Will Alderman Revive This Ethanol Ruse? Chicago Tribune Editorial: Last summer the Chicago City Council briefly considered an ordinance that would require gas stations in the city to sell a blend of fuel called E15, which has the potential to damage your car engine. An E15 mandate is a patently bad idea. Changing pumps to… Keep reading →
The EPA has long promoted cellulosic ethanol as the future of biofuels, but technical challenges have kept production far below targets. A recent rule change allows RNG, renewable natural gas, to qualify as cellulosic biofuel even though RNG is not cellulosic, but this helps EPA appear to be meeting their goals. RNG growth has been… Keep reading →
Rumors swirled today that the US EPA would finally announce the 2014 renewable volume obligations – quantity of ethanol and biofuels to be blended into the fuel supply – until the agency surprised many by postponing the announcement until next year. The renewable fuel standard, as the law is known, has been controversial for years.… Keep reading →
It’s been a little over two years since Delta Airlines took the plunge into the refining business as part of its fuel cost control strategy. The refinery posted a $19 million profit in the third quarter, but has run into problems complying with the renewable fuel standard. The refinery was reconfigured to maximize jet fuel… Keep reading →
Union Pacific Railroad just announced handsome Q3 profits driven in large part by the US energy boom. Although crude oil shipments were down from the corresponding period last year, shipments of sand for hydraulic fracturing operations have been strong. Less expensive diesel fuel also helped the rail company’s bottom line. “Today you’re seeing lots of… Keep reading →
The Renewable Fuel Standard was designed to introduce increasing volumes of biofuels into the US liquid transportation fuel system as part of the 2005 Energy Policy Act. The standard has been expanded over time with greater focus given to advanced biofuels like cellulosic ethanol that do not use food crops as a direct feedstock. Blending… Keep reading →
The always-ugly battle between US oil refiners and the biofuels industry over EPA’s renewable fuel standards heated up again today when 31 oil executives sent a letter to President Obama urging EPA to stick with fuel blending volumes proposed last November. The proposal aims to find a balance between encouraging the continued growth of the… Keep reading →
Following the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent decision to emphasize the use of biogas in the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has come out with their own Biogas Opportunities Roadmap to promote biogas as a valuable form of renewable energy. The USDA is working together with the EPA, the Department… Keep reading →
The EPA recently announced changes to the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) that improves opportunities for biogas to be utilized as a vehicular fuel by qualifying it as an advanced cellulosic biofuel. Biogas-derived Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) produced from landfills, municipal waste-water treatment facility digesters, agricultural digesters, and separated MSW digesters… Keep reading →
Reading content produced by opponents of the oil and natural gas industry, you see a lot of distortion, misinformation, myth and falsehood. Yet, it would be hard to identify something as packed with baloney as the supporting arguments for an idea that’s being advanced by a pair of Chicago aldermen – mandating that all of… Keep reading →
