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EPA unveils proposed rule for advanced biofuels
After months of speculation, the EPA has unveiled the indirect land use formula that will be used to score ethanol and biodiesel on greenhouse gas emissions.
The EPA’s proposed rule for advanced renewable biofuels, required under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, evaluates the carbon footprint of such fuels. EPA administrator Lisa Jackson says the model used to calculate indirect land use change was developed using what shecalls “best science” and input from scientists around the world.
“The law calls for indirect land use to be part of the analysis, and so certainly the proposed rule includes that,” Jackson says. “EPA is soliciting peer reviews—scientificfeedback—to insure that the rule, when it is finalized, includes the best available science.”
The rule has a 60-day comment period for the industry to weigh in. Just how much impact it will have on the future of corn ethanol and soy biodiesel is still being analyzed,but Jackson makes it clear that the administration views corn ethanol as a bridge to more advanced biofuels.
“It’s an extraordinarily important bridge,” she says, “but it is a bridge to the next generation of biofuels and other ethanols.”
Reaction from the biofuels industry has been mixed. Jeff Broin, CEO of POET, the nation’s largest corn ethanol producer, expressed concern that the indirect land use change penalizes corn ethanol.
“While many scientists have found significant flaws inthe models used to calculate indirect land use change, I think the very concept is flawed and stems from a lack of understanding of ethanol and agriculture,” Broin says. “Due to increasing efficiencies in our production facilities and the increased corn yields from the fields surroundingthem, we don’t need new land to meet the Renewable Fuel Standard. That’s why we’re able to farm the same number of corn acres in this country that we farmed in 1976 and still meet all of the needs for food, feed and fuel.”
However, Bob Dineen, president of theRenewable Fuels Association, says the proposed rule will not have much affect on existing ethanol plants. “The corn ethanol industry is going to be just fine,” Dineen says. “First of all, existing facilities and those under construction are grandfathered into this program—so they’llhave no issues whatsoever. What this is doing is sending a signal for the future—for future production of advanced biofuels, for future production of cellulose, and future production of grain-based ethanol.”
Dineen says he was pleased to hear that the EPA will subjectthe indirect land use formulas to peer review.
According to DTN, biodiesel producers were not given a grandfathering clause like ethanol received. Jackson said, however, she believes biodiesel plants would be able to meet the standard with some changes in production.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says he is pleased with EPA’s approach to developing the proposed rule.
“As it relates to corn, let me say I am certainly pleased with the effort that EPA has undertaken to comply with the law and to do itin a way in which they seek assistance and review in terms of the evaluations and formulas,” Vilsack says. “I think it’s a good sign that EPA is interested in listening. They want to get this right.”
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