-!2+%43!.$&P).E!LL.E#TS% EPA to issue final 2014 and 2015 RFS rules by November 30 re-propose volume requirements for 2014 that reflect the volumes that were actually used in 2014. – We will continue to work closely with the NBB to advocate the appropriate volumes for the program. From there, ASA will continue making a case to EPA and the Administration to provide modest and achievable annual increases in the biomass-based diesel volumes, said Wade Cowan, President of ASA. Advancing cellulosic Other advanced and cellulosic biofuels advocacy organisations such as the Advanced Biofuels Association (ABFA) were also “pleased” that existing production numbers are to be used in formulation of the 2014 RVO figures. According to the AFBA the proposal would “certainly help advance the next generation of biofuels” if executed. Though generally supportive of the RFS, ABFA has criticized the previous EPA proposal to lower the advanced biofuel target for 2014 to 2.2 billion ethanol-equivalent gallons given that the industry produced 3.2 billion ethanol-equivalent gallons in 2013. A similar sentiment was voiced by the Advanced Ethanol Council (AEC). – The scheduling agreement is actually a good signal for the advanced biofuels industry because it lays out a time frame and a reasonable market expectation for resolving the regulatory uncertainty. We were encouraged by EPA’s decision late last year to pull a problematic 2014 proposal, and we are optimistic that EPA will make the necessary adjustments and put the RFS back on track, said Brooke Coleman, Executive Director of AEC. According to the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) the delay has “chilled” the flow of capital needed for commercialisation. – The policy instability is responsible for chilling as much as US$13.7 billion in investments that the advanced biofuel industry needed to build capacity to meet the RFS goals, said Brent Erickson, Executive Vice-President of BIO’s Industrial & Environmental Section. Text: Alan Sherrard BI79/4852/AS Bioenergy International No 79, 3-2015 37 ACCORDING TO AFPM and API the delay by the EPA, which in the case of 2014 is over a year late, has forced refiners to guess at their legal obligations to blend renewable fuels, and resulted in “unnecessary market uncertainty” for the US refining industry, biofuel producers and consumers. On April 10, the parties filed with the court a draft Consent Decree that, if implemented, would establish the following schedule for issuing RFS for 2014 and 2015: t#Z+VOFUIF&1"XJMMQSP- pose volume requirements for 2015; t#Z/PWFNCFS&1"XJMMm- nalize volume requirements for 2014 and 2015 and resolve a pending waiver petition for 2014. Outside the scope of the consent decree, EPA also commits to: t1SPQPTFUIF3'4WPMVNFSF- quirements for 2016 by June 1, and finalize them by November 30; t1SPQPTFBOEmOBMJFUIF3'4 biomass-based diesel volume requirement for 2017 on the same schedule; and t3FQSPQPTFWPMVNFSFRVJSF- ments for 2014, by June 1, that reflect the volumes of renewable fuel that were actually used in 2014. EPA intends to issue a Federal Register Notice allowing the public an opportunity to comment on the proposed consent decree. Regulatory certainty As expected the EPA announcement has been welcomed by various organisations and bodies impacted by the RFS and the EPA delay. The annual RFS rules set the volumes of ethanol and biodiesel that must be blended into the US transportation fuel supply, so called Renewable Volume Obligations (RVO). Congress established the RFS under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and expanded the program two years later under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to reduce dependence on foreign oil and produce cleaner domestic fuels. One of the two plaintiffs in the EPA lawsuit the AFPM represents manufacturers of almost the entire US supply of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, other fuels and home heating oil, as well as petrochemicals. As such the organisation is opposed to the RFS arguing that a decade into the program the US is now the largest producer of oil and gas thus the initial premise of the RFS is no longer valid. – While we are pleased that we were able to negotiate a deadline that requires EPA to issue the overdue RFS rules, we remain concerned with the government’s implementation of this broken program. We hope that this outcome will enable EPA to issue future RFS implementation rules in accordance with the Congressionallymandated deadlines that were designed to provide refiners with some regulatory certainty and the ability to adjust their compliance strategies throughout the compliance period, said Rich Moskowitz, General Counsel, AFPM. Good start for ethanol In contrast almost all organisations within the biofuels sector have been supportive of the RFS since it was established. For the fuel ethanol industry it has been of significant importance. According to statistics from the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), US fuel ethanol production in 1981, the year the RFA was founded, stood at 215 million gallons. In 2005 when the RFS came into play it was up at 3.9 billion gallons and last year it reached 14.3 billion gallons double that of the world’s second largest producer Brazil. For several years, it has accounted for 10 percent of the US gasoline supply giving rise to a separate but related “blend wall” discussion offset by exports. – We applaud EPA and API for reaching an agreement that will provide all stakeholders some certainty with regard to the RFS. No one has benefited from the delays in setting annual RVOs. This consent agreement is a good start and we are particularly pleased over the committment to addressing the 2016 RVO in the same timeframe even though that is outside the scope of the consent agreement. More important than EPA meeting its statutory deadlines, however, is that it recognize the market transforming purpose of the RFS and allow the Renewable Identification Number (RIN) mechanism to drive investment in infrastructure and compel consumer choice at the pump, said Bob Dinneen, President and CEO of RFA. The primary feedstock for fuel ethanol plants is maize and the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) represents the interests of over 300 000 growers nationwide. – We have expressed our concerns about the continued delays to the EPA, and will be taking them at their word that they will adhere to this new deadline. We will continue to work with them to ensure the numbers are consistent with the statue and put the RFS back on track, said NCGA President Chip Bowling. Biodiesel advancement Responses from the US biodiesel industry have been cautiously positive. With production in almost every state the industry had a record 2014 producing almost 1.8 billion gallons from a variety of feedstock resources such as soybean oil, used cooking oil and animal fats. Furthermore biodiesel is first EPA-designated “Advanced Biofuel” to reach commercial-scale production nationwide. – The RFS is the most successful policy we have for reducing emissions in the transportation sector, and it is working. Biodiesel is the most successful EPA-designated Advanced Biofuel under the RFS to date, said Anne Steckel, Vice President of Federal Affairs, National Biodiesel Board (NBB). Questions remain as to the biodiesel volume levels proposed by EPA as unlike other RFS fuel categories, biodiesel volumes – called “Biomass-based Diesel” under the program – are to be finalised 14 months in advance of the applicable year. However both the NBB and the American Soybean Association (ASA) remain optimistic as the EPA has reiterated that it will Bioenergy International No 79, 3-2015 37 On March 18, the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manu- GBDUVSFST "'1. BOEUIF"NFSJDBO1FUSPMFVN*OTUJUVUF "1* mMFEBMBXTVJUJOUIF64%JTUSJDU$PVSUGPSUIF%JTUSJDU of Columbia to force the US Environmental Protection "HFODZ &1" UPJTTVFMPOHPWFSEVFSVMFTJNQMFNFOUJOH UIFGFEFSBM3FOFXBCMF'VFM4UBOEBSE 3'4
Bioenergy no 3 May 2015
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