by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) Earlier today, Sens. John Thune (R-SD) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) created waves when they announced their new biofuels bill the Ethanol Reform and Deficit Reduction Act. This act is designed to address federal budget issues while phasing
Transportation Fuels Policy
Back TO HOMEThune/Klobuchar Bill Endorsed by Ethanol Industry
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) Senators John Thune (R-SD) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) along with a bipartisan group of nine other Senate colleagues have introduced the Ethanol Reform and Deficit Reduction Act. The bill is designed to modify the current Volumetric
June 14, 2011 Read Full Article
E15 Ethanol: Bridge to Tomorrow, or Bridge to Nowhere?
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...E15 blending, goes the argument, can provide the immediate market growth that will absorb current capacity, and create room in the marketplace to meet RFS renewable fuel mandates, and create a market for cellulosic ethanol. To
June 08, 2011 Read Full Article
Bloomberg Report Says Biochemical Pathway Attractive to Investors
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Private financial support for technology acceleration continues to be important, and certain technologies are becoming clear favorites for investors, according to a recent Bloomberg New Energy Finance analysis of financial investments made in biofuels
June 07, 2011 Read Full Article
The True Story Behind Food Versus Fuel Debate
by Ron Miller (Biofuels Digest/Prisma Advisors) “Hunger, despair for millions” reads the headline in a national newspaper looking to link high food prices with the growth of renewable fuels. Anti-ethanol factions oftentimes cite food costs in the ongoing food versus fuel
June 07, 2011 Read Full Article
Open Fuel Standard Legislation Is Bad for the Environment; Bad for Biofuels
(Advanced Biofuels USA) Shale Natural Gas Does Not Belong in Pro-Environmental Legislation A new legislative analysis by Advanced Biofuels USA concludes that the Open Fuel Standard (OFS) is bad for advanced biofuels and will add to environmental damage if passed and
June 02, 2011 Read Full Article
The Politics of Tax-and-Blend
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...Instead of simply not collecting a portion of the fuel tax, the consumer is charged the whole amount, which is collected by the gas station and paid to the government. The government analyzes all this.
June 02, 2011 Read Full Article
Is the Open Fuel Standard Good for Advanced Biofuels or for the USA? Don’t Think So!
by Robert Kozak (Advanced Biofuels USA) A proposal called the Open Fuel Standard (OFS) has recently been included in a number of bills (HR 1687 is one example) submitted for consideration by the US Congress. These OFS provisions go beyond
June 02, 2011 Read Full Article
Stop Moving the Goal Posts, and Two More Principles for an Advanced Ethanol Policy that Works
by Brooke Coleman (Advanced Ethanol Council/Biofuels Digest) ...Often lost in the counter-productive and backward-facing public obsession with corn ethanol are the clear attributes of the ethanol molecule itself. A recent study, “Ethanol – the Primary Renewable Liquid Fuel,” makes the case
May 31, 2011 Read Full Article
Algae Included in Fuel Feedstock Freedom Act Introduced to Senate
(Algae Industry Magazine) ...The Fuel Feedstock Freedom Act (S. 1085), gives individual states the option not to participate in the corn ethanol portion of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). It also expands the cellulosic biofuel carve-out to include algae and
May 31, 2011 Read Full Article
25x'25 Alliance Responds to 'Draconian' Cuts to Farm Energy Program
(25 x '25) The 25x'25 Alliance recognizes that all sectors must make sacrifices to achieve true reductions in spending and the national deficit. However, draconian cuts to a number ofUSDA renewable energy programs included in a larger farm and food spending billadopted
May 26, 2011 Read Full Article
Taking It to the Hill: Making the Case for Advanced Biofuels to Congress
by Mike McAdams (Biorefining Magazine/Advanced Biofuels Association) I recently had the privilege of testifying before the Energy and Power Subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce and share with its members the incredible progress the advanced biofuels
May 26, 2011 Read Full Article
Appropriations Committee Releases Fiscal Year 2012 Agriculture Appropriations Bill
(US House of Representatives Appropriations Committee) The House Appropriations Committee today (May 23, 2011) released the subcommittee draft of the fiscal year 2012 Agriculture Appropriations bill, which will be marked up in the Agriculture Subcommittee tomorrow. The legislation continues the
May 24, 2011 Read Full Article
Ethanol Subsidy Phaseout is Necessary, Pawlenty Says
by Jason Clayworth (Des Moines Register/Juice) What once would have been considered a bold, even politically suicidal, call to do away with ethanol subsidies has become the position of some key industry trade groups, paving the way for candidates like
May 24, 2011 Read Full Article
Ethanol Proponents Say Pump Up Its Benefits
(KELOLAND.com) ...High fuel costs are once again fueling the debate about alternative energy sources. And with ethanol one of South Dakota's biggest industries, both politicians and ethanol supporters say now's the time to pump up its benefits. ..."With ethanol 80 cents
May 23, 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
Do Biofuels Reduce Greenhouse Gases?
by Kevin Bullis (MIT's Technology Review) A new study fuels the debate over the impact of growing crops for fuel. Greenhouse-gas emissions from biofuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, may be lower than many researchers have estimated, according to a new
May 20, 2011 Read Full Article
Why It’s Wrong to Agree with the Malthusians about Ethanol
by Robert Zubrin (Pajamas Media) Rising food prices are the result of rising oil prices, not a growing market for ethanol. ...There is not a fixed amount of grain in the world. Farmers produce in response to demand. The more customers,
May 17, 2011 Read Full Article
Letter to Congress From U.S. Biofuels Leaders: Don't Mess With RFS
(Advanced Biofuels Association/PR NewsWire) Sending a significant signal of industry unity to Capitol Hill, the leading advocates of the U.S. biofuels industry sent Congress a message today that urged lawmakers "to stand firm in the face of calls to waive
May 17, 2011 Read Full Article
Hoover Institution Press Today Releases Book Highlighting the Implications of Federal Corn Ethanol Policy Corn Ethanol: Who Pays? Who Wins? By Ken G. Glozer
(BusinessWire) Hoover Institution Press today released Corn Ethanol: Who Pays? Who Wins? by Ken G. Glozer. In Corn Ethanol, Ken Glozer presents the history, the promises, and the truth about federal corn ethanol policy. The book is based on an in-depth, fact-based
May 17, 2011 Read Full Article
Tim Johnson Calls for End to Oil Subsidies; Thune Disagrees
by Denise Ross (The Daily Republic) Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., called for an end to taxpayer subsidies for oil and natural gas companies Wednesday, saying instead the United States should invest in further ethanol production and improving the infrastructure
May 12, 2011 Read Full Article
Democrats See Strategy to End Big Oil Tax Breaks
by Carl Hulse (New York Times) Linking two of the politically volatile issues of the moment, Senate Democrats say they will move forward this week with a plan that would eliminate tax breaks for big oil companies and divert the savings
May 09, 2011 Read Full Article
Ethanol Advocates Trying to Pump Up flex-fuel Infrastructure
by Art Hovey (Lincoln Journal Star) Nebraska ethanol advocates lined up their flex-fuel vehicles Friday to fill up with 85 percent ethanol blends at the Aurora Co-op's new 24-hour fueling site. That was their most visible way of emphasizing President Barack
May 09, 2011 Read Full Article
New Biofuel to Spar with Ethanol
by Philip Brasher (Des Moines Register) Imagine filling up the car on a fuel that isn't made from oil but doesn't have the drawbacks of corn ethanol, including its lower energy content and ability to damage older cars or gas
May 09, 2011 Read Full Article
Harkin Frustrated by Ethanol Infighting
by Daniel Looker (Agriculture.com) ...But when Senator Tom Harkin was asked about his sense of support for the Grassley-Conrad Bill on Thursday, he said that it has some risks. Harkin supports Grassley’s bill, and is one of the original co-sponsors. But
May 06, 2011 Read Full Article
Five Big Problems with Big Oil’s New Analysis of RFS Implementation Issues
by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association) The Energy Policy Research Foundation (EPRINC) recently released a white paper inexplicably suggesting that the cost of the Federal ethanol program exceeds its benefits by a factor of 3 to 1. Among other debatable claims,
May 06, 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
OpEd: A Diverse Biofuels Economy
by Tom Vilsack (USDA/The Daily Mail) ...Last year, the United States produced more than 13 billion gallons of ethanol with the bulk of it coming from the Midwest. But Congress set a national goal of using 36 billion gallons of
May 04, 2011 Read Full Article
Senators Introduce Bill to End Ethanol Subsidies, Import Tariff
by Jim Snyder (Bloomberg) ...Senators Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, and Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican, said the 45-cent credit, which is given to oil refiners for each gallon of ethanol they blend with gasoline, was unjustified given the U.S. deficit. The break
May 04, 2011 Read Full Article
Next-Generation Biofuels Panel Discussion
(Milken Institute Global Conference) With oil prices spiking and concern over climate change growing, biofuels hold tremendous appeal. But they must overcome considerable hurdles. Further process and technology refinements are needed to ensure that biofuels make a significant dent in
May 04, 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
USDA & EPA Tour REG Biodiesel Plant in Newton, IA
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) Renewable Energy Group (REG) executives hosted USDA Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson as well as leaders from the ethanol industry at their REG Newton biorefinery to discuss the role of advanced biofuels in
May 02, 2011 Read Full Article
Flex Fuel Pumps and a Green Energy Economy
by Tom Vilsack (The White House Blog) ...Today there are millions of so-called ‘flex fuel vehicles’ on the road that can use fuel containing up to 85 percent ethanol (E-85). But too few filling stations offer this fuel. Some folks
April 28, 2011 Read Full Article
The Impact of Ethanol and Ethanol Subsidies on Corn Prices: Revisiting History
by Bruce A. Babcock, Jacinto F. Fabiosa (Iowa State University) The rapid rise in corn prices that began in the fall of 2006 coincided with exponential growth in U.S. corn ethanol production. At about the same time, new ethanol consumption
April 28, 2011 Read Full Article
USDA Revises Plan to Boost Biofuel Investment
by Ben Lefebvre (Dow Jones Newswires/Denver Post) The U.S. Department of Agriculture is embarking on a revised biorefinery-finance program that it hopes will boost the amount of cellulosic-bio fuel production in the country. The USDA seeks to make the advanced-biofuels industry
April 28, 2011 Read Full Article
Franken Tours Poet Ethanol Plant
(AlbertLeaTribune.com) Get ethanol at the pumps. That’s what the farmer owners of the Poet Glenville ethanol plant told Sen. Al Franken they would like to see. The comments came during a meeting Wednesday at the plant. “We want consumers to have a
April 28, 2011 Read Full Article
Obama to Congress: End ‘Unwarranted Tax Breaks’ for Oil Companies
by Zachary A. Goldfarb (The Washington Post) President Obama urged Congress on Tuesday to take “immediate action” to end tax subsidies for oil and gas companies, as he attempts to limit the political fallout of surging gas prices. A day before oil
April 27, 2011 Read Full Article
DuPont Urges Congress to Keep Biofuel Policy
by Philip Brasher (Des Moines Register) ...“The single most important thing that Congress can do for advanced biofuels is to provide a stable policy environment,” Jan Koninckx, DuPont’s global biofuels business director, told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
April 18, 2011 Read Full Article
Propel Fuels CEO Lays Out Biofuels Infrastructure Vision
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Propel Fuels’ CEO Matt Horton explained to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources how the federal government must participate in establishing the alternative fuel infrastructure of the future. “With the primary location of the
April 18, 2011 Read Full Article
Ethanol Groups Unite in Response to Anti-Ethanol Policy Forum
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Food and environmental lobby groups took their anti-ethanol message to the Capitol Visitors Center April 14, staging a “Corn Ethanol Policy Forum” that included planned remarks from several legislators as well as analysts from
April 15, 2011 Read Full Article
It’s Time We Break Down the Blend Wall – For Good
by Tom Buis (Growth Energy/Biofuels Digest) There is no greater hurdle to the expansion of the American biofuels industry than the artificial barriers to the market. Through flawed policy and outdated regulation, these barriers serve as a mandate for the
April 15, 2011 Read Full Article
Lack of Input for EPA Biofuels Report Could Impact Future Policy
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The first triennial report on biofuels being drafted for Congress by the U.S. EPA lacks input from industry experts, which could result in negative information being falsely presented as fact to policymakers later this
April 13, 2011 Read Full Article
Advanced Biofuels Leader Tells Senate Committee Consistency Is Key
(Advanced Biofuels Association) A consistent commitment by Congress that avoids the ups and downs of public opinion will be crucial to the success of transforming America's energy policy to cleaner and renewable sources, that's what Michael McAdams, president of the
April 13, 2011 Read Full Article
DOE Gearing Up For Quadrennial Technology Review
by Matt Hourihan (Innovation Policy Blog) One of the big gaps in federal energy innovation policy has been the lack of overarching vision or strategy to define how to get where we need to go. When the President’s Council of
April 13, 2011 Read Full Article
House Appropriations Committee Releases Final Continuing Resolution; Incrementally Positive for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology Industries
(Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati) On April 12, 2011, the House Appropriations Committee released the final Continuing Resolution bill for the remainder of fiscal year 2011 (the CR).1 As described below, the CR amends the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) authority
April 13, 2011 Read Full Article
Senate Energy Committee Explores Biofuel Infrastructure Expansion
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The Senate energy committee held a two-hour hearing April 7 to discuss proposed legislation to expand the domestic biofuels market, but expanded its scope through testimony and committee member questions to cover nearly every
April 08, 2011 Read Full Article
USDA Program Provides Consumers More Choices at the Pump With Flex-Fuel Options
(US Department of Agriculture) Funding for Flex-Fuel Pumps Will Help Build Out Critical Infrastructure and Promote Greater Use of Biofuels Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that Americans will soon have more choices at the gas pump through a USDA program
April 08, 2011 Read Full Article
Stabenow Wants to Move Quickly, but Methodically on New Farm Bill
by Jerry Hagstrom (AgWeek) Senate Agriculture Commitee Chairman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., says the Senate will proceed on its own schedule on the farm bill and should finish the bill as quickly as possible, but she will not promise to finish
April 05, 2011 Read Full Article
Next-Gen Biofuel Depends on Subsidies, Senate Told
by Philip Brasher (Des Moines Register) Even as President Barack Obama renewed his push for next-generation biofuels, an industry official warned that cuts in biomass subsidies could discourage farmers from providing corn residue and other needed feedstocks. If farmers “see the
April 04, 2011 Read Full Article
Ethanol Industry Hoping for Surge
by Kate Galbraith (New York Times) Cellulosic ethanol could be poised for a surge — finally. Around the country and especially in the Midwest, a number of proposed plants that would turn corn cobs, wheat straw and other plant-based feedstocks
March 31, 2011 Read Full Article
Leveling the Playing Field for Algae-Based Fuels
by Mary Rosenthal (Biofuels Digest/Algal Biomass Organization) ...Our federal tax policy actually discourages the production of low-carbon, renewable algae-based fuels, including drop-in gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, as well as ethanol, by failing to provide them the same incentives accorded
March 31, 2011 Read Full Article
Obama Talks Energy Policy as Gas Prices Climb
(AP/MSNBC) ...Even if Obama's efforts can reduce U.S. demand for foreign oil, experts say that is unlikely to bring down the cost of gasoline, since oil is priced globally and increased demand from China and other developing nations continues to
March 30, 2011 Read Full Article
Will the DOE Loan Guarantee Program Be Chopped by Congress, as US Falls to 3rd in Cleantech Investment?
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, 34 cleantech CEOs, are trying to make sure the DOE doesn’t drop its loan guarantee program despite threats of budget cuts from Congress. Signatories to the letter include Abengoa Bioenergy EVP Christopher
March 30, 2011 Read Full Article
Alt Energy Groups Ask Congress to Support DOE Programs
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) A multitude of leading energy trade associations today wrote to Congressional leaders with a request for Congress to maintain support and funding for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) including the Loan Guarantee Program. The program, in
March 29, 2011 Read Full Article
Taking the American Biofuel Industry to the Next Level; From Talk to Action
(Novozymes) The United States has a lot riding on the success of its biofuel industry – energy independence, job creation, and environmental stewardship. But really, how far is the country in achieving its goals? There is no definitive answer to
March 24, 2011 Read Full Article
Proposed Senate Bill S.559: Securing America’s Future with Energy and Sustainable Technologies Act Comment on the Bill from an Advanced Biofuels Perspective
by Robert E. Kozak (Advanced Biofuels USA) US Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tim Johnson (D-SD) recently introduced Senate Bill S.599, the “Securing America’s Future with Energy and Sustainable Technologies Act” or SAFESTA. This bill contains numerous amendments to existing
March 23, 2011 Read Full Article
Proposal: VEETC Phased Out, Replaced with Variable Tax Credit
(OPIS) ...According to sources familiar with the proposal, the Renewable Fuels Association, Growth Energy, the American Coalition for Ethanol and the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) have agreed to phase down the current 45 cts/gal ethanol tax credit over three
March 22, 2011 Read Full Article
Governors Call for Improved Corn-for-Ethanol Reporting
(Western Farm Press) A coalition of 34 U.S. governors from Washington to New York to Texas have called on U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to alter the way his department reports the use of corn for ethanol production. They argue
March 17, 2011 Read Full Article
USDA Calls March 21 Meeting with Major US Biofuels Trade Association Heads
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, the USDA has called the heads of nearly every major biofuels association into a “friendly, open” discussion, but on an urgent timetable, to discuss opportunities to find common ground and synchronize biofuels industry
March 17, 2011 Read Full Article
Sustainability and the Environment I: Uncertainty in Indirect Land Use Change in the Life Cycle of Biofuels: Impacts for Legislation
by Adam J. Liska (Department of Biological Systems Engineering at University of Nebraska-Lincoln) Liska opens his presentation with the formerly impending climate change legislation H.R. 2454, and states that the act would have done away with the inclusion of
March 16, 2011 Read Full Article
Budgets & Biotech: Congress Urged to Continue Supporting Advanced Biofuels
(BIOtechNOW) Industry leaders point out that biotech-enabled advanced biofuels spur job growth and reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil. Three leading biotechnology trade groups are urging Congress to protect important bioenergy program funding. In a Feb. 25 letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry
March 16, 2011 Read Full Article
U.S. Sen. Grassley: Ethanol and Energy
(IowaPolitics.com) Floor Speech of Sen. Chuck Grassley Ethanol and Energy Independence Delivered Monday, March 07, 2011 ...We must look to alternative and renewable resources so we can improve our energy and national security. This includes supporting energy from wind, biomass, hydroelectric, solar,
March 16, 2011 Read Full Article
Letter to Editor: Ethanol Helps Stabilize Energy Prices
by Matt Hartwig (Renewable Fuels Association/Baltimore Sun) The Sun may have cut back its foreign bureaus, but your editorial writers ("End subsidies for corn-based ethanol," March 14) must still be aware of the turmoil in North Africa and the Middle
March 16, 2011 Read Full Article
Corn Growers To Explore Payment Shift
(Wallaces Farmer) ...NCGA (National Corn Growers Association) delegates attending the meeting in Tampa, Fla., adopted ethanol policy that states "NCGA supports reforming existing ethanol tax policy. Ideas to replace existing tax law, in the following priority order, should be a variable
March 16, 2011 Read Full Article
ACE says Ethanol Better Solution than Tapping into Oil Reserves
(American Coalition for Ethanol/Ethanol Producer Magazine) With oil prices now in triple digits and gas prices averaging 75 cents higher than last year, some are calling for oil to be released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as a way to
March 13, 2011 Read Full Article
Big Meat and Its Big Lie
By Stephanie Dreyer (Growth Energy/RenewableEnergyWorld.com) Smithfield, the world's largest producer and processor of pork, reported record profits this quarter as the global economy continues to recover and exports rise. ...Despite these record earnings, just yesterday the American Meat Institute supported legislation introduced from Senators
March 12, 2011 Read Full Article
Klobuchar, Johnson Introduce Legislation to Promote Domestic Energy Production
(Senator Amy Klobuchar) Bill would reduce U.S. dependence on oil, strengthen rural economies, and spur innovation in the energy sector U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tim Johnson (D-SD) introduced legislation today that focuses on developing and deploying safe, reliable domestically
March 11, 2011 Read Full Article
Propel Fuels Hosts USDA’s Judith Canales
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) Propel Fuels hosted Judith Canales, Administrator for Rural Business and Cooperative Programs for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), yesterday at one of the fuel retailer’s stations in Oakland, California yesterday to promote the positive and
March 10, 2011 Read Full Article
Ethanol Industry Feels Squeeze as Congress Tightens Belt
by Elana Shor (Greenwire/New York Times) ...Major oil companies, Hartwig added, "make $50 billion a quarter in profits, yet still get billions of dollars of permanent subsidies in the tax code each and every year. Is that a wise
March 08, 2011 Read Full Article
Too Vulnerable to Reliance on Foreign Oil
by Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind (IndyStar) ...Washington over the years has failed to focus sufficient attention on our oil vulnerability and generate momentum behind substantive, concrete proposals with definable goals. In 1999, former CIA director James Woolsey and I published
March 07, 2011 Read Full Article
Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance Revenue
by Gene L. Dodaro (Comptroller General of the United States/US Government Accountability Office) ...Domestic ethanol production: Congress supported domestic ethanol production through a $5.4 billion tax credit program in 2010 and through a renewable fuel standard that applies to transportation fuels used in
March 07, 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
Scientific Panel to Review EPA's Triennial Biofuels Draft Report
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. EPA has scheduled an independent peer review meeting for March 14 to review a draft report it is preparing for Congress which will detail the current and potential future environmental impacts associated
March 03, 2011 Read Full Article
The Washington Compromise
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) A unified biofuels policy? The hour is nigh. As Benjamin Franklin was reputed to say at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, “We must, indeed, all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang
March 03, 2011 Read Full Article
Coalition of 90 Groups Blast Ethanol Tax Credits
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, a coalition of 90 organizations urged Congress to let the refundable Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) expire and to resist calls for spending on infrastructure for conventional biofuels. The coalition says: “Congress has
March 02, 2011 Read Full Article
Growth Energy Starts "No to OPEC" Ad Campaign
(Growth Energy) Today, as Congress returns to Washington, DC, we are sending lawmakers a timely message through a strategic ad campaign: “Say No to OPEC – Say Yes to America.” The ad campaign includes a display ad in Roll Call and
March 01, 2011 Read Full Article
USDA Expands Efforts to Develop Crop Insurance for Biofuels Producers
(US Department of Agriculture) Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced February 25, 2011, that USDA will soon seek proposals to study the feasibility of providing crop insurance to producers of biofuel feedstocks, including corn stover, straw and woody biomass. These feasibility
February 28, 2011 Read Full Article
Agriculture Secretary Vilsack to Sign MOU to Support Continued Development of Biofuels and Related Products
(US Department of Agriculture) Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that he will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to encourage the continued development of bio-based products for energy consumption, animal feed, chemicals and other uses. " This agreement will strengthen public,
February 28, 2011 Read Full Article
The Magoo Congress
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...The response to all this worry over oil? The United States House of Representatives in a new series of measures just passed, is doing its level best to ensure the failure of the only at-scale,
February 24, 2011 Read Full Article
Mideast Turmoil Hits U.S. Wallets
by General Wesley Clark (Politico) ...How long chaos continues in that critical corner of that world remains unknown. But one thing is certain: As long as there is chaos and fears of access to Mid East oil upsets the market,
February 24, 2011 Read Full Article
Bad Time to Kill E15, Retired Navy Leader Says
by Daniel Looker (Agriculture.com) On a day when Libya teeters on the brink of civil war and cuts oil production, Retired Vice Admiral Denny McGinn takes little comfort from an announcement by the remaining members of OPEC that it will
February 22, 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
25x'25 Offers New Food-versus-Fuel Information FAQ
(25 x '25) Last week, USDA reported that surplus corn stocks have hit their lowest point since 1995 and corn prices have risen from $3.50 per bushel in July 2010, to $6.10 in January 2011. Critics of biofuels charge that
February 18, 2011 Read Full Article
10 to watch: Senators on Energy
by Darren Goode (Politico) With Republicans controlling the House and ramping up oversight and investigations of the Obama administration, focus at least initially in the next Congress will be on the Senate to lay a potential pathway for legislative compromise
February 05, 2011 Read Full Article
Biofuels Play Increasing Role in Reduced U.S. Oil Imports & Reduced Vulnerability
by Jon H. Harsch (Agri-Pulse) ...Energy Committee Chair Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. pointed to the EIA forecast that after peaking in 2005-06, U.S. oil imports should continue to decline – showing that the U.S. has already reduced its dependence on imports.
February 04, 2011 Read Full Article
RFA Analysis of EPA’s “Preliminary” Triennial Report on Biofuels and the Environment to Congress
by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association) In compliance with Section 204 of the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to report to Congress every three years on the environmental and resource conservation
February 02, 2011 Read Full Article
State of the Union Talks Trade and Biofuels
(AgWired.com) President Obama made some folks in the ag industry happy with his State of the Union (SOTU) address Tuesday talking about the importance of both biofuels and free trade agreements. Corn farmers and representatives of the renewable fuels industry were especially pleased
February 01, 2011 Read Full Article
Senate Panel to Put Ethanol under the Microscope
by Ben Geman (The Hill) The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee’s agenda this year includes new scrutiny of ethanol. A spokesperson for committee Democrats said a hearing is in the offing but hasn’t been scheduled yet. Whenever it occurs, the session
February 01, 2011 Read Full Article
Gingrich to Obama: Focus on Energy
by Kathie Obradovich (Des Moines Register) Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who is mulling a 2012 run for president, called on President Obama to use his State of the Union speech tonight to make the American energy production a “major
January 31, 2011 Read Full Article
Fate of the Union: 3-Point Plan for biofuels
by Bob Dinneen (Renewable Fuels Association/Biofuels Digest) ...While some would choose to ignore reality, the nation can produce more ethanol sustainably using grains like corn, wheat and barley. ...The nation can also produce significant volumes of renewable fuel from non-grain
January 25, 2011 Read Full Article
EPA Announces a Waiver to Allow the Use of Gasoline Containing Greater than 10% Ethanol in 2001 though 2006 Light-Duty Vehicles.
(US Environmental Protection Agency) In response to a request by Growth Energy under section 211(f)(4) of the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has partially granted a waiver to allow fuel and fuel additive manufacturers to introduce into
January 22, 2011 Read Full Article
The Path Forward for Federal Biofuel Incentives
(25 x'25) The belief that the ethanol industry is entering a new era is nearly universal. As Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President Bob Dinneen put it this week, “new challenges to ethanol policies will be mounted from within the new
January 22, 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
Ethanol 'All about National Security'
by Daniel Looker (Agriculture.com) To farmers who pioneered the ethanol industry, the goal was creating another market for corn. To retired General Wesley Clark, it’s about patriotism and national security. Clark, who is co-chairman of the ethanol lobbying group, Growth Energy,
January 10, 2011 Read Full Article
10 to Watch: GOP Freshmen on Energy
by Robin Braverder (Politico) ...Cory Gardner (Colo.) — Like many of his colleagues, this newcomer with strong agricultural ties hopes to advance “hearty oversight” of the EPA from his new perch on the Energy and Commerce Committee. On the energy front, look for
December 28, 2010 Read Full Article
Fuel Vs. Food: Ethanol Helps Boost Meat Prices
by Kathleen Masterson (NPR / WOI / Harvest Public Media) ...And according to USDA data, meat now costs as much as 12 percent more than last year. ...But let's get out of the kitchen for a minute — this is
December 23, 2010 Read Full Article
The Signs: Good News for the Aces of Bio-Based May Spell Trouble for the Renewable Fuel Standard
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... The USDA’s Sarah Biddleman speaks in terms of “standing up a biofuels industry” like a pop-up children’s book, in that all the pieces have to rise up, in the right way, all at once. ... Is the
December 22, 2010 Read Full Article
Political Winds
by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine) How will the new leadership impact ethanol policies? Some strong ethanol advocates lost in the November election, including Earl Pomeroy and Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, acknowledges Bob Dinneen, president of the Renewable Fuels Association. Many more
December 22, 2010 Read Full Article
Grassley Says Unity Is Vital to Ethanol Interests
by Philip Brasher (Des Moines Register) The ethanol industry needs to stop its infighting to preserve its government support beyond next year, says Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Ia. "We can't stand any more division within biofuels," said Grassley, who led a successful fight
December 21, 2010 Read Full Article
U.S. Ethanol Industry Faces Subsidy Battle Next Year
by Charles Abbott and Timothy Gardner (Reuters) U.S. ethanol makers face a battle over reforming subsidies next year after current incentives are rolled over in the tax package signed into law by President Barack Obama on Friday. The new law extends the
December 20, 2010 Read Full Article
E15 fears: More Ethanol in Gasoline is Bad News for Power Equipment, Critics Say
by Adrian Higgins (The Washington Post) ...But a push to add another 50 percent to the ethanol content of some automobile fuel has opened a barrel of worms. Automakers say they don't know how it will affect their cars; power-equipment
December 20, 2010 Read Full Article
House Votes to Extend Ethanol, Biodiesel, Renewable Diesel Tax Credits; Senate Drops Biofuels-Slashing Omnibus Bill
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, the US House of Representatives voted by a 277 to 148 margin to approve the Obama tax deal, which extends the ethanol tax credit through 2011, and retroactively extends the biodiesel tax incentive and the renewable
December 17, 2010 Read Full Article
Price of Ethanol and Price of Oil According to the New York Times
by Raymond J. Learsy (Huffington Post) In a classic example and contender for the Alfred E. Neuman "I Don't Get It" prize of the year the New York Times' editorial page of December 9th outdid itself. First we had a dissertation on
December 13, 2010 Read Full Article
Bi-Partisan Support for Biofuels Can Help to Achieve Energy, National Security Objectives
by Steve Maddox (The Hill) ...Although conventional, corn-based ethanol is not the darling of the environmental movement, it does have certain national security benefits that cannot be overlooked. And the next generation of biofuels being developed across the country offer
December 13, 2010 Read Full Article
Getting the Facts Straight on Ethanol, Letters to the Editor
by Bob Dinneen (Renewable Fuels Association) Letter to the Editor, Chicago Tribune, Re: Dennis Byrne’s column “Time to stand up to ethanol interests.” ...First, Byrne’s facts and figures are accurate for the tax credits for domestic ethanol and the renewable fuels standards
December 01, 2010 Read Full Article
EPA: More Renewable Fuels Required
by Robin Bravender & Darren Samuelsohn (Politico) ...Energy Secretary Steven Chu on Monday said that the future of transportation fuels shouldn't involve ethanol, the gasoline additive that historically has received billions of dollars in federal subsidies. "Ethanol is not an ideal transportation
November 30, 2010 Read Full Article
Al Gore’s Flip-flop on Ethanol, He Had it Right the First Time
by Matt Hartwig (Renewable Fuels Association) Now he tells us: Al Gore was for grain ethanol before he was against it. Speaking at a green energy business conference in Athens, the former vice president declared “it is not good policy to have
November 23, 2010 Read Full Article
U.S. Corn Ethanol "Was Not a Good Policy": Gore
by Gerard Wynn (Reuters) Former vice-president Al Gore said support for corn-based ethanol in the United States was "not a good policy", weeks before tax credits are up for renewal. U.S. blending tax breaks for ethanol make it profitable for refiners to
November 23, 2010 Read Full Article
America Needs New Investment: In the Next Generation of Biofuels
by Christopher G. Standlee (Abengoa Energy/The Hill's Congress Blog) ...(T)here is bipartisan support for answering an urgent national challenge: replacing imported high-pollution petroleum with clean-burning American biofuels. ...There is bipartisan support for biofuels because their development, production and use serve great
November 22, 2010 Read Full Article
King: GOP House Good for Ethanol, Biodiesel Tax Cuts
by John Davis (DomesticFuel.com) Republicans taking control of the U.S. House is good for the chances of the federal ethanol and biodiesel tax breaks seeing renewal … that’s according to a GOP member from Iowa. AgriNews.com reports that U.S. Rep. Steve
November 12, 2010 Read Full Article
Will GOP Gains Mean Ethanol Producer Losses?
by Gary Clark and Rachel Ziemba (Forbes) Doctor Doom: With Congress gridlocked, the U.S. may put the brakes on biofuels support. Following the Republican Party's capture of the House of Representatives in the midterm elections, U.S. policy on the use of biofuels for
November 12, 2010 Read Full Article
U.S. Biofuel Production, Use Lags
by Philip Brasher (Zanesville Times Recorder) Motorists will use just a fraction of the next-generation biofuels in 2011 that Congress intended, and even that small amount depends on a single project in Iowa that isn't ready yet. ... Cellulose and algae are
November 10, 2010 Read Full Article
How to Get Biofuels Moving Again
by Michael Kanellos and Jim Imbler (Green Tech Media) To help this industry thrive, governments need to develop and implement a strategy that will last decades, argues Zeachem CEO Jim Imbler. the advanced biofuels industry is determined to commercialize and stand on
October 26, 2010 Read Full Article
The Health Benefits of Ethanol
(Ethanol Across America) C. Boyden Gray, one of the architects of the historic 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments that established the nation's reformulated gasoline program, called for increased regulation of air toxics by the Environmental Protection Agency and in so
October 06, 2010 Read Full Article
Journal of Peasant Studies Publishes Perspectives on New Agrarian Relations Related to Biofuels
(Journal of Peasant Studies) In this collection we ask a number of questions emerging out of the new agrarian political economy created by the ‘biofuel complex’. Together the papers offer perspectives from political economy, political sociology and political ecology, and
September 28, 2010 Read Full Article
Deficit Hawks Not Talking Turkey About Ethanol
by Matt Hartwig (Renewable Fuels Association) A Bloomberg story today warned that deficit hawks in Congress – and potentially those that might be elected this fall – are targeting ethanol as an example of wasteful government spending. ...Our government spends
September 24, 2010 Read Full Article
2010 Fuel Scorecard Released
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel) The Truman National Security Project has released its 2010 Fuel Scorecard and ethanol scores near the top of the list as viable fuel options for the future. Based on several factors that affect America’s security including instability of
September 22, 2010 Read Full Article
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson Discusses Farm Bill Issues with Saratoga County Farmers
by Paul Post (The Saratogan) ...For local dairy producers, one of the most pressing concerns is ethanol production that drives up corn prices — hurting small family farms in the process. ..."We’ve got a big problem in the ethanol industry," (House
September 09, 2010 Read Full Article
Another Dirty Secret of Oil Dependence
by Jim DiPeso (The Daily Green) The hidden health threat (and $100 billion annual cost) in the gasoline we pump into our cars. ...China supplanted the U.S. as the biggest energy consuming country in the world. China's growth, along with India's,
August 31, 2010 Read Full Article
Ethanol at Boom/Bust Crossroads
by Elton Robinson (Southeast Farm Press) ...It’s not what President Barack Obama has been saying in recent speeches that worried several market analysts speaking at the Brock Decision 2010 Seminar in Memphis. It’s what he hasn’t been saying. In speeches outlining
August 17, 2010 Read Full Article
Costs and Benefits to Taxpayers, Consumers, and Producers from U.S. Ethanol Policies
by Bruce A. Babcock, Kanlaya J. Barr, Miguel Carriquiry (Center for Agriculture and Rural Development, Iowa State University) The U.S. ethanol industry is lobbying hard for an extension of existing ethanol import tariffs and blenders tax credits before they expire
July 21, 2010 Read Full Article
Crude Oil Imports and National Security
by Robert M. Ames, Anthony Corridore, Edward Hirs, Paul W. MacAvoy (Yale Graduates Energy Study Group) The authors demonstrate that the United States profits handsomely in all circumstances by imposing an embargo on imports of foreign crude oil. The US removes its
February 26, 2010 Read Full Article
How to Beat the High Cost of Gasoline. Forever!
by Adam Lashinsky and Nelson D. Schwartz (CNN Money/Fortune Magazine) You probably don't know it, but the answer to America's gasoline addiction could be under the hood of your car. More than five million Tauruses, Explorers, Stratuses, Suburbans, and other vehicles
January 31, 2006 Read Full Article
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