Life-cycle analysis has become all the rage within the environmental science community, particularly with regard to energy issues like the methane emissions footprint of natural gas development and the full range of environmental impacts associated with corn ethanol production. Leave it to the folks at Save on Energy to approach Christmas trees with the same… Keep reading →
Ten US Senators yesterday released a bill to cut the corn ethanol mandate from the Renewable Fuel Standard. The high-profile political battle, which has been called a “fight between Big Corn and Big Oil,” entered a new phase with the introduction of this bi-partisan bill. “I strongly support requiring a shift to low-carbon advanced biofuel,… Keep reading →
Is the Renewable Fuel Standard broken beyond repair? It depends who you ask, but it’s certainly problematic. The RFS enforced by the EPA was originally envisioned as a way to get more biofuel into the US transportation fuel market, but changing technology and consumption patterns have required continual adjustments to the law. The EPA recently… Keep reading →
Renewable energy sources and natural gas should be considered as complements and not rivals. A hybrid gas-electric clean energy provides a workable engineering solution while 100% Renewables models based heavily on wind, solar and efficiency fall short of the meeting the functional needs of a modern technology intensive society. Natural gas and renewables are already… Keep reading →
The debate about using ethanol and advanced biofuels to further US environmental goals recently reached a crescendo when the AP released a deeply-researched investigative report into the biofuel industry’s green credentials. The report came out right before the EPA announced its proposed 2014 biofuel blending requirements, a highly controversial issue unto itself. The degree to… Keep reading →
Statoil has been proactively linking the contractual price of natural gas to European gas trading hubs and abandoning oil-linked pricing as Brussels pushes for market liberalization, consumers fight oil-linked prices and regional hubs gain liquidity. The change is slowly taking place in Eastern Europe, but “all of its German contracts and nearly all its UK,… Keep reading →
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its proposal for mandated levels of renewable fuels blended into gasoline and diesel on Friday. The proposal aims to find a balance between encouraging the continued growth of the biofuels sector and avoiding blending more ethanol into the motor fuel pool than some engines can safely handle. Production… Keep reading →
The EPA announced its proposed 2014 biofuel blending requirements late last week and reduced the volume requirements for the first time. Oil refining interests and renewable fuels proponents have fought tooth and nail over the Renewable Fuel Standard since its inception and this latest move by the EPA constitutes a small victory for the petroleum… Keep reading →
Continuing this week’s coverage of the ethanol blending battle raging in Washington, we’re bringing attention to a letter the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers recently penned to President Obama in support of the US EPA’s indication that it may partially waive the 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard over blending requirement concerns. The letter serves as one… Keep reading →
Just as the debate over mandated ethanol blending in the US was heating up, the Associated Press published an investigative report focused on the US ethanol industry’s negative environmental impacts. Ethanol supporters are up in arms, claiming the piece is inaccurate, lazy journalism that uses “disproven myths, skewed data, and outright fabrications.” Not surprisingly, US… Keep reading →
