Biofuel Regulations Articles
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New Feedstock Options and Trends Boost Biodiesel Production
Special to The Digest In the United States, efforts to replace fossil fuels with biofuels are gaining momentum, supported by growing public awareness, government programs and emerging waste-to-fuel technologies. The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) analysis of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) projected that several types of biofuels, such as biodiesel, could yield lower ...
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AFPM Statement on 2020 Renewable Fuel Standard Volumes
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, AFPM President and CEO Chet Thompson issued the following statement on the final RFS volumes announced for 2020 and EPA’s related decision on its supplemental proposal: "The decision to reallocate is yet another blow to refiners, and it aims to address a problem that doesn’t exist. Ethanol consumption and blending in the U.S. are at all-time highs. ...
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RFS: There are no lost gallons to reallocate
In the final days before EPA issues the 2020 volumes for the federal biofuel mandate and makes a ruling on the supplemental proposal offered in October, it’s critical to acknowledge that all available data shows there are no “lost gallons” of ethanol that need to be reallocated as part of these announcements. If anything, the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) mandates should be ...
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Supplemental RFS rule is unfounded — and illegal
EPA’s supplemental proposal to the 2020 Renewable Fuel Standard RVOs is based on false assumptions, and is unauthorized and unprecedented writes AFPM in official comments submitted to the Agency. The supplemental rule comes on top of an RVO proposal that seeks to impose the highest biofuel volume mandates in history and force more biofuels into the gasoline supply than is technologically ...
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The Chorus Grows: Hardship Waivers Do Not Justify an RFS Increase
From top officials at the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Agency to the pages of Forbes and official hearings in the Heartland, Americans are weighing in to dispel the myth of corn ethanol demand destruction and on the EPA’s proposal to increase the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), which is currently under consideration. Official data from the U.S. Energy Information ...
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Strong Domestic Consumption Contradicts Ethanol “Demand Destruction” Claims
The latest U.S. Energy Information Administration data again shows ethanol blending and consumption in the U.S. remain steady and strong compared to previous years. This disproves claims that U.S. ethanol demand has been decimated by hardship waivers exempting small refineries facing that are facing hardship from their Renewable Fuel Standard blending obligations. As a percentage of motor ...
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How RFS Biofuel Mandates Drive Imports
It should come as a surprise to congressional supporters of the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), that their 2007 votes to expand the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to advance “homegrown energy” would lead to historic U.S. imports of biodiesel. Here’s a look at how exactly that’s happening: Though the conventional requirement can be met with various biofuels, ...
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Ethanol “Demand” Is Higher Than Ever
As we progress through 2019, one thing that has remained consistent is that U.S. ethanol consumption and blending are higher this year than they have ever been — a sign that small-refinery hardship waivers exempting some qualified facilities from Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) blending obligations have not destroyed demand for ethanol. Take a look at the latest 2019 data. Through July ...
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Toomey-Feinstein RESTORE Act Would Abolish Ethanol Mandate
On July 26, 2019, U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) announced that he is working with U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) on the Restore Environmental Sustainability to Our Renewable Energy (RESTORE) Act. In an effort to end what Toomey describes as an “egregious form of corporate welfare that hurts the environment and drives up the cost of everything,” the RESTORE Act would abolish the ...
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Wheeler Announces Proposed Rule to Set RVOs for 2020
On July 5, 2019, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler signed a proposed rule to set the minimum amount of renewable fuels that must be supplied to the market in 2020, as well as the biomass-based diesel volume standard for 2021 under the Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) program. The notice means that EPA is on target to publish the final RFS Renewable Volume Obligations (RVO) on time. In ...
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Takeaways From ABLC 2019
Last week, from April 3-5, 2019, Biofuels Digest hosted its annual Advanced Bioeconomy Leadership Conference (ABLC) in Washington, D.C. Among those present were various industry stakeholders, government representatives, and federal agency staffers. Innovative technologies were presented and much networking was done. The Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group’s (BRAG) presence was ...
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RICanada welcomes Quebec Renewable Fuel Volume Requirements
Renewable Industries Canada (RICanada), a principal stakeholder representing Canadian producers of clean-burning renewable fuels, announced that the Quebec Government’s 2017-2020 Action Plan under the 2030 Energy Policy included, for the first time, renewable fuel volume requirements for fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel. The renewable fuel blending requirement was set at 5% for gasoline ...
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Sustainable Biorefineries: An Important Research Topic
In recent years, substantial steps into the transition towards a biobased economy have been taken in order to reduce the reliance on imported oil and the emission of greenhouse gases. As far as Europe is concerned, Sweden, home to theEUBCE 2017 in Stockholm, has been very successful in decoupling GHG emissions from economic growth: from 2000 to 2012, total GHG emissions decreased by 16% while ...
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BRAG Biofuels Industry Outlook for 2017
The biofuels industry is likely to face increasingly challenging times during the tenures of the new 115 th Congress -- which began on January 3 -- and the Trump Administration, scheduled to begin this Friday, January 20. Throughout his campaign for President, Trump repeatedly pledged his support for biofuels and the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Indeed, it is this support that ...
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Third party auditor may lose ability to verify RINs
On January 4, 2017, EPA issued a notice of intent to revoke Genscape’s ability to verify Renewable Identification Numbers (RIN) as a third party auditor under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Quality Assurance Program (QAP). According to the notice, Genscape failed to meet all elements of its Quality Assurance Plan and verified approximately 68 million fraudulently-generated RINs. To ...
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EPA Publishes Final 2017 RFS Requirements
On December 12, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule, Renewable Fuel Standard Program: Standards for 2017 and Biomass-Based Diesel Volume for 2018, in the Federal Register. This final rule sets the annual percentage standards for cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel for motor vehicle gasoline and diesel ...
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Guide to Measuring Biofuel Blending
As the global commitment to renewable energy sources grows, the importance of using biodiesel as a blending component with diesel fuel has increased. Biodiesel consists of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) which are produced by the transesterification of certain feedstock oils, such as soy, rapeseed, canola, and others. The biodiesel is then blended with diesel fuel at amounts required by the ...
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USDA Reports On Increasing Ethanol Production Capacity In The Philippines
On August, 24, 2016, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service released an annual report on the Philippines' biofuel industry and ethanol imports. In January 2007, The Biofuels Act or Republic Act (RA 9367) was signed, creating biofuels legislation in the Philippines that now mandate a ten percent ethanol blend and a two percent biodiesel blend. While the Biofuels Act ...
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European Court Of Auditors Releases Report On EU Biofuel Sustainability Certifications
On July 21, 2016, the European Court of Auditors released Special Report No 18/2016: The EU system for the certification of sustainable biofuels. This report assessed the existing biofuels sustainability certification framework of the European Commission (EC) and highlighted key issues with the system. Issues with the certification framework could undermine the European Union's (EU) 2020 goals ...
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EPA Close To Publicizing 2017 And 2018 Renewable Fuel Standard Volumes
On April 15, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent its newly proposed Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volumes for 2017 and 2018 to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. Under the Clean Air Act (CAA), EPA must set standards for cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel by November 30 of the year before the standard ...
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