EPA Rule Will Govern Renewable Fuel Use

Here in WV we focus on domestic sources of energy - coal, natural gas and increasingly wind power - and not biofuels. There isn't much row cropping in West Virginia that would support a biofuels industry. However, the Charleston Vandalia Rotary Club recently heard a presentation from an impressive group of ladies from the Lincoln County Future Farmers of America who are in the process of developing a biodiesel production program. More impressive, to me, is their ambitious plan to move to algae as the biological source of the biodiesel. This is cutting edge stuff, and they are to be commended for heading in that direction.

This article in the Des Moines Register explains that a recent EPA rule could have an effect on the biodiesel industry, which started with such fanfare as a green source of energy, but became less of a renewable energy poster child when the full effects of the production cycle were considered, such as the energy required to plant and harvest the plant material, and the carbon-sucking plant life that is removed to make room for the row crops. It's worth looking at to see some of the hurdles renewable energies like biodiesel will have to overcome.

EPA recently published a rule establishing volumes of biofuels that are to be in transportation fuel each year, and definitions of what qualifies as a renewable fuel. A fact sheet describing the EPA rule can be found here, from which the following introductory material was taken:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing revisions to the National Renewable Fuel Standard program (commonly known as the RFS program). Today’s proposed rule intends to address changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard program as required by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA). The revised statutory requirements establish new specific volume standards for cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel that must be used in transportation fuel each year. The revised statutory requirements also include new definitions and criteria for both renewable fuels and the feedstocks used to produce them, including new greenhouse gas emission (GHG) thresholds for renewable fuels. The regulatory requirements for RFS will apply to domestic and foreign producers and importers of renewable fuel.