Governors' Biofuels Coalition

With Iran threatening to cut off about a fifth of the world’s oil supply by closing the Strait of Hormuz and unrest in Iraq endangering the ability to increase production there, financial analysts say prices for two important oil benchmarks will average from $100 a barrel to $120 a barrel in 2012.

The federal government has set its target for biofuels production in 2012, increasing by 1.25 billion gallons the amount of ethanol and biofuels that must be blended into the fuel supply.
Fuel providers will be required to blend 15.2 billion gallons of renewable fuel into the fuel supply in 2012. This includes 8.65 million gallons of cellulosic biofuels, up from 6.6 million gallons in 2011.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday said ethanol production in 2012 should reach 15.2 billion gallons, an increase of about 1.25 billion gallons from this year.

A federal tax credit for ethanol expired on Saturday, ending an era in which the federal government provided more than $20 billion in subsidies for use of the product. The tax break, created more than 30 years ago, had long seemed untouchable. But in the last year, during which Congress was preoccupied with deficits and debt, it became a symbol of corporate welfare. Fiscal conservatives joined liberal environmentalists to kill it, with help from a diverse coalition of outside groups.

State lawmakers are looking at a proposal from Representative Matt Gaetz to eliminate ethanol in Florida gasoline.

According to the Energy Information Administration, ethanol production averaged 943-thousand barrels per day – or 39.6-million gallons daily during the latest reporting week. That is up 5-thousand barrels per day from the record set the previous week. The 4-week average for ethanol production stood at 935-thousand barrels per day for an annualized rate of 14.43-billion gallons. Stocks of ethanol stood at 17.7-million barrels.

At the end of one of the most bizarre weather years in American history, climate research stands at a crossroads.

Congressional leaders struck a deal yesterday that could force President Obama to make a speedy decision about an oil pipeline that has divided his party and sparked environmental protests at the White House.

As with most issues, the story of 2011 electric vehicle sales depends largely on perspective.

Congress has failed to renew the biodiesel tax incentive that will expire at the end of this year and the biodiesel industry is hoping they will turn it around and act quickly in 2012 to save thousands of jobs that have been created thanks to the initiative this year.