Policy News

Scott Pruitt, US President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be the leader of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), says he is committed to biofuels, but remains open for tweaks. The Oklahoma Attorney General said during his Congressional confirmation hearing on Wednesday that he will honour the Congress’ plan to increase the amount of renewable fuels in petroleum fuels. Pruitt said…
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US President-elect Donald Trump has selected Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma attorney general, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as its administrator. Pruitt has served as attorney general since 2010, prior to which he had an eight-year tenure in the Oklahoma state senate. He said that he intends to protect the environment, but at the same time safeguard businesses from…
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Five West African countries have agreed to ban importing Europe's dirty fuels, a move that will dramatically reduce vehicle emissions and help more than 250 million people breath cleaner air. Together, the countries of Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Ivory Coast agreed on 1 December in Abuja to introduce strict standards to ensure cleaner, low sulphur diesel fuels and vehicles emissions…
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The amount of money committed to tackling London’s air quality crisis will be more than doubled over the next five years, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has confirmed. Ahead of the publication of the draft Transport for London (TfL) Business Plan, the Mayor has announced that £875 million (€1bn) will be invested in action to improve the quality of the UK…
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In the US, nearly three dozen biodiesel leaders from Kansas to Rhode Island took to the halls of Congress this week to promote US advanced biofuel. “We have a great message to share with our elected officials. Biodiesel is working today to support jobs, diversify our fuel options and support American energy security,” said National Biodiesel Board (NBB) CEO, Donnell Rehagen. “We…
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EXCLUSIVE: The government of Finland approved a new national Energy and Climate Strategy outlining how the country plans to reach both domestic and EU climate targets by 2030. In the outline, Finland’s centre-right government set a goal to have the share of renewables in the Finnish energy pool surpass 50% during the 2020s, with a long-term goal of reaching carbon neutrality. The share of…
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The Finnish government is exploring the implementation of a €100 million subsidy package for 2017-2020 to speed up the uptake of biogas- and electricity-powered cars. With the subsidy, the government aims to have 250,000 electric and 50,000 biogas cars on Finland’s road by 2030, which would mark a massive increase from the current 2,250 fully electric or hybrid cars. According to a…
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The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed denying a petition by a group of merchant oil refiners to change the point of obligation (PO) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Under the current RFS structure, oil refiners are the parties obligated to blend more renewable fuel into the nation’s transportation fuel supply. The petition, filed by Valero Energy Corp. in…
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Several European beet and cereal producers have voiced their opposition to phasing out conventional biofuels in Europe, coinciding with the World Ethanol & Biofuels conference in Brussels. The European Association of Sugar Manufacturers (CEFS), the European Confederation of Maize Production (CEPM), the International Confederation of European Beet Growers (CIBE), and the European renewable…
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US President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the country’s presidential election sent biofuels shares tumbling on Wednesday, while propping up oil refiners’ stocks. Shares of US independent refiners jumped, including CVR Refining, which saw the largest upturn (26% to $8.55) in its share prices in the company’s history. Renewable fuel producers, such as Green Plains and…
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The US biofuels industry is voicing its support for Presidential-elect Donald Trump, saying he “understands” the needs of the renewable fuels industry. Trump took the world by surprise on Wednesday by decisively beating his competitor Hillary Clinton in the race for the White House. Several US biofuels companies have come out congratulating the presidential elect and supporting his…
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Despite the Paris Climate Agreement coming into force today, the world might still be doomed to suffer from rising seas and temperatures, a UN report says. In its annual Emission Gap report, UN Environment says governments must urgently and dramatically increase their ambitions to cut roughly a further quarter off predicted 2030 global greenhouse emissions if they want to have any chance of…
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The Swedish Bioenergy Association (Svebio) estimates that the August tax cuts given to biofuels in Sweden had a large effect on commercial transport, but the impact on E85 in private transport was more meagre. “Private motorists seem to not be aware that after 1 August it’s become cheaper for them to fuel their cars with E85 ethanol than petrol if they have flex fuel engines,”…
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The European Commission’s (EC) decision to phase out first-generation biofuels was based on “public opinion” instead of scientific facts, an EU official is quoted as admitting. According to the EurActive news site, EU director of renewables, research, and energy efficiency Marie Donnelly explained the reasoning behind the decision at a conference on 12 October. She is quoted as…
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