In New Twist, RFS Could Boost Electric Vehicles

by Amanda Peterka (E&E Publishing/Greenwire) The federal policy used to build up the nation's ethanol and advanced biofuel capacity could soon be harnessed to spur the development of electric vehicle infrastructure.
In a final rule issued last week, U.S. EPA said it would allow renewable electricity made from certain biomass sources to qualify under the renewable fuel standard if it is used to power electric vehicles. Under the rule, entities would be allowed to generate credits for that electricity and make money selling them to refiners that must meet annual renewable fuel targets.
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But the standard applies broadly to biomass-derived transportation fuel, and EPA has determined that renewable electricity made out of biogas from landfills, municipal wastewater treatment and solid waste digesters, and agricultural digesters meets the 60 percent greenhouse gas reduction threshold to qualify as a cellulosic biofuel.
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Previously, EPA had allowed biogas to qualify for RFS credit if it was used as a gas, rather than being converted to electricity. EPA first proposed the expansion last year as part of a rule qualifying other types of new renewable fuel.
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In its rule, EPA said it must be "theoretically feasible" that the fuel produced can reach an electric vehicle. But the agency said it needed more time to study the tracking issue.
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Expanding the RFS to those types of renewable energy would require congressional action because of the RFS's language limiting incentives to biomass-based renewables. Opening up the RFS, though, is a tough political sell at the moment for supporters of the policy because doing so would potentially allow opponents to take stabs at it through amendments.
Martin of the Union of Concerned Scientists said EPA's action last week highlights the RFS's flexibility and scope, even without congressional action.
"In some ways it's the renewable transportation fuel standard," he said. "It's not an ethanol standard, not even a liquid fuel standard." READ MORE