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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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 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.

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.

Sens Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Maria Cantwell of Washington state proposed revival and extension of the $1-a-gallon biodiesel tax credit through 2018. "This provision should be included in the tax extenders package under discussion," Grassley said in a joint statement with Cantwell.