ethanol
Ethanol production hits another record low
For the second week in a row, U.S. ethanol production ran at record lows because Americans are driving less during the coronavirus pandemic. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Waive the RFS? That’s nonsense, says ethanol industry.
Biofuels groups hooted at an oil state request that the EPA waive the ethanol mandate because of the coronavirus pandemic. "Nonsensical," said the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) on Thursday. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Coronavirus lands haymaker on U.S. farm sector
In its first assessment since the coronavirus was declared a pandemic, the government forecast lower prices for U.S. crops and livestock as a worldwide economic slowdown, the result of aggressive efforts to squash the virus, weakens the global appetite for food. The notable exceptions are wheat and rice, where panic buying has driven up prices for the food grains, said the USDA on Thursday. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Plunge in fuel usage could sideline half of U.S. ethanol production
Ethanol market is ‘disturbing as hell’ to American farmers. And now there’s Covid-19.
Some 40 percent of the U.S. corn crop is refined into ethanol, but over the last two weeks, Covid-19 has joined a host of other disrupting factors to create what Geoff Cooper, president of the Renewable Fuels Association, calls “not just a perfect storm for ethanol, but a perfect tsunami.” Since the outbreak, ethanol prices have plunged to an all-time low of 88 cents a gallon and manufacturers are warning of more plant closures and reduced run rates.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Cattle and biofuels clamor for aid, as Schumer proposes broader plan
Farm and ethanol leaders to administration: Don’t file that appeal
President Trump will endanger his standing with farmers, who voted for him in landslide numbers in 2016, if his administration appeals a U.S. appellate court ruling against RFS exemptions, said ag and biofuel leaders on Wednesday.
USDA offers $100 million to boost higher blends of biofuels
Grants totaling $100 million will be available to install or retrofit fuel pumps and storage tanks to handle higher blends of corn ethanol and biodiesel than now commonly offered, said the USDA, with details to be available by mid-spring. "USDA will continue to do its part to encourage the use of home-grown energy," said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.
Higher biofuel use is a goal of USDA innovation agenda
The USDA is setting a goal of a 30 percent blend of biofuels into the U.S. fuel supply by 2050, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Thursday. Increased biofuel use was one of the four objectives of an "innovation agenda" to increase agricultural production by 40 percent while reducing agriculture's environmental impact by half.
EPA issues biofuel mandate, is accused of breaking a deal on ethanol
EPA to stick with RFS proposal that ethanol industry opposes, says report
With the EPA expected to act as soon as Friday, biofuel supporters have called for President Trump’s direct intervention to assure a market for 15 billion gallons of corn ethanol in 2020.
Cellulosic ethanol continues to flow at first Iowa plant to produce it
Even as larger-scale producers of cellulosic ethanol shutter their plants, a handful of small-volume producers are staying the course. One of them, northwestern Iowa’s Quad County Corn Processors, has been using its distinctive distilling method to make cellulosic ethanol since 2014.
Shadows of twilight darken the age of cellulosic ethanol
Five years ago, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands joined Gov. Terry Branstad at a biofuels plant in northwestern Iowa to inaugurate commercial-scale production of cellulosic ethanol. This week, the owner of that facility announced it would no longer produce the so-called “second-generation” renewable fuel at the plant.
Biofuel advocates challenge EPA on RFS waivers
The EPA justified its exemption of 31 refineries from the Renewable Fuel Standard in a two-page memorandum that it did not reveal for weeks, said a coalition of four biofuel groups and two farm groups in a challenge filed in a U.S. appeals court. The petition was filed at the same time biofuel backers are accusing the EPA of a “bait and switch” on promises to increase ethanol consumption.
EPA ethanol plan ‘falls short of the promises,’ says House ag chairman
The Trump administration “has yet ... to produce a concrete plan to meet the annual 15 billion-gallon requirement” for mixing corn ethanol into the U.S. gasoline supply, said House Agriculture Committee chairman Collin Peterson on Wednesday.
Global ethanol use to grow dramatically, says USGC analyst
Ethanol plan to ‘net out’ at 15 billion gallons – EPA’s Wheeler
The EPA will adjust the Renewable Fuel Standard to "net out" at 15 billion gallons in 2020 after waivers to some oil refineries, said administrator Andrew Wheeler. During a broadcast interview, Wheeler said the agency expects to release soon a detailed version of its plan, intended as a compromise between the ethanol and oil industries.
Trump’s vague plan to boost ethanol has the oil industry threatening to sue
The Trump administration responded to months of Farm Belt complaints that it was undermining homegrown biofuels by vowing to increase the ethanol mandate, beginning next year, above the 15-billion-gallon-a-year target that is set by law. Officials did not specify a new figure for corn ethanol usage nor did its package include the oil industry's goal of a cap on the price of credits that refiners must buy if they do not mix enough ethanol into gasoline.
USDA grant money to boost sales of higher-blend biofuels
The Biden administration awarded $90.3 million in grants to projects in 26 states, from California to Connecticut, to install blender pumps, storage tanks, and other equipment for the sale of fuels, such as E15, with higher-than-usual blends of biofuels, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. With the grants, the USDA has used $221 million of the $500 available through the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program.