Biointermediates: Production Opportunities and Regulatory Challenges

by Sara M. Herman (Biodiesel Magazine/Christianson) While biointermediates present opportunities for biofuel producers, close attention should be paid to regulatory requirements. -- ... Within the proposed rules, EPA included a section on biointermediates—feedstocks that are partially processed at one location and further refined at another—and outlined a number of requirements related to the use of approved biointermediates. Allowing biofuel producers to use biointermediates as a feedstock source expands the current pool and gives producers additional options when it comes to managing their upstream sourcing. However, there are several requirements that both biofuel and biointermediate producers should be aware of as they plan for future production.

Biointermediates have long been low-hanging fruit for biofuel producers seeking to transform wastes into energy and grow the feedstock pool, whether it be from coproducts of biofuel production or biocrude from woody biomass. Traditional biofuels are also finding new applications, such as corn ethanol being upgraded to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

EPA does not currently allow biointermediates as qualified feedstocks for renewable fuel production under the RFS. Innovative solutions, like biocrude, cannot be used to produce biofuel that generates renewable identification numbers (RINs) under the current RFS. Lack of approval from EPA effectively bars biointermediate producers from participating in the biofuels industry, and also stifles development of additional feedstock sources.

Originally, EPA intended to make biointermediate feedstocks an integral part of the RFS in 2010 with the transition to RFS2, and again in 2016 with the Renewables Enhancement and Growth Support rule. Since the 2010 regulations were promulgated, the cellulosic category has stagnated, and—while EPA cites technology limitations—inflexible regulation around biointermediate inclusion in the program has more likely contributed to the lack of growth. EPA made another attempt to promote cellulosic growth and increase the economics and efficiency for biofuel producers, particularly for advanced and cellulosic fuels with lower carbon footprints through the REGS rule, but it was never finalized.

In its most recent proposed rulemaking, published on Dec. 10, EPA included a regulatory change that could result in the approval of three types of biointermediates for biofuel production: biocrude, free fatty acids (FFAs), and undenatured ethanol. Incorporation of these three biointermediates would increase the overall feedstock pool for biofuel production, help to spur cellulosic production, supply more low carbon fuels domestically, and potentially result in deeper decarbonization through biofuels in the transportation fuel pool.

Approved Biointermediates
Biofuel producers who wish to use biointermediates are initially limited to the three included in the most recent rulemaking: biocrude from renewable biomass processed by pyrolysis or gasification; FFAs from biogenic waste fats, oils and greases, distillers corn and sorghum oil, food wastes, oil crops and algal oil; and undenatured ethanol that meets U.S. Department of Treasury requirements.

Biocrude represents a waste-to-energy opportunity for processing woody biomass and agricultural wastes in an intermediate facility for generation of D3 and D7 RINs, as long as the renewable biomass is predominately cellulosic. FFAs separated through pretreatment in an intermediate facility could now be used by producers to generate D4 and D5 RINs, and this approval would allow for a larger portion of the raw feedstock source to be transformed into energy. Finally, ethanol producers could sell undenatured ethanol to other producers to be upgraded into other products and generate RINs, including sustainable aviation fuel through alcohol-to-jet technologies.

Biointermediate and biofuel producers who seek to expand the current proposed list of biointermediates must go through a formal rulemaking process—including notice and comment periods—that will closely mimic the process required to add a Table 1 pathway today. Approvals for new Table 1 pathways often take years to move through rulemaking, and it is likely that the same will be true for additional biointermediates.

Biointermediate producers will need to register their facilities to participate in the RFS, and biofuel producers will need to update their registrations to reflect the use of biointermediate feedstocks. Both types of producers will be subject to a mandatory Quality Assurance Plan and will each have new reporting requirements related to the EPA Moderated Transaction System. Biofuel and biointermediate producers will need to work together to ensure their activities under the RFS meet these new requirements.

Biointermediate producers will also be required to designate a single biofuel producer in their registration for the offtake of their biointermediate product.

EPA will require that both the biointermediate producer and the biofuel producer use the same third-party auditor for the program’s QAP requirement.

Finally, both biointermediate producers and biofuel producers using biointermediates will need to report specific information related to biointermediates in EMTS. READ MORE