EPA calls for lower-polluting buses and heavy trucks
Manufacturers of heavy-duty trucks and buses will be required to produce vehicles that reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 60 percent by model year 2032 under a new EPA regulation. The agency said a variety of technologies can be used by truck makers to meet the tailpipe emissions target, from cleaner-burning internal combustion engines to hybrids, electric vehicles, and hydrogen fuel cells.
As the trucker shortage deepens, ag groups seek to make it easier to become a driver
The Ottawa Cooperative Association, which moves grain and fertilizer in eastern Kansas, lost many of its truck drivers during the pandemic. “COVID really kind of kicked the baby boomers out, which they drove trucks, a lot of ’em did,” said Judd Perry, the fuel manager, “and now that we had such a huge exodus of them, there’s just nobody to replace ’em.” (No paywall)
Opinion: The sustainable-energy future has room for biofuels as well as electric vehicles
With the Biden administration and the major U.S. automakers investing heavily in electric vehicles, rural Americans — especially those connected to farming — are concerned about the future of biofuels. Given that ethanol, primarily made from corn, is blended with the gasoline that powers the vast majority of the nation’s vehicles, the prospect of replacing gasoline with electricity has enormous implications for the rural economy. In 2019, the global biofuels market amounted to over $136 billion.(No paywall)
Cold snap put U.S. grain shipments in the ice box
The cold spell that hit the country in the early days of January has slowed barge traffic on rivers in the Midwest, says Harvest Public Media. In the first two weeks of the month, barges moved about 60 percent less grain than in the same period in 2017 due to heavy ice buildups, according to USDA.
New U.S. look at mileage standards may be an opening for biofuels
An ethanol industry trade group says President Trump's decision to review fuel economy standards for automobiles set by his predecessor could mean a larger role for "high octane, low carbon fuels" such as renewable fuels. Trump announced "the big news that we're going to work on the CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) standards, so you can make cars in America again" during a speech in Detroit.