BIO says petroleum refining organizations lying to Congress in anti-Renewable Fuel Standard campaign
In Washington, Brent Erickson, executive vice president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization’s (BIO) Industrial & Environmental Section, said, “Petroleum refining industry organizations are engaging in a misguided and misleading anti-Renewable Fuel Standard campaign, going so far as to provide factually incorrect information to Congress.
“In a letter to House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee leaders, AFPM President Charles Drevna falsely states that ‘cellulosic [biofuel] still does not exist.’ The facts contradict this statement. Blue Sugars, a company focused on commercializing cellulosic technology, has recently reported registering the first Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) for cellulosic biofuel with EPA. More companies are now working with EPA to register their cellulosic biofuel production on a commercial basis and generate these RINs. And numerous other companies have invested hundreds of millions of dollars to produce cellulosic biofuels and scale up projects from pilot, to demonstration and finally to commercial production levels. For instance, INEOS Bio is commissioning a cellulosic biorefinery in Florida and ready to start production of cellulosic ethanol from vegetative waste.
“BIO has mapped the biorefineries constructed by these companies during their path toward commercial production and assembled photographic evidence of the progress that U.S. advanced biofuel companies are making. We welcome Members of Congress and the American public to see for themselves.
“While the advanced and cellulosic biofuel portions of the RFS were signed into law in 2007, the rules to implement the law came into effect only in July 2010. But in that relatively short period, advanced biofuel producers have made rapid progress in bringing homegrown technology and energy to the marketplace.”
Biofuel Trade Organizations Petition to Intervene in AFPM v. EPA
At the same time, six biofuel industry organizations are asking to join the USEPA in a petition before the U.S. Court of Appeals that would support the agency’s denial of a waiver of the 2011 Cellulosic Renewable Volume Obligation under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to two powerful petrochemical lobbies, the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) and the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA).
The lawsuit was files by the petrochemical companies in June, the same month that Renewable Identification Numbers were assigned to cellulosic biofuels produced in the United States. The biofuel industry organizations include the Advanced Biofuels Association, Advanced Ethanol Council, American Coalition for Ethanol, Biotechnology Industry Organization, Growth Energy and the Renewable Fuels Association.
Category: Policy
