White Bear Lake Drivers Choose E15; Biofuels Buzz September 2018

The Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association (MN Biofuels) and KS95 FM teamed up on Sept 27 to reward drivers who chose E15 during a one-hour long promotion at the Holiday on County Road J in White Bear Lake. From 11:30 am to 12:30 pm, MN Biofuels and KS95 FM rewarded 25 drivers who chose to fuel up with E15.

LEAD, FOLLOW OR GET OUT OF THE WAY?

Those were the central questions put to about 60 participants in a recent energy discussion hosted by the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment. The answers to those questions, especially by and for lawmakers, have profound implications for biofuel producers and the future of biofuels in Minnesota. As the event progressed and information was shared and discussions opened up, an extremely ludicrous notion came up several times – that to support renewable energy was akin to “locking-in certain technologies.” What exactly does this notion mean? It means – believe it or not – that by supporting renewable energy, we could be curtailing support for some yet to be discovered form of energy. Read More

MARSHALL HIGH SCHOOL TOURS ADM CORN PROCESSING

Twenty-two students from Marshall High School toured the ADM Corn Processing ethanol plant on Sept 25 to get a better understanding of renewable fuel production.The students, who were from the school’s automotive repair and maintenance class, learned of the various processes of ethanol production at the 50 million gallon-a-year facility. Read More

WITH SUMMERTIME RESTRICTIONS LIFTED, MINNEAPOLIS DRIVERS CHOOSE E15

We teamed up with KS95 FM on Sept 19 to mark the end of the summertime restriction on E15 by rewarding drivers who chose E15 at the Winner station on 46th Street. From 11:30 am to 12:30 pm, MN Biofuels and KS95 FM rewarded drivers who chose to fuel up with E15. Read More

NEWS & BLOGS IN SEPTEMBER

Nebraska Will Test 30 Percent Ethanol Blends In State Vehicles The pilot program will monitor the effects of E30 on vehicle performance, fuel economy and emissions control systems in non-FFV state vehicles, some of which will include Nebraska State Patrol cruisers . Read More

House Members Advocate For Strong RFS, Year-Round E15 Sales Reps. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., and Collin Peterson, D-Minn., leaders of the bipartisan Biofuels Caucus, led more than 20 House members in sending a letter to the U.S. EPA urging the agency to approve year-round E15. Read More

Klobuchar Talks Ethanol In Fergus Falls She spoke about the importance of ethanol in Minnesota and the country as a whole and she noted that there are many struggles those in the ethanol industry are facing today. Read More

Virgin Atlantic Announces World First In Race To Develop New Sustainable Aviation Fuel In October, Virgin Atlantic will use ethanol produced from industrial waste gases from steel mills in a commercial flight . Read More

E15 Sales Fall Further In July Just 2.86 million gallons of E15 was sold in MN in July, the lowest volume recorded since September 2017 as a result of the EPA's RVP ban on E15. Read More

World Press Institute Fellows Visit Highwater Ethanol Journalists from Asia, Europe and South America visited Highwater Ethanol in Lamberton on Aug 28. The journalists were World Press Institute (WPI) fellows participating in a two-month fellowship in the United States . Read More

United Airlines Commits To Using Sustainable Aviation Biofuel To Reduce Emissions By 50 Percent by 2050 To celebrate this milestone, United used 16,000 gallons of biofuel at a 30/70 blend with conventional jet fuel for a flight to Zurich earlier this month, representing the longest transatlantic flight to date powered by a biofuel volume of this size. Read More

Farm, Ethanol Groups Urge President Trump To Restore Integrity To RFS, Allow Year-Round E15 Sales The groups also expressed concern that any benefit from year-round E15 sales and proper implementation of the RFS could be nullified if refiners are given further regulatory bailouts that undercut the spirit and intent of the law. Read More

Young, Peterson Lead Fight To Reallocate RFS Obligations Exempted By EPA Waivers Rep. Collin Peterson and Rep. David Young have introduced a bill to reallocate waived renewable fuel obligations and require the EPA to disclose the recipients of the waivers. Read More

University Analysis: EPA's Refiner Waivers Could Cost Ethanol Industry $20 Billion In Losses A recent analysis by economists at the University of Missouri’s Food and Agriculture Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) shows that the ethanol industry could lose 4.6 billion gallons of domestic demand and nearly $20 billion in sales revenue over the next six years if the EPA continues its current practice of exempting small refiners from their blending obligations under the RFS. Read More