A new website by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) doesn’t satisfy all sides of the hardship waiver issue under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The National Corn Growers Association called the website a “good place to start,” but says there is “a lot of questions left unanswered.” The effectiveness of a website depends not only on its content but also …
EPA Releases RFS Waiver Information Online
The agency says it granted 49 waivers in 2016 and 2017. Those waivers added up to 2.25 billion gallons in biofuels, which negatively affected roughly 800 million bushels of corn demand. Because of those waivers, the National Biodiesel Board says that amounted to a loss of 300 million gallons of biofuels. In a statement issued last week, Acting EPA Administrator …
Growth Energy Welcomes Congressional Support for Year-Round E15
Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor thanks the 24 members of the House Biofuels Caucus for sending a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency asking them to approve year-round E15 and support the Renewable Fuels Standard. The letter also calls for the agency to “put an end” to the secretive refinery waivers that have “hurt farmers and the growth of ethanol.” …
RFA Statement on EPA Efforts to Provide Greater Transparency on RFS
Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced new efforts to provide greater transparency in the Renewable Identification Number (RIN) market, used to show compliance with annual Renewable Fuel Standard requirements. As part of this announcement, EPA said it will be providing aggregated annual data on small refiner exemptions, as well as waiver requests for current and future compliance years. RFA President …
Growth Energy Launches Bus Tour Promoting E15
The summer ban on E15 sales in select areas ended over the weekend as Growth Energy launched a campaign to promote E15 and higher blended fuels. As part of their campaign, Growth Energy is launching a bus tour to rally support for quick action on the president’s promise to unleash E15 ethanol blends. Over the next few months, the bus …
Refiner Waivers Could Cost Ethanol Industry $20 Billion
New research estimates the U.S. ethanol industry could lose 4.6 billion gallons of domestic demand and $20 billion in sales from the administration’s approach to the Renewable Fuel Standard. Economists at the University of Missouri estimated the losses over the next six years, if the Environmental Protection Agency continues exempting dozens of small refiners from their blending obligations under the …
Farm, Ethanol Groups Urge President to Restore Integrity to RFS, Allow Year-Round E15 Sales
In a letter to President Trump, the American Farm Bureau Federation, National Corn Growers Association, National Farmers Union, National Sorghum Producers, American Coalition for Ethanol, Growth Energy, and Renewable Fuels Association urged the administration to act immediately to restore the integrity of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and allow year-round sales of E15 and other mid-level ethanol blends. The groups …
University Analysis: EPA’s Refiner Waivers Could Cost Ethanol Industry $20 Billion in Losses
A recent analysis by economists at the University of Missouri’s Food and Agriculture Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) shows that the U.S. ethanol industry could lose 4.6 billion gallons of domestic demand and nearly $20 billion in sales revenue over the next six years if the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues its current practice of exempting dozens of small refiners from …
Lawsuit Filed Over Oil Refinery Waivers
Two of the biggest ethanol groups in America have sued both the Environmental Protection Agency and Energy Secretary Rick Perry. The focus of the suit is dozens of hardship waivers granted to oil refineries that allowed them to not blend ethanol into the fuel supply. Growth Energy and the Renewable Fuels Association filed the suit to get access to records …
Administration on E15: “Let’s Get it Done”
Year-round E15 sales are nearing reality. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told reports in Boone, Iowa at the Farm Progress Show that he has spoken with the President, who wants to make an announcement next week. Perdue told the Iowa City Gazette he received a phone call from the White House while attending the outdoor farm show. Trump told Perdue “let’s …