Lockdowns Hit Supplies For Biofuels
Lockdowns, curfews, and fewer people eating out due to the coronavirus are dwindling the supplies of used cooking oil that is used in renewable fuels production, and refiners are now Continue Reading
IEA cuts global biofuels forecast as pandemic hits transport fuel demand
The International Energy Agency has cut its near-term forecast for global biofuels production as the COVID-19 crisis triggers the first annual decline in transport biofuels in two decades. Receive daily Continue Reading
Navy researchers produce high energy density jet fuels from sustainable cellulosic feedstocks
Researchers from the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) have developed an efficient three-step process for the conversion of cellulosic feedstocks to both a valuable chemical precursor and high-performance Continue Reading
US DATA: EIA says US ethanol production and inventories fall
US ethanol production averaged 926,000 b/d for the week ended Sept. 11, a decrease of 15,000 b/d on the week and down 77,000 b/d year on year, data from the Continue Reading
APPEC: Global ethanol market recovery not in sight before 2022: US Grains Council’s Healy
Global ethanol markets are not expected to recover fully at least until 2022 from the demand shock caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which led to a 20% cut in annual Continue Reading
US EPA denies 17 small refineries waivers to 2011-18 biofuel mandates
Prices for Renewable Identification Numbers rose slightly after the US Environmental Protection Agency on Sept. 14 denied 17 small oil refiners’ requests to waive the federal biofuel blending mandate retroactively Continue Reading
Trump Pledges to Allow E15 Ethanol in E10 Pumps
President Donald Trump promised to allow higher-ethanol gasoline to be distributed using existing filling station pumps, a move designed to bolster support among corn farmers and biofuel producers in Iowa Continue Reading
The Fossil Fuel Industry’s Survival Plan: Renewable Natural Gas From Cow Poop
Polly is a 10-year-old black-and-white Holstein cow, the oldest in a herd of about 300 on the Bar-Way Farm in Deerfield, Mass. Together they produce 2,000 gallons of milk each Continue Reading
U.S. Biofuel Mandate Decision Could Be Delayed By Pandemic
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may be unable to come up with a decision for next year’s biofuel blending requirements by the November 30 deadline because of the coronavirus Continue Reading
Phillips 66 to convert San Francisco Refinery into world’s largest renewable fuels plant; 800M+ gallons per year
Phillips 66, a diversified energy manufacturing and logistics company, plans to reconfigure its San Francisco Refinery in Rodeo, California, to produce renewable fuels. The plant would no longer produce fuels Continue Reading
Demand Crash Hit U.S. Refiners With Surging Biofuel Blending Costs
U.S. refiners are feeling the pinch not only from the lower fuel demand, but also from the surging costs for complying with the biofuel requirements as refining and blending activity Continue Reading
DOE announces $100M for artificial photosynthesis research to two major partnerships
The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced $100 million in funding over five years for two new awards focused on advancing artificial photosynthesis for the production of fuels from sunlight. Continue Reading
KIST team develops technology for mass-production of lignin-bio-aviation fuels
A Korean research team has developed a technology that can be used to mass-produce aviation-grade fuels from wood wastes. The ability to produce aviation-grade fuel from oil derived from wood Continue Reading
The Biofuel Boom Was Doomed From The Start
Why haven’t biofuels taken off? For years they have been touted as the fuel of the future, with high-profile commercial aircraft making headlines for pioneering all-biofuel international flights and promising Continue Reading
Biofuel Revolution Was Doomed by Policy and Investment Failures
The mood was celebratory on a humid June evening in 2011 as a red-and-white Gulfstream G450 belonging to Honeywell International Inc. took off from a New Jersey airport at sunset Continue Reading
Exxon’s Big Bet On Algae Biofuels Is Crumbling
In the late 2000s, Big Oil led by Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A), BP Plc. (NYSE: BP), ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), and Chevron (NYSE: CVX) hyped algae biofuel as the fuel Continue Reading
Turning California’s Biggest Liability Into A Biofuel Boom
In California, there is a debate heating up over whether dead trees should be cleared and burned for biofuel before they burn where they are in yet another devastating West Continue Reading
The Revolutionary Tech That’s Turning Waste Into Energy
The $150-billion organic food industry has a major fertilizer problem that could hinder its growth. Massive livestock operations from Europe to North America have an even bigger problem: They’re producing Continue Reading
The Energy Transition Is an Oil Refinery Making Renewable Diesel
In a sign of changing times, a U.S. oil refining company is converting one of its plants into a producer of clean fuel. HollyFrontier Corp.’s Cheyenne refinery will stop using crude Continue Reading
‘The worst may be behind us’: U.S. ethanol industry says inching back from collapse
The U.S. ethanol industry is showing some signs of recovery as government officials ease stay-at-home orders that depressed fuel demand, while a vote Friday in Congress could bring the industry Continue Reading
Trump’s Corn Crisis Is Back
A bipartisan group of two dozen U.S. Senators sent a letter to President Trump, urging him to reject the demands of the oil refining industry, which has called for exemptions Continue Reading
Five oil-refining states ask US EPA to waive biofuel mandate amid plunging fuel demand
The governors of five oil-refining states have asked the US Environmental Protection Agency to waive biofuel blending mandates while refiners confront plunging fuel demand as a result of the coronavirus Continue Reading
Fuel Demand Rout Sends U.S. Ethanol Output to Lowest in a Decade
The American ethanol industry is cutting production like never before as coronavirus lockdowns keep drivers off the roads, crushing demand for fuel. Output of corn-based biofuel plunged by a record 20% Continue Reading
How Burning Wood, Once a Viable Power Source, Fell Out of Favor in the U.S.
Out in the Piney Woods of East Texas, on the outskirts of a town that’s supported a thriving logging industry for more than a century, there’s a hulking power plant Continue Reading
A crushing collapse: Ethanol plummets as demand evaporates
Ethanol prices have fallen to record lows; US ethanol producers have idled or shut down as much as 4 billion gallons of annualized capacity. Receive daily email alerts, subscriber notes Continue Reading
Oil Crash Could Destroy Global Biofuels Market
This month’s unprecedented oil crash has sent shockwaves through the entire energy industry and beyond. It’s even gotten to industries that, in theory should be dancing on oil’s grave, but, Continue Reading
New photocatalyst for selective conversion of fatty acids to diesel- and jet-range molecules
Researchers from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a photocatalyst for the selective decarboxylation of fatty acids to produce diesel- Continue Reading
Oil-State Senators Push Trump on Biofuel Waivers Near Deadline
The oil industry and its Capitol Hill allies are pressing the Trump administration to defend its decision to exempt oil refineries from requirements they blend biofuels into gasoline and diesel. Continue Reading
US SecAg directs USDA fleet to increase biofuels usage; $100M for biofuels infrastructure program
US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has directed the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to acquire alternative fueled vehicles (AFV) when replacing conventionally fueled vehicles. USDA owns and operates one Continue Reading
USDA Ag Innovation Agenda targets biofuel blend rates of 15% in 2030, 30% in 2050
US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the Agriculture Innovation Agenda, a department-wide initiative to align resources, programs, and research to position American agriculture to better meet future global demands. Continue Reading
Hitler’s Renewable Jet Fuel Could End Flight Shaming
A “green” jet fuel invented by the Nazis for the Luftwaffe air force during World War II may have just found a new purpose in the burgeoning era of flight Continue Reading
Delta enters into conditional major offtake agreement for SAF with NWABF
Building on its $2-million investment for an ongoing feasibility study with Northwest Advanced Bio-Fuels ( NWABF ), Delta has entered into one of the largest airline offtake agreements of its Continue Reading
Iowa’s anger over Trump’s ethanol policy gives Democrats opening
In a speech last month to farmers in Texas, President Donald Trump won applause as he talked up recent U.S. trade agreements. When he tried to boast of his administration’s Continue Reading
Clean Energy Fuels delivered 143M gallons of Redeem renewable natural gas in 2019, up 30% year-on-year
Clean Energy Fuels Corp delivered 143 million gallons of Redeem Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) last year as robust sales of the carbon-neutral transportation fuel continued in 2019, closing out the year with Continue Reading
Does Exxon Know Something About Biofuel That Its Peers Don’t?
Oilprice has been reporting on the long, drawn-out death of the dream of algal biofuel for years . A field once crowded with startups and hyperbolic promises of industry disruption Continue Reading
Ammonia-salt solvent pretreatment for biomass could significantly reduce cost of cellulosic biofuels
A Rutgers-led team has developed a new biomass pretreatment process that could make it much cheaper to produce biofuels such as ethanol from plant waste and reduce reliance on fossil Continue Reading
Why Is The U.S. Military Funding This New Biofuel Breakthrough?
Trying to wrest energy from the sea is not a new trend. The science of tidal energy has been around since the 1900s, a new algal biofuel “breakthrough” is announced Continue Reading
Delta enters offtake agreement with Gevo for 10M gallons per year of sustainable aviation fuel
Delta has entered a long-term offtake agreement under which Delta will purchase 10 million gallons per year of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) from Gevo—specifically, Gevo’s Alcohol-to-Jet Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (ATJ-SPK). Continue Reading
KLM purchases Neste SAF for flights out of Schiphol
KLM has purchased sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for flights out of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The sustainable fuel is produced by Neste from used cooking oil and will reduce CO 2 Continue Reading
Another Energy Tech Breakthrough Involving Jellyfish
Jellyfish aren’t just a menace—they may very well have the power to save the planet. The marine creatures have long been studied for their potential to help combat major diseases Continue Reading
The Uncomfortable Truth About Biofuel
Earlier this month, France’s constitutional court upheld a law cutting palm oil from the country’s list of approved biofuels and eliminating associated tax exemptions. The court rejected an appeal by Continue Reading
US biofuel makers sue EPA over small refinery waivers that shrank 2018 blending
A coalition of biofuel groups Wednesday sued the Environmental Protection Agency challenging waivers that exempted small refineries from the 2018 biofuel blending mandate. The waivers to 36 refineries slashed Continue Reading
Trump administration biofuels policy angers US farmers
A brief peace between the Trump administration and US grain farmers was at risk after his environmental agency published the details of a biofuels policy they had broadly praised 11 Continue Reading
EPA Suggests Biofuel Quota Plan to Counteract Refinery Waivers
The Environmental Protection Agency proposed changes in the way it sets annual percentages spelling out how much renewable fuel refiners must blend into gasoline and diesel. (Bloomberg) — The Trump Continue Reading
Big Oil Baffled By Trump’s Flip Flop On Ethanol Policy
Facing possible impeachment, President Trump is trying to patch up his badly damaged relationship with American farmers. On Friday, the Trump administration announced its latest proposal that comes as a Continue Reading
Trump Set To Unveil Plan To Boost Biofuels
The Trump Administration is set to announce later on Friday a plan to boost ethanol and biodiesel demand and placate the farming lobby angered by the Administration’s waivers for dozens Continue Reading
U.S. refiners urge EPA to keep biofuel waiver requests secret from USDA
A law firm representing small U.S. refineries has urged the Environmental Protection Agency to keep refiners’ applications for waivers from the nation’s biofuel policy secret from the Department of Agriculture, Continue Reading
Trump orders review of controversial biofuel waiver program: sources
U.S. President Donald Trump has directed members of his Cabinet to review the administration’s expanded use of waivers exempting small refineries from the nation’s biofuel policy, after hearing from farmers Continue Reading
As Trump Touts Ethanol, Scientists Question the Fuel’s Climate Claims
President Donald Trump looks at samples of corn used in biofuels at Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on June 11, 2019. Credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images Shortly after Continue Reading
U.S. refiner group sues Trump EPA over high-ethanol gasoline
The main U.S. refining industry association said on Monday it sued to block the Trump administration’s effort to expand sales of higher ethanol blends of gasoline, arguing the move exceeded Continue Reading