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Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.EPA Issues Notice of Intent to Revoke Genscape's RIN Verification Authorization
By U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
On January 4, 2017, the EPA issued a notice of intent to revoke the ability of Genscape to verify Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) as a third-party auditor under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Quality Assurance Program. Under RFS, obligated parties and exporters must obtain and retire RINs to meet their compliance obligations and demonstrate the RFS program’s renewable fuel mandates are met. EPA is taking this action to hold Genscape accountable for failing to meet all elements of its approved Quality Assurance Plan, and for verifying millions of RINs that were fraudulently generated by two companies, Gen-X Energy Group, Inc. (Gen-X), and Southern Resources and Commodities, LLC (SRC).
By U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
On January 4, 2017, the EPA issued a notice of intent to revoke the ability of Genscape to verify Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) as a third-party auditor under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Quality Assurance Program. Under RFS, obligated parties and exporters must obtain and retire RINs to meet their compliance obligations and demonstrate the RFS program’s renewable fuel mandates are met. EPA is taking this action to hold Genscape accountable for failing to meet all elements of its approved Quality Assurance Plan, and for verifying millions of RINs that were fraudulently generated by two companies, Gen-X Energy Group, Inc. (Gen-X), and Southern Resources and Commodities, LLC (SRC). EPA is aggressively pursuing bad actors in the RFS program to maintain a level playing field for firms that play by the rules. Genscape has 60 days to submit written comments to EPA in response to this notice. The EPA will review and consider these comments before taking final action concerning the proposed revocation of Genscape’s ability to verify RINs under the RFS. EPA is also requiring Genscape to retire valid RINs within 60 days to replace the approximately 68 million invalid A-RINs they verified, which were then used for compliance.
In response to requests from obligated parties including refiners, EPA created a voluntary program that allows third parties to audit RINs according to EPA approved Quality Assurance Plans (QAPs) to help verify that they are valid. This program provides a supplement to the “buyer beware” liability for obligated parties under the RFS program, and also provides clarity regarding which party is obligated to replace invalid RINs. Roughly 12% of the total volume of RINs generated under the RFS program are audited by a third party under a QAP.
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Fuels America Sends Letter To Trump On Renewable Fuel Standard Program
By National Law Review.
On December 15, 2016, Fuels America sent a letter to President-elect Donald Trump on behalf of the nation's renewable fuels sector encouraging Trump’s continued commitment to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Program.
Environmental group launches six-figure campaign against EPA nominee
By Timothy Cama, The Hill.
An environmental group is launching a new advertising campaign against the confirmation of President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Clean Air Moms Action, a project of the Environmental Defense Action Fund, said Tuesday it is spending at least $100,000 on the campaign which centers on children's health concerns, targeting the Washington, D.C., area, and six states with senators who could swing the confirmation vote.
By Timothy Cama, The Hill.
An environmental group is launching a new advertising campaign against the confirmation of President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Clean Air Moms Action, a project of the Environmental Defense Action Fund, said Tuesday it is spending at least $100,000 on the campaign which centers on children's health concerns, targeting the Washington, D.C., area, and six states with senators who could swing the confirmation vote.
The television and digital campaign is the latest salvo in the high-stakes battle over Scott Pruitt, the current attorney general of Oklahoma, and Trump's pick for the EPA. Only 51 senators would need to approve his confirmation for it to pass, and Republicans hold 52 seats in the Senate.
The ads focus on Pruitt’s leading role in fighting President Obama’s 2011 rule limiting mercury and other air toxic pollutants from coal-fired power plants.
The television ad cites scientific research to say that mercury harms children’s health, but says Pruitt doubted that science in court filings fighting the regulation.
US DOE to Fund $12.9 million for Biofuels, Including Waste Gases to Jet Fuel
December 28, 2016, by US Department of Energy.
Today, the Energy Department (DOE) announced the selection of six projects for up to $12.9 million in federal funding, entitled, “Project Definition for Pilot- and Demonstration-Scale Manufacturing of Biofuels, Bioproducts, and Biopower.” These projects, required to share the cost at a minimum of 50%, will develop and execute plans for the manufacturing of advanced or cellulosic biofuels, bioproducts, refinery-compatible intermediates, and/or biopower in a domestic pilot- or demonstration-scale integrated biorefinery.
December 28, 2016, by US Department of Energy.
Today, the Energy Department (DOE) announced the selection of six projects for up to $12.9 million in federal funding, entitled, “Project Definition for Pilot- and Demonstration-Scale Manufacturing of Biofuels, Bioproducts, and Biopower.” These projects, required to share the cost at a minimum of 50%, will develop and execute plans for the manufacturing of advanced or cellulosic biofuels, bioproducts, refinery-compatible intermediates, and/or biopower in a domestic pilot- or demonstration-scale integrated biorefinery.
The projects will be evaluated in two phases. Award recipients will design and plan their facilities in Phase 1. In order to continue to Phase 2, projects will be evaluated on Phase 1 progress, as well as the ability to secure the required 50% cost share funding for Phase 2. DOE anticipates Phase 2 awards to be made in fiscal year 2018 to construct and operate the pilot- or demonstration-scale facility. Projects could receive additional federal funds of up to $15 million for pilot-scale facilities or $45 million for demonstration-scale facilities.
Construction of Quebec biomethane project underway
From Biomass Magazine.
Officials of the governments of Canada and Quebec visited the city of Varennes on Dec. 19 to break ground for construction of the biomethanation facilities of the Société d'économie mixte de l'est de la couronne sud (SEMECS).
The SEMECS project will facilitate the treatment of organic waste generated by residents of the regional county municipalities of La Vallée-du-Richelieu, Marguerite-D'Youville and Rouville. The new biomethanation facilities will be able to efficiently reclaim organic material from various sources and convert it into renewable fuel, i.e. biogas.
From Biomass Magazine.
Officials of the governments of Canada and Quebec visited the city of Varennes on Dec. 19 to break ground for construction of the biomethanation facilities of the Société d'économie mixte de l'est de la couronne sud (SEMECS).
The SEMECS project will facilitate the treatment of organic waste generated by residents of the regional county municipalities of La Vallée-du-Richelieu, Marguerite-D'Youville and Rouville. The new biomethanation facilities will be able to efficiently reclaim organic material from various sources and convert it into renewable fuel, i.e. biogas.
Once purified, the biogas will be used as fuel for the Quebec GreenField Ethanol Inc. refinery, and will replace a portion of the natural gas that the company uses in its processes. In addition, farmers who sell their crops to the refinery will be able to use the digestate produced in the biomethanation process as an organic amendment. Local residents will be able to have their food waste, green waste and septic tank sludge treated by local firms rather than having it sent for disposal.
Kasich vetoes bill to weaken clean energy mandate
Gov. John Kasich (R) bucked Ohio's GOP state legislature Tuesday by vetoing a bill that would have weakened the state’s clean energy requirements for power companies.
Kasich, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination this year, rejected the bill that sought to make clean-energy purchase mandates that have been in place since 2008 optional for two years.
The rules are nearing the end of a two-year freeze that was instituted in 2014.
By Timothy Cama, The Hill.
Gov. John Kasich (R) bucked Ohio's GOP state legislature Tuesday by vetoing a bill that would have weakened the state’s clean energy requirements for power companies.
Kasich, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination this year, rejected the bill that sought to make clean-energy purchase mandates that have been in place since 2008 optional for two years.
The rules are nearing the end of a two-year freeze that was instituted in 2014.
In his veto message, the governor credited Ohio’s clean energy law with increasing the public’s access to diverse sources of energy, but he offered to work with legislators to find ways to make energy more affordable.
“Ohio workers cannot afford to take a step backward from the economic gains that we have made in recent years, however, and arbitrarily limiting Ohio’s energy generation options amounts to self-inflicted damage to both our state’s near- and long-term economic competitiveness,” he wrote.
Kasich had threatened to veto the bill, which is supported by many business groups, including Ohio’s Chamber of Commerce, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
Congress opens with an ambitious Republican agenda for the Trump era
By Lisa Mascaro, Los Angeles Times.
Republican-controlled Congress opens Tuesday with the most sweeping conservative agenda in decades, providing Donald Trump ample room to gut the Affordable Care Act, slash corporate tax rates and undo Obama-era environmental regulations.
The House is almost certain to reelect Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) as its first order of business, dispensing with the messy political infighting that has hobbled Republicans in the past.
And the Senate will swiftly begin vetting the president-elect’s most controversial Cabinet picks, ready to confirm some when Trump is inaugurated as president on Jan. 20.
By Lisa Mascaro, Los Angeles Times.
Republican-controlled Congress opens Tuesday with the most sweeping conservative agenda in decades, providing Donald Trump ample room to gut the Affordable Care Act, slash corporate tax rates and undo Obama-era environmental regulations.
The House is almost certain to reelect Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) as its first order of business, dispensing with the messy political infighting that has hobbled Republicans in the past.
And the Senate will swiftly begin vetting the president-elect’s most controversial Cabinet picks, ready to confirm some when Trump is inaugurated as president on Jan. 20.
Yet Republicans remain at odds on some high-profile issues — such as how aggressively to investigate Russian hacking in the 2016 election — and how to fulfill other big-ticket promises, such as replacing Obamacare.
A forgotten mortgage stimulus program that was passed by Obama to help the middle class Americans reduce their monthly payments by as much as $4,264 each year.
Despite firm Republican control of both the White House and Congress, the internal disputes have left them without a clear plan yet for Trump’s first 100 days, or an endgame for the two years of the 115th Congress.
Trump’s often shifting views on major issues will test relations with GOP’s leaders on Capitol Hill, and his willingness to skirt ideological rigidity gives incoming Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer of New York and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco an opening to influence and shape the president’s evolving agenda.
President Obama will visit Capitol Hill on Wednesday to meet with Democrats bracing for their new role, not just as the minority party, but as the main roadblock preventing Trump from dismantling the healthcare law and other parts of the Obama agenda.
Biogas facility in Oklahoma upgraded to produce renewable natural gas
By Renewable Energy from Waste Staff.
High Plains Bioenergy (HPB), Shawnee Mission, Kansas, a subsidiary of Shawnee Mission, Kansas-based Seaboard Foods, recently announced plans to upgrade its anaerobic digestion-derived biogas to renewable natural gas using an Essen, Germany-based Carbotech pressure swing adsorption system from Bioferm Energy Systems/Viessmann Group, Madison, Wisconsin.
Located in Guymon, Oklahoma, HPB’s facility currently fuels boilers with the biogas created from the anaerobic digestion of food processing pork waste, but has identified gas upgrading and natural gas grid injection as a better alternative biogas end-use to enable the highest possible return.
By Renewable Energy from Waste Staff.
High Plains Bioenergy (HPB), Shawnee Mission, Kansas, a subsidiary of Shawnee Mission, Kansas-based Seaboard Foods, recently announced plans to upgrade its anaerobic digestion-derived biogas to renewable natural gas using an Essen, Germany-based Carbotech pressure swing adsorption system from Bioferm Energy Systems/Viessmann Group, Madison, Wisconsin.
Located in Guymon, Oklahoma, HPB’s facility currently fuels boilers with the biogas created from the anaerobic digestion of food processing pork waste, but has identified gas upgrading and natural gas grid injection as a better alternative biogas end-use to enable the highest possible return.
“One strategic element of our business model is an emphasis on identifying opportunities which result in economic as well as environmental benefits through the use of Seaboard Foods’ various waste streams. After a long and comprehensive vetting process, we have decided to partner with Bioferm on this project. Their commitment to cutting-edge technology and unmatched output gas specifications were among the many reasons for our decision,” says Gene Binder, director of sales and business development at HPB.
Bioferm’s installation in Guymon will consist of a complete, integrated gas upgrading system—from biogas filtration, to biogas compression, through upgrading to natural gas pipeline quality requirements and treatment of off gas—including a performance guarantee and comprehensive control system for the whole package.
How the Illinois energy reform 'fixed' the state's RPS, promising a renewables boom
By Peter Maloney, Utility Dive.
Among the provisions of the sweeping energy legislation just passed in Illinois are reforms that aim to fix the state’s renewable portfolio standard and that could revive renewable energy development, which has been dormant in the state for several years.
The changes could bring $12 billion to $15 billion in private renewable energy investment into Illinois and could “jump start the solar industry” there, says Andrew Barbeau, senior clean energy consultant for the Environmental Defense Fund.
By Peter Maloney, Utility Dive.
Among the provisions of the sweeping energy legislation just passed in Illinois are reforms that aim to fix the state’s renewable portfolio standard and that could revive renewable energy development, which has been dormant in the state for several years.
The changes could bring $12 billion to $15 billion in private renewable energy investment into Illinois and could “jump start the solar industry” there, says Andrew Barbeau, senior clean energy consultant for the Environmental Defense Fund.
The centerpiece of the legislation, the Future Energy Jobs Bill (SB 2814), is a $235 million a year, 10-year bailout of Exelon’s Clinton and Quad City nuclear power plants, but the law also includes provisions for energy efficiency and $750 million targeted for low income programs, as well as changes to the RPS.
The RPS target itself has not changed. It still requires investor-owned electric utilities and alternative retail electric suppliers (ARES) to source 25% of eligible retail electricity sales from renewable energy by 2025 and exempts electric cooperatives and municipal utilities from RPS requirements. But the legislation provides a fix for funding mechanisms that in the past had brought the state’s RPS program to a standstill.
The law streamlines funding for RPS compliance projects and puts the state’s utilities in the center of the payment stream, collecting and retaining the funds until they are needed. That alone is a big improvement over the past plan.
Carl Icahn's refinery shares soar after Trump taps him to slash regulations
by Chris Isidore, CNN Money.
Shares of a small oil refining company controlled by Carl Icahn soared 10.5% Thursday after Icahn was tapped by President-elect Trump to advise his administration on how to cut government regulations.
Icahn owns an 82% stake in the firm CVR Energy (CVI), and saw a gain of nearly $160 million on paper the day after the announcement. His CVR investment makes up about 7% of the portfolio of Icahn Associates Holding, one of his his investment firms.
by Chris Isidore, CNN Money.
Icahn owns an 82% stake in the firm CVR Energy (CVI), and saw a gain of nearly $160 million on paper the day after the announcement. His CVR investment makes up about 7% of the portfolio of Icahn Associates Holding, one of his his investment firms.
Shares of Icahn's publicly traded hedge fund, Icahn Enterprises (IEP), also jumped on the news. They rose 7.5% and lifted the value of Icahn's own shares in the firm by $569 million. Icahn Enterprises and CVR were each up nearly 1% Friday.
The stock gains are an indicator of the possible conflicts of interest that could occur when a hedge fund manager such as Icahn has a role in advising what regulations should stay and which should go.
Icahn has been leading the debate against Environment Protection Agency regulations that essentially require small, independent refineries like CVR to buy EPA credits that are created when ethanol is blended into gasoline. CVR Energy reported paying $58 million for those credits in the third quarter alone, eating into its profits. Those credits, which are traded on Wall Street, fell about 11% in trading Thursday while CVR's shares climbed, said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst for the Oil Price Information Service.
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