by Lisa Gibson (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The stalled U.S. EPA approval of corn kernel fiber-to-ethanol pathways could be having a $1 billion impact on a 15-billion-gallon-per-year ethanol industry, says Jim Ramm, director of engineering for EcoEngineers. That’s assuming 3% of overall production could be from fiber and a $2 premium. It’s worst-case scenario, yes, but it’s realistic, nonetheless. EPA approved its last fiber-to-ethanol pathway in December of 2017. At that time, EPA, led by Administrator Scott Pruitt, outlined concerns around the accuracy in measuring the cellulosic portion of ethanol production. The slammed door has forced ethanol producers to distribute their cellulosic volumes to California or Oregon markets (where fuel standards recognize the pathways), and technology developers to overcome the volume measurement challenge.