EPA’s Final Vehicle Emissions Rule Fails to Address Biofuels

December 21, 2021

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by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. EPA on Dec. 20 issued a final rule setting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for model year (MY) 2023-2026 passenger cars and light trucks. Despite calls from the renewable fuels industry and several policy makers, the rule does not address biofuels or set a high-octane fuel standard.

“It appears EPA has again failed to recognize that the fuels we put into our engines can have as much—or more—impact on fuel economy and GHG emissions as the engine technologies themselves,” said Geoff Cooper, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association. “EPA had the opportunity to use this rulemaking as a tool for moving toward the adoption of high-octane, low-carbon (HOLC) liquid fuels, but chose not to open the toolbox. Research has proven that HOLC fuels can significantly improve fuel economy and reduce emissions from the light-duty vehicle fleet, while also reducing the harmful tailpipe pollution linked to heart disease, cancer, and other illnesses. While this regulation is a missed opportunity, we will not give up on promoting an orderly transition to a higher octane fuels (98-100 RON) for all new internal combustion vehicles, establishing parity and consistency in the regulation of fuel volatility for ethanol and gasoline blends, and leveling the playing field for GHG emissions credit generation for all alternative fuel vehicles, including flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs).”

The final rule sets the MY 2026 fleet-wide CO2 emissions standards at 161 grams per mile, equivalent to 55 miles per gallon (mpg). The EPA’s estimated real world label value of the standard is 40 mpg. By MY 2026, the EPA projects that the final standards can be met with sales of about 17 percent electric vehicles (EVs), and wider uptake of advanced gasoline engine and vehicle technologies available today.

As part of its announcement, the EPA announced plans to initiate a separate rulemaking to establish multi-pollutant emission standards for MY 2027 and later that will aim to speed the transition of the light-duty vehicle fleet toward a zero-emissions future.

The new emissions standards issued on Dec. 20 revise the SAFE Vehicles Rule finalized by the Trump administration in March 2020. That rule replaced CAFE and GHG emissions standards put in place by the Obama administration. President Biden directed the EPA and DOE’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to revise the existing CAFE and GHG emission standards through an executive order issued in January 2021.

The EPA and U.S. Department of Transportation on Aug. 5 released a proposed rule to set light-duty vehicle GHG emissions standards through 2026. Despite calls by the Governors Biofuels’ Coalition, members of the High Octane Low Carbon Alliance, and nearly two dozen ag and biofuels groups, the proposed rule did not address octane or the potential for biobased fuels to reduce GHG emissions.

During a public comment period, the American Coalition for Ethanol, Renewable Fuels Association, Growth Energy and other biofuels stakeholders urged the EPA and DOT to revise the proposed rule to address GHG reductions made possible through the use of high-octane, low-carbon renewable fuels.

Additional information, including a full copy of the final rule, is available on the EPA website. READ MORE

Ethanol groups disappointed with new auto emission standards (Agri-Pulse)

SfL Statement on EPA Rule Finalizing GHG Standards for Passenger Vehicles (Solutions from the Land)

Biden raises vehicle mileage standards, reversing Trump rollback (The Hill)

EPA tightens car emission standards, tosses Trump-era rules (E&E News)

Environmental Protection Agency Finalizes Federal Rule, Strengthening Clean Car Standards (Sierra Club)

RFA SAYS MISSED OPPORTUNITY IN EPA RULEMAKING FOR VEHICLE EMISSIONS (Brownfield Ag News)

EPA announces emissions standards for cars, light trucks, RFA displeased (The Fence Post)

Consumers Back Tough EPA Fuel Economy Rules–But Don’t Buy Efficient Cars (Forbes)

Ethanol left out of Biden’s proposed emission updates (Farm Progress)

Biden cuts annual production requirements for biofuels (Biofuels International)

From the Farm: EPA and Ethanol (WCIA)

EPA Rule on GHG Standards for Passenger Vehicles Fails to Address Fuel Quality (Solutions from the Land)

New Biden rule reducing climate emissions from cars and SUVs reverses major Trump rollback (Washington Post)

EPA Says Automakers Might Meet Its Tighter 2026 Fleet Standards with Just 17% EV Sales: (Green Car Reports)

Excerpt from Solutions from the Land: by SfL Board Member Bart Ruth, a Nebraska corn and soybean producer; a former president of the American Soybean Association and Chair of the 25x’25 Renewable Energy Alliance.

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SfL was disappointed that the final rule did not include provisions to improve fuel quality by reducing the aromatic content of gasoline. Aromatics are base components derived from fossil fuels that blenders use to increase gasoline’s octane rating, a measure of the fuel’s effectiveness. However, aromatics also have been deemed threats to public health, damaging respiratory and cardiovascular systems.

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... it does not include any provisions that could significantly reduce GHG emissions from gasoline powered vehicles, an enormous, missed opportunity. Research shows that greenhouse gas cuts that could be achieved by using higher-octane midlevel blends with ethanol would equal those that EPA thinks are available from electrifying the vehicle fleet. Fortunately, in its announcement today EPA did acknowledge the need for additional rulemaking to make further improvements in GHG and particulate matter emissions. SfL stands ready to share research and other information with policy makers to maximize the benefits that can be gained from high-octane, low-emission fuels. READ MORE

Excerpt from WCIA: But what they are assuming is: the whole country can and wants to go electric overnight. There’s none of the infrastructure for that,” Crowe (David Crowe, lobbyist for Illinois Corn Growers) said. “There’s not enough chips, there’s not enough batteries, and I would argue that the ethanol industry and the automobile industry has done a tremendous amount of work on reducing pollution, on reducing carbon exposure. We’re way better than the average American realizes in terms of our environmental record.” READ MORE