Advanced BioFuels USA

RFA CEO Cooper Testifies on the Future Role of High Octane Fuels

(Renewable Fuels Association) While draft legislation recently released by Reps. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) and Bill Flores (R-Texas) represents “an important first step in the debate about future fuels policy and the role of high octane fuels,” the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) cannot support the proposal because it “does not provide the long-term certainty and growth path” that America’s ethanol producers need.

That was the message delivered by RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper in testimony during today’s House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on the Environment hearing on the Shimkus/Flores proposal, named “The 21st Century Transportation Fuels Act.” While the proposal would establish a higher octane fuel requirement (95 RON) in 2023, the draft also would sunset the Renewable Fuel Standard’s (RFS) conventional biofuel requirements after 2022.

By eliminating the RFS for conventional biofuels, “…the draft bill would destabilize the considerable progress our nation has made toward greater energy security, economic vitality, and environmental health,” Cooper testified. “We simply cannot support eliminating the RFS program, as the draft envisions, without a much stronger signal to the market that ethanol’s role in our fuel supply will continue to grow.”

While any move toward higher octane would seem on the surface to benefit ethanol—the lowest-cost and cleanest source of octane on the market—recent analysis shows that refiners could meet the demand for 95 RON gasoline without using more ethanol. “Even though ethanol is far superior to other octane boosters in terms of cost, greenhouse gas emissions, air quality, health effects, and other factors, a 95 RON standard—when paired with elimination of the RFS conventional renewable fuel requirements—would not result in increased market opportunities for ethanol,” Cooper said. “RFA strongly believes a high octane fuel standard can work in concert with—not in conflict with—the RFS.”

“While a good conversation starter, this discussion draft does not provide the long-term certainty and growth path that America’s renewable fuel producers, farmers, automakers, and consumers need,” Cooper testified. “With proper oversight and implementation, the RFS can work in tandem with a high- octane standard to continue to drive innovation, support rural economies, and provide cleaner and cheaper fuel choices at the pump well beyond 2022,” he added.

A copy of Cooper’s prepared testimony is here. READ MORE WATCH VIDEO

RFS OVERHAUL IN THE SPOTLIGHT: (Politico’s Morning Energy)

Excerpt from Politico’s Morning Energy: Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) is using his last days as head of the Energy and Commerce Environment Subcommittee to hold a hearing on his 21st Century Transportation Fuels Act, an overhaul of renewable fuels policy. Lawmakers have filled the witness list largely with renewable fuels advocates, while only one representative of the oil industry will testify: Chet Thompson, president of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers.

The draft bill no one loves: Despite not appearing on the panel, API sent a letter to subcommittee leadership opposing the bill for locking in a fixed amount of advanced biofuels blending and approving a waiver to allow year-round sale of 15 percent ethanol fuel. Biofuels groups oppose the draft bill for pretty much the same reasons. READ MORE

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“We’ve been intervening at every point to say (a) the UN’s Special Report says bioenergy is as important as electromobility for the next four decades and (b) no policy discussion can be meaningful unless it looks at the cost of the different measures, and regular ethanol is the cheapest climate measure in transport by a long shot.” Climate Ethanol Alliances’s James Cogan describing work at COP24 this week, quoted in Biofuels Digest. READ MORE

Scaling the Ethanol ‘Blend Wall’ Ultimately Consumers’ Decision

by John Duff (Delta Farm Press/National Sorghum Producers) … The Biofuels Infrastructure Partnership program is a grassroots effort to fund new