(December 10, 2010)  Washington – As noted in a release last night , critical tax provisions for the use of ethanol were included in a Senate tax bill that is expected to come up for a vote as early as Monday afternoon. While this was the focus of great attention during the week, it was not the only ethanol-related news. The following is a recap of what was a very busy week for American ethanol.

Senate Bill Would Extend Ethanol Tax Credits for One Year

Tax legislation introduced in the Senate last night would extend the tax credit for ethanol use known as VEETC through 2011. It would also extend the offsetting tariff and other tax credits for ethanol infrastructure for one more year.

As Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen said last night when the bill was introduced: “While this extension is not as long as we had hoped, it is a common sense approach that will ensure American ethanol production continues to evolve and new technologies commercialized. We urge Congress to move expeditiously to pass the legislation. Then, honest and good faith discussions about how we reform all energy tax policy – including for all oil and ethanol technologies – can occur.”

The RFA’s Legislative Counsel Ed Hubbard highlights all the provisions related to ethanol in the bill here.

In a related note, the RFA President and CEO Bob Dinneen will appear on CNBC’s Power Lunch at approximately 1:10 pm Eastern.

Ethanol, Distilers Grains Exports Remain Strong

Federal data on US ethanol exports showed that exports of denatured and undenatured ethanol remained strong in October at 34.9 million gallons. The US is currently on pace to export more than 325 million gallons of ethanol this year. Additionally, distillers grains exports for October were seen at just over 773,000 metric tons. The industry is on pace to export 9 million metric tons this year. The RFA’s Vice President of Research and Analysis Geoff Cooper breaks down the numbers here.

FTC: Ethanol Industry “Unconcentrated”

In its annual analysis, the Federal Trade Commission concluded that “Ethanol production has remained unconcentrated over the last year.” A look at the entire report can be found here.