All Knowledge & Insights By Date

By Kathleen M. Roberts On May 12, 2017, the Iowa Biodiesel Board (IBB) praised Governor Terry Branstad for signing into law the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund bill (HF 643), which provides $3 million in funding for the Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program.  IBB stated that it, along with industry partners, worked closely with legislature to ensure the funding language was included in Iowa’s budget, and acknowledged Branstad for being a steadfast supporter of funding renewable...

By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On May 10, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released Renewable Identification Numbers (RIN) generation data for April 2017, reporting that nearly 1.5 billion RINs were generated during the month.      Nearly 17.3 million D3 cellulosic biofuel RINs were generated in April, bringing the total for 2017 to 49.9 million, including 1.3 million D3 RINs generated for ethanol, 17.9 million generated for renewable liquefied...

University of Wisconsin, “Triple Play Boosting Value of Renewable Fuel Could Tip Market in Favor of Biomass” The Molding Blog, “Lego Tests Bricks Made from Wheat Bioplastic” Green Biologics, “Green Biologics Honored with Biorenewable Deployment Consortium’s Commercialization Achievement Award”...

Platts, “White House Reviews US EPA's Proposed 2018-19 Biofuel Blending Volumes” U.S. Department of Energy, “Map Out Your Career in the Bioeconomy with BETO’s New Bioenergy Career Map!” Iowa Farm Bureau, “Perdue Pledges Support for Trade and Biofuels during Iowa Visit” Lancaster University, “New Breakthrough Makes it Easier to Turn Old Coffee Waste into Cleaner Biofuels”...

By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On May 12, 2017, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) published in the Federal Register its preliminary determinations regarding the antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations of biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia.  ITC confirmed that there is a reasonable indication that an industry in the U.S. is materially injured by imports of biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia, which are alleged to be sold in the U.S. at less...

Singapore Air, “SIA and CAAS Partner to Operate First 'Green Package' Flights in the World” Air Canada, “Air Canada to Operate Biofuel Flights in Support of Environmental Research on Contrails and Emissions” Bloomberg, “Crooks Are after the Grease from Your French Fries” The Log, “Kelp Farming Project Could Come to Catalina Island”...

By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On April 28, 2017, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its monthly biodiesel production report for February 2017.  According to the report, U.S. biodiesel production increased by one million gallons between January and February of this year but production is 11 million gallons less than February 2016.  Production came from 95 biodiesel plants with capacity of 2.3 billion gallons per year.  The report also states that 37 million...

Wageningen University & Research, “Scientific Report on Facts Related to Biobased and Biodegradable Plastics” Texas A&M, “Dr. Tim Devarenne and Colleagues Publish Genome Sequence of the Fuel-Producing Green Microalga Botryococcus Braunii”  Phys.org, “Fast, Low Energy, and Continuous Biofuel Extraction from Microalgae” GreenBiz, “Levi’s, Method and Berkeley Students on a Safer Chemical Crusade”...

By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On April 26, 2017, a bipartisan bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate to reform the biodiesel tax credit and extend the new policy for three years.  The American Renewable Fuel and Job Creation Act of 2017, which was sponsored by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and 14 other senators, transfers the $1 gallon tax credit from the blenders to the producers of biofuels to ensure that it...

By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On April 24, 2017, U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys representing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the renewable fuels and petroleum industries presented oral arguments before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit regarding the petition to review the renewable volume obligations (RVO) for 2014-2016.  The petition, which was filed on January 8, 2016, by seven biofuel and agricultural groups, challenged...

DOE, “BETO Launches Interactive Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Projects Map” Renewable Fuels Association, “U.S. Gasoline Contained More than 10% Ethanol in 2016, Shattering the ‘Blend Wall’ Myth Once and For All” American Chemical Society, “Degradable Electronic Components Created from Corn Starch” Kobe University, “Making Oil from Algae – Towards More Efficient Biofuels” Ford Motor Company, “What's Super...

By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On April 12, 2017, the nova-Institute announced the publication of its commentary on the European Commission’s proposal for a revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED).  The proposal, which is referred to as RED II, aims to raise renewable energy usage in Europe to 27 percent by 2030 and to require fuel suppliers to include a minimum share of advanced biofuels in their offering, which will increase steadily between 2021 and 2030.  In...

By Kathleen M. Roberts On April 13, 2017, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) released a statement regarding the passage of a bill, HSB 187, by the Iowa House Appropriations Committee that would cut the value of the Iowa biofuels tax credits and complicate the mechanism for receiving the credit.  According to the bill, the value of the tax credits would be determined based on annual sales, and the amount of the credits would be capped...

?  Bioresources, “Bioeconomy Survey Results Regarding Barriers to the United States Advanced Biofuel Industry”    ?   Enerkem, “Enerkem Achieves All Production Milestones at its Edmonton Biofuel Facility”    ?  University of Wisconsin-Madison, “Renewable Plastic Precursor Could Grow Cellulosic Biofuel Industry”    ?  Michigan State University, “Better Together:  Harnessing Cooperating...

By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On April 3, 2017, the European Environment Agency (EEA) announced the publication of the report titled “Renewable Energy in Europe 2017:  Recent Growth and Knock-On Effects,” which demonstrates that renewables have been a major contributor to the energy transition in Europe.  An analysis of the compound annual growth rate demonstrated that the use of biofuels in transport grew fastest between 2005 and 2014 at 18 percent per year. ...

By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On April 13, 2017, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) announced that it was formally initiating antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations of biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia.  The decision follows a petition filed by the National Biodiesel Board Fair Trade Coalition, as reported in the Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group (BRAG®) blog post “National Biodiesel Board Fair Trade Coalition Files...

?  Minnesota Bio-fuels Association, “E15 Infrastructure Bill Would Add $35.9 Million to MN's GDP”   ?   Farmdoc Daily, “An Alternative View of Biodiesel Production Profits:  The Role of Retroactively Reinstated Blender Tax Credits”   ?  American Chemical Society, “A ‘Bionic Leaf’ Could Help Feed the World”   ?  Reebok, “Reebok ‘Growing’ Plant-Based Footwear”   ? ...

By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On March 29, 2017, the Urban Air Initiative (UAI) released a statement claiming that the Coordinating Research Council’s (CRC) study on fuel emissions was biased and flawed.  According to UAI, the match blending of test fuels in the study fails to recognize the performance of ethanol in real world fuels, including improving fuel quality and reducing toxic tailpipe emissions.  UAI stated that performing match blending in a lab using a...

By Kathleen M. Roberts On April 4, 2017, the Hawaii State Senate Committee on Ways and Means passed HB 1580, which sets a goal of having all ground transportation in Hawaii run on renewable fuel by 2045.  The bill, which does not contain an enforcement mechanism, provides a benchmark framework for achieving the ambitious target and establishes an intermediate target to reduce the sale of imported fuels by five percent in 2025.  The Senate Committee...

By Lauren M. Graham, Ph.D. On April 4, 2017, Members of the European Parliament (MEP) approved a resolution calling on the European Commission (EC) to phase out the use of palm oil as a component of biofuels and advocating for a single certification scheme for palm oil entering the European Union (EU).  The resolution states that biofuels production accounts for 46 percent of the palm oil imported by the EU and requires about one million...