The increase in demand for biofuels coming from the federal government’s Clean Fuel Standard should be a cause for celebration for farmers, but there’s concerning fine print in the regulations. It can be argued that ethanol policy over the past 20 years has been the most successful farm support program in history. It created a […] Read more
Tag Archives biofuel — page 9
Editorial: When good policy is foiled by bad additions
Biodiversity provisions are unworkable in clean fuel standards
Bayer plans more cost cuts, impairment charges
Pandemic now expected to hit crop science wing
Berlin | Reuters — German drugs and chemical company Bayer announced plans on Wednesday for more than 1.5 billion euros (C$2.34 billion) of cost cuts as of 2024 and said it would take impairment charges on its agricultural business as it battles with low commodity prices. Bayer said that the impact of the coronavirus on […] Read more
Trump’s EPA sides with farmers over refiners on biofuel waivers
New York | Reuters — The Trump administration said on Monday it rejected scores of requests from U.S. oil refiners for waivers that would have retroactively spared them from their obligation to blend biofuels like ethanol into their fuel, delivering a win for farmers and a blow to the oil industry just ahead of the […] Read more
An unclear Clean Fuel Standard
Farmers wary of potential for lost acres, inadequate credit system
Canada’s Clean Fuel Standard act – intended to achieve a reduction of 30 million tonnes of annual greenhouse gas emissions in fuel and energy – includes restrictions on land use for crops grown for biofuels. Ambiguous language and stipulations regarding buffer strips, however, have some growers concerned they will lose the ability to grow crops […] Read more
Green Plains sues ADM, alleging ethanol market manipulation
Chicago | Reuters — Green Plains Inc., one of the biggest U.S. ethanol producers, sued Archer Daniels Midland on Tuesday, accusing the global grain trader of manipulating the price of the biofuel to profit from its positions in the derivatives market. Green Plains filed the proposed class action with the U.S. District Court of Nebraska, […] Read more
CBOT weekly outlook: Ag commodities steady
Slack demand for biofuel has dragged on corn
MarketsFarm — Crop commodity values on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) have largely stabilized as COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed in several U.S. states. “We’ve been playing this virus for a few months now,” said Scott Capinegro of Barrington Commodities in Barrington, Ill. COVID-19-related lockdown measures decimated demand for ethanol, which put considerable pressure on […] Read more
COVID-19 spurs new clash between Big Oil, Big Corn
Flagging consumption leads to pressures on U.S. fuels, biofuels
New York | Reuters — A fuel demand meltdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak in the United States has started up a new fight between the oil and agriculture industries over the nation’s biofuel policy, this time over whether the policy should be suspended or expanded as a result of the crisis. The issue once […] Read more
Biofuels expect hard hit with reduced travel
Gasoline consumption decline could mean lower corn prices
Glacier FarmMedia – COVID-19 is expected to bring trouble to the biofuel sector and that is already depressing corn and other grain prices. “Biofuel producers are under desperate strain,” Emily Skor, chief executive officer of Growth Energy said in an email. “This is unlike anything we’ve seen before.” Why it matters: Ethanol has put a […] Read more
U.S. EPA waives fuel requirements, extends biofuels deadline
Deadline extended to help refineries
Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday unveiled measures to help oil refineries cope with fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, including waiving anti-smog requirements for gasoline and extending the deadline for small facilities to show compliance with the nation’s biofuels law. The outbreak has touched off a massive global decline in demand for […] Read more
Trump’s ag department sets 30 per cent biofuel goal for 2050
Washington | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday announced a goal for biofuels to make up 30 per cent of U.S. transportation fuels by 2050, a move that could bolster an industry that has been otherwise battered by the Trump administration. Refineries are currently required to blend 20.09 billion gallons of biofuel […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
