Auto Alliance Underlines Importance of High Octane Low Carbon Fuels
by Doug Durante (Clean Fuels Development Coalition/Governors’ Biofuels Coalition) Commends Daschle HOLC Alliance Fight for National Higher Octane Gasoline Standard in SAFE-2 Rule — The Clean Fuels Development Coalition (CFDC) called a recent letter from automakers in support of high octane low carbon fuels further validation that ethanol has a key role to play in protecting public health and increasing the efficiency of current and future vehicles.
In a letter to former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle who is the Chairman of the High Octane Low Carbon Alliance (HOLCA), the Alliance for Automotive Innovation (AAI) said liquid fuels will continue to be widely used well in to the future. AAI is the singular voice for the auto industry representing 38 companies producing 99 percent of the light duty vehicles sold in the Unites States.
The Alliance wrote “Gasoline will continue to play a vital role in transportation for years to come. The use of high octane low carbon liquid fuels would simultaneously support vehicle performance, including fuel economy, and further reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Such benefits would be realized by new and existing internal combustion engines and therefore should be encouraged as additional solutions as soon as possible to maximize environmental benefits across the fleet.”
https://cleanfuelsdc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/AutoAllianceLetter-061121.pdf
These environmental and public health benefits are consistent with the Biden Administration’s emphasis on Environmental Justice and protecting the health of urban and minority residents. AAI told Daschle that “The use of HOLC fuels…can provide an important bridge in reducing emissions in low-income communities during the transition to vehicle electrification.”
The automakers’ letter also noted that “High octane, low carbon fuels provide the benefit of lower aromatics, and therefore lower exposure to toxics, when combusted in a vehicle.”
In a letter to EPA Assistant Administrator Joe Goffman, HOLCA Chairman Daschle warned that new science confirms that the rapid proliferation of gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines will substantially increase the most dangerous ultrafine particulate-borne toxic emissions unless gasoline aromatics levels are dramatically reduced. https://cleanfuelsdc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/HOLCLetterAssistAdminGoffman-060821.pdf
EPA is required “from time to time” to reduce gasoline aromatics by a mandatory provision which Daschle co-authored to the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments.
In previous correspondence with EPA, CFDC has stressed that in developing the current rule EPA solicited comment on octane, asking what should be the appropriate levels, and how octane could be increased consistent with Title II of the Clean Air Act, which requires a reduction in toxics “to the greatest achievable extent”.
CFDC Member Jim Seurer, CEO of Glacial Lakes Energy, said “We have shown higher blends like E30 we use in South Dakota can double the benefits the RFS has provided. The industry needs to let EPA know as they develop their rule to improve mileage and reduce carbon emissions, we have a product that will do exactly that if they remove the regulatory obstacles they have unlawfully erected to the use of E30 HOLC fuels.”
“As Senator Daschle has stated, the RFS has been the launch vehicle for ethanol, and it has been a win for the environment, energy security, and agriculture, but octane can be the booster rocket to keep ethanol in orbit,” said Seurer.
EPA plans to release a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on the SAFE Rule by late July. READ MORE
SD Farmers Union Hails Automaker Endorsement of High Octane Low Carbon Fuels “A Major Breakthrough for U.S. Corn Ethanol Industry” (South Dakota Farmers Union)
Excerpt from South Dakota Farmers Union: (South Dakota Farmers Union (SDFU) President Doug) Sombke said the AAI’s letter was exactly what he’d hoped for when he urged General Motors CEO Mary Barra to correct one of her senior executive’s assertion that a nationwide E30 HOLC fuels “clean octane” standard was a “bridge too far.”
“The AAI letter’s endorsement of Daschle’s efforts—the centerpiece of which is to establish a national 100 RON higher octane gasoline standard using E30 HOLC fuels to replace carcinogenic aromatics—makes it clear that automakers recognize the important role ethanol can play during the lengthy transition to a decarbonized electric transportation system,” said Sombke. “In fact, the real “bridge too far” is the headlong rush to electric vehicles before all of the critical questions are answered, including serious challenges confronting the supply chain for rare earth metals such as lithium and cobalt used in batteries.”
“The use of slave and child labor, the hidden carbon emissions from lithium and cobalt mining and battery recycling, and the enormous infrastructure challenges confronting the electric vehicle age must be acknowledged and resolved,” said Sombke. “In contrast, U.S. corn ethanol is the most safe, secure, cost effective, and lowest net carbon fuel component. Just as importantly, ethanol is used in all gasoline nationwide today and U.S. farmers and producers can expand quickly.”
Sombke pointed out that advancing from today’s nationwide E10 to a nationwide E30 “clean octane” transportation fuels standard would reduce U.S. oil imports by one billion barrels per year and would double ethanol’s demand for corn starch over the next ten years, providing a substantial boost to the rural economy without need for taxpayer outlays.
SDFU salutes Senator Daschle and his HOLCA Alliance mantra: “E30 by 2030!” READ MORE
