Ethanol Week - February 25, 2020

USDA: Ag Innovation Agenda will benefit biofuels, bioenergy The USDA unveiled its Agriculture Innovation Agenda on Feb. 20. The initiative, in part, aims to support renewable fuels, including ethanol, biodiesel and biomass. This includes a goal to achieve market-driven blend rates of E30 by 2050. READ MORE SHARE
Ricketts asks automakers to design cars for higher ethanol blends Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts sent a letter to the CEOs of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V., Ford Motor Co., and General Motors Co. on Feb. 11 urging the automakers to increase production of passenger vehicles designed to run on higher ethanol blends. READ MORE SHARE
	EPA: 23 SRE petitions now pending for compliance year 2019 The U.S. EPA released updated small refinery exemption (SRE) data on Feb. 21, reporting that two additional SRE petitions have been filed under the Renewable Fuel Standard for compliance year 2019. READ MORE SHARE
Weekly US ending stocks of ethanol set new record U.S. ethanol stocks set a new record at 24.781 million barrels for the week ending Feb. 14, according to data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Feb. 20. Ethanol production for the week was at 1.04 million barrels per day. READ MORE SHARE
Trump urged to declare waived RFS gallons will be recaptured Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, is urging President Trump to “make a declarative statement that a minimum of 15 billion gallons will be blended annually and that all gallons actually waived will be annually recaptured under the RFS.” READ MORE SHARE
Study: Ethanol contributed $2.31 billion to Minnesota GDP in 2019 A new study conducted by ABF Economics for the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association has determined Minnesota’s ethanol industry contributed approximately $2.31 billion to the state’s gross domestic product (GDP) last year. READ MORE SHARE
Novozymes launches Innova Fit yeast technology Novozymes announced the launch of its next yeast technology, Innova Fit, on Feb. 10. The company said the non-GM yeast product eliminates production constraints caused by conventional and basic yeasts. READ MORE SHARE
Trump nominates Benevento, Menezes to fill posts at EPA, DOE President Trump on Feb. 13 nominated Douglas Benevento to serve as deputy administrator of the U.S. EPA and Mark Wesley Menezes to serve as deputy secretary of energy. Both nominations are subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate. READ MORE SHARE
USGC meeting attendees plan global trade strategy for coming year Members of the U.S. Grains Council arrived in Tampa, Florida, for the organization’s winter meeting in mid-February, where they concentrated on drivers of global demand and how they affect markets overseas in which the Council does business. READ MORE SHARE
RFA, ISDI to host Steel Drum 101, Ethanol Safety Seminar in Iowa The RFA, in partnership with the Industrial Steel Drum Institute and TRANSCAER, will host safety training in Davenport, Iowa early next month. The free seminars are funded through a Federal Railroad Administration/TRANSCAER grant. READ MORE SHARE