Ethanol Week - April 1, 2013

Report: Higher RINs prices aren't the reason gas prices are up A newly released analysis shows that the renewable fuel standard (RFS) and renewable identification numbers (RINs) have not been a significant factor in higher gas prices, despite suggestions to the contrary. READ MORE SHARE
City settles tax bill with Osage after UK firm purchases plant News that a United Kingdom company purchased the 65 MMgy ethanol plant in Hopewell, Va., with plans to ship at least some equipment overseas is just another chapter in a continuing ethanol story for the community, said the city's mayor. READ MORE SHARE
	USDA, DuPont partner to promote sustainable feedstock harvesting Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced a new federal-private collaboration with DuPont to safeguard natural resources on private lands used to supply bio-based feedstocks for cellulosic ethanol production. READ MORE SHARE
Biofuel Energy hires financial adviser, may sell both plants Biofuel Energy Corp., a publically traded company that owns and operates two ethanol plants, has announced it has engaged Piper Jaffray & Co. to act as its financial adviser. The goal is to explore strategic alternatives. READ MORE SHARE
New buyer, operator sought for former NEDAK ethanol plant Carl Marks Advisory Group LLC has been retained to market the assets of the former NEDAK ethanol plant in Atkinson, Neb. The 44 MMgy idled facility was purchased Jan. 22 at foreclosure auction. READ MORE SHARE
Mascoma withdraws IPO registration statement On March 22 Mascoma Corp. filed a registration withdrawal request with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, indicating it has shelved plans to complete an initial public offering (IPO) at this time. READ MORE SHARE
Hawaii bill would establish a hemp remediation, biofuel program Pending legislation in Hawaii aims to develop a two-year industrial hemp remediation and biofuel crop pilot program. The program would be administered by the University of Hawaii at Manoa. READ MORE SHARE
Economists find weak connection between high RINs, gas prices The connection is weak between high gasoline and ethanol renewable identification number (RINs) prices University of Illinois economists Scott Irwin and Darrel Good wrote in a recent FarmDocDaily analysis. READ MORE SHARE
EIA releases ethanol data for 2012 The U.S. Energy Information Administration has published the March 2013 issue of its Monthly Energy Review, which includes ethanol production, use, and export data through the end of 2012. While production was down, consumption increased in 2012. READ MORE SHARE
Near record corn acres forecast, stocks down 10 percent In two reports released March 28, the USDA reported farmers plan to seed record acres of corn this spring that could potentially refill the nation's grain stocks, reported to be down 10 percent from a year ago. READ MORE SHARE
WBA: enough land for more food, feed, biofuels There is enough land available to produce more food, more feed and more biofuels, which are not the cause of global malnutrition problems, according to the World Bioenergy Association. WBA makes this declaration in a new fact sheet. READ MORE SHARE
European Commission publishes progress report on RED On March 27 the European Commission published its first Renewable Energy Progress Report under the Renewable Energy Directive, noting that implementation of the biofuel scheme is too slow and 22 member states failed to reach 2010 biofuel targets. READ MORE SHARE
Auburn researcher receives NSF CAREER award to study biofuels Maobing Tu, an assistant professor in Auburn University's School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, has received a $401,155 National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Award for his research in biofuels and bioenergy. READ MORE SHARE
Researchers win funding for tunicate biofuel project Five researchers at the University of Bergen (UiB) and Uni Research have found that a certain type of tunicate can be used as a renewable source of biofuel and fish food. Its mantle consists of cellulose, which can be converted to ethanol. READ MORE SHARE
Peach genome aids breeding strategies for biofuels crops The relationship between a peach and a poplar may not be obvious at first glance, but to botanists both trees are part of the rosid superfamily, which includes not only fruit crops like apples, strawberries, cherries and almonds. READ MORE SHARE
USGC reports progress in expanding DDGS market in Philippines Imports of U.S. distillers grains to the Philippines grew nearly 13 percent from 2011 to 2012 and there's still potential for growth, according to the U.S. Grains Council. which is working to promote the use of the coproduct in areas of the country. READ MORE SHARE
Amyris' feedstock supplier changes hands in Brazil Tonon Bioenergia in Brazil announced the purchase of Paraiso Bioenergia, a sugar and ethanol producer. The acquisition brings with it a new partnership with biomass-based chemical producer Amyris Inc., producer of renewable farnesene from sugar. READ MORE SHARE