biofuel

Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, chairman of one of the committees investigating Russian meddling in U.S. elections, said on Twitter that President Trump called him and "he assured me he's pro-ethanol ... he knows that ethanol is good, good, good." The phone call came on the same day the Senate Judiciary Committee said it would interview Trump's son, Donald Jr., in coming weeks as part of the Russia investigation.

Researchers at the University of Southern California are in the early stages of an experiment to farm seaweed for biofuel in the Pacific Ocean. Kelp can grow two to three feet a day without fertilizer, pesticides, fresh water, or arable land — making it an ideal product for the biofuel industry.

The federal mandate to mix corn ethanol into gasoline has plateaued at 15 billion gallons a year, so ethanol distillers are looking for other markets and throttling back on production, says Reuters. Three companies — ethanol industry leader Archer-Daniels-Midland, Green Plains Inc. and Pacific Ethanol — are turning to industrial and beverage alcohol production, an avenue open to them because ethanol is grain alcohol.

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.

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, the Trump administration's nominee for U.S. ambassador to China, says he is assured that a change in the Renewable Fuels Standard sought by oil refiners "is not going to happen," reported Radio Iowa. But a White House official told Reuters the proposal was under review, although the administration took no position "either way on this issue at this time."

The so-called ethanol mandate guarantees the biofuel a share of the gasoline market. Because of this, the Wall Street Journal says "some of the world's biggest oil companies" will see a windfall of more than $1 billion from the sale of renewable fuel credits associated with the mandate.

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.

Rep. Eric Swalwell led five additional California House members urging the EPA to put the Renewable Fuel Standard program "back on track by finalizing blending targets that are in line with Congress’ original intent." In a letter to the EPA, the lawmakers said the tepid rise in the RFS announced earlier this year falls short of the statutory volumes set by Congress and "sends a chilling signal to biofuels investors."

Fertilizer runoff could be reduced significantly if row crops such as corn and soybeans are replaced with perennial grasses harvested for biofuel production, say researchers from four Midwestern universities. Nitrogen runoff in the Mississippi River basin, blamed for creation of a "dead zone" each summer in the Gulf of Mexico, could drop 15-20 percent if switchgrass or miscanthus were planted on a quarter of the land now devoted to row crops, according to computer simulations.

Despite millions of tons of available feedstock, ranging from corn stover to switchgrass and wood waste, only a trickle of cellulosic ethanol is being produced. "Cellulosic fuels' main hurdle seems to be economic," says Scientific American in sizing up the second-generation biofuel that has failed to live up to expectations for a cleaner-burning fuel that doesn't compete with the food and feed sectors.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the Republican winner of Iowa's presidential caucuses, drew a larger share of the vote from rural counties than billionaire Donald Trump or Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, reports the Daily Yonder.

Quad County Corn Processors in northwestern Iowa beat two larger rivals to produce the first cellulosic ethanol from a commercial-size plant in Iowa, the No 1 corn-growing and ethanol-making state, says the Des Moines Register. The farmer-owned plant at Galva produced its first gallon on Monday and plans to quickly ramp up to 2 million gallons a year.

Along with releasing a report on the size of the biobased industry, the Agriculture Department said it will increase the number of items that carry the USDA Biopreferred label.

"The demand for corn for ethanol production appears to be on solid footing for the next 18 months," says economist Darrel Good of U-Illinois. "While growth may be limited, a setback is not expected."

Camelina, an oilseed that is little-known in the Midwest, could be a profit-turning partner with soybeans in the upper Midwest, says a study highlighted by the American Society of Agronomy.

Firms such as Sapphire and Amyris that hoped to score success as biofuel producers "are turning hard—or 'pivoting,' in Silicon Valley tech-ese—to products that sell for much more than $2.49 a gallon," says Newsweek in a story on the perils and promise of synthetic biology.