Blogs

On April 12, 2018, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway (R-Texas) released the Committee’s draft Farm Bill reauthorization, the “Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018” (H.R. 2). The House Agriculture Committee passed the Farm Bill package on April 18, 2018, setting it up for a floor vote in the House.  The 600-plus page draft legislation includes a number of provisions that will be of interest to pesticide registrants and the pesticide user community, including the...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On April 13, 2018, Neste, a Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG®) member, announced that Red and White Fleet cruise company is committing to switch its entire fleet of vessels from conventional diesel to 100 percent Neste MY Renewable Diesel. This drop-in low-carbon biofuel cuts greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 80 percent and allows for reductions in engine-out emissions while enhancing fleet performance. Switching to renewable diesel has not...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On April 17, 2018, the Green Chemistry & Commerce Council (GC3) announced that ten startup companies had won the opportunity to pitch their technologies to major companies at the GC3’s 3rd Annual Green & Bio-Based Chemistry Technology Showcase & Networking Event. The Technology Showcase will be held on May 8, 2018, during the GC3 Annual Innovators Roundtable, with participation from 16 large companies, including Apple, BASF, Johnson &...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On April 10, 2018, Vivergo Fuels announced that it was re-opening its bioethanol plant following the passing of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO). The Vivergo plant, the largest plant in the United Kingdom (UK) and the second largest producer of bioethanol in Europe, was originally shut down due to unfavorable trading conditions and uncertainty about the future of renewable fuel policies. RTFO will increase the use of renewable fuels in transport from...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On April 11, 2018, the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) announced €115 million in funding for the 2018 Call for proposals focusing on feedstock, process, products, and market uptake. BBI JU is a partnership between the European Union (EU) and the Bio-based Industries Consortium that was launched to develop strong European bio-based industries.  This call includes 21 topics with 11 Research and Innovation Action (RIA) topics, 3 Coordination and...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On April 18, 2018, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the release of the Co-Optima FY2017 Year in Review.  The Co-Optima initiative is accelerating the introduction of efficient, clean, affordable, and scalable high-performance fuels by bringing together DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE), national laboratories, universities, and industry and government stakeholders to collaborate on improvements to biofuels and the...

On April 4, 2018, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced that it has launched a public consultation on its draft Strategic Plan for 2019-2023.  ECHA states that by 2023, it “aims to become the main source of scientific knowledge and technical know-how on chemicals, serving a wide range of [European Union (EU)] policies and stakeholders.”  The draft Strategic Plan lists three strategic priorities that are to be achieved with a set of enabling...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On April 13, 2018, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced an upcoming webinar entitled “Bioproducts, Grown and Made in America”  that will focus on American-produced bioproducts made from renewable sources including plants, algae, and wastes.  Speakers from BETO, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories will discuss how the biobased...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), and Health Canada (HC) have released an educational primer on U.S. and Canadian regulations regarding chemical substances.  EPA states that the purpose of the primer is to compile easy-to-use information for stakeholders potentially regulated under similar U.S. and Canadian regulations -- Significant New Use Rules (SNUR) in the U.S. and Significant New Activity (SNAc) provisions in Canada.  EPA,...

On April 10, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of a draft Science Policy document intended to reduce the use of animals in testing chemicals to evaluate whether they cause an allergic reaction, inflammation, or sensitization of the skin.  According to EPA, the document, Draft Interim Science Policy:  Use of Alternative Approaches for Skin Sensitization as a Replacement for Laboratory Animal Testing, “describes the science...