It’s been a volatile decade for the United States biofuels industry, to put it lightly. In 2007 the federal government, as part of an effort to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, passed a new potion of the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard that mandated ethanol blending across the domestic oil industry in quantities scheduled to increase each year. Oil companies can either blend the required amount of biofuel or, alternatively, buy credits known as Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs). As such, investment in ethanol production boomed and Big Corn rejoiced. This is no longer the case. The ethanol industry has seen major ups and downs over the past couple of years, with many predicting its demise in the face of shuttering plants in 2017, and then the very next year the sector ramped up production to unprecedented levels despite a major glut. Complicating the matter, the Trump administration has taken […]