News ClipsReuters’ Charles Abbott has a nice summary of the issues around a possible (some say likely) decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to “increase sugar imports by 1 million short tons, or roughly 50 percent.”
Filed under: Ethanol, Food vs. Fuel, Lobby, Sugarcane, sugar | Tagged: imports, sugar, Trade Policy | Leave a Comment »
A Democratic package of tax breaks, energy subsidies, and economic safety-net extensions overcame a key procedural hurdle in the Senate, laying the groundwork for a final vote scheduled on Wednesday.
Filed under: Biofuels, Food vs. Fuel, Lobby, RFS, Tax Credits | Tagged: biodiesel, Biofuels, HR 4213, NBB, RFS, Tax Credit, Tax Extenders | 1 Comment »
Four environmental activists in Europe Monday filed a lawsuit against the European Commission (EC) for refusing to release documents concerning the impact of indirect land-use changes (ILUC) on the green credentials of biofuel production.
Filed under: Biofuels, Climate Change, Corn, Deforestation, Enviroment, Ethanol, European Union, Food vs. Fuel, Lobby, Sustainability | Tagged: Biofuels, eBio, EC, Ethanol, EU, European Union, ILUC, Renewable Energy, Sustainability | Leave a Comment »
A new study from the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs finds that reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation will be a much bigger challenge than many assume, and will require substantially higher fuel prices combined with more stringent regulations.
Filed under: Biofuels, Clean Tech, Climate Change, Enviroment, Ethanol, GHG, Government, Investors, RFS, Tariff | Tagged: Climate Change, Emissions, Energy Independence, EPA, Fuel, GHG, Harvard, Renewable Fuel Standard, subsidies, Transport | Leave a Comment »
Bob Metz, director of the National Biodiesel Board, wants to work with the ethanol industry to help secure longer terms for both the $1-per-gallon biodiesel tax credit (err, subsidy) that expired last year and the 45-cents-per-gallon ethanol tax credit that expires this year. Brian Jennings, executive vice president of the American Coalition for Ethanol, said he would welcome the chance to work with the biodiesel sector to push for tax credits (err, subsidy) that don’t have to be renewed on an annual basis.
Filed under: Biofuels, E15, Ethanol, Food vs. Fuel, RFS, Tariff, Tax Credits, VEETC | Tagged: biodiesel, Biofuels, Brazil, subsidies | Leave a Comment »
The New York Times reports that an expensive plan for the state of Florida to purchase many thousands of acres vital to the potential restoration of the Everglades from a major landowner, United States Sugar Corp., overvalued the land by up to $400 million, according to independent reviews of the deal.
Filed under: Enviroment, Ethanol, Sugarcane, Sustainability, Water, sugar | Tagged: Charlie Crist, Fanjul, florida, sugar, US Sugar | Leave a Comment »
A report produced for the International Energy Forum (IEF) is critical of most current biofuels, except sugarcane ethanol.
Filed under: Biofuels, Climate Change, Corn, E15, Enviroment, Ethanol, RFS, Sugarcane, Tariff, VEETC | Tagged: biodiesel, Biofuels, Climate Change, corn ethanol, Ethanol, Food vs. Fuel, GHG, gRFA, Low Carbon Fuel Standard, Renewable Fuel Standard, RFS, subsidies, Sugarcane | 1 Comment »
A group of over thirty advanced biofuel companies wrote the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees saying an investment tax credit is needed to jump-start the industry, which faces federal mandates for renewable fuels starting this year and the industry has been slowed by the economic downturn.
Filed under: Advanced, Biofuels, Biotech, Cellulosic, Clean Tech, Enviroment, Ethanol, Investors, Lobby, RFS, Tariff, Tax Credits, VEETC | Tagged: Biofuels, corn ethanol, ITC, Renewable Fuel Standard, RFS, subsidies, Tax Credit | 1 Comment »
According to a report in Business News Americas’ João Carvalho, “Brazil’s ethanol industry could see a new wave of consolidation as both producers and distributors are looking to diversify their businesses. While the significant mergers occurring are a testament to the strength of the industry, new startups could also see some benefits if assets become overpriced.”
Filed under: Biofuels, Clean Tech, Climate Change, Enviroment, Ethanol, Investors, RFS, Sugarcane, Tariff, VEETC, sugar | Tagged: Biofuels, Brazil, BRENCO, Bunge, Cosan, Equipav, ETH, Ethanol, Fuel Distribution, M&A, Moema, Shell, Shree Renuka, sugar, Sugarcane, UNICA | Leave a Comment »
According to E&E’s Katie Howell, “algae-based biofuel producers continued their push yesterday to persuade Congress to provide incentives to the fledgling industry, urging members of the Senate Finance Committee to include language making algae-based fuels eligible for the cellulosic biofuel producer tax credit in future legislation.”
Filed under: Biofuels, Biotech, Cellulosic, Ethanol, RFS, Tariff, Tax Credits, VEETC | Tagged: algae, Biofuels, Biotech, Cellulosic, subsidies, Tax Parity | 1 Comment »
With the news that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has picked Congressman Pete Stark (D-CA) to replace ousted Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) on the Ways and Means Committee, we thought it would be useful to look at Stark’s record on ethanol.
Filed under: Biofuels, Cellulosic, Corn, Enviroment, Ethanol, Food vs. Fuel, GHG, Lobby, RFS, Sustainability, Tariff, Tax Credits, VEETC | Tagged: Biofuels, Ethanol, HR 3187, Pelosi, Pete Stark, Rangel, subsidies, Tariff, VEETC, Ways & Means | 1 Comment »
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilscak said that all signs point to federal approval of a 15 percent ethanol blend, known as E15. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, testifying before the Senate, said the agency to make a decision on whether to allow higher ethanol blends up to 15% by “late summer.”
Filed under: Blends, E15, Ethanol, FFV, Food vs. Fuel, Lobby, RFS, VEETC | Tagged: Ben Nelson, E15, Ethanol, Growth Energy, Lisa Jackson, RFA, USDA, Vilsack | Leave a Comment »
The U.S. Senate is beginning debate of a $150 billion legislation (HR 4213) that, among other things, would renew the biodiesel tax credit of $1 per gallon. The biodiesel tax credit expired on December 31, 2009, and the industry and farm state Senators have been clamoring for reinstatement.
Filed under: Biofuels, Food vs. Fuel, Lobby, Tax Credits | Tagged: Baucus, biodiesel, Biofuels, Food vs. Fuel, Grassley, HR 2413, Senate, subsidies, Tax Credit, Tax Extenders | 1 Comment »
The Japanese are coming around to support ethanol, something that clearly pleases the Brazilian sugarcane industry, which has seen an inflow of Japanese investments. The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), a powerful industry group in Japan, recently issued a report in support of fuel ethanol.
Filed under: Biofuels, Blends, Clean Tech, Climate Change, Ethanol, FFV, Investors, Sugarcane | Tagged: biodiesel, Biofuels, Brazil, E10, E15, Ethanol, JAMA, Japan | Leave a Comment »
According to the newspaper El Economista, the Mexican Sugarcane Industry Association (Union Nacional de Caneros, UNC) has made it clear that the free trade agreement being negotiated between Mexico and Brazil would hurt the Mexican sugar industry. The farm lobby in Mexico is pushing to keep agriculture out of the trade negotiations.
Filed under: Biofuels, Enviroment, Ethanol, Food vs. Fuel, Lobby, Sugarcane, Tariff, sugar | Tagged: Biofuels, Brazil, Ethanol, Mexico, PEMEX, sugar, Sugarcane, Tariff, Trade Policy | Leave a Comment »
The European Bioethanol Fuel Association (eBIO) on Monday called on the European Union to reject the concept of indirect land use change for biofuels. eBIO said there was no consensus among the scientific community about ILUC, which generally refers to the unintended consequences of greenhouse gas emissions by expanding cropland for biofuels.
Filed under: Biofuels, Biotech, Climate Change, Deforestation, Enviroment, Ethanol, European Union, GHG, ILUC | Tagged: Biofuels, Climate Change, eBio, Ethanol, Europe, ILUC, indirect land use changes, Land Use | Leave a Comment »
Out of four major pieces of legislation Congress could pass this year, an energy bill has the least likely chance of making it to President Obama’s desk, according to National Journal’s Congressional Insiders Poll. On a scale of 0 to 10, Democratic Insiders put an energy bill’s chances of passage at 3.7. Republicans gave it an average of 2.0.
Filed under: Biofuels, Clean Tech, Climate Change, Enviroment, Ethanol | Tagged: Biofuels, Congress, energy, Polls | Leave a Comment »
A newly-released report from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee contains what appears to the complete text of last year’s controversial memo in which Toyota Motors North American president Yoshi Inaba talks his concerns over flex-fuel mandates. The memo said flex-fuel mandates could as much as $600 million annually for Toyota, according to Detroit News.
Filed under: E15, Enviroment, Ethanol, FFV | Tagged: Ethanol, Flex Fuel, E85, FFV, Toyota | 1 Comment »
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) says U.S. corn ethanol production exceeded 10.75 billion gallons in 2009, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Filed under: Biofuels, Corn, Ethanol, RFS, Sustainability, VEETC | Tagged: Biofuels, corn ethanol, Ethanol, RFA, RFS | Leave a Comment »
