Small Refinery Exemptions and Ethanol Demand Destruction
Small refinery exemptions (SREs) represent the latest controversy to engulf the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). When the U.S. Congress first created the RFS in the Energy Policy Act of 2005…
A Pattern Change for Biodiesel Production Profitability in 2017?
The U.S. biodiesel production industry for some time has had a distinct "feast or famine" pattern in terms of profitability. The industry made very large profits in 2011 and 2013,…
What Happened to the Profitability of Ethanol Production in 2017?
The ethanol industry has been much in the news in recent months with the ongoing political battle over the future of the RFS. It is easy to lose track of…
Deal-Making on the RFS: Follow the North Star
With a flurry of negotiations and political conflict, the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) squeezed its way into the national news cycles of recent weeks. The key issue for negotiations is…
The Biodiesel Waiver Provision in the RFS
As discussed in the two previous articles, EPA has issued a Notice of Data Availability (NODA) seeking data and comment on potential reductions to the biomass-based diesel mandates. The third…
The Value of Soybean Oil in the Soybean Crush: Further Evidence on the Impact of the U.S. Biodiesel Boom
Biodiesel production and consumption in the U.S. boomed in recent years due to rising RFS mandate requirements. However, no evidence was found in a farmdoc daily article last week that…
The Relationship between Biodiesel and Soybean Oil Prices
In a farmdoc daily article almost five years ago (November 2, 2012), we argued that, "...the new era of higher crop prices could be extended well into the future as…
Projecting Biodiesel RINs Prices under Different Policies
In a farmdoc daily article last week, we developed a simple economic model to predict D4 biodiesel RINs prices based on biodiesel prices, diesel prices, and the biodiesel tax credit.…
How to Think About Biodiesel RINs Prices under Different Policies
Several recent farmdoc daily articles examined the role that biomass-based diesel (BBD) plays with respect to compliance with RFS mandates. Topics covered include: 1) the amount of BBD required to…
Biomass-Based Biodiesel Prices–How Much Does Policy Matter?
Biomass-based diesel, which includes both biodiesel and renewable diesel, plays a critical role in compliance with RFS mandates. Since 2013, biomass-based diesel (BBD) has been the "marginal gallon" for complying…
Revisiting the Estimation of Biomass-Based Diesel Supply Curves
Biomass-based diesel, which includes both biodiesel and renewable diesel, plays a critical role in compliance with RFS mandates. Since 2013, biomass-based diesel (BBD) has been the "marginal gallon" for complying…
What’s Up with Ethanol Production Profits?
In a farmdoc daily article last week, we showed that biodiesel production profits in the U.S. had moved into the black in recent months, seemingly defying the typical pattern of…
What’s Up with Rising Biodiesel Production Profits?
As noted in several previous farmdoc daily articles, the U.S. biodiesel production industry has a distinct "feast or famine" pattern in terms of profitability. The industry made very large profits…
Blender and Producer Sharing of Retroactively Reinstated Biodiesel Tax Credits: Time for a Change?
A farmdoc daily article last week (March 29, 2017) investigated the impact on biodiesel production profits of little known "sharing" provisions in marketing agreements between biodiesel producers and blenders. Many…
An Alternative View of Biodiesel Production Profits: The Role of Retroactively Reinstated Blender Tax Credits
Previous farmdoc daily articles have documented a "feast or famine" pattern in production profitability of the U.S. biodiesel production industry. The feast or famine pattern is closely tied to expiration…
On the Value of Ethanol in the Gasoline Blend
There has been much debate and much written about the likely costs and benefits of including ethanol in the domestic gasoline supply. Costs and benefits fall into two major categories--environmental…
The Profitability of Biodiesel Production in 2016
The U.S. biodiesel production industry has a distinct "feast or famine" pattern in terms of profitability. The industry made very large profits in 2011 and 2013, but losses in most…
The Profitability of Ethanol Production in 2016
The ethanol industry appeared to have a good year in 2016. The drop in crude oil prices continued to stimulate driving and gasoline demand, the EPA maintained a policy of…
What’s Up with RINs Prices?
RINs prices have been making headlines in recent months, with prices at times crossing the psychologically important $1 per gallon mark. Echoing earlier complaints, this has caused some to question…
The Profitability of Biodiesel Production in 2016: Feasting on an Expiring Tax Credit?
The U.S. biodiesel production industry has a distinct "feast or famine" pattern in terms of profitability. The industry made very large profits in 2011 and 2013, but losses in most…
Are Gasoline Prices Still High Relative to Crude Oil Prices?
The downdraft in crude oil prices picked up steam in the last few months, with Brent prices dropping into the low $30s, the lowest level since early 2004. Throughout the…
To Harvest Stover or Not: Is it Worth it?
Corn stover is a readily available source of biomass for the production of biofuels. Three US refineries - Poet, Abengoa and Dupont - are converting it at commercial scale to…
More on the Competitive Position of Ethanol as an Octane Enhancer
In a farmdoc daily article of February 3, 2016 we analyzed the competitive position of ethanol in gasoline blends as an octane enhancer. This analysis was motivated by the recent…
The Profitability of Biodiesel Production in 2015
The U.S. biodiesel production industry has had a "feast or famine" pattern of profitability in recent years. The industry made very large profits in 2011 and 2013, but had losses…
Following-up on RFS Questions
The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) has been a hot topic of late given the release of the final rule and its rather prominent feature leading up to the recent Iowa…