The US Environmental Protection Agency has decided to lower next year’s requirements for fuel suppliers to sell cellulosic biofuels within their transport fuel products.
The Agency said it remained “optimistic” about the growth of cellulosic biofuel production in future years, but that its analysis of market availability for 2011 suggested a lower target was needed.
The proposals issued yesterday detail how the Agency wants to achieve next year’s renewable fuels targets, requiring the nation’s fuel suppliers to provide 13.95 billion gallons of biofuels – about 7.95% of transport fuel supplies.
The Agency proposed that the suppliers should supply between 5 and 17.1 million gallons of cellulosic biofuels in 2011.
Under the second phase of the Renewable Fuel Standard program (RSF2), suppliers will also be required to supply 800 million gallons of biodiesel and 1.35 billion gallons of advanced biofuels, which achieve higher greenhouse gas savings than conventional biofuels.
The 2011 targets are the next step toward the 2022 goal to supply 36 billion gallons of biofuels each year.
The EPA is stipulating amounts of the different types of biofuel required by the RSF2 in order to encourage investment in biofuels that are better for the environment than conventional biofuels like corn-based ethanol.
It said yesterday it would be continuing to work on the cellulosic biofuel standard in the coming months, but added: “Overall, EPA remains optimistic that the commercial availability of cellulosic ethanol will continue to grow in the years ahead.”
Proposals
Other proposals set out by the EPA yesterday included the possibility for biofuels made from canola oil, grain sorghum, pulpwood or palm oil to be used towards RFS2 targets if the EPA rules that they achieve certain greenhouse gas reduction levels.
Producers of these biofuels could be allowed to issue renewable fuel credits (RINs) retrospectively for fuels sold back to July 1, 2010, if the EPA does judge that they meet the threshold for emission reductions.
The Agency has also proposed to water down rules for biofuels made using feedstocks sourced from abroad, so that they require the same documentation as biofuels made with domestic feedstocks.
Public comments are being sought on the proposals within the next 30 days.
The National Biodiesel Board said in comments about the EPA’s proposals that the biodiesel industry “stands ready” to provide the advanced biofuels required to meet the RFS2 target in 2011.
Manning Feraci, vice president of federal affairs for the NBB, applauded the EPA’s “common-sense” view that petroleum-based fuels ought to be displaced by advanced biofuels.
This notice demonstrates to all actors in the fuels marketplace that the volume goals for Biomass-based Diesel provided for by law in the RFS2 program will be met and that 800 million gallons of biodiesel must be used in 2011,” he said.
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