Sustainable Bioenergy, Farms, and Forests - February 26, 2016 | Newsletter

Lawmakers Question EPA Air Administrator on Fate of Renewable Fuels Statute Post-2022

On February 24, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing, ‘Oversight of the Renewable Fuel Standard.’ The hearing provided familiar fodder on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), the implementation of which has been plagued by delays, controversy and lawsuits over the past several years. Now that the EPA has released renewable fuel volumes for 2014, 2015 and 2016 (and biodiesel volumes for 2017), lawmakers on Wednesday looked towards the long-term health of the program and its fate post-2022.

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In Federal, State and Private Initiatives to Improve Water Quality, No Clear Answers

On February 16, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the 2016 grants awarded through its Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). Authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill, RCPP pushes for cross-sectoral partnerships between agricultural producers, water treatment entities, water districts, tribal governments, and nongovernmental institutions to increase the restoration and sustainable use of soil, water, wildlife and natural resource on regional or watershed scales. Eighty four projects were awarded a total of $220 million in federal funding. This is in addition to $500 million in partnership money, totaling $720 million for 2016. While the pace of funding and scope of the programs is impressive, there remains no silver bullet for the issue of water quality.

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Headlines

1. Abengoa Unit Files for U.S. Bankruptcy With up to $10 Billion in Debt

2. U.S. Ethanol Makers Plan Export Boost as Domestic Use Stagnates

3. DSM's Welsh Talks Biofuel Company's Plans to Shift Investments to China

4. Wood Energy Industry, Hundreds of Maine Jobs, at Risk

5. Comment: Biofuels ‘Here and Now’ Solution

Upcoming Briefing:

Geothermal Energy: Heating Up

Wednesday, March 16
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm

212-10 Capitol Visitor Center (Senate-Side)
East Capitol Street and 1st Street, NE

Please RSVP to expedite check-in

A live webcast will be streamed at 2:00 PM EDT at www.eesi.org/livecast (wireless connection permitting)

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) invite you to a briefing highlighting the state of the geothermal energy industry and its near-term prospects in the United States and in more than 80 other countries working to expand its use. With demand for clean energy accelerating around the globe, geothermal energy has major potential as a renewable resource that can provide power around-the-clock, complementing intermittent renewable power technologies. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) launched the Global Geothermal Alliance at COP-21 in Paris this past December to achieve a 500 percent increase in global installed capacity for geothermal power generation and a 200 percent increase in geothermal heating by 2030.

For questions or comments, contact Laura Small at [email protected].

To Contact the Editor: Jessie Stolark at [email protected]

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