Biomass Week - April 24, 2019

Comment period on E15/RIN market reform rule to close April 29 Members of the public who wish to weigh in on the U.S. EPA’s proposed E15/RIN market reform rule have less than one week to do so. The comment period on the proposal closes April 29. As of April 22, more than 25,000 comments have already been filed. READ MORE SHARE
Southern Power to sell 115 MW biomass plant to Austin Energy Austin Energy announced April 18 that it has reached an agreement to acquire the Nacogdoches Generating Facility from Southern Power for $460 million. The 115-megawatt facility, located in Sacul, Texas, is fueled with waste wood. READ MORE SHARE
	USDA: US wood pellet exports top 500,000 metric tons in February The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service released updated export data on April 17, reporting that wood pellet exports reached 501,563.9 metric tons in February, up from both the previous month and February 2018. READ MORE SHARE
Nevada governor signs bill that increases RPS to 50% by 2030 Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak signed Senate Bill 358 into law April 22 raising the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS) to 50 percent by 2030, up from the previous requirement of 25 percent by 2025. READ MORE SHARE
EPA: 32.61 million cellulosic RINs generated in March The U.S. EPA has released renewable identification number (RIN) generation data for March, reporting that nearly 1.59 billion RINs were generated during the month, including nearly 32.61 million cellulosic RINs. READ MORE SHARE
Lawmakers urge robust funding for Farm Bill energy title programs More than 50 federal lawmakers have spoken out to encourage members of the Senate and House appropriations committees to provide robust fiscal year 2020 funding for Farm Bill energy title programs. READ MORE SHARE
EPA: 40 SRE applications now pending for compliance year 2018 The U.S. EPA released updated data on small refinery exemption (SRE) petitions on April 18, reporting that there are now 40 pending SRE applications for compliance year 2018, up from 39 that were pending as of March 28. READ MORE SHARE
Naig, Shaw say pending SREs would hurt farmers, damage RFS Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig and Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Executive Director Monte Shaw held a press conference April 17 to discuss the 39 small refinery exemptions (SREs) that were pending for compliance year 2018 under the RFS. READ MORE SHARE
Ameresco declares commercial operations of historic RNG plant Ameresco Inc. has announced it achieved commercial operations at its 91st Ave renewable natural gas plant located in Phoenix, Arizona, in early 2019. The facility is the largest wastewater treatment biogas-to-RNG faciltiy of its kind in the U.S. READ MORE SHARE
RNG project proposed for Prince George, British Columbia FortisBC announced it has received approval in principle from local authorities to purchase landfill gas from a landfill near Prince George, British Columbia, to purify and inject the gas into its natural gas distribution system as RNG. READ MORE SHARE