The Renewable Identification Number (RIN) has long served as the tool used to force renewable fuels like ethanol and soybean oil into the U.S. gasoline and diesel supply. A creation of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), RINs act as a subsidy that enables the production of renewable fuels that would not otherwise be economically justified. RIN prices are set by the usual workings of supply and demand, but chatter has bubbled up recently in the renewable fuels ecosystem that prices for a particular variety of RIN could be headed for a crash. In today’s RBN blog, we explain what’s behind the talk about RIN prices.
RINs are a feature of the RFS, which requires certain minimum volumes of biofuels to be blended into fuel sold in the U.S. The required minimum is determined by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). RINs come in different categories with different names. This blog series focuses on the D4 RIN, which applies to bio-based diesel fuels made from soybeans and other bio-feedstocks. The D4 RIN (see Figure 1) is a virtual coupon that comes attached to each gallon of biodiesel or sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). It is detached by a blender when that gallon is blended with conventional diesel for use as fuel. The blender then redeems the coupon by selling it to petroleum fuel suppliers that are obligated to meet a biofuel supply quota each year. (See our Misunderstanding series and our Land of Confusion Drill Down Report for full explanations of how the system works.)
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About the song
“Baby the Rain Must Fall” was written by Elmer Bernstein and Ernie Sheldon and appears as the first song on side one of Glenn Yarbrough’s eighth studio album of the same name. It is the title song of the 1965 film Baby the Rain Must Fall, starring Steve McQueen and Lee Remick. The film also marked the first film appearance of Glenn Campbell (could it be Campbell playing guitar on the song?). The single was released in January 1965 and went to #2 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary and #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles charts. The song was recorded at RCA’s Music Center of the World in Hollywood, with Neely Plumb producing. Known personnel on the record were: Glenn Yarbrough (vocals), Earl Palmer (drums), and David Gates (arrangements). Gates would later become the lead singer in the highly successful pop band Bread. Leon Russel may be somewhere in the mix on this song as he had worked with Yarbrough as an arranger in the past, and Gates was a fellow-Tulsan who Russell had a publishing partnership with shortly before the record was released.
The album Baby the Rain Must Fall was released in January 1965 and went to #35 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. Two singles were released from the LP.
Glenn Yarbrough was an American folk singer and guitar player. He had a successful stint as the lead singer in the folk group the Limeliters from 1959-63 before embarking on a solo career. As a solo artist, he released 32 studio albums and 16 singles. He was nominated for Grammy Awards six times. “Baby the Rain Must Fall” was Yarbrough’s best-selling record. He died in Nashville in August 2016 at the age of 86.
