Biodiesel Promotion and Quality Assurance Act of 2007 introduced in US House; proposes mandate of 1.25 million gallons per year by 2012

U.S. Representatives Baron Hill (D-Ind), John Shimkus (R-Ill),  Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Kenny Hulshof (R-Mo), Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD), and Sam Graves (R-Mo), introduced the Biodiesel Promotion and Quality Assurance Act of 2007. The Act mandates usage of 450 Mgy of biodiesel in 2008, increasing to 1.25 Mgy by 2012.

Biofuel mandates and research at the federal level have recently focused on ethanol, but attention is retiurning to biodiesel with the news that the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado is looking at potential support of algae-based biodiesel research.

The US renewable fuels standard, or RFS, debuted on Saturday, September 1. The program will mandates an increasing percentage of renewable fuels in motor vehicle fuels, with credits granted to ease the transition.

The program exempts small refineries through 2010, plus the states of Alaska and Hawaii, although Hawaii has imposed a separate E10 mandate. RFS program mandates blending of 7.5 billion gallons of renewable fuel into US-sold fuel by 2012. The RFS is an outcome of the Executive Order on greenhouse gas emissions issued by President Bush this past May.

The EPA has stated that it expects with this standard to reduce petroleum-based fuel consumption by up to 3.9 billion gallons through by 2012. The excess petroleum would have been typically purchased through the export markets, and RFS thereby has the potential to reduce the trade deficit by as much as $6.7 billion.

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