It’s an old adage in the energy business that forecasts are always wrong and miscalculations regarding US gasoline demand growth and advanced biofuel supply growth led to a regulatory regime that is increasingly becoming untenable. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week issued its 2013 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) final rule. This year’s volumetric requirement… Keep reading →
Ford is going to offer a natural gas option for its 2014 F-150 truck. “‘We may look back on this launch as when natural gas really became a mass-market fuel for retail customers as well as fleet customers,’ said Jon Coleman, sustainability and technology manager for Ford.” [Fuel Fix] Ineos Bio, Indian River BioEnergy Center… Keep reading →
Congressional hearings this week focusing on the EPA Renewable Fuel Standard bring together impassioned speakers representing the US biofuel constituency, traditional fossil fuel interests, major food companies and other stakeholders. With so many business interests involved, there is clearly a lot at stake – thousands of jobs and billions of dollars for starters – but… Keep reading →
The battle over the Renewable Fuel Standard is getting ugly, as congressional hearings take place today and tomorrow, representatives from each side of the ethanol/biofuel debate release their verbal attack dogs. “Let me be clear, AFPM is not anti-ethanol or anti-biofuels, both can play an important role in the fuel mix, provided they are safely… Keep reading →
As the EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard is discussed at hearings on Capital Hill this week, the two sides of the debate are taking to the airwaves to promote their agendas. The refiners and oil companies want RFS repealed because they say it’s broken and dangerous, while the renewable fuels folks say Big Oil is just… Keep reading →
UK oil major BP made a big splash in 2000 when it changed its name to “Beyond Petroleum” (originally British Petroleum) and changed its logo to a sunburst design that was supposed to represent the company’s greater renewable energy focus. BP has since scaled back some of those efforts, but other firms are pushing ahead… Keep reading →
A combination of policy and market impediments to diversification of US transportation fuels has prompted the free market-focused Fuel Freedom Foundation to team up with policy-focused environmentalist and former Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope to pursue coordinated efforts to wean the US off its oil dependency. Pope and Fuel Freedom Foundation co-founder Eyal Aronoff… Keep reading →
The Environmental Protection Agency’s fuel economy measurement system fails to factor in several metrics that could shed light on the fuel efficiency of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, according to Mike Duoba, Vehicle Systems Research Engineer at Argonne National Laboratory. The EPA bears responsibility for generating information on vehicle fuel economy for all new cars… Keep reading →
Yesterday was a tough day for renewables, with rising reports of solar panel defects, a failure of Kenya’s renewable-heavy national power grid, and ethanol losing some of its cost advantage over gasoline. Solar developers, testing labs, financiers and insurers are reporting defects with solar panels – some that have caused fires – early on in… Keep reading →
By Javier E. David Imagine a world where leftover corn, wheat and wood chips can be used to power your car. That’s the aim of cellulosic ethanol, a budding sector of the renewable fuel industry that finds itself struggling to reassert itself in a world of renewed popularity for oil and gas. The process aims… Keep reading →
