EPA Releases Final RFS Renewable Volume Obligations

EPA Releases Final RFS Renewable Volume Obligations

Yesterday the Environmental Protection Agency released its final Renewable Fuel Standard renewable volume obligations for 2014, 2015 and 2016 that refiners have to meet in blending biofuels with gasoline. The agency increased the blending requirements across the board, to a total of 18.1 billion gallons, including 14.5 billion gallons of undifferentiated biofuels or corn ethanol and 230 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol. The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) has been steadfast in calling on EPA to allow the volumes contained in the statute to drive market place change. Field Reporter Greg Martin shares the following statement from RFA President and CEO Bob Dinneen
Martin: “EPA’s decision Monday turns our nation’s most successful energy policy on its head. When EPA released its proposed RFS rule in May, the agency claimed it was attempting to get the program back on track. The decision, however, fails to do that. It will deepen uncertainty in the marketplace and thus chill investment in second-generation biofuels. Unlike Big Oil, the ethanol industry does not receive billions in tax subsidies and the RFS is our only means of accessing a marketplace that is overwhelmingly and unfairly dominated by the petroleum industry. The decision will severely cripple the program’s ability to incentivize infrastructure investments that are crucial to break through the so-called blend wall and create a larger market for all biofuels.”

 

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