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By Lynn L. Bergeson On October 4, 2019, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, Andrew Wheeler, and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary, Sonny Perdue, announced President Trump’s negotiated agreement on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).  Under the agreement, EPA and USDA will undertake the following actions: In a forthcoming supplemental notice building off the recently proposed 2020 Renewable Volume Standards and the Biomass-Based Diesel Volume for...

WTVB News, “Trump Meets with Senators from Key Farm States, Touts Biofuel Deal Progress” Market Realist, “Big Biofuels Issue: Trump Meets with Refiners, Senators” Cornell Alliance for Science, “Plant Breeding Innovations Required to Weather Climate Change, Report Says”  Global News Canada, “Burnaby Becomes Latest B.C. City to Declare a Climate Emergency” just-food, “Danone-Backed Meat-Analogue Business Sustainable Bioproducts Eyes...

SuccessfulFarming, “Court: EPA Must Consider Environmental Impact When Setting Ethanol Mandate” Research Matters, “Researchers Design Salt-Tolerant Varieties of Indian Rice” Newsweek, “Scientists Turn Carbon Dioxide into Ant Venom Biofuel” Err.ee, “Finance Ministry Rejects Economic Affairs Ministry Biofuel Legal Amends” GreenBiz, “How Synthetic Biology Can Help Build Sustainable Cities” British Plastics and Rubber Magazine, “New...

Reuters, “Facing Farmer Anger, Trump Scrambles Cabinet to Brainstorm on Biofuel Policy: Sources” Cosmeticsdesign.com, “Sulapac: The Startup Making Biodegradable, Plastic-Free Beauty Packaging a Reality” The Times, “EU Curbs Used Cooking Oil in Biodiesel Due to Fears of Fraud” Plastics News, “Resin Distributors Taking Different Paths to Sustainability” Engineering.com, “Algae Filter Paper Offers New Hope for Stopping Waterborne Illness”...

Business Times, “Trump intervention triggered EPA’s surprise biofuel waiver decision: sources”   newelectronics, “Greener and Cheaper Way to Make Patterned Metals for Electronics”   TechXplore, “Researchers Turn Plastic Water Bottles into Prosthetic Limbs”   Wisconsin State Journal, “Wind, Solar Developers Say Transmission Line Key to Achieving Tony Evers’ Clean Energy Goal”    npr, “U.S. Recycling...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On August 28, 2019, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (CDT), the Nebraska Ethanol Board (NEB) will host a free workshop for fuel retailers across the state to demonstrate the benefits and ease of offering ethanol-15 (E15) fuel to customers. The one-day workshop will cover misconceptions about the cost of offering E15, best practices, and resources to make implementing and labeling infrastructure easy and affordable. Space is limited, and interested parties must register by August...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On August 21, 2019, Iowa Democratic Representative Cindy Axne asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Inspector General (IG) to investigate how EPA decided to grant the exemptions from the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requested by oil refiners. EPA approved 31 petitions for waivers from the 2018 requirements.  Lawmakers are not pleased at what appears to be EPA favoring the oil industry. Hence, Representative Axne’s call for an IG...

Redshift, “Bamboo Transcends the Tropics for Carbon-Negative Construction”   New Age, “Trump’s EPA Grants 31 Refinery Waivers from Biofuel Laws, Angering Corn Lobby”   Plastemart.com, “New Bio-Based Thermoplastic Adhesive for the Bonding of Compostable Plastic Coating”   AgWeek, “EPA Official Talks about Future of Biofuels and Carbon Sequestration”   FoodBev Media, “Unilever Debuts Magnum Tubs Created from Recycled...

By Lynn L. Bergeson On August 6, 2019, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) announced four grants aiming to expand biofuel access and production to advance the state’s renewable energy efforts. Awarded to four recipients by MDA’s Agricultural Growth, Research and Innovation (AGRI) Program, the grants total more than $500,000. One Bioenergy/Biochemical Pilot Project Grant was awarded, providing funding to advance bioenergy and biochemical production technology to a commercial...

By Lynn L. Bergeson and Ligia Duarte Botelho, M.A. On July 26, 2019, U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) announced that he is working with U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) on the Restore Environmental Sustainability to Our Renewable Energy (RESTORE) Act. In an effort to end what Toomey describes as an “egregious form of corporate welfare that hurts the environment and drives up the cost of everything,” the RESTORE Act would abolish the corn ethanol mandate under the Renewable Fuel...