by Jennifer A Dlouhy and Jeffrey Bair (Bloomberg Green) HollyFrontier’s Cheyenne refinery will no longer use crude oil; Company expects to lose EPA exemption for small refiners -- In a sign of changing times, a U.S. oil refining company is converting
Wyoming
Back TO HOMELeading with Soil: Scaling Soil Carbon Storage in Agriculture
(Carbon 180) Soil carbon storage offers significant economic and environmental opportunities for farmers and ranchers. Agricultural practices that store carbon in the soil can help fight climate change at a low cost. Those same practices can also improve overall soil
May 13, 2020 Read Full Article
Precedent Exists for EPA to Reject RFS Waiver Requests by States
by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine) The governors of Texas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Utah and Louisiana have sent letters to U.S. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler asking the agency to waive 2020 Renewable Fuel Standard blending requirements due to market impacts caused by
April 30, 2020 Read Full Article
EPA Weighs Lifting Ethanol Requirements for Oil Refiners
by Rebecca Beitsch (The Hill) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is weighing whether to let oil refineries skip on adding ethanol to their fuels, a move being requested by governors in oil-rich states who say the industry can’t afford the expense of
April 19, 2020 Read Full Article
States Ask EPA for Nationwide Biofuel Waiver to Help Oil Refiners Weather Coronavirus
by Laura Sanicola (Reuters) The governors of five U.S. states have asked the Trump administration for a nationwide waiver exempting the oil-refining industry from the nation’s biofuel laws to help it survive a demand meltdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak, according
April 16, 2020 Read Full Article
Here We Go Again: Senate Letter Plagued by Myths and Mistruths about RINs
by Scott Richman (Renewable Fuels Association) Yesterday (February 27, 2020), a group of senators wrote a letter to President Trump regarding the January 24 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit that found the EPA improperly exceeded its
March 02, 2020 Read Full Article
Tenth Circuit Court Strikes Down EPA Small Refinery Exemptions
(Renewable Fuels Association) In a decision that is expected to broadly impact the Environmental Protection Agency’s approach to granting small refinery exemptions (SREs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit late on Friday struck
January 27, 2020 Read Full Article
Biodiesel at Work at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort
(Yellowstone-Teton Clean Cities) Yellowstone-Teton Clean Cities is non-profit that aims to increase the use of alternative fuels in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. As part of an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Environmental Education grant, this video was produced to educate the
January 02, 2020 Read Full Article
Small Refineries Petition Courts: Agriculture, Biofuel Groups Await Announcement on White House RFS Deal
by Todd Neeley (DTN Progressive Farmer) Two small refiners not receiving exemptions to the Renewable Fuel Standard in EPA's latest round of waivers announced on Aug. 9, continue to fight the agency's rejection in federal court. At the same time, agriculture
October 02, 2019 Read Full Article
Avfuel to Demonstrate Viability of Sustainable Aviation Fuel at Jackson Hole Aviation (KJAC)
(Avfuel) In an effort to further business aviation’s carbon neutrality goals, Avfuel will make sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) available to operators fueling at Jackson Hole Aviation on September 3 and 4. For the event, Avfuel will supply 7,300 gallons of
August 28, 2019 Read Full Article
List of Current Carbon Capture Projects
by Lee Beck (Global Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) Institute) and William Brandon ( Industrial Ecosystem Partners) Here is a list of carbon capture projects now in operation in North America. Note that the last three are direct sequestration while the
June 12, 2019 Read Full Article
EPA Wants Refinery Information Sealed Agency Asks Court Not to Disclose Waivers Brief, Documents to Public
by Todd Neeeley (DTN The Progressive Farmer) The EPA wants to keep from the public eye an opening brief and some records to be filed in a small-refinery waivers case, claiming in a court motion the information is subject to a
March 12, 2019 Read Full Article
First Committee Chair Backs Green New Deal
by Kelsey Tamborrino (Politico's Morning Energy) Rep. Nydia Velázquez , the presumptive incoming chairwoman of the Small Business Committee, became the latest House Democrat to back the Green New Deal on Tuesday. "We cannot delay when it comes to addressing this
December 05, 2018 Read Full Article
The Complex Dynamics of Coprocessing
by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) While oil refiners adding a small percentage of renewable feedstock to their operations sounds simple, the political, economic, technical, societal and market consequences are anything but. In 2007, at the height of the biodiesel boom, ConocoPhillips and
November 06, 2018 Read Full Article
Court to Hear RFS Refinery Waivers Case
by Todd Neeley (DTN The Progressive Farmer) Appeals Court to Hear Whether EPA Followed Law Prior to Granting Exemptions -- The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver will hear a Renewable Fuels Standard lawsuit challenging EPA's issuance of small refinery waivers,
July 31, 2018 Read Full Article
Beartooth Basin Will Be First Ski Area to Operate on 100% Biodiesel
(Diesel Technology Forum) One of America’s oldest ski areas, Wyoming’s Beartooth Basin, has announced plans to become the first ski area to operate all lifts on biodiesel starting this season. Accoriding to a press release, the equipment will initially run on
June 05, 2018 Read Full Article
Over 30 States Broke Blend Wall in 2016
by Cindy Zimmerman (Energy.AgWired.com) The latest data from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) shows that gasoline consumed in 30 states and the District of Columbia in 2016 contained more than 10 percent ethanol on average, breaking through the so-called E10 Blend
February 05, 2018 Read Full Article
University of Wyoming Scientists Part of $6 Million Biofuel, Carbon Capture Project
(University of Wyoming) Agricultural economists at the University of Wyoming will generate models of what economies in the Upper Missouri River Basin might look like if raising biofuels and carbon capture technologies were implemented. UW is part of the four-year, $6 million
October 09, 2017 Read Full Article
EPA Erred in Denying Renewable Fuel Hardship Exemption: Courts
by Jarrett Renshaw (Reuters) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency used too strict of a test when it denied Sinclair Oil Corp's request for an exemption from the country's biofuel regulations, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Tuesday. The ruling could broaden
August 16, 2017 Read Full Article
Study Evaluates Camelina’s Varied Response to Location
(American Society of Agronomy/Biomass Magazine) A new study, led by Augustine Obour at Kansas State University, looks at how three varieties of camelina perform when grown in two different regions within the Great Plains. The end goal is to find the
June 05, 2017 Read Full Article
Report: Six States Propose New Electric Vehicle Fees
by Robert Walton (Utility Dive) The Sierra Club says six states have proposed legislation this year that would add to the cost of owning an electric vehicle, worrying clean energy advocates who say owning emissions-free vehicles should be incentivized rather
February 24, 2017 Read Full Article
MSU Awarded Grant to Research Biofuel, Carbon Capture Technologies for Upper Missouri River Basin
by Evelyn Boswell (Montana State University) A regional interdisciplinary team led by Montana State University has received $6 million to develop new innovations at the intersection of food, energy and water systems while training the next generation of scientists. The four-year
November 04, 2016 Read Full Article
When the Wind Blows: Tracking Toxic Chemicals in Gas Fields and Impacted Communities
(Coming Clean) When the Wind Blows: Tracking Toxic Chemicals in Gas Fields and Impacted Communities is a report documenting Coming Clean’s collaborative, community-based research project to monitor toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in gas fields in rural Pavillion, Wyoming and
June 16, 2016 Read Full Article
Businessman Wants Second Life for Ethanol's Leftovers
by Russell Hubbard (Omaha World-Herald) ... (Scott) Hornafius, you see, wants to build a $1 billion, 1,000-mile underground pipeline across Iowa and Nebraska to Wyoming. The line would carry ethanol-plant production leftovers in the form of carbon dioxide — the bubbly stuff
May 12, 2016 Read Full Article
Oil and Gas Companies Stiff 29,000 Workers Out of $40 Million
by Alan Neuhauser (US News and World Report) America's fracking boom promised big paychecks, but thousands of workers were exploited, the Labor Department says. -- ... Despite booming industry profits and record oil and gas output – which together rejuvenated the
April 11, 2016 Read Full Article
Report: Coal, Biomass Mix May Be in Military Jet Fuel Future
by Anna Simet (Biomass Magazine) The U.S. Defense Logistics Agency and the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology recently released results of a research project that investigated the technical feasibility, commercial viability and environmental compliance of the use of liquefied coal and
December 23, 2015 Read Full Article
INSIGHT-Power Line Opponents Give Renewables Their Keystone Moment
by Nichola Groom (Reuters) ... The visitor represented Clean Line Energy Partners LLC, a Texas company established to build transmission lines for carrying wind and solar power. He had come to tell (Dave) Ulery about a planned line that would cut
October 20, 2015 Read Full Article
Wyoming Imposes 24-cent-per-gallon Tax on Alternative Fuels
by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) Wyoming Gov. Matthew H. Mead recently signed a bill (HB0009) into law imposing a fuel tax on previously exempt alternative fuels such as biodiesel and ethanol. The new rate of taxation on alternative fuels beginning
March 05, 2015 Read Full Article
New Wyoming Law Extends Fuels Tax to Alternative Highway Fuels, Including Natural Gas, E85, Biodiesel
(Associated Press) Gov. Matt Mead has signed into law a bill that extends the state fuels tax to include alternative highway fuels, including natural gas, pure ethanol, E85 and biodiesel. The new law, which Mead signed on Wednesday, will take effect in
February 27, 2015 Read Full Article
Wyoming Task Force Report Includes Bioenergy Recommendations
by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine) In Wyoming, the Governor’s Task Force on Forests has issued a report featuring its recommendations for proactively managing the state’s forests. Several of the recommendations relate to bioenergy development. The report presents 12 major recommendations along
February 06, 2015 Read Full Article
Gevo Issues Plant Update, Transfers Common Stock Listing
by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine) On Jan. 8, Gevo Inc. issued an update of operations at its Luverne, Minnesota, plant, reporting that the facility produced more than 50,000 gallons of biobased isobutanol in December. The company also recently announced the
January 09, 2015 Read Full Article
Five Myths about Gas Taxes
by Paul Bledsoe (The Washington Post) A dramatic 40 percent drop in oil prices since June has prompted new discussion aboutraising the long-static federal gasoline tax and has many states considering gas tax hikes as well. At the federal level, Congress
December 22, 2014 Read Full Article
University of Wyoming Researchers Advance Biorenewable Energy Prospects
(University of Wyoming) After graduating from Northern Kentucky University with bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and accounting, Allen Morris decided to pursue graduate studies at the University of Wyoming for two primary reasons: the Rocky Mountain lifestyle, and an attractive stipend
September 18, 2014 Read Full Article
GeoSynFuels Purchases, Retrofits Idle Demonstration Plant
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Golden, Colo.-based GeoSynFuels LLC has acquired the cellulosic demonstration facility formerly owned and operated by Blue Sugars Corp., the parent company of Western Biomass Energy LLC. GSF plans to retrofit the plant to use its
April 16, 2014 Read Full Article
Wyoming May Act to Plug Abandoned Wells as Natural Gas Boom Ends
by Dan Frosch (New York Times) Hundreds of abandoned drilling wells dot eastern Wyoming like sagebrush, vestiges of a natural gas boom that has been drying up in recent years as prices have plummeted. The companies that once operated the
January 06, 2014 Read Full Article
Universities Receive $10M to Study Biofuels
by Martiin Kidston (Missoulian) If 1 ton of woody debris can produce 50 gallons of fuel, how many gallons of fuel could 42 million acres of dead and dying forests produce? Funded by a $10 million grant from the U.S. Department
December 26, 2013 Read Full Article
Feds Launch CSU-Run Research into Tapping Forests for Liquid Fuel
by Bruce Finley (Denver Post) The federal government is launching a $10 million, five-year project to tap overgrown and beetle-ravaged Western U.S. forests as a new source of non-oil liquid fuel that could power cars, warships and airliners. The Colorado State
November 08, 2013 Read Full Article
Western Biomass up for Sale; Blue Sugars Files Bankruptcy
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Just months after receiving the first cellulosic renewable identification numbers for a shipment of cellulosic ethanol to its Brazil partner Petrobras, Western Biomass Energy LLC filed for bankruptcy and is now up for
May 28, 2013 Read Full Article
Western Biomass Energy in Chapter 11 Reorganization
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Just months after shipping a load of bagasse-based cellulosic ethanol to Brazil, Western Biomass Energy LLC filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy on Oct. 31. Peter Gross, CEO of Blue Sugars Corp., the parent company
February 13, 2013 Read Full Article
Milestones Reached: Cellulosic Ethanol Is Arriving, with Commissioning under Way and More Than 100 MMgy under Construction.
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The next five years—the often scoffed mantra of cellulosic ethanol developers—is getting whittled down to the next year or two. A milestone was reached this year when Blue Sugars Corp. got the first cellulosic
October 14, 2012 Read Full Article
Ethanol Blends Overtaking Gasoline Supply Chain
(OPISNet.com) It’s been a long time coming, but ethanol now dominates the U.S. gasoline blending landscape. The number of wholesale terminals supplying only conventional clear gasoline for truck loadings has trimmed down to just nine out of about 325 rack
March 23, 2012 Read Full Article
Soybean Checkoff to Partner with Nine Clean Cities Coalitions
(Jackson County Times-Journal) The United Soybean Board (USB) and soybean checkoff have announced the participants in the 2012 biodiesel and Bioheat® communications program, which helps cities across the United States spread the word about the only commercially available advanced biofuel. The
January 19, 2012 Read Full Article
Gearing up for Bagasse
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) KL Energy Corp. is preparing to validate its modified process technology to turn sugarcane bagasse into ethanol. As the bitter winter turns to spring in the tiny town of Upton, Wyo., located on the northern
February 21, 2011 Read Full Article
Wyo. Plant Turns Sugar Cane Waste Into Biofuel
by Bob Moen (AP) Wyoming is a long way from places where sugar cane is grown, but a test plant in the northeast part of the state will soon be turning sugar cane waste into biofuel. KL Energy Corp., based in
August 25, 2010 Read Full Article
Biofuels Research in Wyoming Gets Boost
The Wyoming Business Council Agribusiness Division has received a $49,873 grant from the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program to explore the feasibility of sustainable biofuel crop production in Wyoming. The three-year SARE grant provides funding for test