Biden Seeks to Electrify Auto Industry: White House Driving Electric Vehicles, Raising Questions on Direction of Biofuel Policies

Agriculture (USDA)Environmental Protection Agency Federal Agency/Executive Branch Federal Legislation Federal Regulation Funding/Financing/Investing Opinions Policy Sustainability Transportation (DOT)White House

August 05, 2021

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by Chris Clayton (DTN Progressive Farmer) The president will sign an executive order to make half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 "zero-emission" vehicles, including battery, fuel-cell and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The executive order also will set new long-term fuel-efficiency and emission standards "to save consumers money, cut pollution, boost public health, advance environmental justice and tackle the climate crisis."

The move by the administration will keep a spotlight on how EPA, USDA and other federal agencies treat biofuels going forward. The administration has continued to delay releasing annual rules for obligated refinery blend volumes under the Renewable Fuels Standard. EPA has not yet responded as to how the administration will deal with a federal appeals court rejecting the Trump-era year-round E15 rule either.

Ethanol is a key component in U.S. corn usage, taking up 5.2 billion bushels (bb) of corn annually, or about 35% of projected corn use.

The Renewable Fuels Association last week sent a letter to President Biden highlighting their commitment to ensure ethanol would reduce emissions by at least 70% compared to gasoline by 2030. The letter also stated the ethanol industry would move to "net-zero lifecycle emissions" by 2050. The ethanol industry has continued to stress that the U.S. will continue to have tens of millions of vehicles on the road that will still rely on liquid fuel for decades to come.

Geoff Cooper, president and CEO of RFA, said Thursday the group agrees aggressive action is needed to lower greenhouse-gas emissions (GHG) from transportation. But that also requires taking an "all-of-the-above approach" and using all available low-carbon technologies, Cooper said.

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The moves come as the U.S. Senate is taking up an infrastructure bill that would include at least $7.5 billion to help pay for electric charging stations nationally. The bill has few mentions regarding biofuels, which raised concerns from at least some supporters of biofuels in Congress.

Rep. Cindy Axne, D-Iowa, called the lack of biofuel investments in the Senate bill "unacceptable." Axne said of the deal that she and others have been advocating for more focus on biofuels, which already have significantly lower emissions than gasoline.

"While I am withholding my final decision on this agreement until there is a bill I can read, I will have strong reservations about supporting the final bill if there is no pathway for critical investments in our biofuels sector," Axne said.

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If the 2030 goals were reached, that would put electric vehicle sales at 6.8 million to 8.5 million vehicles. RFA's Cooper pointed out that means "four out of five cars on the road that year will still have internal combustion engines that require liquid fuels. Renewable fuels like ethanol offer a solution that is available right here, right now at a low cost to jump-start decarbonization efforts."

EPA and the Department of Transportation will also propose new emission requirements and fuel-efficiency standards for cars, pickups and SUVs. These new requirements will reverse more relaxed standards set by the Trump administration and go farther than those proposed under the Obama administration.

Auto manufacturers Ford, General Motors and Stellantis (Chrysler-Dodge) released a joint statement on a "shared aspiration" to achieve 40% to 50% auto sales from electric technologies by 2030, "in order to move the nation closer to a zero-emissions future consistent with Paris climate goals."

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Still, a dramatic shift in the U.S. "can be achieved only with the timely deployment of the full suite of electrification policies committed to by the administration," which includes incentives for consumers to buy those vehicles and a network of charging stations to support millions of vehicles, the companies stated. READ MORE

RFA to Biden: Renewable Fuels Provide a Clean, Low-Carbon Fuel Option Available Today (Renewable Fuels Association)

FACT SHEET: President Biden Announces Steps to Drive American Leadership Forward on Clean Cars and Trucks (White House)

Capitalizing on Ethanol’s Carbon Potential a Key Focus of ACE 2021 Conference Agenda Lineup (GrainNet)

America Wants Half Of New Cars To Be Electrified By 2030 -- This is some weak-ass shit, if we're being honest. (Jalopnik)

Biden calls for half of new cars to be electric or plug-in hybrids by 2030: The executive order comes as part of a suite of new goals and mandates to cut climate-warming emissions from the auto sector. (Washington Post)

There's A Big Push For Electric Cars, With The White House Teaming Up With Automakers (NPR)

Iowa leaders react to Biden electric vehicles target: What about biofuels? (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Ethanol Groups React to Biden Clean Cars Plan (Energy.AgWired.com; includes AUDIO)

Electric Cars for Everyone? Not Unless They Get Cheaper.President Biden has made conversion to E.V.s a pillar of climate policy. But government incentives mostly help affluent buyers, not average families. (New York Times)

EPA Excludes Biofuels From Vehicle GHG Plan, In Sector’s Latest Blow (Inside EPA)

White House Edges Near Biofuel Plan in Farm-Versus-Oil Clash (1) (Bloomberg Law)

Ethanol Ditched as Biden Unveils Plan to Phase Out Gas Cars, Says 'There's No Turning Back' (AgWeb)

Excerpt from White House: Consistent with the President’s Day One Executive Order, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will announce how they are addressing the previous administration’s harmful rollbacks of near-term fuel efficiency and emissions standards. The two agencies’ standards work in a compatible fashion through model year 2026, with the NHTSA proposed rule starting in model year 2024 and the EPA proposed rule taking effect a year sooner with model year 2023. The standards build on the momentum from “California Framework Agreement” – an agreement between the State of California and five automakers: Ford, Honda, Volkswagen Group, BMW, and Volvo.

Through these coordinated notices of proposed rulemaking, the two agencies are advancing smart fuel efficiency and emissions standards that would deliver around $140 billion in net benefits over the life of the standards, including asthma attacks avoided and lives saved, save about 200 billion gallons of gasoline, and reduce around two billion metric tons of carbon pollution. For the average consumer, this means net savings of up to $900 over the life of the vehicle from fuel savings.

Building on these near-term steps, the Executive Order that the President will sign kicks off development of long-term fuel efficiency and emissions standards to save consumers money, cut pollution, boost public health, advance environmental justice, and tackle the climate crisis. Specifically, the Executive Order lays out a robust schedule for development of fuel efficiency and multi-pollutant emissions standards through at least model year 2030 for light-duty vehicles and for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles starting as early as model year 2027. The Executive Order also directs agencies to:

Consult with the Secretaries of Commerce, Labor, and Energy on ways to accelerate innovation and manufacturing in the automotive sector, to strengthen the domestic supply chain for that sector, and to grow jobs that provide good pay and benefits.
Engage with California and other states leading the way in reducing vehicle emissions.
Secure input from a diverse range of stakeholders, including representatives from labor unions, industry, environmental justice organizations, and public health experts. READ MORE

Excerpt from NPR: White House also to unveil new rules on car emissions

However, the White House is also expected to unveil proposed rules that would set new fuel efficiency and emissions standards for vehicles. Those would be legally binding.

The new rules run "multiple thousands of pages" in length, a senior administration official said, and are based on a deal California made with some automakers that saw them voluntarily adopt 3.7% annual improvements in vehicle fuel economy and emissions standards through 2026.

"What we're hearing across the board is a consensus about the direction which this industry is going," the official told reporters ahead of the announcement.

Specifics about the new standards were not yet clear, with a White House fact sheet saying only that they build off the California framework and that the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Transportation will announce how they're addressing the Trump administration's "harmful" rollbacks.

The Obama administration had set fuel economy and emissions standards to improve at a level of 5% annually as part of its climate change fight. The Trump administration had rolled those targets back to 1.5%.

Biden will also sign an executive order Thursday that the White House said will set a schedule for standards for future vehicle model years. READ MORE

Excerpt from Energy.AgWired.com: American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) CEO Brian Jennings: “Pledges to make more electric vehicles in the future will do little to reduce GHG emissions until and unless the way we generate electricity in the U.S. undergoes expensive and prolonged changes.

The environmental impacts, technical hurdles, and supply chain roadblocks for critical minerals needed for EV batteries also need to be understood and remedied before EVs could make meaningful reductions in GHGs.

Meanwhile, nearly 100 percent of all U.S. light-duty vehicles on the road today use liquid fuels. Scientists indicate corn ethanol is already 50 percent cleaner than gasoline.

If we want to get serious about tackling climate change sooner rather than later, government officials and automakers ought to be taking steps right now to help ensure motorists have greater access to low-carbon alternatives to gasoline such as E15 and E85. Each increased gallon of ethanol used in the U.S. today reduces GHGs and the Administration can take steps today through the Renewable Fuel Standard to push more ethanol into the marketplace.” READ MORE