By Kathleen M. Roberts On February 15, 2018, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the release of the Co-Optimization of Engines & Fuels (Co-Optima) report titled Fuel Blendstocks with the Potential to Optimize Future Gasoline Engine Performance (Fuel Blendstocks report), along with the companion report on Efficiency Merit Function for Spark Ignition Engines. The Fuel Blendstocks report identifies eight blendstocks that have the potential to improve gasoline...
February 16, 2018
DOE National Lab Develops Supertough Bioplastic
By Kathleen M. Roberts Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) announced the development of a method to create a supertough renewable plastic with improved manufacturability. The method involved the addition of a small amount of silanes to polylactic acid (PLA), a bioplastic commonly used in packaging, textiles, biomedical implants, and 3D printing. The new bioplastic demonstrated improved tensile strain and tensile toughness, without a loss in tensile strength and...
February 16, 2018
DOE Announces Release Of Peer Review Report
By Kathleen M. Roberts On February 6, 2018, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced the release of its 2017 Project Peer Review Report. The report contains recommendations provided during the March 2017 Project Peer Review. The biennial Peer Review process aims to gather feedback and recommendations from stakeholders on BETO’s research and development portfolio to help BETO identify the most efficient and effective ways to...
February 16, 2018
Congress Approves U.S. Blender’s Credit For 2017
By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. As explained in the notice issued by Neste, a member of the Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG®), with President Trump’s signing of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (H.R. 1892), the blenders tax credit was extended retroactively for 2017. Qualified biofuel blenders are eligible for a tax credit of $1.00 per gallon of biodiesel or renewable diesel used in the blending process in 2017. The blenders tax credit was one of...
By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On January 25, 2018, Alberta Innovates announced the launch of the Bio-Resource Information Management System (BRIMS), which was developed in conjunction with Silvacom Ltd. BRIMS is a publicly available data and information management system that collates inventories from forestry, agriculture, and municipality sectors to create a centralized, comprehensive spatial warehouse of biomass, ecosystem services, and land-use data. Silvacom and Alberta...
February 9, 2018
Neste Renewable Fuels Reduces GHG Emissions By 8.3 Million Tons
By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On February 5, 2018, Neste, a member of BRAG, announced that the use of its renewable fuels in place of fossil fuels resulted in a reduction of 8.3 million metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The significant emission reduction is primarily attributed to Neste’s MY Renewable Diesel and Neste's increased production volumes at its three renewables-producing refineries. The reduction was calculated by comparing the lifecycle GHG...
By Kathleen M. Roberts On January 31, 2018, the European Commission (EC) launched a new investigation into subsidized imports of biodiesel from Argentina. The investigation was initiated based on a complaint filed by the European Biodiesel Board (EBB) on behalf of producers representing over 25 percent of the European Union (EU) biodiesel production. The EC determined that the complaint includes sufficient evidence that the Argentinean biodiesel producers have benefitted from a...
February 9, 2018
USDA Cancels Farm-To-Fleet Biofuel Program
By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On February 1, 2018, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) announced in the Federal Register that it has withdrawn support for the Farm-to-Fleet Biofuel Production Incentive (BPI) program. CCC determined that, due to limited available funds, the BPI program is no longer a priority. USDA and the U.S. Department of Navy (Navy) launched the Farm-to-Fleet program in 2013 to provide incentive funds to...
February 2, 2018
NBB Announces New Report On Biodiesel Benefits
By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On January 22, 2018, the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) announced that a new study on lifecycle energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission effects of biodiesel updates and reaffirms the benefits of using the renewable fuel. The report was published jointly by ANL, Purdue University, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Researchers gathered data on the energy and emissions from farming soybeans, the feedstock for approximately half of U.S....
February 2, 2018
WTO Rules On EU AD Measures On Biodiesel From Indonesia
By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On January 25, 2018, the World Trade Organization (WTO) issued a ruling on anti-dumping (AD) measures on biodiesel from Indonesia, following Indonesia’s request for consultations with the European Union (EU) in June 2014. The ruling is the latest in a series of legal challenges to EU AD duties on biodiesel imports from Indonesia and Argentina that were established in 2013. Similar to the WTO ruling for Argentina, the panel ruled in favor of several...