Jun 25, 2018
US Congress hears testimony on biofuels and the RFS
Policy News
May 31, 2018
A group of representatives from the US ethanol industry is suing the EPA for its use of waivers from the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
The plaintiffs are Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) and National Farmers Union (NFU), with support of Farmers Union Enterprises. The coalition filed their... [Read More]
Policy News
May 17, 2018
India’s Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the 2018 National Policy on Biofuels. Reduced dependency of imports and environmental benefits are among the goals for the legislation.
The policy differentiates between ‘basic biofuels’ and ‘advanced biofuels’: the former covering first generation bioethanol and biodiesel,... [Read More]
Policy News
May 3, 2018
The Advanced Biofuels Association (ABFA) has asked the US Court of Appeals in Washington DC to decide whether the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) broke the law by granting Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) waivers to an increasing number of small refineries.
The petition specifically called for a review of the EPA’s “decision to modify the criteria or lower... [Read More]
Policy News
May 1, 2018
Reuters is reporting that a refinery owned by billionaire and former Trump advisor Carl Icahn has received a waiver freeing it from its obligations under the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS).
The waiver will allow the refinery to save millions of dollars on what would otherwise be used to blend biofuels into its products or buy renewable identification numbers (RINs) from... [Read More]
Policy News
Apr 20, 2018
ePure (the European renewable ethanol association) is calling for the EU to adopt a policy that encourages domestic production of sustainable biofuels. The move follows two decisions by the EU Parliament, one to promote protein crops for animal feed (to ease demand for feed from South America) and one to meet the emission reductions agreed to under the Paris agreement.
The... [Read More]
Policy News
Apr 11, 2018
A letter from five corn-state Senators’ follows criticism from the biofuels industry of the Environmental Protection Agency’s use of waivers.
In a 9 April letter to the President, five Senators urged Trump to halt the EPA’s use of ‘hardship’ waivers to relieve refineries of their obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). It was... [Read More]
Policy News
Apr 5, 2018
The US trade association is calling out the EPA following court approval of the agency’s settlement with the bankrupt refiner Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) and its granting of a ‘small refiner’ waiver for refining giant Andeavor. Damage to the environment and to agricultural communities are among Growth Energy’s complaints about these exemptions... [Read More]
Policy News
Apr 4, 2018
The three smallest of Andeavor’s ten oil refineries are now exempt from US biofuels legislation. The ‘hardship’ waiver is meant to protect smaller refiners from being disproportionately impacted by the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Last year, Andeavor posted $1.5 billion in net profits.
The exemption allows Andeavor to disregard legislation requiring... [Read More]
Policy News
Mar 28, 2018
A bipartisan plan is to be unveiled March 28 for support biofuels at a national level to address the country’s increasingly pressing energy security concerns and to systemically promote the development, production and use of biofuels.
The industry body Bioenergy Australia is throwing its weight behind Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack and... [Read More]
Policy News
Mar 9, 2018
The Growing Renewable Energy through Existing and New Environmentally Responsible (GREENER) Fuels Act is the most recent proposal to reform the long-contested Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
Talks have been going on for some time about the RFS. Now the minority Democratic Party has introduced a bill into the House and Senate to amend the programme.
The changes would see... [Read More]
Policy News
Feb 12, 2018
After a failed push in December to get tax credits for biofuels retroactively extended, 2017 tax credits for the biofuels and nuclear energy sectors came through with Congress’ 9 February deal to keep the government open.
According to Bloomberg, the tax credits include a $1-a-gallon credit for mixing biofuel with and a $1.01 credit for the production of cellulosic... [Read More]
Policy News
Jan 26, 2018
Indonesia introduced the case to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2014, a year after the anti-dumping taxes on Indonesia and Argentina were introduced.
The EU’s taxes were a reaction to what they saw as the unfairly low prices (also known as ‘dumping’) of the two countries’ biofuel exports. According to Reuters, Indonesia and Argentina called... [Read More]
Policy News
Jan 17, 2018
After much deliberation, the European Parliament has voted in favour of the revised Renewable Energy Directive (often dubbed RED II).
The plenary of the European Parliament adopted its first reading position on RED II on 17 January. It has been met with mixed responses within the biofuels industry. While some have commended the decision to allow crop-based biofuels to... [Read More]
Policy News
Dec 21, 2017
The project aims to raise awareness of alternate fuels for the industry.
According to World Bank statistics, 3.6 billion people travelled by air in 2016. In a survey conducted by Neste, 53% of European passengers are concerned by the environmental impact of air travel and over 50% would be willing to pay more for a flight that used renewable fuel.
In November, a Dutch... [Read More]
Policy News
Oct 27, 2017
It will be easier for cities to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions coming from residential energy use rather than transportation, new research claims.
This reduction will happen thanks to more efficient building practices and not greater housing density, the study, published in the Journal of Planning Education and Research, states.
The aim of the study was to determine... [Read More]
Policy News
May 18, 2017
The Conservative party has published its 2017 manifesto. The pledges on energy and fuel supply from the incumbent party and bookies’ favourite for the upcoming general election paint an ambiguous picture, focusing on the targets and outcomes of energy production rather than the means.
“After we have left the European Union, we will form our energy policy based... [Read More]
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