The EPA has finalized the 2013 percentage standards for fuel categories that are part of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. The final overall volumes and standards require 16.55 billion gallons of renewable fuels to be blended into the U.S. fuel supply — a 9.74 percent blend. The requirement for cellulosic biofuel is 6 million gallons, which is nearly half the amount the EPA initially proposed, according to Midwest Energy News.
The reduction is due in part to an expected decrease in U.S. gasoline consumption, according to the Wall Street Journal , because Americans are continuing to drive more fuel-efficient cars.
The final standard specifically requires:
- Biomass-based diesel (1.28 billion gallons; 1.13 percent)
- Advanced biofuels (2.75 billion gallons; 1.62 percent)
- Cellulosic biofuels (6.00 million gallons; 0.004 percent)
The Wall Street Journal article said about 13.8 billion gallons of the total 16.55 billion gallons required is expected to be met with ethanol from Midwestern corn.
According to an EPA press release , these standards reflect EPA’s updated production projections, in keeping with a January 2013 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals that required the agency to reevaluate projections for cellulosic biofuel to reflect market conditions.
The EPA statement also said:
During this rulemaking, EPA received comments from a number of stakeholders concerning the “E10 blend wall.”
Projected to occur in 2014, the “E10 blend wall” refers to the difficulty in incorporating ethanol into the fuel supply at volumes exceeding those achieved by the sale of nearly all gasoline as E10. Most gasoline sold in the U.S. today is E10.
The EPA proposed to use flexibilities in the RFS statute to reduce both the advanced biofuel and total renewable volumes in the forthcoming 2014 RFS volume requirement proposal.
The EPA is also providing greater lead time and flexibility in complying with the 2013 volume requirements by extending the deadline to comply with the 2013 standards by four months, to June 30, 2014.
The Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) established the RFS program and the annual renewable fuel volume targets, which steadily increase to an overall level of 36 billion gallons in 2022.
To achieve these volumes, EPA calculates a percentage-based standard for the following year. Based on the standard, each refiner and importer determines the minimum volume of renewable fuel that it must ensure is used in its transportation fuel. PD
—Summarized by PD staff from cited sources
