There can be no doubt that 2010 will go down as a historic year. In Washington, the year was marked by the passage of landmark legislation in the form of health care reform, followed by the inevitable political wrangling that goes along with such legislation no matter who is in charge.
We also saw a historic election in 2010, watching a wave of voters-angry over a struggling economy, high unemployment and a seemingly out-of-touch Congress-sweep Republicans into power in the House of Representatives.
For the ethanol industry, 2010 was yet another historic year. Ethanol production approached 13 billion gallons. Use of fuel ethanol soared well over 12 billion gallons. And, the U.S. EPA took the first, albeit baby, step to allowing for more use of ethanol in gasoline.
As I write this column, important issues still remain unresolved. By the time you read this, we will know if Congress acted to extend important tax incentives for ethanol and other biofuels. We may even have a sense of whether EPA is going to expand the use of E15 to more vehicles. These issues will be addressed in subsequent columns.
As is tradition, this column is dedicated to a tongue-in-cheek look at the year that was, and a lighthearted peek into the year that is to come. Without further ado, the 2011 RFA Ins and Outs list.
Out In
Chris Standlee Chuck Woodside
1 Massachusetts Ave. NW 425 Third St. SW
Speaker Pelosi Speaker Boehner
E-85 pump toppers E-15 pump labels
FFVs Flex Fuel Hybrids
Federal fleet Alt Fuel Waivers Blend Your Own blender pumps
Ethanol imports Ethanol exports (yes, Brazil, even to you)
Feed wall Distillers grains exports
Legislative gridlock Triangulation
Carbon cap and trade EPA carbon regulation
Legislative mark-ups Oversight hearings
Nonfood feedstocks Advanced biofuels
VEETC extension VEETC reform
Al Gore promoting ethanol Al Gore bashing ethanol
Verenium BP Biofuels
PR Newswire Twitter
Ryan Hunter-Reay Rusty Wallace
Corn oil extraction Biobutanol conversion
DOE biofuel grants USDA BCAP
Rahm Emanuel Pete Rouse
Underwriters Laboratories Blender pumps
GMA Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth
250 Ton Rule GHG Tailoring Rule
CARB's carbon intensity value Purdue's revised ILUC calculations
California LCFS with ILUC Oregon LCFS without ILUC
E15 catalyst durability tests E15 health effects tests
DOE E15 tests on 2007 Vehicles Ricardo Engineering assessment on all cars
A Sweeter Alternative E-Xchange
World Bank blaming ethanol World Bank exonerating ethanol
Loan guarantees Refundable ITC for cellulose ethanol
Massive oil spills RFA safety committee
Competing associations Ethanol Alliance
Author: Bob Dinneen
President and CEO of the
Renewable Fuels Association
(202) 289-3835
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