EPA proposes 2013 US renewable fuel standards

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed its 2013 percentage standards for four fuel categories that are part of the agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard program (RFS2).

The proposed 2013 overall volumes and standards are:
Biomass-based diesel (1.28 billion gallons; 1.12%)
Advanced biofuels (2.75 billion gallons; 1.60%)
Cellulosic biofuels (14 million gallons; 0.008%)
Total renewable fuels (16.55 billion gallons; 9.63%)

The proposal will be open for a 45-day public comment period and EPA will consider feedback from a range of stakeholders before the proposal is finalised.

‘The advanced ethanol industry appreciates EPA’s due diligence on getting to the right number on cellulosic biofuels as that industry is breaking through at commercial scale with the most innovative and cleanest liquid fuel in the world,’ executive director of the Advanced Ethanol Council Brooke Coleman says.

‘The EPA has worked hard to ensure that the cellulosic biofuels volume standard for 2013 would be tied directly to the expected commercial production of them this year.’