Advanced Search
August 24, 2012
A weekly look at sustainable bioenergy, farm, and forest policy issues
EPA Asks for Public Comment on Renewable Fuel Standard Waiver Request
Due to this summer’s extreme weather across much of the United States, there will not be as much corn or soybeans to go around next year. Consumption will have to be cut back until the 2013 harvest. The question of who will have to cut back has become as much a political question as an economic one. A number of governors have called upon EPA to waive the Renewable Fuel Standard to reduce the ethanol industry’s demand for corn and so make more of it available at lower prices for livestock, poultry, and dairy producers. But it may not be as straight forward as that. The EPA is seeking public comment.
Read more
Meanwhile, the Next Generation Advanced Biofuels Industry Is Scaling Up
Cleaner, more sustainable, more climate-friendly, more affordable advanced biofuels are closer to reality than many outside the industry seem to think. At least three new, advanced biofuel biorefineries are being commissioned this year, and at least four others will have shovels in the ground soon. The question is whether all of the talk of EPA waiving the Renewable Fuel Standard will spook the investors needed to build the next generation of biorefineries that will not use corn starch.
Writer: Ned Stowe
Advancing science-based climate solutions
Top-Rated Climate Nonprofit – 4-Star Charity