EPA draft report to Congress on biofuels' enviro impact slammed by industry
In Washington, the EPA released a draft version of its Triennial Report to Congress on the ecological impacts of increased biofuels production, focused on life cycle analysis, water-soil-air quality, ecosystem impact and the impact of land use change domestically and internationally. The draft report, which can be downloaded here is based on peer-reviewed literature and information through July 2010.
EPA commented “Quantitative assessments are presented, where possible, however, in most cases only qualitative assessments were feasible due to uncertainties and the lack of data and analyses in the peer-reviewed literature.” The report examines corn, soybeans, algae, woody biomass, corn stover, and perennial grasses and looks at ethanol and biomass-based diesel.
The RFA commented “EPA’s failure to provide this report in any context with the environmental degradation done by fossil fuel exploitation and use is irresponsibly misleading. Energy and environmental decisions do not exist in a vacuum.” Growth Energy added, “Clearly this draft report needs a considerable amount of work. There is no consensus on several issues the report authors use as assumptions.”
Category: Policy
