biofuels
After two meetings, a pause in the White House focus on biofuels
The White House is taking a break from biofuels policy, at least temporarily, after two meetings with President Trump at the table failed to find consensus between the oil and ethanol industries. The only agreement, according to Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, who was part of both meetings, "was to look at economic studies" about the impact of the Renewable Fuel Standard and possible changes.
At White House meeting, biofuels bloc promotes E15 as RFS solution
President Trump sat down with oil and ethanol leaders for the second time this week without resolving a battle over the federal mandate to mix biofuels into gasoline and diesel fuel. Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley later said that “an emerging solution appears to be year-round E15.”
Perdue says he stands with the RFS; Grassley says some schooling is needed
A farm convention audience cheered Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue as he declared his unequivocal support for biofuels. His speech came just a day after he participated in a White House discussion of possible revisions to the Renewable Fuel Standard.
Cruz urges Trump to overhaul biofuels mandate
At a bankrupt Philadelphia oil refinery, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz called on pro-ethanol President Trump to protect blue-collar jobs by reforming the federal biofuels mandate.
Iowans, taking on Ted Cruz, push for USDA nominee Northey
The Iowa Republican Party pointedly told Texas Sen. Ted Cruz that he endangers his chances of winning the Iowa presidential caucuses in the future if he persists in blocking a Senate vote on Bill Northey to become the No. 3 Agriculture Department official. Meanwhile, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said he will circulate a letter calling on Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to force a vote on Northey, currently Iowa's elected state agriculture secretary.
Biofuels mandate doesn’t harm refiners, says Grassley, so stop ‘misleading rhetoric’
A Philadelphia oil refinery went bankrupt due to management decisions that backfired rather than the federal biofuels mandate, which requires refiners to blend ethanol and biodiesel into the gasoline and diesel supply, says a memo written by energy policy staffers working for Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, a bulldog defender of corn ethanol. The bankruptcy filing has been cited as a reason for changing the Renewable Fuel Standard, or biofuels mandate.
Pruitt says year-round E15 hinges on authority, not policy
Last fall, the EPA said it would investigate whether it has the authority to allow year-round sales of E15, a higher blend of ethanol and gasoline than the traditional 10 percent ratio. Administrator Scott Pruitt said there has been no decision yet, reported DTN/ProgressiveFarmer.
NATO plants biofuel-grass to clean contaminated military sites
Miscanthus, a fast-growing grass often grown as a biofuel, is now planted on six military sites, from Kansas to Kazakhstan, in a three-year NATO-run effort to clean up contaminated soil. At a conference earlier this month at Kansas State University, researchers reported that the grass stabilizes contaminants in the soil, preventing them from escaping into the air and water, and then gradually absorbs them.
EU votes to ban biodiesel made from palm oil
The European Parliament passed a Renewable Energy Directive on Wednesday that would ban the use of biodiesel made from palm oil by 2021, citing the environmental damage caused by the fuel. Malaysia, a major palm oil producer, called the decision a trade barrier, and said it was a form of “crop apartheid” because the EU will still allow other oilseeds to be used for biofuels. (No paywall)
Cellulosic ethanol looks more like a demonstration project than an industry
Corn ethanol represents the first generation of biofuels. Cellulosic ethanol, made from grass, woody plants, and crop debris, was supposed to be the second generation.
Biofuels groups turn thumbs down on Cruz control for RINs
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz proposed a fixed-price ethanol credit that EPA would sell at 10 cents a piece, and that refiners could use to satisfy the Renewable Fuel Standard. Biofuel makers and farm groups responded with a letter to President Trump that said there are ways to handle problems with the credits, called RINs, "without undercutting the RFS and rural America," reported DTN/Progressive Farmer.
Biofuels compromise continues to elude senators
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz “just keeps moving the goalpost and moving the goalpost,” said Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst after an inconclusive meeting between Senate and White House staff workers on the Renewable Fuel Standard, reported DTN/Progressive Farmer.
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.
After oil-patch pitch, administration talks to Iowa senators about ethanol mandate
The Trump administration sounded out Iowa's Republican senators about a meeting to discuss the biofuels mandate and its impact on oil-producing states, says Reuters. "The effort is the clearest sign yet (President) Trump is seeking to mediate the long-running dispute between the U.S. oil industry and corn growers over the Renewable Fuel Standard, a law requiring refiners to blend increasing volumes of biofuels like corn-based ethanol every year into the nation's fuels."
Trump tells oil-patch senators to look for a biofuel compromise
President Trump, a staunch supporter of corn ethanol, told nine senators from oil-producing states to take their complaints about federal biofuel mandates to their farm-state colleagues and find a mutually acceptable solution.
DowDuPont becomes second company to shut down a cellulosic ethanol plant
In another sign of trouble for so-called advanced biofuels, the newly created giant corporation DowDuPont stopped operations at its $225 million cellulosic ethanol plant in Nevada, Iowa, and hopes to find a buyer for the plant with a 30-million-gallon-a-year capacity, said the Des Moines Register. Last December, Abengoa Bioenergy sold its cellulosic plant in Hugoton, Kan., for pennies on the dollar as part of a bankruptcy liquidation of assets.
Texas asks EPA for waiver from 2018 biofuels mandate
Almost as soon as the EPA set the biofuel targets for the new year, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott requested a waiver that would exempt one-fourth of U.S. refining capacity from the Renewable Fuel Standard for the coming year, reports Argus Media. Meanwhile, the White House was reported to schedule a meeting for Thursday between the oil industry and ethanol producers to discuss possible changes to the 10-year-old RFS.
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.
Lawmakers would triple lifespan of 45Z clean fuel credit
The 45Z tax credit, intended to encourage the development of sustainable aviation fuel and other low-carbon fuels, would be available until 2034 and limited to domestic feedstocks under companion bills filed in the House and Senate on Tuesday. Farm groups said the legislation would allow time for domestic production to rise while discouraging a flood of imported oil, grease, and tallow.