EPA Could Immediately Increase Volume of Low-Carbon Biofuels by Over 50 Percent

Agriculture/Food Processing Residues nonfield crop, Business News/Analysis, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Agency/Executive Branch, Federal Regulation, Feedstocks, Forestry/Wood/Residues/Waste, Manure, Methane/Biogas, Opinions, Policy, Sustainability

February 17, 2019

Print This Article Share it With Friends

by Jesse Stolark (Energy and Environmental Study Institute) The EPA is leaving 200 million gallons of cellulosic biofuels on the table, according to the newly formed Biomass Power Coalition, a group of biomass trade organizations, biomass power producers, and supporters (EESI is a supporting member). That’s nearly half the total volume of the cellulosic fuel pool of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), which is set at 419 million gallons for 2019 (roughly 1 percent of the total RFS fuel volume). As Congress seeks to rapidly decarbonize the transportation sector – EPA can and should activate this pathway that will provide another low-carbon transportation fuel into the marketplace today.

EPA could move to approve an electric, or “e-RIN,” pathway which has been on the books since 2014. Doing so would allow biomass power producers to qualify their electricity as a cellulosic biofuel, which must meet a minimum greenhouse gas reduction of 60 percent relative to gasoline. The lowest carbon biofuel category under the RFS must meet a 60 percent greenhouse reduction relative to gasoline, and in some cases, biogas is 91 percent less carbon intensive than gasoline.

Biomass power producers use waste resources, including biogas created from food waste, animal manures and waste water treatment sludge, as well as wood and orchard waste, to generate electricity.

…

Additionally, forestry operations and agriculture produce millions of tons of woody wastes a year. In California alone, 129 million trees have died since 2010, due to a combination of drought, pest infestations and the amplifying effects of climate change. While some of these trees must be left in the forest to return important nutrients to the soil and provide habitat for wildlife, leaving millions of dry tons of wood in California’s forests would increase wildfire risk to unacceptable levels. Currently, this excess biomass is mostly being dealt with in the worst possible manner – open burning – which is costing taxpayers millions of dollars and emits carbon dioxide as well as other harmful air pollutants, including particulate matter and smog precursors. READ MORE

RFS Power Coalition Launches to Secure Role for Electricity Producers in the Renewable Fuel Standard (American Biogas Council)

Comments are closed.

Advanced BioFuels USA