biodiesel
House revives biodiesel tax credit two years after it expired
Congress is on the verge of retroactive restoration of the $1-a-gallon biodiesel tax credit, a result of the last-minute inclusion of a package of tax breaks in a mammoth government funding bill. The House passed the bill on Tuesday, and the Senate is expected to approve it by the end of the week.
Ethanol, ag groups raise alarm ahead of White House meeting on biofuels
Administration officials will hold their first White House meeting in a month on the Renewable Fuel Standard, as ethanol makers and corn growers fear an attack on the ethanol mandate. The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association said if the White House weakens the RFS, it "will be viewed as nothing less than a declaration of war on rural America and a complete abdication of [President Trump's] repeated promises to protect the RFS."
Commerce Department authorizes anti-dumping duties on imported biodiesel
Biodiesel makers in Argentina and Indonesia should face anti-dumping duties of up to 277 percent on their shipments to the United States, ruled the Commerce Department in a case brought by domestic producers.
Report: Biodiesel driving deforestation and host of other problems at home and abroad
An investigation by activist groups Mighty Earth and ActionAid USA challenges the notion of biodiesel as the environmentally responsible fuel of the future. Burned: Deception, Deforestation and America’s Biodiesel Policy claims that growing demand for biodiesel in the U.S. contributes to a host of problems, from deforestation in Argentina and Indonesia to algae blooms in Lake Erie and the Gulf of Mexico’s dead zone.
An RFS compromise? No, says Grassley. Maybe, says Perdue.
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said that he doubts there is room for a compromise with oil-state senators over the Renewable Fuel Standard, and that there had been no discussion among senators about one.
Trump to meet oil industry and lawmakers on biofuels mandate
President Trump will meet oil industry leaders and their congressional allies for a discussion of the biofuels mandate, reported Reuters, based on two sources. The meeting "could set the stage for negotiations to overhaul the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard," said the wire service; the industry has pressed for years to eliminate the mandate or revise its requirement to blend biofuels into gasoline and diesel fuel.
Biofuels industry laments it didn’t get more in new RFS targets
Farm-state officials played their Trump card six weeks ago, calling in White House support to quash potential cuts in the Renewable Fuel Standard, which sets U.S. targets for biofuel consumption.
Commerce orders anti-dumping duties on biodiesel imports
Argentina has requested negotiations with the United States on a "suspension" agreement that would avoid imposition of stiff U.S. anti-dumping duties on its biodiesel exports, said the Commerce Department. The negotiations were announced at the same time the department ordered anti-dumping duties of up to 70 percent on the fuel.
Northey nomination for USDA may move in December
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won’t let go of his “hold” on USDA nominee Bill Northey, said Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, so he and fellow Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst have appealed to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to arrange a vote. “We want to do it as soon after Nov. 30 as we can,” Grassley told ag reporters.
Biofuels groups say EPA has to do more for biodiesel and cellulosic ethanol
EPA administrator Scott Pruitt quelled midwestern protests over a potential change in course by the Trump administration, saying there would be no additional cuts in the biofuels mandate proposed for 2018. But two groups, the National Biodiesel Board and the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, said the government ought to raise the target for biodiesel.
Cruz says he’ll block USDA nominee until White House calls ethanol meeting
The winner of the 2016 Iowa presidential caucuses, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said he will block a confirmation vote on a key USDA nominee until President Trump convenes a meeting to hash out oil-state complaints about the Renewable Fuel Standard.
Countervailing duties levied on Argentine, Indonesian biodiesel
Argentina and Indonesia unfairly subsidize the production of biodiesel fuel, so the United States will levy countervailing duties as high as 68 percent on the imported fuel, which competes with U.S.-made biodiesel, said the Commerce Department in a preliminary ruling. “Even friendly nations must play by the rules,” said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
Appeals court overturns EPA’s 2016 biofuel mandate
The EPA erred when it set the target for biofuels use in 2016 below the levels specified by Congress, said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in a decision that vacated the regulation and ordered EPA to try again. The three-judge panel said EPA improperly interpreted the "inadequate supply provision" that allows it to waive the statutory targets for renewable fuel use.
Biodiesel industry asks for extension of tax credit
The $1 per gallon tax credit for biodiesel blenders is due to expire at the end of the year, along with four dozen tax breaks that were extended for a year or two by law makers. Biofuel and farm groups signed a letter asking Congress for a multiyear extension before it adjourns for fall campaigning, said DTN.
Clinton asks California regulators how to revamp biofuel mandate
Advisers for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton sought advice from California regulators on ways to revamp U.S. biofuel mandates, said Reuters. Corn-based ethanol is popular in the Midwest so the possibility of change in the so-called Renewable Fuel Standard could hurt her in corn states "like Iowa, where she faces a tough battle against Republican rival Donald Trump in the Nov. 8 election."
DuPont says EPA crimps market for advanced biofuels
DuPont says in a court filing that EPA's decision to lower the targets for the Renewable Fuels Standard puts at risk its investment in a 30-million-gallon-a-year cellulosic plant in central Iowa, reports DTN.
Washington State Legislature OKs industrial hemp project
Washington State legislators sent to the governor a bill that would allow licensed farmers to grow industrial hemp as part of a research program to be run by Washington State University, reports the Associated Press.
Challenge to biofuel mandate in the offing
Farm, biofuel and biotech groups petitioned the U.S. appeals court in Washington to hear a challenge to the EPA's relaxation of the renewable fuel mandate for this year, reports DTN.
Imports of renewable diesel are up 29 percent
The United States imported near-record volumes of renewable diesel fuel in each of the first five months of this year, averaging 30,000 barrels a day, said the Energy Information Administration. The imports, which were 29 percent higher than in the same period in 2023, came from one producer, Neste, and were shipped almost wholly to the West Coast.