by Géraldine Kutas | Jul 15, 2014 | Sem categoria
After a short break occasioned by the European elections in May, it will soon be time for new and returning Members of the European Parliament to embark on second reading discussions on ILUC. Member States adopted their common position on 13 June and, as soon the text...
by Leticia Phillips | Jun 18, 2014 | Sem categoria
Sometimes, we all need friendly reminders. Our favorite World Cup soccer players get reminded on the field to play by the rules, and we often get reminded about our commitments. Commitments to our family, commitments to our friends, and commitments to our...
by Géraldine Kutas | Jun 13, 2014 | Sem categoria
Today, European Energy Ministers finally adopted the Council’s position on ILUC, after EU ambassadors passed the Greek compromise last week. Key elements of the positions are a cap for conventional biofuels at 7% and a non-binding sub-target for advanced biofuels at...
by Leticia Phillips | May 30, 2014 | Sem categoria
The debate over American biofuels policy has centered on the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), but there’s another issue unfolding under the radar with significant implications for renewable fuels – the Reid vapor pressure (RVP) volatility waiver. RVP may be a technical...
by Géraldine Kutas | May 28, 2014 | Sem categoria
After the stalemate at the December Council where a blocking minority of Member States prevented the adoption of a Council common position on ILUC, Member States’ Permanent Representatives finally agreed today on a compromise text proposed by the Greek Presidency...
by Géraldine Kutas | May 8, 2014 | Sem categoria
Having looked at the recently published manifestos of the European political groups, I realized surprisingly that the main groups, EPP and PES, do not even mention transport issues in their priorities for the next five years. Isn’t it odd? Transport is still one of...
by Géraldine Kutas | Apr 17, 2014 | Sem categoria
It’s good to see that a highly regarded institution, like the United Nations, has just released a new report that has the courage to simply follow the empirical evidence about the benefits of responsibly produced biofuels. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate...
by Leticia Phillips | Apr 8, 2014 | Sem categoria
In advance of the Senate Agriculture Committee hearing – entitled Advanced Biofuels: Creating Jobs and Lower Prices at the Pump – the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA) released the following statement. It should be attributed to Leticia Phillips,...
by Géraldine Kutas | Apr 4, 2014 | Sem categoria
This week the United Nations scientific panel on climate change (IPCC) published its latest report on climate change. The report, echoing its past findings about a clear link between climate change and human factors driving that change, argues that immediate action is...
by Géraldine Kutas | Mar 19, 2014 | Sem categoria
Later this week, European heads of government will meet in Brussels to discuss, among other issues, the European Union’s 2030 Climate and Energy Package which – as I mentioned in my previous blog – effectively called for an end to the Fuel Quality Directive after 2020...
by Leticia Phillips | Mar 11, 2014 | Sem categoria
In response to proposed updates to the California Air Resources Board’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard, Leticia Phillips, North America Representative for the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (known by the acronym “UNICA”), issued the following statement: ...
by Géraldine Kutas | Feb 21, 2014 | Sem categoria
The annual EU-Brazil summit will take place next week here in the European Union capital, Brussels. There will be plenty of bonhomie as these summits go. We can reasonably expect trade to be one of the most important items of the political agenda, alongside other...
by Leticia Phillips | Jan 29, 2014 | Sem categoria
Brazil’s sugarcane ethanol producers submitted formal comments to the EPA Tuesday that expressed the industry’s serious concerns about the agency’s proposed standards for the 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). UNICA’s (The Brazilian Sugarcane Industry...
by Leticia Phillips | Jan 24, 2014 | Sem categoria
The Environmental Protection Agency shocked the biofuels community in November by proposing to slash consumption requirements for advanced biofuels in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Even though advanced biofuel producers easily exceeded EPA’s 2013 target of 2.75...
by Leticia Phillips | Jan 22, 2014 | Sem categoria
The debate over America’s Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), and the role that advanced biofuels like sugarcane ethanol play in meeting our clean energy goals, has largely focused on what the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) appropriate volume targets should be...
by Géraldine Kutas | Jan 22, 2014 | Sem categoria
Apparently, the current European Commission’s long term strategy is now formally not to have one. On Wednesday, this Commission formally mapped out, in the first step in a long legislative process ahead, its much awaited perspective on what it thinks the European...
