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...
October 18, 2013
Reports On Potential Legislative Language To Increase Value Of Advanced Biofuel RIN
It is being reported that API and the Advanced Biofuels Association (ABFA) are working together on potential legislative language to increase the value of RINs associated with advanced biofuels and to allow them to help make up conventional RINs due to blend wall constraints under the federal RFS. According to news reports, the two groups are working to present this potential language to members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee who are working on...
Last week, part of EPA's much anticipated 2014 proposed RFS rule, or at least a draft of the rule, was leaked and widely disseminated. If the text of the leaked proposed rule is representative of the actual proposed rule, the oil and gas industry would likely view it more favorably than would the biofuels industry. In the leaked version of the proposal, EPA would use its authority under the RFS to adjust downward the cellulosic,...
October 18, 2013
Challenges To EPA’s Final 2013 RFS Rule
Obligated parties and the organizations that represent them continue efforts to challenge and weaken the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Several lawsuits have been filed recently in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit Court) challenging the final rule issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) setting the 2013 RFS requirements. Monroe Energy, a subsidiary of Delta Airlines, the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), and...
October 11, 2013
INVISTA Partners With Ingenza On Renewable Chemicals
On October 1, 2013, U.S.-based INVISTA and UK-based industrial biotechnology company Ingenza Ltd. announced they are partnering on the development of new technologies to enable bio-derived processes for the production of industrial chemicals. A copy of INVISTA's press release is available online....
On October 7, 2013, A*STAR's Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences (ICES) inked a Memorandum of Understanding with the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH) to promote joint research and collaboration in the field of sustainable chemicals — specifically in biomass-to-chemicals research. A copy of A*STAR's press release on the announcement is available online....
October 11, 2013
Royal DSM Partners With PlastiComp On Renewable Chemicals
On October 2, 2013, Royal DSM announced that it has partnered with Minnesota-based PlastiComp, Inc. to develop biobased Long Fiber Thermoplastic (LFT) composite materials for the automotive and other markets. A copy of DSM's press release is available online....
October 11, 2013
BP And DuPont Isobutanol Plant Groundbreaking
Butamax™ Advanced Biofuels LLC, a joint venture between BP PLC and DuPont, announced that it has broken ground on a plant to produce isobutanol, a renewable fuel that EPA has determined can qualify for credit under the federal RFS. Butamax is working to retrofit Highwater Ethanol LLC, an existing ethanol plant located in Lamberton, Minnesota. The announcement is significant because Butamax has been in ongoing litigation with the other U.S. isobutanol producer, Gevo. Also, isobutanol...
October 11, 2013
Key Administration Official On Energy And Climate Change Steps Down
On Monday, October 7, 2013, the White House announced that Heather Zichal, Deputy Assistant to President Obama for Energy and Climate Change, will be leaving her post in the coming weeks. Zichal has been advising the President on these issues for the past five years and is considered a friend to the biofuels, renewable chemicals, and biobased products industries. For instance, she has been a strong proponent of maintaining the federal RFS and encouraging investment...
October 11, 2013
Waxman Challenges Chemicals Industry On TSCA Reform
On October 7, 2013, House Committee on Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Henry Waxman (D-CA) sent a letter to American Chemistry Council (ACC) President Calvin Dooley asking him whether ACC is "abandoning its 2009 principles for reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act." The letter is available online. In his letter, Representative Waxman tells Dooley that he has been hopeful that reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) would include many of the principles...