Tesla has reportedly applied to enter the profitable renewable fuel credit market that is currently dominated by ethanol producers as it is expected to be opened to electric vehicles. There are currently at least eight companies who applied with the Environmental Protection Agency to be included in the multi-billion dollar US renewable credit market, but the agency did not release their names. The program was established in the mid-2000s under the Bush administration, and it was set up to boost the US biofuel industry in order to reduce US dependence on foreign oil.In the process, it created a strange situation where a ton of farmland started being used by ethanol producers who are now heavily subsidized by the program. Since electric vehicles would also help accomplish this goal, it has been proposed that they could be included in the program, and the Biden administration is expected to review the proposal.

May 14, 2021 - ETT Special

Chile announced on Thursday that Brazil had signed on as a partner to build the first submarine fiber optic cable to connect South America with Asia, an effort that promises to boost connectivity for 270 million people on the continent. Chile's foreign minister, Andres Allamand, told reporters that Brazil's decision to formally join the initiative was critical to making the $388 million, 13,180 km (8,200 mile) cable a reality. "The incorporation of Brazil to this project gives it a definitive economic viability, and at the same time a definitive political viability as well," Allamand said. Argentina has already joined the effort, and Allamand said he expected Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia to also sign on.

May 14, 2021 - Reuters

Brazil's Petrobras will keep its fuel pricing policy unchanged, the company's new head of trading and logistics said on Friday, though prices will not be adjusted with the same frequency as during some past periods.President Jair Bolsonaro fired Petroleo Brasileiro SA's previous CEO Roberto Castello Branco in February amid a dispute over domestic fuel prices, triggering a management shake-up. Logistics head Claudio Mastella said prices would be kept in line with the international market, with daily monitoring but without a pre-established periodicity for adjustments.

May 14, 2021 - EIA

The United States exported 87,000 b/d of fuel ethanol in 2020, marking the second consecutive annual drop in U.S. fuel ethanol exports. Approximately 40% of all U.S. fuel ethanol exports went to Brazil and Canada, although both countries decreased their imports of fuel ethanol from the United States compared with 2019. Brazil, the world’s second-largest producer and consumer of fuel ethanol, decreased its imports of U.S. fuel ethanol significantly for the second consecutive year, dropping to 13,000 b/d in 2020. Ethanol consumption is high in Brazil because of its fuel ethanol blending requirement, which is currently set at 27%, and demand for hydrous ethanol (E100), which competes with traditional gasoline blends.