Sustainable Bioenergy, Farms, and Forests - December 18, 2015

SBFF will be on hiatus Friday, December 25.  Look for a special year-end edition of SBFF in your in-boxes on December 30.  

 

Congress Passes Sweeping $1.8 Trillion ‘Taxibus’

In a rare show of bipartisanship, Congress passed both a $1.1 trillion spending package (omnibus) to fund the government through September, and a $650 billion tax extenders package.  The bills – or ‘taxibus’ if you will – were introduced early Wednesday morning, with the House passing the tax extenders on Thursday and the omnibus today. Both bills passed the Senate today and are on their way to President Obama.  What provisions are in it for energy, the environment, and agriculture? 

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Headlines:

1) DOE, USDA, EPA Release Update of Biogas Activities

2) First Community-Owned Massachusetts Biodiesel Plant to Open 

3) Pacific Ethanol Begins Commercial Production of Cellulosic Ethanol

4) Enviva Launches $5 Million Forest Conservation Fund

5) Meet the New Climate Villain: Cheap Oil

 

Event Recap:

Protecting Public Health Through Cleaner Fuels and Lower Emissions

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) held a briefing examining the health impacts of current octane sources and the need for cleaner, cost-effective octane providers. Octane is necessary for vehicle performance and increasing octane volumes would enable highly efficient engines. At the same time, octane-boosters in use today have historically been highly toxic compounds. But cleaner alternatives are available—namely biofuels. Octane was provided by lead until EPA phased out its use because of serious health issues. Today, there are two primary sources of octane: BTEX (a petroleum refinery product) and ethanol (a biofuel). BTEX makes up approximately 25 percent of gasoline volume. Visit http://www.eesi.org/briefings/view/121415fuel#highlights for a full recap. 

To Contact the Editor: Jessie Stolark at eesi@eesi.org

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