Ethanol Week - May 9, 2011

Senate bill calls for VEETC extension, funding for biofuel pumps A Senate bill introduced May 4 would extend VEETC through 2013 at decreasing amounts, after which it would convert to a variable tax rate until 2016. It also would fund alternative fuel pumps and extend the tariff at decreasing amounts. READ MORE SHARE
Hearing tackles alternatives to petroleum in wake of $4 gas Gasoline prices must be reduced, which means both domestic drilling for oil and developing cost-effective alternatives to oil, said Rep. Ed Whitfield, chairman of the subcommittee on energy and power. READ MORE SHARE
	California committee drops bill to eliminate corn ethanol funding The California State Assembly Committee on Transportation voted 6-3 on May 2 to defeat a bill that would have repealed the state's ethanol producer incentive program (CEPIP) and made corn ethanol projects ineligible for state funding. READ MORE SHARE
Shimkus introduces bill to create open fuel standard Congressmen John Shimkus, R-Ill., Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., and Steve Israel, D-N.Y., today introduced the Open Fuel Standard Act (HR 1687), which is intended to bring fuel competition to the pump. READ MORE SHARE
Possible VEETC repeal resurfaces in Senate, tariff also targeted As promised, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., has brought back his proposal to eliminate the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit, stating that the program is "bad economic policy, bad energy policy and bad environmental policy." READ MORE SHARE
Ethanol continues to reduce gas prices significantly Ethanol production has reduced wholesale gas prices by 25 cents per gallon on average over the past decade, Iowa and Wisconsin economists find, and last year, ethanol reduced gas prices by an average of 89 cents per gallon READ MORE SHARE
Modular ethanol system manufacturer expands with an eye on waste Easy Energy Systems Inc., a manufacturer of modular ethanol production systems, is expanding operations at its facilities in Welcome, Minn., and Emmetsburg, Iowa, and is establishing executive offices and western sales offices in Arizona. READ MORE SHARE
Industry growth now coming through mergers, acquisitions Rather than new construction, the existing ethanol industry has moved to other activities, such as projects to optimize existing production or capital restructuring, which could include mergers or acquisitions. READ MORE SHARE