MOSCOW (MRC) -- A bipartisan group of US senators introduced legislation that would eliminate a national mandate requiring oil refiners to blend corn-based ethanol into their fuel mix - a proposal that would slam corn growers and is likely to face vehement opposition from the farm lobby, reported Reuters.
Republican Senator Pat Toomey from Pennsylvania and Democratic Senator Bob Menendez from New Jersey, part of the group introducing the bill, represent states with oil refineries that claim the mandates are expensive and threaten refinery jobs.
Lawmakers from both states have been pushing the Biden administration to relieve refineries of their obligations under the US/ Renewable Fuel Standard, which was enacted to expand the market for US renewable fuels and boost energy independence.
Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein from California and Republican Senator Susan Collins from Maine joined Toomey and Menendez in introducing the bill. They say that other biofuels have lower greenhouse gas emissions, though ethanol proponents argue the product is a good option to help fight climate change now.
The senators claim the bill would help reduce carbon emissions from transportation fuels by removing volume requirements for corn ethanol, while leaving in place obligations for other biofuels and biodiesel.
Under the RFS, refiners must blend some 15 billion gallons of ethanol into their fuel each year - a huge boost to the corn industry - along with billions of gallons of other types of biofuels.
As MRC informed before, earlier this month, Royal Dutch Shell agreed to sell its stake in eastern German refinery PCK Schwedt, the latest in a string of refinery disposals as part of the Anglo-Dutch company's energy transition strategy. Shell said in a statement that it will sell its 37.5% share in the refinery for an undisclosed sum to Vienna-based Alcmene GmbH, part of the Liwathon Group, an integrated logistics and investment business headquartered in Estonia. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2021, pending approval by cartel authorities and its partners, Russia's Rosneft and Italy's Eni.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 953,400 tonnes in the first five months of 2021, which virtually corresponded to the same figure a year earlier. High denisty polyethylene (HDPE) shipments decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 607,8900 tonnes in January-May 2021, up by 33% year on year. Shipments of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas deliveries of PP random copolymers decreased.
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