Kelly, Stephanie, and Jarrett Renshaw. “U.S. EPA Expected to Propose Biofuel Blending Requirements by End of Week -Sources.” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 30 Nov. 2022, https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-epa-expected-propose-biofuel-blending-requirements-by-end-week-sources-2022-11-30/.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to propose the amount of renewable fuels that oil refiners must blend into their fuel mix for 2023 and beyond by the end of this week. The proposal will show how the Biden administration plans to use the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), provisions regarding electricity use under the law, going forward. Under the RFS, oil refiners are required to blend billions of gallons of biofuels into the nation’s fuel mix, or buy tradeable credits from those that do. While Congress set out specific goals through 2022, the law expands the EPA’s authority for 2023 and beyond to change the way the RFS is administered. Starting next year, the agency has leeway to set multi-year mandates and make other changes. The EPA is also expected to propose that electric vehicles be eligible for renewable fuel credits. Since it began more than a decade ago, the inclusion of electric vehicles into the RFS would be one of the largest changes to the program. Earlier this year, the EPA set biofuel blending mandates for 2022 at 20.63 billion gallons and retroactive volume mandates for 2021 at 18.84 billion gallons and for 2020 at 17.13 billion gallons.
It’s interesting to see the effect that electric vehicles are having on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) since they are much more common today than they were years ago. Also, combining a large amount of biofuel into our regular mix of the nation’s fuel is an incredible idea. This approach attacks the climates issue with fossil fuels right at the root of the problem. Instead of just making certain large corporations use biofuel, this will hopefully make almost every corporation use it since it will be in the regular fuel mix.
Interesting article, Tommy. I am wondering about the connection between biofuel and EVs? I get they are both trying to reduce CO2, but EVs don’t usually get charged by burning fuel.
Careful with this- while I’m a fan of biofuel, it’s not all the same. Remember all the corn subsidies which lead to surpluses of corn. Most biofuel in the US is from corn ethanol which does not give a good return on the energy investment. What type of plant do you think would do better than corn? It’s a tough one. In Brazil they use sugar cane which gives an 8 to 1 return on the investment. Corn is 1.2 to 1, meaning you put in one unit of energy and get 1.2 back. But consider the habitat involved with growing the corn.
Hope your topic kept you interested this year, Tommy. Thanks for all the contributions to Edublog.
Hi Mr. Powell, thanks for your response.
You asked the question about a different type of plant that has a good return on energy investment. Other than corn, one overlooked type of plant is grass. More specifically switchgrass, a North American native grass. Not only does it show a high energy return on investment when used as biofuel, but it can grow in a wide range of soil types and climates, and is relatively easy to cultivate.