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Corn-based ethanol may be more emission-intensive than previously thought and is likely contributing to more emissions than gasoline, a new study finds. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that the environmental benefits of the U.S. renewable fuel standard (RFS) remain unclear. Under the Renewable Fuel Standard, oil refiners are required to blend growing amounts of renewable fuels into gasoline and diesel. The RFS raised corn prices, which in turn expanded the land used for corn crops. This increases emissions from the conversion of land to corn crops, and raises fertilizer and water usage, says...

One unpleasant ghost from the past (and present) will be moving back toward center stage in a couple of months and it may wind up presenting yet another challenge for the Biden administration. One of my concerns during the 2020 election dealt with my dread that liberal Democrats would be back in control in 2022 because of an important energy policy milestone. The Renewable Fuel Standard, which mandates the blending of “green” fuels like ethanol into America’s gasoline supply, has been running on a fifteen-year schedule that was last established and expanded in 2007. The current charter is up after...

DES MOINES — Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said Tuesday that she wants to require that all fuel sold in the state to contain either ethanol or biodiesel. Reynolds’ comments came at the Iowa Iowa Renewable Fuels virtual summit Tuesday where she proposed legislation mandating fuel sold in the state contain at least 10% ethanol and 11% biodiesel. “I am excited to advance policies that will grow the biofuels and ag industry,” Reynolds said. “As a leader in biofuels production, that means making biofuels the clear choice for Iowa drivers by implementing an E10 and B11 fuel standard at Iowa pumps.”...

Researchers at the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) have genetically engineered a fungus to produce a cocktail of enzymes that break down the carbohydrates in biomass, such as sugarcane trash (tops and leaves) and bagasse, into fermentable sugar for industrially efficient conversion into biofuel. The development of low-cost enzyme cocktails is one of the main challenges in producing second-generation ethanol. Second-generation biofuels are manufactured from various kinds of nonfood biomass, including agricultural residues, wood chips and waste cooking oil. The CNPEM research group's process paves the way for optimized use of sugarcane residues to produce biofuels....

(DES MOINES, Iowa) — As hospitals and nursing homes desperately search for hand sanitizer amid the coronavirus outbreak, federal regulators are preventing ethanol producers from providing millions of gallons of alcohol that could be transformed into the germ-killing mixture. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s roadblock has been frustrating the health care and ethanol industries, which have been calling for a relaxed regulation to deal with the public health care emergency. “Hand sanitizer is a big part of our lives,” said Eric Barber, CEO of Mary Lanning Healthcare, a hospital in Hastings, Nebraska. “We can’t get any. We order it...

Gin distilleries across Britain have switched to making hand sanitiser in a bid to stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus. Distilleries from Dundee to London have shifted their production lines to make hand gel after shortages were reported across the country when the virus began to gather speed earlier this month. People across Britain have been advised to regularly wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or to use a hand sanitiser which contains at least 60 per cent alcohol to prevent the spread of COVID-19. There are currently 2,626 cases of coronavirus confirmed...

 In the classic children’s book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, a boy gives a mouse a cookie, and then the mouse asks for a glass of milk to wash it down. Then a straw for the milk. Then a napkin… and so on and so on. Washington, D.C. has its own version called: If You Give a Company a Handout.Exhibit A is the federal government’s coddling of the biofuels industry. The government has propped up the biofuels market, primarily corn ethanol, through targeted tax credits, government-backed loan guarantees and an outright mandate that forces ethanol into our gas...

It's time for the annual Congressional fight over the Renewable Fuel Standard, or RFS. In one corner sit corn farmers and their representatives, who fight tenaciously not just to preserve the RFS but to expand it. In the other sits, well, just about everyone else. Whether you are a refiner, a consumer, an environmentalist, a free market economist or just someone who cares about good government, there is ample reason to oppose the ethanol mandate. Since 2005, the federal government has required that refineries blend increasing amounts of ethanol (grain alcohol) with gasoline. There are requirements for cellulosic, biodiesel and...

The Trump administration unveiled a fuel proposal Friday that would buoy corn farmers and ethanol producers while alienating the nation’s oil industry. The proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would require oil refineries to blend more ethanol into gasoline, a minimum of 15 billion gallons of each year. The rollout marks the latest twist in a months-long feud between two groups viewed by President Trump as key supporters in his base: farmers and the oil and gas industry. “Once again the president has demonstrated he’s a champion for our nation’s farmers and for rural America,” a senior EPA official...

Some more news out of Iowa on the King Corn front reached us this week and it spells yet another headache for President Trump who remains caught in a tug-of-war between the ethanol lobby and the oil and gas industry. The CEO of W2 Fuel, a biofuel company, announced that he is closing his plant in Crawfordsville and laying off the fifty employees who work there. The reason he is giving for the closure is that the Renewable Fuel Standard waivers given to more than thirty small refineries by Trump’s EPA this year (85 total since taking office) have...

I’ve written more articles about the problems with the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) here than I can count. What’s largely been lacking in this discussion is any sort of reasonable compromise that could be offered to supporters of this system other than a winner-take-all battle. Of course, the ethanol lobby has been so uncompromising in their demands, that most offers would be brushed off anyway. Still, there might be a path forward that could keep the ethanol companies in business while doing away with the RFS entirely. This is a subject that Forbes energy analyst Robert Rapier has been tackling...

We all know what the relationship between environmental activists and the oil and gas industry is like. It’s an endless series of demands that we stop using fossil fuels. Reduce emissions. Keep It In The Ground! You know the story. So is there anything that can bring these two, diametrically opposed groups together? Turns out there is, and it’s the EPA’s decision (vocally supported by President Trump) to allow year-round sales of E15 ethanol-blended gasoline. But wait, you’re probably thinking. Don’t environmental activists support biofuels? Well… yes. At least for the most part. But they also know that burning ethanol...

The Trump administration on Friday announced that it would allow for the year-round sale of gasoline with higher concentrations of ethanol. The action addresses a rule the Environmental Protection Agency had in place preventing the sale of so-called E15 fuel, which contains 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline, between June 1 and Sept. 15. The purpose was to prevent air pollution and curb dependence on foreign petroleum, but the ban has stopped some retailers from selling E15 at all because of the need to change out pumps.

The ethanol wars between King Corn and the oil and gas industry continue, with the corn faction finding a new champion this month in the person of Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois). It shouldn’t come as any surprise that she’s teaming up with Senators Ernst and Grassley since Illinois is the third largest ethanol producer in the country. The fight is still going on over the EPA granting waivers to smaller refineries from the ethanol blending requirements in the Renewable Fuel Standard, but Duckworth is raising the stakes. She’s asking the EPA’s Inspector General to investigate whether or not Trump’s EPA...

Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign manager, John Podesta, played a central role in another potential Russian collusion scandal that has not yet been investigated. Podesta, the former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, served on the board of Joule Unlimited, a now defunct alternative energy company, from January 2011 to January 2014. He resigned from the company’s board to accept the powerful job of Counselor to President Barack Obama. During Podesta’s tenure on the board of Joule Unlimited, a significant investment in the company by a firm owned by the Russian government escaped review and scrutiny by the Committee on...

President Trump on Tuesday advanced a plan that would expand the use of ethanol in gasoline across the U.S., a move pushed by corn farmers but expected to draw ire from the oil and gas industry. The latest step pushes forward a proposal that would allow the year-round sale of gasoline blended with up to 15 percent ethanol, known as E15. Previously, E15 was restricted under air pollution requirements between June 1 and Sept. 15, as science shows burning ethanol in warmer temperature leads to heightened ground-level ozone pollution and smog. The new plan will effectively lift those sales barriers....

The Environmental Protection Agency rolled out a plan to allow more ethanol in the nation's gasoline supply Tuesday, after a long wait that had Cabinet officials sparring over the timing of the plan. “Consistent with President Trump’s direction, EPA is working to propose and finalize these changes by the summer driving season,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. The proposed regulations would allow 15-percent ethanol fuels to be sold year-round, including in the summer. The high-ethanol fuel is currently banned by the EPA for sale during the summer driving season, which begins June 1, because of its high fuel volatility rating,...

Lawmakers say they have reached a deal on the massive farm bill, which has been hung up for weeks over demands by President Trump and House Republicans for new work requirements for food stamp recipients. Negotiators have agreed to jettison those requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which were included in the House version of the bill but not the Senate version. However, the White House has not yet signed off on the agreement and House conservatives may not support a bill that lacks work requirements.

We knew (or at least feared) that this was coming, but Friday saw the finalization of the new biofuels – specifically ethanol – blending requirements for 2019 and 2020. And true to the promises that President Trump made to Iowa politicians, we did not see any significant reductions in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) mandates. In fact, they went up, much the same as under Obama’s EPA. (EPA website)

President Trump chalked up his announcement on boosting ethanol for farmers in Iowa to his record of "promises made, promises kept," while speaking in Iowa Tuesday night. "I made that promise to you during the campaign," Trump said. "I made that promise to you during the primaries. Promises made, promises kept." "We're going with E15 year-round," Trump said early in his speech, admitting that the full announcement would come later in his remarks. The plan would relax Environmental Protection Agency rules that restrict the sale of 15-percent ethanol fuel blends to eight months of the year. The EPA waiver for...