Reuters writer Richard Valdmanis reported on Wednesday that, “Time has run out for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to challenge a federal court ruling that would limit the agency’s use of waivers exempting small oil refineries from the country’s biofuels regulations. Todd Neeley@toddneeleyDTN The DOJ did not file an appeal with the 10th Circuit before the court deadline on the […]
Since 2017, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been generously granting exemptions to small refineries from the renewable fuels mandates on the transportation fuel industry established by Congress under the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS). This has raised a set of concerns with EPA’s implementation of the RFS and the impacts of that implementation on the […]
On March 2, the latest USDA Grain Crushing report provides an estimate of corn used for ethanol production in January. In the February WASDE report, the USDA raised corn used for ethanol production by 50 million bushels, to 5.425 billion bushels, for the 2019-20 marketing year on a stronger pace of production in January. Since […]
The U.S. biodiesel industry continued to face strong headwinds in 2019 due to the demand destruction wreaked by small refinery exemptions (SREs). For example, in a previous farmdoc daily article (March 14, 2019) it was estimated that SREs reduced biomass-based diesel (biodiesel and renewable diesel) demand by over 700 million gallons in 2017, nearly a billion gallons […]
The U.S. ethanol industry faced major headwinds in 2019, including low ethanol and dried distillers grain (DDGS) prices and continued policy setbacks in the implementation of the RFS. There was some good news with the granting of a year-round RVP waiver for E15, but the immediate impact was modest at best. The impact of these […]
In separate developments this month, a federal appellate court and the U.S. Government Accountability Office, have weighed in with actions that could impact how biofuel waivers that exempt oil refineries from Renewable Fuel Standard requirements are granted. Today’s update looks briefly at each of these issues. U.S. Court of Appeals Decision Reuters writer Stephanie Kelly reported last week that, […]
Background Earlier this month, Reuters writers Stephanie Kelly and Jarrett Renshaw reported that, “U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler told a biofuels company on [December 5th] that the agency is working to address industry concerns over biofuel blending rules that have sparked outrage across the Farm Belt, according to a source familiar with the matter. “Biofuel producers and representatives of […]
Late last month, Des Moines Register writer Donnelle Eller reported that, “Rain has slowed the harvest across the state in recent days. National Weather Service data for Des Moines showed that central Iowa on [October 23rd] matched the October rainfall record of 7.29 inches, set in 1941. Any more rain in the remaining eight days of the month […]
Wall Street Journal writers Kirk Maltais and Jacob Bunge reported on Friday that, “The Trump administration outlined a plan to boost biofuel demand, aiming to ease Farm Belt frustrations over recent changes to federal policies affecting the production of ethanol. A proposal released on Friday by the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture aims to satisfy both […]
Reuters writers Stephanie Kelly and Jarrett Renshaw reported last week that, “White House officials on Wednesday urged U.S. biofuel producers and oil refiners to accept a deal to lift biofuel blending mandates in 2020, saying overlong negotiations could make it hard to enact the change in time for next year, sources familiar with the discussions said. […]