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Study finds RFS2 will result in high compliance costs for producersA new study recently commissioned by the National Corn Growers Association found that the U.S. EPA's proposed rule for the second stage of the renewable fuel standard is likely to result in high-up front and recurring compliance costs for ethanol producers. The study, titled "Compliance Costs Associated with the Proposed Rulemaking for the Renewable Fuels Standard," was completed by Informa Economics.READ MORE Harkin drops indirect land-use amendmentIn a letter to Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson pledged that indirect land-use change rules related to biofuels would reflect the uncertainty of the science used to develop them. On Sept. 22, Harkin introduced an amendment to H.R. 2996, the Senate Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010, which would abrogate funding for the EPA's implementation of any rule limiting production or use of biofuels based on indirect land use. "In light of the EPA letter, and because EPA had said it would delay issuing regulations to establish renewable fuel volume biofuel requirements for 2010," Harkin withdrew the amendment.READ MORE Study: Majority of energy subsidies support high GHG emitting fuelsThe Environmental Law Institute, in partnership with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, recently released a study on energy subsidies. The study, titled "Estimating U.S. Government Subsidies to Energy Sources: 2002-2008," offers a comparison of subsidies the federal government provided to fossil fuels and renewable sources of energy spanning from fiscal year 2002 through fiscal year 2008.READ MORE Partnership means patented technology can produce food and fuelThe partnership between Colorado-based PureVision Technology Inc., a renewable technology developer, and Australian microbiology company Microbiogen means PureVision's fractionation technology can produce biofuel and protein products simultaneously in biorefineries, according to the company.READ MORE Biomass Innovation Centre launched in OntarioNipissing University's Biomass Innovation Centre on its campus in North Bay, Ontario, Canada, will provide resources and education about biomass heating and energy to building professionals, engineers and researchers in an effort help develop an infrastructure for the industry.READ MORE DOE explains NEPA intent, applicability to Loan Guarantee ProgramThe U.S. DOE hosted the second Webinar in a series to provide guidance for completing applications for the DOE Loan Guarantee Program, as amended by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The first Webinar emphasized key attributes that may positively influence a project's financial and technical evaluations during the Loan Guarantee Program application review process. The second explained the intent of the National Environmental Policy Act, its applicability to the Loan Guarantee Program, its most significant concerns and the type of data needed to support the NEPA section of applications.READ MORE Laidlaw, Homeland energy companies form Homeland Laidlaw EnergyLaidlaw Biopower LLC, an affiliate of Laidlaw Energy Group Inc., and Homeland Renewable Energy LLC have teamed up to form Homeland Laidlaw Energy LLC. The new company already has four biomass energy plants in development in Northeastern U.S. The first project will be a 65-megawatt plant in Berlin, N.H., in a former Fraser Paper Mill. Once fully converted, the plant will run on 700,000 tons of wood chips per year, according to Laidlaw. The locations and details, including timelines, of the other three plants HLE will develop have not been released.READ MORE Poet updates Project Liberty at NDSU bioenergy eventNorth Dakota State University hosted a local bioenergy conference Sept. 22 in Fargo, N.D., titled Northern Plains Bioeconomy: What Makes Sense? featuring a variety of local experts in the fields of biomass, biofuels and engineering. Poet LLC's Doug Bervin, director of corporate affairs, was a featured speaker at the event. In addition to offering attendees an update on the development of Poet's first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant, Bervin also spoke about biomass procurement and handling issues, the current status of the ethanol industry, and the actions that must be taken in order to allow the industry to move forward.READ MORE NDSU spearheads sugar beet-to-ethanol projectAttendees at North Dakota State University's bioenergy event Sept. 22, titled Northern Plains Bioeconomy: What Makes Sense? were given the opportunity to learn about a project spearheaded by NDSU that seeks to establish sugar beet ethanol production facilities within the state. According to Cole Gustafson, a professor in NDSU's Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics, the primary goal of the project is to develop a new industry in North Dakota that will help build local economies. "We are trying to develop an industry � in North Dakota that is locally owned and provides economic opportunities to the region," he said.READ MORE North Dakota a leader in biomass production potentialDescribing North Dakota as the "Saudi Arabia of biomass," Shane Goettle, commissioner of the North Dakota Department of Commerce and chair of the state's EmPower ND commission, told attendees of the 2009 Northern Plains Bioeconomy Conference on Sept. 22 in Fargo, N.D., that the state leads the nation in biomass production potential and is the top producer of 16 different commodities. Goettle emphasized that North Dakota has tremendous energy assets, even beyond being home to the largest deposit of lignite coal in the world, the fifth largest oil production state in the nation, and the leader in the nation of wind energy potential.READ MORE |
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