EPA sets final 2013 US renewable fuel mandate

August 7, 2013 |

epaCellulosic biofuels waived down to expected production; EPA says it will consider a broader waive-down in 2014 to address “E10 ethanol blendwall” concerns.

In Washington, the U.S. EPA finalized the 2013 percentage standards for the Renewable Fuel Standard program. The final 2013 overall volumes and standards require 16.55 billion gallons of renewable fuels to be blended into the U.S. fuel supply (a 9.74 percent blend).

The standard specifically requires:

•  Biomass-based diesel (1.28 billion gallons)

•  Advanced biofuels (2.75 billion gallons)

•  Cellulosic biofuels (6.00 million gallons)

The EPA action essentially waived down cellulosic biofuels from 14 million to 6 million gallons, while keeping other proposed numbers largely in place. The 1.28 billion gallons in biomass-based diesel will count as 1.92 billion ethanol-equivalent gallons towards the overall 2.75 billion gallon advanced pool. The remainder is likely to reflect primarily renewable diesel and Brazilian sugarcane ethanol.

RFS2-2013-finalrule

In the rule issued today, EPA announced that it will propose to use flexibilities in the RFS statute to reduce both the advanced biofuel and total renewable volumes in the forthcoming 2014 RFS volume requirement proposal. The move follows comments from a number of stakeholders concerning the “E10 blend wall.”

EPA is also providing greater lead time and flexibility in complying with the 2013 volume requirements by extending the deadline to comply with the 2013 standards by four months, to June 30, 2014.

The EPA final rule is outlined here.

In today’s Digest: industry comments from the ABFA, BIO, RFA, NBB, AEC, UNICA, ACE, Growth Energy and more; reaction from industry analysts; and the Digest’s Take – by following the page links below.

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