Vilsack is confident agriculture will be first to net-zero emissions
Climate change is a worldwide challenge, but it also offers the opportunity to boost farm income for those who adopt climate-smart practices, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at a food and agriculture conference on Wednesday. “I can guarantee you farmers will embrace this,” he said. “I am truly confident. I think agriculture gets to net-zero before most of the major industries.”
Playing corn ethanol as Trump card in Iowa
Former president Donald Trump, ignoring his own mixed record on biofuels, said at a rally in western Iowa that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, his most viable challenger for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, "totally despises Iowa ethanol and ethanol generally."
To boost sales of higher blends, USDA to put $500 million into biofuel pumps and tanks
The Biden administration is the best friend the biofuel industry ever had, notwithstanding gripes that it set the RFS too low, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Monday. Vilsack defended the administration's record while announcing an additional $450 million to encourage the sale of higher blends of biofuels, such as E15, through installation of dispensing pumps, storage tanks and related equipment.
Biofuel industry says 8 percent increase in RFS is too small
The Biden administration on Wednesday called for an 8 percent increase in biofuel consumption through 2025, with lower-carbon “advanced” fuels as the beneficiaries. Corn ethanol would remain the dominant biofuel at 15 billion gallons a year in the updated Renewable Fuel Standard.
House GOP grants reprieve to biofuel credits in debt bill
In the hours ahead of a roll call on their debt limit bill, House Republican leaders relented on a proposal to eliminate tax credits for biodiesel, renewable diesel, and second-generation biofuels. They proceeded with a repeal of the $1.25-a-gallon credit for sustainable aviation fuel that was created last summer as part of the climate, health, and tax bill.
Sustainable aviation fuel is among GOP targets in budget bill
House Republicans would eliminate several tax credits for the biofuels industry, including the $1.25-a-gallon credit for sustainable aviation fuel, in the budget bill that could be put to a vote next week. The package also would eliminate incentives created in the 2022 climate, health, and tax bill for biomass-based diesel fuel and second-generation biofuels.
Farm-state lawmakers prod EPA chief on biofuels and WOTUS
The Biden administration is turning a cold shoulder to biofuels and rural America by encouraging the use of electric vehicles, said farm-state Republicans during a complaint-filled House hearing with EPA administrator Michael Regan on Wednesday. Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon pointed to the so-called WOTUS rule on wetlands protections and declared, “Any goodwill the administration has built with farmers and ranchers is gone.”
Settlement proposed in green group challenge of RFS
The EPA, to settle a lawsuit over biofuel regulation, said on Monday it would consult with federal wildlife agencies on whether the Renewable Fuel Standard adversely affects endangered species. The consultation would be performed before the EPA finalizes the RFS for 2023-23, now expected in June.
Poll: Ethanol is more popular than crude oil
More than half of Americans have a favorable view of ethanol as a fuel source, compared to 45 percent for crude oil, according to a poll commissioned by the Renewable Fuels Association. The trade group said the results "demonstrate that Americans strongly support expanded use of lower-cost, lower-carbon renewable fuels like ethanol."
With eye on second-generation biofuels, EPA proposes 10 percent increase in RFS
The EPA proposed a 10 percent increase, mostly reserved for cleaner-burning “advanced” biofuels, over three years in the federal mandate to mix biofuels into the U.S. gasoline supply, and said it would expand the Renewable Fuel Standard to include electricity generated from biogas and used in electric vehicles. The proposal, announced Thursday, would mean greater use of E15 and other blends of corn ethanol above the traditional 10 percent, said ethanol groups.
Set highest ethanol mandate ever, senators ask EPA
The upcoming EPA regulatory reset of the Renewable Fuel Standard should push the corn ethanol target above 15 billion gallons for the highest annual mandate ever and allow E15 to be sold year-round, said farm-state senators on Wednesday. In a letter to EPA administrator Michael Regan, the senators urged the agency to establish “robust and expanded” biofuel mandates.
Biofuel groups push EPA to maximize RFS levels
The Renewable Fuel Standard is the most successful clean energy tool available to the government, which should make full use of it when setting the biofuel mandate for 2023 and future years, said farm and biofuel trade groups on Thursday. “What we’re really looking to take place with EPA is that they maximize the full potential of the RFS,” said Emily Skor, chief executive of Growth Energy.
USDA offers $100 million for biofuel infrastructure
The government will pay up to half of the cost of installing pumps, tanks and other equipment at gas stations and other retailers that want to sell higher blends of biofuels, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Tuesday. Projects would receive cost-share grants drawn from $100 million available through the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIPP).
With Senate pact, climate-focused farm bill becomes possible
Farm-state lawmakers would have the funds to write a climate-focused farm bill if Congress enacts a broad-ranging package that President Biden on Thursday called “the most significant legislation in history to tackle the climate crisis.” The package includes $20 billion for voluntary conservation practices on the farm to sequester greenhouse gases in soils, plants, and trees.
EPA finally sets date for RFS reset
The EPA has a free hand in writing the Renewable Fuel Standard for 2023, but the agency could be 18 months late and operating under a court order when it finally issues its proposal this fall. A biofuel trade group says nailing down the release date is a milestone in the campaign for expanded use of the alternative fuels.
Biofuels are driving up already high vegetable oil prices
Biofuels are far more responsible for high vegetable oil prices than Russia's invasion of Ukraine, said agricultural economist Aaron Smith of UC-Davis, and the biofuel industry will drive up vegetable oil prices further. Ukraine and Russia produce more than half of the sunflower oil in the world but the oil accounts for only 10 percent of global production of vegetable oils.
Global demand for biofuels to slow in decade ahead, says forecast
Corn will become less important and sugarcane will become the dominant feedstock for making ethanol in the coming decade, said an agricultural outlook published jointly by the OECD and FAO on Wednesday. The report forecast a relatively slow growth rate for biofuels, averaging 0.6 percent a year worldwide, with growth in the United States constrained by declining gasoline consumption.
Highest-ever ethanol mandate will boost homegrown biofuels, says EPA
As part of an effort to "re-set and strengthen" the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), the EPA set the corn ethanol mandate at its highest level ever, 15.25 billion gallons, for this year. Ethanol is cheaper than gasoline at present, so biofuel backers said consumers would benefit at the fuel pump with more ethanol in the gasoline supply.