Biofuels manufacturers seek carbon permits
US Biofuels manufacturers are lobbying Congress for a share of the free carbon permits needed to emit carbon dioxide under the Obama administration’s proposed carbon-trading scheme.
The bill passed by the House of Representatives last month would give away 85% of the permits to pollute to industries regarded as essential in the first years of a cap. The remaining 15% would be auctioned. The bill earmarks 2% of the free carbon credits for the oil refining industry, but none for biofuels production, which also emits carbon, as does any industrial process.
Producers of ethanol, biodiesel and chemicals such as bioplastics argue that, since they are making the same product in a renewable way, they should be given a greater proportion of the permits in proportion to the size of their industry.
‘No offense to refiners, but they're taking carbon that's been buried in the ground for millions of years and releasing it into the atmosphere’, said Brent Erickson, an executive vice president at the Biotechnology Industry Organization. ‘And we're taking carbon that's in the atmosphere and recycling it through plants, and it ought to be treated differently.’
The bill passed by the House of Representatives last month would give away 85% of the permits to pollute to industries regarded as essential in the first years of a cap. The remaining 15% would be auctioned. The bill earmarks 2% of the free carbon credits for the oil refining industry, but none for biofuels production, which also emits carbon, as does any industrial process.
Producers of ethanol, biodiesel and chemicals such as bioplastics argue that, since they are making the same product in a renewable way, they should be given a greater proportion of the permits in proportion to the size of their industry.
‘No offense to refiners, but they're taking carbon that's been buried in the ground for millions of years and releasing it into the atmosphere’, said Brent Erickson, an executive vice president at the Biotechnology Industry Organization. ‘And we're taking carbon that's in the atmosphere and recycling it through plants, and it ought to be treated differently.’
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