Ag Policy Blog: House Democrats Get Aggressive on Biofuels

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September 28, 2020

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by Chris Clayton (DTN Progressive Farmer) ...What did become clear was Democrats in both the House and the Senate are paying more attention to biofuels at the moment. And yet, given that Congress is going to pass a temporary funding bill, and then go campaign, it's probably going to take more effort in 2021 and beyond to see some of this legislation to fruition.

The House on Thursday passed a 900-page renewable energy bill, focusing heavily on issues such as energy efficiency -- the Expanding Access to Sustainable Energy Act HR 4447. Within that bill, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., included a provision called the "Renewable Fuel Standard Integrity Act." Under that language, EPA would be required to set a deadline for refiners to request exemptions from the RFS. EPA would also be required to publicly release the names of refiners requesting exemptions, the number of gallons that could be waived and the number of gallons of biofuels that would not be blended as a result.

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Rep. Cindy Axne, D-Iowa, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, also got a provision attached to the bill that would met ethanol producers eligible for funding under the bill's carbon-capture provisions.

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All that said, biofuel groups were also enthusiastic Thursday about a bill introduced by Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., another member of the House Agriculture Committee. Bustos introduced the "Next Generations Fuels Act, a bill that would focus on higher fuel octane to lower carbon emissions.

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Ethanol, with an octane rating of 113, essentially would be the best fuel to achieve this higher octane level for blended gasoline. It would push fuels closer to E25 or E30.

The bill effectively supports a 2016 Department of Energy study on mid-level ethanol blends that details the benefits of a high-octane mid-level ethanol blend to increase vehicle efficiency and acceleration while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Higher ethanol blends provide those benefits without the carcinogens that come from aromatic chemicals that refiners often use to boost octane.

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Bustos' bill would provide a lot of benefits for biofuel production and use at the expense of petroleum. So the bill is unlikely to move right now.

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I was told Bustos' bill is largely meant to spark the next conversation about where biofuels needs to go beyond the RFS. That may take a lot of work in Congress. It may also require some of these rural members of Congress to consider giving up their spot on the Agriculture Committee and shifting to House Energy & Commerce, which is where any broad policy on biofuels would be drafted and advanced.

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2016 Department of Energy report on mid-level ethanol blends: https://info.ornl.gov/…

HR 4447: Expanding Access to Sustainable Energy Act https://www.congress.gov/…

AG GROUPS PRAISE INTRODUCTION OF LONG-AWAITED NEXT GENERATION FUELS ACT (Brownfield Ag News)

Biofuel supporters welcome Next Generation Fuels Act (Feedstuffs)

Ethanol Blog: House Bill Would Set High-Octane Standard (DTN Progressive Farmer)

Legislation aims to boost ethanol, curb car emissions (E&E NEws)

Growth Energy Applauds House Passage of RFS Integrity Act in Clean Energy Package (Growth Energy)

US government signals interest in investing in carbon removal -- The Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act includes crucial funding for CDR (Carbon 180)

Dem package includes ethanol, pork producer, PPE aid (Fence Post)

Grassley: Aid to ethanol plants, livestock producers good; overall cost too high (Fence Post)