A letter from a bipartisan group of 39 senators was sent to EPA on Friday, urging the agency to increase the 2017 renewable volume obligations (RVOs) to the lofty levels set out by Congress back in 2007. It’s an idea that may work in theory, but today’s market realities tell a totally different story.
The corn lobby has falsely claimed recently that waivers granted by the EPA to small refiners—relieving them from the onerous costs of complying with the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)—have destroyed demand for ethanol. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The biofuel lobby has made a number of claims to muddy the waters around the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and halt progress on better aligning vehicle and transportation fuel policies.
Alongside the publication of AFPM’s new study, “The Fuel & Petrochemical Supply Chains: Moving the Fuels & Products That Power Progress,” Flash Point interviewed leaders working on U.S. midstream infrastructure issues.
Much of the focus within the Renewable Fuel Standard is on corn ethanol and the 15-billion-gallon conventional biofuel mandate. But less critically examined in this policy administered by the Environmental Protection Agency is the mandate for advanced biofuels, including biodiesel.
Since the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) was enacted, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has had the difficult responsibility of implementing a broken and unworkable biofuel blending program.