Blogs

Elevance Renewable Sciences, Inc., a high-growth specialty chemicals company headquartered in Woodridge, Illinois, has announced the authorization of the next stage of its second world-scale biorefinery in Nachez, Mississippi. The Company also has a joint venture biorefinery with Wilmar International Limited located in Gresik, Indonesia. Both commercial scale biorefineries are based on Elevance's proprietary metathesis technology. According to the Company's press release, the Nachez...

Biofuels supporters and opponents remain heavily engaged in RFS policy issues. Last week, we reported on a news report that one advanced biofuels trade association, the Advanced Biofuels Association (ABFA), may be working with the American Petroleum Institute (API) on potential legislative language that would provide additional RIN credit for advanced biofuels under the federal RFS program. Since then, ABFA and API have both denied the accuracy of the story. In addition, DuPont announced that it...

On October 22, 2013, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule modifying the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. The rule is effective December 23, 2013. According to the notice: "EPA is amending the definition of 'heating oil' in the regulations for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program under section 211(o) of the Clean Air Act. This amendment expands the scope of renewable fuels that can be used to show compliance with the RFS renewable fuel...

On October 21, 2013, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a press release announcing the availability of $181 million in funding under the Biorefinery Assistance Program (BAP) to support the development of commercial-scale biorefineries or the retrofitting of existing biorefineries to produce advanced biofuels from non-food sources. The BAP was created under the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (the 2008 Farm Bill) and is administered by USDA Rural Development. It provides...

On October 21, 2013, Particle and Fibre Toxicology posted an article entitled “Carbon nanotube dosimetry: from workplace exposure assessment to inhalation toxicology.”  The authors, who are affiliated with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), note that there are currently no known end-point effects in humans following carbon nanotube (CNT) exposure, leading to extrapolation from rodent studies. The purpose of the study was to determine...

On October 9, 2013, enzyme producer Novozymes and biofuels producer Beta Renewables announced the opening of a new advanced biofuels facility located in Crescentino, Italy, that will make commercial quantities of cellulosic biofuels. More information on the announcement is available online.

On October 14, 2013, Target announced a new Sustainable Product Standard (SPS). Under the SPS, Target will rate products on ingredient stability, transparency, and overall environmental impact. The ingredient category makes up half of the overall rating. Products will not be given a favorable ingredient score if they include substances listed on a hazard list or if they include "potentially high-hazard generic ingredients." More information on the new SPS is available online.

RFA sponsored a study released this month by the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The study is available online. In the study, NREL analyzed various studies on the effects of E15 use in Model Year 2001 and newer cars and found no meaningful difference in the use of E10 and E15 in those vehicles. This is a significant finding because many in the oil and gas industries, among others, have warned of potentially harmful effects of using E15 in cars. EPA has...

On the first day of its new term on October 15, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it would grant review of parts of EPA's greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations. The Court will review part of the June 2012 decision issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which upheld EPA's GHG program. It will review whether EPA's GHG regulations for motor vehicles should have triggered Prevention of Significant Deterioration permitting for stationary sources. The case...

Leaders of the House of Representatives have named 29 Representatives to the conference committee that will work to consolidate the House and Senate versions of the next five-year Farm Bill into a final piece of legislation that will be passed by both Houses of Congress and signed into law by President Obama. While House and Senate leaders assert their commitment to settling on and passing a final version of the next Farm Bill, getting to agreement will likely be difficult. One of the most...