, University of Missouri economists reported to Congress. An annual MU FAPRI baseline shows net farm income
March 29, 2011 Read Full Article
Combatting Today’s High Gas Prices
by Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Waterloo) (GlobeGazette) ...For too long, we’ve depended on foreign countries for our oil — and we’ve sacrificed our independence and our national security in the process. But there’s no one, easy solution to the problem. We need
March 28, 2011 Read Full Article
Global Realities
by General K. Wesley Clark (Ret.) (Growth Energy/Biofuels Digest) ...(E)very Administration has warned of America’s addiction to foreign oil but none has dealt successfully with it. ... And today we are paying the price. We have seen our military presence in the
March 07, 2011 Read Full Article
Global Renewable Fuels Alliance: Biofuels Can Ease the Impact of Hazardous Oil Prices
(Global Renewable Fuels Alliance) This week the International Energy Agency (IEA) issued a wakeup call to the world that high oil prices pose a threat to the stability of an already fragile recovering global economy. The IEA went on to
January 10, 2011 Read Full Article
Are You Driving Your Last Gasoline Powered Car?
(ETCGreen.com) Vehicle owners now understand the ever dwindling supply and higher expense and risks of extracting petroleum will continue to increase the price at the pumps. For over 100 years we have enjoyed this cheap energy source, but the party is
June 30, 2010 Read Full Article
Industrial Biotechnology in China Amidst Changing Market Conditions
by Elizabeth Nesbitt (Journal of International Commerce and Economics) The increasing use of industrial biotechnology by the Chinese liquid biofuels and chemical industries is expected to help offset energy security and environmental concerns generated by China’s robust economic growth. The expanding use of bioprocesses