Farm-state officials played their Trump card six weeks ago, calling in White House support to quash potential cuts in the Renewable Fuel Standard, which sets U.S. targets for biofuel consumption. The EPA kept its word on corn ethanol, setting the mandate at the maximum 15 billion gallons for the second year in a row. But farm and industry groups say the agency should have done more for biodiesel and second-generation “advanced” biofuels.
The EPA set the mandate for advanced biofuels at 4.29 billion gallons for 2018, up 50 million gallons from its July proposal, and maintained the biodiesel mandate at 2.1 billion gallons for 2019. In a regulatory quirk, biodiesel targets are set a year in advance of other biofuels.
The National Biodiesel Board, a trade group, said the EPA had “failed to respond to our repeated calls for growth.” The National Farmers Union said 2.1 billion gallons was “well short of the industry’s capacity.” The increased mandate for advanced biofuels was “meager and deeply disappointing,” said NFU president Roger Johnson.
Two major biofuel groups, the Renewable Fuels Association and Growth Energy, applauded the 15 billion-gallon target for corn ethanol. The RFA said the ethanol mandate will accelerate the use of higher blends, such as E15 or E30, beyond the traditional 10 percent mix of ethanol into gasoline. Emily Skor, head of Growth Energy, said, “We would like to have seen a boost to the target blending levels for cellulosic biofuels, and we will continue to work with the administration to advance the RFS goal of further stimulating growth and showing U.S. leadership in 21st century fuels.”
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, a leading proponent of biofuels, said the EPA targets “fall short of the full potential of the U.S. biofuels industry,” specifically of biodiesel and advanced biofuels, which include cellulosic ethanol, made from grasses, woody plants, and crop debris. Iowa is the No. 1 state in corn and ethanol production.
But the oil industry said the gasoline supply is becoming saturated with biofuels and asked for relief from what it considers an outmoded program. The RFS was created to reduce U.S. dependence on oil imports, said the American Petroleum Institute. That objective has been achieved “so this program is trying to solve a problem that no longer exists.”
In mid-October, Farm Belt lawmakers and state officials loudly proposed that the EPA reduce the biodiesel target and dilute the ethanol mandate by counting exports toward the goal of domestic energy independence. They reminded the administration of President Trump’s repeated statements of support for ethanol, which culminated in an Oct. 19 letter by EPA administrator Scott Pruitt saying that preliminary analysis suggested the agency should, at a minimum, stick with its July proposal.
Pruitt also said the EPA would investigate whether it has the authority to allow year-round sales of E15, a biofuel industry goal.
The EPA home page for the Renewable Fuel Standard, including links to the announcement of the new targets, is available here.