Sustainable Bioenergy, Farms, and Forests - May 15, 2015

Massachusetts Senators Ask Administration to Put Moratorium on Bioenergy Until 2020

In a May 8 letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, Senators Markey and Warren, both Democrats from Massachusetts, question the value of bioenergy, energy sourced from cellulosic and woody material, primarily wood waste from the lumber, pulp and paper industries.  The EPA’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) proposes to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from existing power plants by 30 percent by 2030, relative to 2005 levels. The plan allows great flexibility to individual states in complying with the rule, and one option available to the states is bioenergy. However, the Senators argue that “including bioenergy as a compliance measure in the Plan could … compromise the Plan’s ability to achieve emissions reductions by 2030.”

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RFS Roundup -- Ethanol Industry to EPA – You Are Rewarding the Oil Industry for Their Inaction

On May 4, the Fuels America coalition, a group of ethanol feedstock producers and refiners sent a letter to President Obama regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) setting of renewable fuel volumes as part of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Fuels America feels that EPA has essentially given credence to the oil industries’ use of the so-called “blend wall” to block any increase in the market share of renewable fuels. 

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Headlines:

1. EIA Reports that Corn Ethanol Production Is More Efficient Than Ever Before

2. Oregon Could Water Down State LCFS to Broker Deal on Transportation Spending

3. Conservation, Farm Groups Urge Congress Not to Cut Conservation Programs

4. Joule Announces Their CO2 Recycled Fuel Meets Ethanol Criteria in U.S., Germany 

5. Opinion: Biodiesel Industry Wants White House to Get Industry Back on Track 

 

 

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

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