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When it’s summertime, the driving is easier with ethanol. As millions of Americans are looking ahead to summer vacations and family road trips, high fuel prices may be a concern, but ethanol is helping to keep prices lower than they might be otherwise, and the Renewable Fuels Association notes that higher ethanol blends like E15 and E85 offer even lower ... Read More
The 40B tax credit guidance and modified GREET model released April 30 by U.S. Treasury lays the groundwork for U.S. ethanol producers and farmers to participate in the emerging market for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). But since 40B expires at the end of this year, all the attention will now turn to implementing the 45Z credit to start next year, ... Read More
Now that the 40B sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) tax credit guidance and modified GREET model has been released, the ethanol industry may have scored a ticket to fly but there’s still a few mechanical problems to sort out before take off. The new 40B GREET model will recognize GHG reductions from carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), renewable natural gas, and ... Read More
The Environmental Protection Agency today issued a waiver to allow E15 (15 percent ethanol fuel) to continue to be sold this summer. The temporary waiver under the Clean Air Act was issued “to address extreme and unusual fuel supply circumstances caused by a confluence of events, including the ongoing war in Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East, that are ... Read More
It’s certain at this point that sales of E15 in the United States hit a record last year, but the future of sales this year after May 1 is still uncertain. According to a Renewable Fuels Association analysis of data released by state agencies in Minnesota and Iowa, total U.S. sales are estimated to have hit a record 1.11 billion ... Read More
GREET is the word that has still not been heard from the Biden Administration as the ethanol industry anxiously awaits a decision on a modified lifecycle analysis model that will be used to assess the eligibility of feedstocks for new tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act. The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) recently joined two dozen other biofuel and farm ... Read More
Nicholas Defenbaugh, a senior at Orion Technical College and a maintenance technician at Big River Resources, was one of eight students and young professionals who attended the recent 2024 National Ethanol Conference under the Robert Sather Memorial Scholarship program. Nicholas is carrying on a family tradition working at the plant in Burlington, Iowa which was started by his grandfather Ray ... Read More
Last week, U.S. Reps. Randy Feenstra (R-IA) and Darin LaHood (R-IL) led two letters to the Biden administration – one to President Biden and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai urging greater action in developing new markets for biofuels exports, and a second to Tai and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack specifically requesting work toward a full repeal of the Brazilian ... Read More
It has now been almost three weeks since Biden administration officials failed to meet a March 1 deadline to adopt the U.S. Department of Energy’s GREET model for the calculation of SAF tax credits (40B) under the Inflation Reduction Act, and groups representing farmers and ethanol producers who would benefit are getting impatient. A letter was sent this week to ... Read More
The Renewable Fuels Association’s flex fuel plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (FFPHEV) worked hard in 2023, so just ahead of the 2024 National Ethanol Conference in California last month, RFA’s Robert White decided to take it along on a family vacation as he drove from Kansas City to San Diego. White, who serves as RFA Senior Vice President for Industry Relations ... Read More
The latest data from the Minnesota Commerce Department shows sales of both E15 and E85 hit new records in 2023. The volume of E15 reported hit 127.6 million gallons, up 21 percent from 2022, while E85 sales were reported at 16.6 million gallons, up 8 percent from 2022 and the highest on record. When that news was released last week, ... Read More
The state of California set another new record for use of E85 (up to 85% ethanol fuel) in 2023 at nearly 118.5 million gallons, up nearly 15% from 103.5 million in 2022, according to the latest data from the California Air Resources Board. California is the state with the largest consumption of E85 fuel, but is also the only state ... Read More
Carbon reduction is the single biggest focus for the ethanol industry right now and it was top of mind at the recent National Ethanol Conference with a panel on Collaborating for Carbon Reduction. The ultimate goal is to lower the carbon intensity of ethanol as much as possible, so every segment of the supply chain could possibly contribute. Renewable Fuels ... Read More
The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) took part in the recent National Ethanol Conference (NEC) in San Diego. A delegation of Council staff and industry representatives from Mexico and the Latin American and Europe, Middle East and Africa regions attended the conference and USGC Japan Director Tommy Hamamoto joined a panel on Working with World Partners: The International Outlook. The panel ... Read More
Summit Carbon Solutions has signed Valero, the world’s second-largest corn ethanol producer and a leader in low-carbon transportation fuels production, to be a shipper on Summit’s pipeline. Eight of Valero’s ethanol facilities in Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, and South Dakota are expected to be incorporated into Summit’s project, bringing the total to 57 ethanol production facilities across the upper Midwest, from ... Read More
Officials from the Biden administration faced over 11,000 farmers and agricultural industry representatives today at the Commodity Classic in Houston and announced that they will miss a self-imposed March 1 deadline to complete modifications to the GREET model for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). “We’re going to take a few more weeks – and I mean weeks, not months – to ... Read More
The push for everything to be more carbon neutral and sustainable has never been stronger, and that continues to increase the demand for clean and renewable fuels. Clean Fuels Alliance America and the Renewable Fuels Association have both held their annual conferences this year to focus on the challenges and opportunities for the U.S. biofuels industry. The Clean Fuels Conference ... Read More
Powered by Partnerships was the theme of the 2024 National Ethanol Conference last week in San Diego and the partners for the ethanol industry now include some brand new alliances and former adversaries. The Partnering for Progress panel at the conference included representatives from the petroleum industry, car makers, airlines, convenience stores, and farmers. Much of the conversation centered around ... Read More
Sustainable fuels technology company LanzaJet today announced a $30 million investment by Southwest Airlines for the development of a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) facility and collaborate on the corn stover to ethanol technology company SAFFiRE Renewables. LanzaJet plans to undertake project development efforts for the SAF production facility in the United States, with Southwest as the anchor SAF offtaker. The ... Read More
The 29th National Ethanol Conference held in San Diego California last week may go down as one of the best and most timely industry meetings ever, setting the stage for major decisions that hang in the balance this year, including year-round availability of E15 and a revised GREET model that will determine ethanol’s role in sustainable aviation fuel. The Renewable ... Read More



