Big Oil’s Choice: Complain About 70-Cent RINs, or Invest 6 Cents in Modern Infrastructure?
Recent rhetoric from Big Oil about the economic impacts of RINs got us thinking: If oil refiners and gasoline marketers actually decided to invest in the modern fuel distribution infrastructure needed to dispense greater than E10 blends, what would it cost them in comparison to the wild “compliance cost" claims they make today?
Posted in Ethanol, Oil, Renewable Fuel Standard
Response to FT: E10 Blend Wall is Fiction
Bob Dinneen, RFA President and CEO, responds to a recent Financial Times editorial regarding the RFS.
Posted in E15, Ethanol, Renewable Fuel Standard
Big Oil’s Self-Inflicted Blend Wall and its Impact on RIN Pricing
Oil companies have suggested the recent increase in RIN prices is due to the arrival of the E10 “Blend Wall” and the supposed inability of obligated parties to meet RFS obligations. The truth is, the E10 “Blend Wall” was erected by the oil companies themselves. Here are the facts.
Posted in E15, Ethanol, Renewable Fuel Standard
2012 Food Price Increases Were Second-Lowest in 20 Years
Food prices rose just 1.8% in 2012, the second-lowest annual rate in the last 20 years. The new data demonstrates the absurdity of the alarmist rhetoric coming from Big Food.
Posted in Ethanol, Food, Renewable Fuel Standard
Bob Dinneen Responds to WSJ Factually Tortured Ethanol Editorial
Bob Dinneen responds to the latest episode of the Journal’s reign of terror about ethanol. The editorial distorts the D.C. Circuit Court’s decision, the progress and potential for cellulosic ethanol, the federal incentives for advanced biofuels, and the past century of subsidies for Big Oil.
Posted in EPA, Renewable Fuel Standard
“Tar and Feathers” Coalition Fumbles Again with Super Bowl Shenanigans
Anxious that Americans won’t eat as many chicken wings at Super Bowl parties next weekend as they chowed down on last year, the National Chicken Council is serving up a heaping helping of half truths about the supposed impact of U.S. ethanol on poultry prices and supplies.
Posted in Corn prices, Food, Renewable Fuel Standard
The Myth of “Skyrocketing” Food Prices
Food groups have been running a scare campaign against ethanol and the RFS, preying on the emotions of American consumers. Data show that food prices are NOT increasing abnormally and the average household pays less of its income on food today than it did 10 years ago.
Posted in Renewable Fuel Standard
Response to National Council of Chain Restaurants RFS Guest Editorial
Rob Green, Executive Director of the National Council of Chain Restaurants, writes that following the enactment of the RFS the “cost of food commodities immediately began to rise.” If there were any truth to the claim, it would be mostly because of surging energy prices.
Posted in Renewable Fuel Standard
Letter to the Editors - Response to the Wall Street Journal
The editorial "The Ethanol Election Delay" singles out the Obama administration and the EPA for not rushing to judgment on suspending the RFS, despite the fact that both the President and Governor Romney have pledged their support to renewable fuels.
Posted in Renewable Fuel Standard
Three Statewide Reports Prove: Ethanol’s an Economic Powerhouse
At a time when the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is under attack, researchers in three states have weighed in with new reports that knock the starch out of ethanol’s critics.
Posted in Renewable Fuel Standard
Second Response to EPRINC Report: “Ethanol’s Lost Promise”
An EPRINC report released on Sep. 14 entitled “Ethanol’s Lost Promise” advocates repealing the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The paper suggests removing the RFS could reduce the oil refining sector’s ethanol consumption down to 6.1 billion gallons annually (compared to 12.5 billion gallons in 2011). EPRINC suggests the void left by smaller ethanol supplies could be filled with imported gasoline, increased gasoline yields at the expense of diesel/distillate production, expanding U.S. refining capacity, and other infeasible options. In response to RFA’s reaction to its study, EPRINC tried to defend it with yet more conflicting and misleading statements. Once again, RFA is stepping forward to refute fiction with fact.
Posted in Ethanol, Exports, Gas Prices, Fuel, Oil, Renewable Fuel Standard
Response To EPRINC Study: “Ethanol’s Lost Promise”
A report released this week by EPRINC, an oil industry-funded research group, suggests a multi-year suspension of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) could reduce U.S. ethanol use by more than half. In this analysis, the RFA points out that in attempting to tear down the RFS, the EPRINC report actually underscores the importance of the program and highlights the lack of sensible or economic options available to refiners if ethanol use is severely curtailed.
Posted in Ethanol, Oil, Renewable Fuel Standard
A Revelation at the Wall Street Journal
Less than a month ago, the famously anti-ethanol editorial writers at the Wall Street Journal howled that the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) was exacerbating drought-related "corn shortages" and "driv[ing] food prices up in a way that punishes consumers around the world…" And reaching deep into their dead-and-buried-biofuel-myth grab bag, they pulled out this emotional beauty: "…biofuel mandates increase hunger and hunger-related diseases at home and abroad…" Yet, yesterday, inconspicuously stashed on the WSJ "Real Time Economics" blog, is a short post by Neil Shah entitled "Hard to Pass Food-Price Spikes on to Consumers." In it, Mr. Shah breaks down data from the U.S. Departments of Labor and Agriculture and concludes the impact of the drought on food prices will be "manageable" and "far from crippling for the average consumer."
Posted in Corn prices, Drought, Ethanol, Food, Renewable Fuel Standard
Beyond the Biofuel-bashing Editorials: Ethanol Really Reduces Prices at the Pump
Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal published Letter to the Editor of mine, which was in response to "Ethanol vs the World." On the same day, the Journal published yet another sarcastic screed, “How Ethanol Causes Joblessness” that ridiculed what it claims was the methodology behind a study by academic economists that showed the increased use of domestic ethanol fuel lowered gas prices by a national average of $1.09 in 2011. Responding to this attack, I submitted another editorial, which was rejected by the Editorial Features Staff. Please read said editorial in this post.
Posted in Ethanol, Gas Prices, Fuel, Oil, Renewable Fuels, Renewable Fuel Standard, Research
Impacts of Waiving the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) on Household Spending on Food and Fuel
This summer, several governors have submitted letter to the EPA requesting a waiver of the RFS for 2012 and 2013. Analysis from the RFA shows that waiving the RFS requirements for 2013 would actually result in a net increase in annual household spending of approximately $24-$85 due to increased spending on gasoline. Thus, waiving the RFS in 2013 would do more harm to American consumers than if EPA allows the program to continue to function as designed.
Posted in Corn, Corn prices, Drought, Ethanol, EPA, Food, Renewable Fuel Standard
Letter to the Editor - Response to New York Times
A July 30th op-ed, "Corn for Food, Not Fuel" in the New York Times deserves an Olympic gold medal for misinformation claiming ethanol is more expensive than gasoline and that waiving the RFS will significantly lower corn prices. Ethanol is continuing to help consumers and the pump.
Posted in Corn prices, Ethanol, Renewable Fuel Standard
The 2012 Corn Crop and the Outlook for Ethanol
Extreme hot and dry weather across much of the Midwest this summer has caused government and private analysts to significantly reduce their projections of the size of the 2012 corn crop. This white paper briefly examines the potential impacts on the RFS and outlook for the ethanol industry.
Posted in Agriculture, Food, Exports, Renewable Fuel Standard, USDA
Don’t Mess With the RFS Part 2- Advanced Ethanol Legislative Agenda
The Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) calls for the production and use of 21 billion gallons of advanced biofuels by 2022. Learn more on the agenda for advanced biofuels in the info-graph from the RFA and AEC.
Posted in Ethanol, Renewable Fuel Standard
Answering Crocodile Tears
In recent testimony before the Joint Economic Committee, Mr. Thomas O’Malley, chairman of PBF Energy, attempted to tar and feather ethanol and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) as the root cause of refinery closures in the Northeast. Mr. O’Malley’s comments are more reflective of the petroleum industry’s crusade against renewable fuels and a willingness to play fast and loose with the facts.
Posted in Ethanol, Oil, Renewable Fuel Standard
Don’t Mess With the RFS Part 1
The Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) is an American success story. It has helped reduce America's dependence on foreign oil, stimulated investment in domestic renewable energy, and helped consumers by lowering the price of gas. Learn more in the info-graph from the RFA.
Posted in Ethanol, Energy, Renewable Fuel Standard
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